by Jon A. Bell
Magazine lead time is an interesting phenomenon. I'm writing an editorial for the December issue (due out in November) just as the last warmth of Indian summer has fled New England. It's given way to gray skies, chill winds, falling multi-colored leaves and the smell of smoke-Bradbury weather.
What lead time forces an editor to do is to write for the future. Often, his or her predictions will be proven false in the time between the writing of an editorial and its publication. Nevertheless, one sometimes gets lucky when repeating announcements about products which, one hopes, will be released soon after the publication of the article. And, when your news concerns Atari Corporation rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes of corporate short-sightedness, people should sit up and take notice. Those people are our readers.
In the October 8th issue of Forbes is an article on Jack Tramiel and his plans for the revitalization of Atari. Tramiel conducted a closed-door meeting with a group of venture capitalists at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco on September 13th. Tramiel plans to raise $50 million by the selling of debentures, enabling backers to convert these into a small percentage of Atari stock, worth millions if and when Atari goes public. Tramiel also asserted that he would build Atari's sales from the present $500 million to over $1 billion by the end of 1985 and-the battle cry of the new Atari-announced an entirely new product line, most of which should be introduced early next year.
As I mentioned in the editorial of our October issue (23), second-guessing the computer industry is not an enviable task. We have endeavored not to print rumors unless we received confirmation through a number of reputable sources. Nevertheless, I think that enough has been said in the pages of Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, InfoWorld and the irreverent (but always fascinating) Jeffries Report to justify speculation in our pages.
The first of the (rumored) products, due in time for Christmas and the mad retail rush, is an expanded 800XL. No further word has come on the 600XL, although it's likely to be dropped. The new 800XL is supposed to have 128K (bank-selectable) and a stereo sound chip. Another product mentioned is a printer for under $100.00. The most exciting news, however, is what we've heard about Atari's higher-end computer systems. Insiders report the lights burning late at night, as Atari tries to whip up two computer systems in time for showing at the January Consumer Electronics Show. The first machine is reported to be a 16-bit computer, to be priced above the 800XL. The second machine is reportedly a 32 -bit Macintosh work-alike, with a shockingly low price.
Speaking of 32-bit machines, many observers see Tramiel's lawsuit against Amiga as merely a delaying tactic. If Tramiel does indeed have a 68000-based machine waiting in the wings, slowing down the release of the Amiga-built machine might enable him to get the edge over Commodore.
Finally, if Tramiel can manufacture a 68000-based computer which will function as a Macintosh emulator and offer it at a rock-bottom price, he will have performed two business miracles. The first was to take a faltering typewriter company (Commodore) and turn it into a billion-dollar-a-year home computer company. The second would be to take a company that suffered the worst financial setback since Chrysler and sent it rocketing back to success. That would be Atari, and that's what we've been waiting for.