Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Wow!  I thought that Rattigan was a real Zorch after reading the
    interview in Commodore magazine.  I don't know if he can take the
    credit for bringing CBM back into profitability, but I do think
    that Commodore is on the wrong track with the Amiga.  They should
    be working day and night to enhance the Amiga chipset to counter
    the new, enhanced MAC ][ and IBM graphic modes, rather than spending
    precious advertising resources selling mediocre PC Clones.
    
    Anyone else feel this way? 

    Well, I've been flamed pretty hard in the past for saying this,
    but from where I sit, Commodore is more interested in selling 1BM
    PC clones (which won't even be clones of what 1BM sells before long)
    than they are in selling a new and exciting architecture.  Overall,
    I see more Commodore support sent in the direction of 8086 based
    architectures than utilizing the bulk of unrealized potential in
    the Amiga.
    
    That the only major expansion widget that's come out for the A-1000
    is the sidecar, with DF2:, DH0:, PAR1:, SER1:, 1Mb being nowhere on the
    horizon from Commodore should say something by itself.
    
    Then again, that's what the executives feel is the "safe" route,
    so that's probably what we'll have to live with.

    I agree. Maybe that has something to do with firing Rattington.
    Or maybe this is just wishful thinking.
    
    Chris

    who does that leave in charge of Commodore?  Irving Gould?
    It sounds like a few top managers got the ax too.
    
    Wonder what caused it?  Seems like very poor timing - the 2000 and
    500 have shipped in volume yet, last time i heard.
    
    -dave

Associated Press Thu 23-APR-1987 12:21                     Commodore-Rattigan

pauX23-APR-8712

   Commodore CEO Sues Firm After Reported Ouster
   NEW YORK (AP) - Commodore International Ltd. today named its
chairman and biggest shareholder, Irving Gould, to step in as chief
executive in place of Thomas A. Rattigan, who has resigned and sued
the company claiming breach of contract.
   Rattigan, 49, who helped bring the computer manufacturer back to
profitability after heavy losses in recent years, filed the suit in
federal court here, according to his attorney, George Bresler.
   Commodore said Rattigan's suit claimed the company breached his
employment contract by materially diminishing his duties, but it
termed the lawsuit ``wholly without merit.''
   Bresler declined to discuss the suit further. The Wall Street
Journal reported in today's editions that Rattigan was seeking more
than $9 million in damages.
   Commodore's stock was down $1.50 a share to $10.37 1/2 in mid-day
trading on the New York Stock Exchange. It had fallen 50 cents a
share on Wednesday.

   Commodore makes a line of microcomputers, including the Amiga,
sales of which have begun picking up after a slow start.
   Gould, who owns 19.5 percent of the company's common stock, said
in a company news release: ``I look forward to ensuring strong
leadership at all significant levels of management, particularly to
strengthen the sales function and establish expanded distribution
in the U.S.''
   Rattigan charged in the suit that he was suspended last week for
no reason months after being given a five-year contract. On Monday,
when he went to the company's headquarters in West Chester, Pa., he
was escorted from his office by security personnel and was told to
leave the grounds, the Journal reported.
   Rattigan resigned Wednesday in a move that he said was not
voluntary, the Journal reported.
   The suit contended other senior Commodore executives also were
dismissed, the Journal said.
   Nigel Shepherd, Commodore's general manager for North America,
told the Journal he had been fired along with the treasurer,
controller and computer services director of Commodore's U.S. sales
company.
   Shepherd said personality conflicts were behind the firings.

   Commodore today announced the appointment of a new general
manager of U.S. operations and a new general sales manager for U.S.
operations, but made no mention of the firing of their predecessors.
   A letter attached to Rattigan's suit from Commodore secretary
Jospeh C. Benedetti said Rattigan was suspended pending a board
meeting to consider firing him for cause.
   Commodore makes a line of microcomputers, including the Amiga,
sales of which have begun picking up after a slow start.
   Rattigan joined Commodore two years ago and was made president
in November 1985 and chief executive officer last April. His
contract with Commodore was to expire July 1, 1991.
   Under Rattigan, Commodore snapped a streak of five quarters in
the red in which the company's losses totaled $274 million.
Commodore has since had three quarters of improving profits,
earning $22 million in the quarter ended in December.

    
    Something like this happened at a systems house I used to work for
    a while before Digital.  The systems house lost their shirt (under
    California law) for improper dismissal procedures.  (They had only
    given one day's notice and were calling it a dismissal --not a layoff
    and had no (non-political) grounds.)
    
    The executive which was fired won over $1m in cash damages and was
    offered his job back.  Obviously with $1m in cash, he declined the
    offer and started his own company.  (Ironically enough, the last
    I heard of that guy his venture was selling office-solutions on
    DEC PCs (Rainbows and MicroVAXen) and IBM PCjunk --yuchk.)

    Rumor has it that the 'difference of opinion' between Gould and
    Rattigan centered on the future marketing plans for the Amiga.
    
    Rattigan wants to sell to the upscale, yuppie, artsy crowd.  Gould
    wants to go mass market; K-mart, ST's-'R'-Us, etc, which is the
    traditional Commodore success formula.
    
    Apparently, Gould won.  

 Gould - becomes Commodore CEO as Rattigan sues computer maker
   Commodore's chairman and biggest shareholder, Irving Gould, has taken over
 as CEO in place of Thomas A. Rattigan, who resigned and sued the company
 charging breach of contract. Rattigan, 49, had led the microcomputer maker
 back to profitability. He sued the company for $9 million in damages in
 federal court in New York, claiming Commodore breached his five-year
 employment contract. Gould owns 19.5% of Commodore's common stock. In a
 telephone interview from Toronto, Gould said he intended to beef up the
 company's sales and marketing efforts in the United States to ensure a good
 reception for two new models of the Amiga computer, which have been praised
 for their ability to display detailed color graphics. Gould said he intended
 to be a long-term chief executive, not just a caretaker. Gould said he was
 satisfied with Commodore's performance in Europe but dissatisfied with its
 results in the US. He said the company might need to shift some U.S. employees
 from administration into sales and marketing. Rattigan's departure was part of
 a bigger shakeup. Nigel Shepherd, Commodore's general manager for North
 America, told the Wall Street Journal he had been fired along with the
 treasurer, controller and computer services director of Commodore's U.S. sales
 company. Shepherd said personality conflicts were behind the dismissals.
 Rattigan joined Commodore two years ago and was made president in November
 1985 and CEO last April.
	{AP News Wire, 24-Apr-87, 7:34}

    There was a lot of discussion of this very topic on Plink last night.
    The general consensus was that Gould was a tough old bastard, a
    lot like Tramiel in many ways.  Rattigan is considered a Wall Street
    type.  
    
    My opinion is that we need a good old scoundrel to kick some butts
    and broaden the Amiga distribution channels.  If this means Toys-R-Us,
    then so be it.  I don't think we'll see a super Amiga until the
    present installed base is much larger.  K-mart and Toys-R-Us seems
    the only way to do it.
    
    I think the Amiga 500 looks fantastic compared to the 1040/520.
    They should sell like hotcakes given the same type of exposure that
    the ST has had.

    re: .9
    
    maybe we will see a super Amiga sooner... the new ibm pcs already
    have improved graphics and are due to get multitasking in a year.
    It will not take the clones too long to start adding those features.
    If you can configure a pc clone to do amiga-like processing, the
    2000 has serious competition.  Similar to the "why buy a MAC, if
    you can do desktop publishing with a pc clone" argument.
    
    The 500 has a better chance of surviving.  The trade press is now
    starting to explain why you want multitasking for your ibm pc, why
    you want lots of colors, etc.  All the things C-A has had a hard
    time convincing the public that they need.
    
    The question is, does C-A want to compete in the low-end ($2000
    and up) workstation market?  
    
    I'd rather they went after the $1000 market with "real power without
    the price" machines like a next generation 500 (this time with a 
    detachable keyboard).
    
    -dave
    

    Re: .10
    
    Dave, you mention that CBM has had a hard time convincing the public
    that it needs multitasking and great graphics...  well, I never
    saw or heard of any advertising, in print or on TV, that even mentioned
    color or multitasking.  Sure, there was that real artsy '2001'
    star-child stuff from 1985 that noone could possible connect to
    a computer sales pitch.  Then there was the 'Maserati of home
    computers' ad in Time and Newsweek.  How many people even know what
    a Maserati is?
    
    Never in my life have I seen a fine product so badly marketed. 
    This gross mis-management has led to many conspiracy-type theories
    that are flying around the nets.  I generally don't believe in UFOs,
    ancient astronauts, or conspiracy theories, but consider this...
    
    Rattigan has brought CBM back into the black... How? by massive
    layoffs, cutbacks and belt-tightening.  Not by increased sales.
    Look at all the delays in Sidecar.. Insiders at CBM claim that it
    passed FCC months ago, so where is it?  And Genlock was only 18
    months late.
    
    The popular conspiracy theory has it that Rattigan and a close circle
    of 4 or 5 pals have deliberately held back on Amiga marketing, and
    delayed the development/announcement of Amiga peripherals.  Now,
    the official availability date of the 500 and 2000 have been pushed
    out several months, and the price of the 2000 has been raised by
    $200.  All these moves seem deliberatley designed to kill the Amiga.
    So, goes the theory, if CBM stock falls due to poor perception of
    the future of Amiga, then the 'inner circle' goes in and buys all
    the stock at depressed prices, and obtains a majority ownership
    of CBM.
    
    Please note that this theory is not mine, but it does seem like
    the only way to explain the total lack of agressiveness on CBM's
    part with the Amiga.  Apple could have sold a million of these things.
                                                      
    This type of maneuver is not too uncommon.  A while back, a bunch
    of DG executives leaked to the press that DG would have a lousy
    quarter.  This caused stock prices to drop from $78 to $34 in one
    week.  Guess who went in and bought hundreds of thousands of shares?
    And the quarter turned out good after all.  The SEC investigated,
    but found no sign of wrongdoing.
    
    Anyway, this is all sheer speculation, but the more I think about
    it, the happier I am that Rattigan et al are out.

    re:.11
    
    I was referring to the King Tut ad showing all the colors and
    the "wonders of multitasking" demo (came with my system, i think
    it is a dealer demo).
    
    re:.12
    I agree, Rattigan did some amazing things to keep the company alive.
    
    My complaint against him is the same as i had against the old Atari,
    basically, upper management lost touch with the customer base.
    Same thing happened at Apple.  
    
    The masses don't buy quality, they buy what they feel is the best
    buy within their budget.  Good products and/or Good marketing
    will influence that decision.  But reality has a nasty way of 
    asserting itself.
    
    My personal belief is that the Atari 800 computer was of infinitely
    greater quality than the C64.  But look how many C64s have been
    sold.  Price and later software availability were responsible
    for that.  Maybe they now need Gould to do the price cutting to
    generate volume sales.
    
    Before ibm announced the new pcs i thought C-A would
    have a hard time selling the Amiga 500 vs the 1040ST.  Now they
    have a golden opportunity - the 500 has a lot of the features
    of the new pcs, at a greatly reduced price.  And lots of software
    that takes advantage of it now.
    
    -dave

    Re: .13
    
    Dave, I have seen the 'King Tut' ad several times, but only in Amiga
    related magazines like Compute, AmigaWorld, and the like. 
    
    Tut is an excellent ad.  It is brief, to the point, and explains
    exactly what the benefits are to owning an Amiga.  What I'd like
    to know is why doesn't that ad show up where it would do some good?
    Anyone buying AmigaWorld obviously has a clue as to what an Amiga
    is. 
    
    Re: .12
    
    Apple has a large force of road going employees whose mission is
    to visit all Apple dealers and show them the latest Apple hardware
    and software.  They also ensure that Apple products are prominently
    displayed, functioning properly, and that the salespeople have a
    working knowledge of the machine.  When CBM decided to sell the
    Amiga through dealerships, they made absolutely no commitment like
    Apple to keep the dealers well greased.  As a result of CBM's lack
    of dealer support, Amigas began to rust from non-use in dealer
    showrooms.  Sure, techno-types bought 'em, but practically noone
    else did.  My local Computerland store, from whom I bought my Amiga in
    October of '85, stopped selling the machine last summer.  There
    wasn't a single sales person in the store who knew a damn thing
    about the Amiga, except that it could somehow be coaxed into displaying
    pretty pictures.
    
    I blame CBM for that sad state of affairs.  When Atari started selling
    STs, ole Jack was smart enough to know that since they couldn't
    keep a large force of ST promoters on the road, the only way to
    sell the machine was thru mass merchandising and grass roots support.
    One religious warrior/user is a lot cheaper than a full time employee,
    right?   CBM made the decision to go the dealer root, and then totally
    dropped the ball.  Now, the Amiga is 1.5 years old, new machines
    are available that match it's capabilities (albeit at a much higher
    price), and the installed base is pitiful.  Nothing can undo the
    events of the past year and a half, but I still think that someone
    should be shot for the way the whole Amiga affair was handled.
    
     

    A few months after the Amiga was announced, I started seeing
    commercials on TV with a little boy jumping on a bed or something
    (it's a bit foggy) touting the Amiga as giving the creative edge.
    The commercial was attractive and I thought that Commodore had finally
    committed itself to a marketing scheme. 
    
    Does anybody know why those adds were discontinued? 
    

    Wall Street 1-MAY places any fallout on Gould.  A heir of a Sportwears
    business, the article details his tripping from one business to
    another.  He came into CBM in a cash crunch.  The article details
    how the man operates in the "Delegate and then kill'em" mode.
    
    The article further details Goulds' inablility to understand a high
    tech business.  I understand his training was as a lawyer.
    
    I hope this article isn't a smear move.  Time will tell all.

Re: .15

>    Does anybody know why those ads were discontinued? 

I have been told that they were discontinued for the same reason Commodore
had massive layoffs:  The bankers that loaned Commodore all the money gave
the orders.  The bankers told Commodore to cut costs by laying off workers
and stopping advertising or they would close Commodore down.  Personally,
I didn't see *any* Commodore TV ads for *any* products until just before
last Christmas.  Then I saw one ad for the mouse for the 64/128.

If Commodore wasn't advertising the 64 and 128, I find it no great surprise
they didn't advertise the Amiga.

Commodore - Timing is a bit off
   The May issue of Commodore's magazine has a smiling picture of Tom Rattigan
 on its cover and advertises an "exclusive" interview with the Commodore CEO.
 Inside, more than a dozen photos of Mr. Rattigan accompany a five-page story
 that carries the headline "This look bright with Tom Rattigan at the helm."
 The thing is, Mr. Rattigan is no longer at the helm. He's not even with the
 company. He and five other senior executives were ousted in the past two weeks
 after he lost a power struggle with Chiarman Irving Gould, and Mr. Rattigan
 has sued the company for $9 million. The magazines, which are still on may
 newstands, reached members of the press last week with cover letters drawing
 attention to the Rattigan interview. The letters were dated April 22 - the
 very day Mr. Rattigan left the company and filed his lawsuit saying he had
 been fired the previous week.
	{The Wall Street Journal, 4-May-87, p. 38}