CommodoreUSA CEO Interview Answers

[WotTheFook]

@ Wildstar128

If your argument  about mainstream computers is true, then how do you explain the popularity of the Raspberry Pi?  It's NOT about beaing mainstream at all; it's about going back to the roots of where we all came from in early computing and re-inventing it for now; the Raspberry Pi has managed that and it can still perform as a NAS, play HDMI video etc. and it's dirt cheap. I'd imagine it's capable of emulation too. They even plan to teach programming it in schools, so it's kind of re-inventing the BBC Micro era.

If they were to put it into a keyboard case they'd have the modern equivalent of computers from the BBC, Spectrum and C64 through to the Amiga.

The guys that came up with the Raspberry Pi know what market they are targetting and it's working for them. Barry is just thrashing around trying to find the computing equivalent of a lottery ticket and that's why everything he touches turns to crap - it's the total opposite of the Midas Touch. He could learn a lot from these people, but Barry knows that he is right, that everyone else is wrong and that's all that matters.

[WotTheFook]

I don't think you read my post very carefully. My point is this: actual Raspberry Pi orders equalled the claimed production run for the C64x (to say nothing of whatever the total is for actual C64x sales) on the first day.

Exactly; this was my point as well. I'm glad someone else got it, in amongst all of the trolling.

Raspberry Pi are showing Commodore USA how it should be done. Make it simple, make it cheap but capable, make it so that people can tinker with it and let them loose with it.

This was the concept behind the first home 8-bit computers, like the Acorn and Spectrum as well as the C64 orignal.

[WotTheFook]

Christ on a bike.... this is like having a bird's eye view of Hitler's bunker in 1944, with everyone ranting and raving and moving imaginary armies around without realising than the war is lost and that the Russians are about to kick the door in.

You are all arguing tiny points of anal detail about how, where, when and what he did wrong without realising that Commodore USA has completely and utterly missed the point by a country mile. Analysing every bit of propaganda back and forth won't get you away from an inescapable truth; Barry couldn't sell water to a man on fire and still insists on trying to sell freezers to Eskimoes.

Most of us already have an uber PC that wipes the floor with anything he has cobbled together thus far, but Barry's market isn't necessarily us, is it? If he had his head nailed on properly, he would be trying to make a simple programmable PC for about the price of a Nintendo DS, in order to try and interest our kids in something other than games.

Schools are also starting to talk about teaching proper computing again and this is what could create his new market, if could see the wood for the bloody trees in the way. If our kids start wanting to learn programming, that could be a potentially big market and we could all get to take our kids along on a similar journey that we all took to get where we are today.

By the way, Barry, this is the concept behind the Raspberry Pi, so if you are thinking of nicking it for your own use, make sure you do it properly, as your competitor already has a lead on you.

[WotTheFook]

If there's this much arguing about how many units sold and how much money went where and on what, I bet the IRS are going to need Stephen Hawking to explain Barry's accounts to them....

[WotTheFook]

Barry knows how to run businesses and isn't someone who has never ran a business. He may not be the brightest individual in the world but experience and knowledge goes hand in hand.

Thanks Captain Obvious; I think most of us have already worked out that Barry probably knows a friend who has run a business but has never ran a business himself, from evidence seen thus far.

Experience and knowledge? In what, exactly? 'Photoshopping for Dummies', 'Plagarism Made Simple' and 'How To Use Ctrl-C And Ctrl-V For Fun and Profit' doesn't count as Marketing by any stretch of the imagination. I doubt that Barry could market condoms in a brothel properly.

The only bit of that statement you made that I actually believe is that Barry isn't the sharpest tool in the box. He's a chancer, a bull****ter who blows sunshine up people's arses so that they part with money. As for a business plan, there isn't one, we can all see that.

Barry needs to read the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes....

[WotTheFook]

@ Wildstar / Middleman and all of the other "CUSA Defence League" members...

(I'd love to see a film made with that title LOL)

Have you tried introducing Barry to a Market Research course? If not, some of his cash that is going down the gurgler at a rate of knots may be well spent in hiring some market researchers before it's too late....

Here's a hint for free; Eskimoes don't need freezers.....

[WotTheFook]

How C-USA sees The Amiga Community, versus how we see CUSA; can you work out which is which...??

[WotTheFook]

@ WildSpeculation128

Do you work in CUSA's Marketing or Accounting departments, by any chance...??

The crucial bit that Barry is missing is his Business Plan. "This time next year, we'll all be millionaires" isn't a business plan. Neither is charging $$$$ for overpriced rebranded stuff that you can get via eBay.

When you can get CUSA to come back from Fantasy Island, maybe you can get Barry to move beyond his 'concept' and 'vision' and get him to explain his business plan to us. You know, the plan that got him the funding to try and sell what he's done so far?

We don't need to explain it - CUSA does, though....

Other than that, GTFO.

[WotTheFook]

I am not leaving this forum because you guys distort everything everyone says.

I mean this is a constructive way, believe me.

CUSA have not been without their own share of distortions and truth-bending. The question that needs answering is this one; who distorted the truth first...??

[WotTheFook]

"I didn't come here for an argument!"
"Yes you did!"
"No I didn't!!"

/monty python

[WotTheFook]

Therein lies the problem, Wildstar. Why does it have to be "mainstream"? What's wrong with being quirky and a little different? Why try and compete with too many things at the same time? Why try and sell the same thing into a saturated market, where you have no USP or differentiation? This is exactly why CUSA are shooting in the dark with their ideas and have no clear idea of their target market.

Some of us on here have done sales and marketing....

If you are going back to grass-roots programming to teach the next generation how do program properly, you don't need an uber computer at all; even a netbook is over the top. The simpler it is, the easier it will be for people to understand how to program for it.

[WotTheFook]

I am not going to go weed through a million posts on 3-5 different forums with most of them across all of them.

IIRC: I believe the issue belies misunderstanding. I don't remember that much of great reading comprehension among the Commodore and Amiga users still active that I have came to known and met in person and across the forums for over a decade time frame.

This isn't an intended as an insult but it is prevalent that people don't recall what someone says verbatim after less then a day. Already, proof above. I am guessing that it had become a bad case of misunderstanding from both parties and believe me, it is hard for keep calm when you read 10-15 pages full of insults.

I think it would be better if we strive to not get emotional with our responses and it takes all parties to make that happen.

It also makes it hard to tell and get the heads and tails of each response when there is so much vitriol.

Amiga community, can we all strive for less vitriol on our conduct. Lets forget who started what. Not worth it.

Hmm... It's not what people have said that is the problem, per se; It's more about what has been said in print from the horse's mouth from false statements and posting of plagarised photographs on websites, used as CUSA's advertising, that is the issue. If CUSA's executives can't remember what they told people on websites, then "Oh what a tangled web (heh) we weave, when first we practice to deceive.."

As you allude to in your post, people who tell porkies have to have a good memory.... and people don't like being lied to....