Whilst at the European Computer Trade Show on Sunday 4th September 1994, we
were lucky enough to be able to have a chat with the man behind the current
Management Buy Out attempt on Commodore International.

The setting for this was not a plush Commodore suite, but because Commodore
were not officially at the show, their business was conducted over one of the
tables in the corner of the bar.

We started by wishing him good luck with the MBO, and proceeded to ask what the
present situation was with it. We were told that although the deal had not been
finialised, they were very confident with what was happening, and an
announcement will be made within the next 2 weeks. A relaunch event for
developers and dealers has been planned for October 13th, with more details to
follow at a later date.

When questioned as too whether this would leave enough time to get machines to
the Christmas Market, he said that although they would not have the quantity
that they want, there will be machines on the shelves for Christmas. We also
discussed the complete lack of A4000's available, and he stated that this
problem would be addressed immediately the MBO has been announced, because the
A4000 is the machine in the highest demand.

The last point that was mentioned was whether or not, Amiga International
would be assisting software companies in an effort to bring some high quality
games and application software to the market. The answer to this was yes, and
to my mind this is a very encouraging statement. Commodore always lacked the
ability to see software as being essential to the success of a machine, and
this lack of quality software partially led to their downfall. If the likes of
MicroSoft were persuaded to develop software, then more and more people might
use the machine.

We had finished the chat now, but David left my gathered associates and I with
one last comment :

"Cheers lads, thanks for your support - we need it"

We can only wish him the greatest of luck, and look forward to meeting him
again on October 13th at the relaunch.


Jwwright@cix.compulink.co.uk