8,732
edits
Changes
→Many user groups see unprecedented growth coming their way
TI has been "not very consumer oriented," comments Bob Utter, president of the Central Iowa 99/4A Users Group. "They produce a very good product, they just don't relate well with the product. Most of what they did right was too late."
"That computer is so good, peoplecan't believe TI is going to do it,"says Ota Jiroutek, president ofMUNCH in the Worcester, Massachusetts,area, who comments thatselling the computers for $50 was"ridiculous."
Don Donlan, president of the Hoosier Users Group in Indianapolis, Indiana, says he works with a man who bought a 99/4A for $25.
He also believes TI was "too stingy with allowing third party manufacturers to produce software." TI "tried to get all the gravy," he says.
TI's final advertising campaign, which emphasized educational uses of the computer, was praised by many of those interviewed.
=='''Shocked By Withdrawal'''==
"Shock" was the word most used
by the presidents to describe their
reactions to Tl's decision to pull out
of the home computer market.
Kavanaugh notes that a month
before the move was announced, a TI
representative attended the MSP 99
User Group meeting.
"We got a lot of assurance on TI
staying in the market," she recalls.
''We have a good computer and
want to continue to use it,'' Bathman
says. "If TI wants to get out, fine."
"It was rather shocking but people
are still rather hopeful," Jiroutek
says. Since the computers were selling
"like candy bars" during the
Christmas season, he notes, many
don't believe TI will completely drop
the machine. He has heard rumors of
another company gearing up to produce
the 99/4A.
''We feel kind of like orphans now,''
he says.
"Primarily the main response was
concern with what was going to
happen with the club,'' Kuseski says.
"We reassured everybody that the
club will continue and may be even
stronger."
"There was a marked increase in
purchasing both software and hardware,"
Papagolos says.
Initial "panic," he says, was "followed
by an intellectual evaluation
that TI was dong the only thing it
could."
Donlan sees the announcement as
drawing more persons to user
groups. The Hoosier group, he says,
has become "more close-knit and
goal-oriented.''
He points out that, because of the
"dramatic price reduction;" there
are ''literally millions of people looking
for support and direction in the
use of home computers."
Utter sees the reaction to the
announcement as'' probably not a lot
of surprise-probably more concern
whether they were going to be able to
get equipment.''
He notes that ''everyone went out
and started buying everything up."
Mills says reactions varied from
"Why did I buy it? Why did I waste
my money?" to "Now's the time to
take advantage" of the low prices.
He sees ··a rush for everybody that
can to buy a computer or add to the
system," noting that there was a lot
of ''panic'' and a feeling of ''we'd better
buy now while we an."
Mills feels that TI "could have
waited to see what Christmas sales
might have done. It could have made
a world of difference.''
Hudspeth says the move doesn't
bother most members of the Big Sky
group any more, noting that the user
group alone has several hundred
programs in its library and that
''support for software, if not from TI,
from other vendors, is going to
coninue.''
He adds, "We're not sure Tl's not
going to come back next year with,
what is it, the 99/8? Some people
really got a deal when they cut the
price and I still feel we have the finest
computer on the market.''
He compares the 99/4A favorably
with the IBM-PC, which he uses at
work.
Some user groups have changed
their emphasis since the announcement.
Papagolos reports making
more long-distance calls, trying to
gather information, along with relying
on more third party vendors for
hardware and software.
Bathman says that little has
changed for his group.
"We were always out there trying
to find the best deals,'' he says. ''Tl's
prices were relatively high compared
to things you can get in the
third party market.''
His conclusion is that "the only
people who really got hurt are TI'' as
a result of the decision to stop manufacture
of the home computer.
Donlan says the Hoosier club is
purchasing hardware to provide a
backup for members faced with a
temporary loss of their system and is
working toward developing an electronic
bulletin board. Currently, the
club is using one for all computer
users in Indianapolis.
User Groups Grow
Mills says his group is going into "a
lot more back-to-basics." In his
capacity as editor of the group newsletter,
he is rewriting a lot of articles,
he says, because the group is
growing by "leaps and bounds" and
he estimates that 75 percent of the
new members don't know the basics.
