XPost: comp.sys.cbm, rec.games.video.classic   
   From: starsabre@net.att   
      
   In article ,   
    "Sam Gillett"  wrote:   
      
   > Another possible scenario is that after Jack bought Atari and studied the   
   > market that Atari was in, and Atari's position in that market, he saw the   
   > handwriting on the wall (so to speak).  Namely, Nintendo was positioned to   
   > kick Atari's ass (as well as other game console manufacturers).   
   >   
   > Jack tried to save Atari by shifting Atari's focus to personal computers.  He   
   > damn near pulled it off too.  Jack almost saved Atari!  He might have been   
   > able to had he had more support from the no-change numbskulls entrenched   
   > deeply in Atari's corporate organization.   
   >   
   > Think about that possibility for a little while...  unless it hurts your   
   > brain too much when you try.   
      
   My brain isn't big enough to conceive the above fantasy.  Jack Tramiel   
   didn't do any kind of market research.  He bought the company on a fast   
   track.  From when he approached Time Warner to close of sale was   
   regarded by some financial analysts back in the day as among the fastest   
   spin off sales then recorded.  He came in with an offer, and within   
   weeks the sale was complete.  He never entered Atari's offices until   
   after the sale, and on the second day in, he cancelled all video game   
   projects and started issuing pink slips.   
      
   He wanted the name and the icon for his own project, plain and simple.   
   What he bought and what he wanted never jibed, and thus he hastened   
   Atari's demise.   
      
   jt   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)