The Best Things Come In Small Packages

[Duce]

They do not have a good track record of providing believable photos, so a C= applique on a I/O shield doesn't mean much to me.

Remember the "factory photos" debacle?  lol

[Darrin]

Good one Darrin!

That is exactly the number I was guessing they had sold so far too.  I guess great minds think alike.

Like everyone else here (except maybe one member), I doubt that any of these exist yet and this is just an idea that Barry and his staff (Leo), have thought of trying out.  The reason for the 4 to 6 week delivery time is so Leo can order all the separate parts at the lowest prices he can find online and then wait the one to two weeks for them to get delivered.  Then it takes a few more days for Leo to take the case to the engraver shop to get the Amiga logo lettering engraved into the case.  Another day to take a picture, so they will have something besides a photoshop version to show everyone two months from now and  then another week  to assemble the parts in the newly engraved case, so they can put it all into a generic box with a photoshoped label pasted on it, so it will be ready to ship to the buyer.

Ta Da! 4 to 6 weeks later you get their amazing new "Amiga" delivered to the 2 buyers dumb enough to buy one of these systems.  8 weeks later CUSA has to come up with a new plan to try to make money from the Commodore & Amiga names that they have purchased, because their plans so far aren't getting them anywhere and they are probably starting to realize that CUSA is loosing money too quickly and with all the bad press and lack of sales, they will soon be out of business and can't resell the only thing that they have that is worth anything, the license to use the Commodore and Amiga names.  At least let us hope that they cannot sub-lease this license that then purchased to use those names.

I think you hit the nail on the head there.  

[Optimus]

Now Barry has announced an Official Reseller program, selling the barebones cases in lots of 10. Conversation overheard at CUSA headquarters:
 
Leo: "The website still shows zero sales of the Amiga Mini, even after lowering the price"
Barry:""F*ck. I can't just double or triple the price of the components and have people buy them?"
Leo: "No Sir, it appears people are indeed capable of simple math. And, now that I read Amiga.org and Amigaworld.net, it looks like our configuration will never work."
Barry:"F*ck. Did we sell any barebones units?"
Leo: "Yes, a few, I think my mad photoshop skills fooled them"
Barry:"Excellent, so we can sell those for triple our cost!!! Let's sell these cases to someone else and pass off making it work and support to them. Hell, we can even pass off COS support to them."
Leo: "Yes Sir!!!"

[commodorejohn]

So whoever called this as a reseller scam, give yourself a pat on the back. Then have a good laugh at Barry for thinking anyone will be dumb enough to fall for it.

[giZmo350]

CUSA needs to STOP trying to use the ppl of this forum as marketing strategists and STOP insulting the intelligence A.O. users! CUSA seems to be a real :mickeymouse: operation!

[Darrin]

CUSA needs to STOP trying to use the ppl of this forum as marketing strategists and STOP insulting the intelligence A.O. users! CUSA seems to be a real :mickeymouse: operation!

Well they are partners with Disney.  

They're also f******* goofy  

[Optimus]

So whoever called this as a reseller scam, give yourself a pat on the back. Then have a good laugh at Barry for thinking anyone will be dumb enough to fall for it.

I'm a little surprised.  Barry went on rant one time on his forum that he was not interested in selling barebones units, that they were only a tiny percentage of sales and that he only did so as a service to the community.
 
Clearly that's a bunch of BS.  If he can't sell them for $2500 and make a mound of profit, he's out.

[CritAnime]

So whoever called this as a reseller scam, give yourself a pat on the back. Then have a good laugh at Barry for thinking anyone will be dumb enough to fall for it.

Wasn't it Darrin who recently mentioned stuff to do with this?

I am a little confused as to why he doesn't want to sell anything other than the Vic Mini in "big box" store. I cant see competition having very much to do with it.

[Optimus]

Barry personally requested this story be posted to Amiga.org AW.net on a thread entitled "Walt Mossberg loves the new Amiga Mini", so I'm going to ablige him:
 
http://allthingsd.com/20120321/forget-the-ultrabook-go-with-the-new-commodore/
 
When someone pointed out that the story is largely tonge-in-cheek, he deleted their post and locked the thread.  I should also point out, it doesn't seem to be written by Walt at all.
 
I love the CUSA forum.

[Darrin]

Wasn't it Darrin who recently mentioned stuff to do with this?

Yep, I've mentioned it several time as to what I "think" they're up to.  It is interesting to see how right I was.  

[Darrin]

Barry personally requested this story be posted to Amiga.org AW.net on a thread entitled "Walt Mossberg loves the new Amiga Mini", so I'm going to ablige him:
 
http://allthingsd.com/20120321/forget-the-ultrabook-go-with-the-new-commodore/
 
When someone pointed out that the story is largely tonge-in-cheek, he deleted their post and locked the thread.  I should also point out, it doesn't seem to be written by Walt at all.
 
I love the CUSA forum.

Just send him this back:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/amiga-mini-high-end-pc-wants-to-relive-commodore-glory-days-50007414/

[brownb2]

OSX is a fancy UI sitting on a Darwin UNIX distribution. I wonder what you'd make of OSX if it was based on the an Ubuntu or Debian core (and thus has better driver support, more software and is entirely, as opposed to part, open source)?

And the Mac has OSX while the "Amiga" uses a Linux distro.

[CritAnime]

Be interesting to see what comes back from it.

[koaftder]

OSX is a fancy UI sitting on a Darwin UNIX distribution. I wonder what you'd make of OSX if it was based on the an Ubuntu or Debian core (and thus has better driver support, more software and is entirely, as opposed to part, open source)?

OS X users don't have to worry about drivers, everything comes fully functional right out of the box from day one. Nearly everything from linux land compiles just fine on OS X as well.

[giZmo350]

Just send him this back:
 
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/amiga-mini-high-end-pc-wants-to-relive-commodore-glory-days-50007414/
 

Well already I'm NOT liking this person Natasha Lomas alot! LAMOS! :furious:
 
But, this would be funny! "Apple's lawyers are presumably getting ready to fire forth a barrage of cease-and-desist letters claiming it patented smallness." :lol:
 
At any rate..... nice find Darrin!
 
BTW, anyone elso spot Franko's post?
 
"
anonymous 22 March, 2012 22:32

Finally... :-)

A site that actually dares speak the truth about this whole grave robbing scam that is CUSA and their fake non Amiga products... thank you... :-)

Been an Amiga user for 26 years and still use them everyday, CUSA and Barry Altman it's owner & CEO have been spamming the Amiga forums for two years now insulting folk and along with his CTO Leo Nigro telling us "We better like it or else"... WTF !!!

Nice to see someone finally say it like it is and point out that CUSA have sod all to to with the original & real Commodore or the original and real Amiga... :-)

These products are nothing more than off the shelf PC parts, in a case you can purchase from Bay, running a free Amiga emulator under a free OS (Linux) that CUSA try to pass of as a new Amiga OS they call "Vision" (all overpriced of course)... ;-)"

[Darrin]

Be interesting to see what comes back from it.

Here's what I wrote many months ago:

It seems to me the business plan is to have lots of people use their saving to set themselves up as "official Commodore dealers", spend THEIR money to order stock, C-USA then buys units for the actual manufactures to manufactuers at a huge discount to what the "official dealers" will pay with no risk involved, slap a C= sticker on them, ship them to the dealers and then sit back and watch while the official dealers struggle to sell their already overpriced stock at an even higher price.

This would explain why C-USA are so militant against any negative posts as the last thing they want are potential investors Googling their past antics. It also explains the massive hype. Nobody is going to be keen on investing in a company run from a tiny Mall shop in Florida. You need to make bold claims about being partners with Disney, owning your own OS, having massive factories in China and hundreds of thousands of waiting customers eager to part with huge sums of cash.

It's a brilliant plan, but not exactly original. Other companies do it with womens' makeup, health food and other assorted tat every day.

When someone asked me if it was really possible, I replied:

It doesn't need to go anywhere in the long run, just in the short run because the LLC can fold up and then the people behind it just start up another business. Meanwhile, the people operating the actual dealerships are left with the expensive equipment and the financial woes.

Mind you, some do work. It is no different to selling Tupperware, Avon or Mary Kay. As long as there are people willing to invest some money then the business will continue. The lure of becomming your own boss and "making millions working from home" is quite powerful and there are lots of people offering to help you achieve this as seen by the constant TV ads, magazine ads and even posters nailed to telegraph poles all over the USA.
Can I interest you in some osterich eggs?  

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/...ents/wacky.htm

and then I wrote C=USA a sales pitch (and I want to get paid for it if they use it):

"Hi, I'm the CEO of Commodore USA and I have a unique business plan for select people like you which is guaranteed to make you rich! Interested? You bet you are, and together we are going to make more money than you imagined. Do you know what was the biggest selling personal computer in the world? The Commodore 64! It sold millions all over the world and hardware and software is still being produced for it today. Well, we're back. We've already launched a brand new model called the C64x with our partners Disney and sold out in just a few months. Demand exceeded my wildest expectation so much that I had to put back plans to supply a major high street retail chain with hundreds of thousands of units! So, you must be asking yourself "How does this affect me?". Well, I've had a major rethink based on the success so far. Why should we give these computers to a major retailer who avoids taxes, pays their staff minimum wage and who has no enthusiasm for the product? Why don't I just harness the energy of a select few. A select and highly motivated bunch of people like yourselves who are willing to work hard and achieve the American Dream! Who here wants to be rich? Show me your hands, who wants to be rich? Yeah, we all do and together we're going to be. Rich and successful! You see, together as a team we can have a combined buying power as great as HP or Dell which lowers the purchasing cost of components. Using my extensive network of contacts and factories in China and my established transportation network we could buy $1000 state-of-the-art machines and sell them easily for $2000 or more! Yes, that's right, you can double your money instantly and then keep on doubling it! I produce the computers and have them shipped to the USA where they are configured for the customer. You gentlemen pay a small fee to become an elite Commodore authorised Dealer and then purchase a minimum stock from me each month or quarter in order to meet your demand. I ship the units directly to you. You sell them and you can make thousands of dollars each month! Imagine you invest $5,000 to buy 5 machines. You sell them for $10,000 and you have made a profit of $5000 for that month! Now imagine you reinvest all of that $10,000 and buy 10 machines the next month and sell them for $20,000, you've made $15,000 in just two months! Now do it again for the next month and then the next month... do you know how much you could make in 1 year? Do you? I'll tell you... over 20 MILLION DOLLARS! 20 MILLION! Not bad for a $5000 investment, eh? Imagine investing $10,000! Anyone here making $20,000,000 a year? No? Anyone here want to make $20,000,000 a year? Yeah, I thought so. OK, who is ready to sign up?"