Display article   Subject:  August 1992
   04/30/97   19:53:54


TANDY USER GROUP NEWSLETTER...........................AUGUST 1992

Material contained herein may be reproduced in whole or in part
in user group newsletters.  Please quote source as Tandy
Corporation/Radio Shack.  The company cannot be responsible for
inaccuracies or for information which changes prior to or after
publication.

Send questions/suggestions to:  Ed Juge, Director of Market
Planning, Radio Shack, 700 One Tandy Center, Fort Worth, TX
76102.


The Press and "Expectations"

At the dawn of personal computing, when it was Tandy, Apple and
Commodore, the press began to speculate about a computer in every
home.  Industry insiders agreed it was possible, but only after a
significant amount of software was available, prices dropped, and
computers became easier to use.  Within a year or so, some
publications were proclaiming the dismal failure of the industry
to create a home market.  We tried to tell them, "None of the
prerequisites are in place.  We never expected it in a year or
two."  Today, some researchers claim as many as 25% of American
homes have PCs.  I'd say that is a market. There were those, I
too, I'm ashamed to say, who once claimed, "Nobody needs color
screens.  You can't do anything with color that you can't do with
monochrome easier and cheaper."  Boy, was I wrong!

Now, I read in Windows Magazine an editorial by my friend, Editor
Fred Langa, announcing that "Multimedia is Dead."  That's
interesting, because it hasn't really lived yet.

The MPC Marketing Council and every maker of MPCs that I know of,
has said the market wont "take off" until the volume of
multimedia software reaches critical mass. Fred says, "Multimedia
has no real life of its own.  It's really just an assortment of
techniques and technologies that work to augment other
applications.  That's why the idea of the MPC (a separate class
of multimedia personal computers) didn't exactly take the world
by storm."

Congratulations, Fred, you almost have multimedia figured out!
It was never intended to be a separate class of computers.

Multimedia is an enhancement to mainline, industry- standard
PCs... just like VGA graphics is.  In fact, upgrading the PC on
your desk right now (I'm positive Fred has a 386SX or better)
costs just about the same VGA cost in its early days.

Fred adds, "I'd sure love to be able to make better business use
of the audio capabilities built right into every copy of Windows
3.1.  With OLE, for example, and the right hardware, I could
embed a voice memo inside a spreadsheet (or any file), send the
spreadsheet to coworkers and have them hear a commentary..."

But, Fred!  Multimedia can be that "right hardware."  The MPC
spec calls for audio hardware that can go beyond your meager
desire... it can mix several types of audio, and play them back'
in very high-quality stereo.  In very simple terms, MPC is that
audio subsystem, plus a CD-ROM drive with fast transfer rate.

If you don't want your kids to enjoy "Grandma and Me" on your
machine, thatrs your privilege.  By the way, you can also set up
your MPC to play a soothing classical CD in the background while
you type your next editorial.

The MPC standard is a base-level standard.  It's affordable --
maybe inconsequential to magazine editors who stay supplied with
evaluation samples of the very latest, fastest boxes our industry
has can build.  It's expandable, so on the off chance you want to
get into DVI or some other advanced multimedia capability, you
can add it right on top of a base MPC machine.

We'll have to discuss this in a couple of years.  It should be
interesting to see how the market progresses.


3830 SL Gets Rave Review

PC LapTop Magazine for August reviewed the new 3830 SL.  "Based
on the (performance) ratings, Tandy's 3830 SL is an outstanding
performer on the computing level and an average performer on the
hard disk level."

The editors called the 3830 SL, "... one of the best notebook
computers for running Windows yet," and said, "The powerful
processor, combined with the built-in trackball and big hard
drive, makes running Windows on this portable truly a natural
process -- not a struggle."


New Tandy 1000 RSX

Here's a new, very affordable PC that should be in the stores by
the time you read this.  The Tandy. 1000 RSX computer uses a
25 MHz 386 SX processor with full 16-bit bus, 1MB RAM, expandable
to 9 MB on the main board.  It comes with serial, parallel and
mouse port, a mouse, 3.5", 1.44 MB disk drive, 101-key enhanced
keyboard, real-time clock and Tandy Enhanced Sound circuitry.
The video is SuperVGA with 256K VRAM expandable to 512K.  You'll
find an 80287-25 coprocessor socket, volume control, stereo
headphone  and microphone jacks, and two 16-bit expansion board
slots.  You'll find, already installed on the 52 MB SmartDrive,
MS.-DOS 5.0, Print Companion, America Online and the 23 DeskMate.
and DeskMate Home Organizer Applications.  Is this machine
"Windows. 3.1 Capable?"  You bet!  In fact, it has a slightly
faster graphics chip than found in the 2500 SX series.  And all
of this comes in at a price of only $999.95, or $1,299.90 with
VGM-220 monitor, at participating Radio Shack stores and dealers
nationwide.


New VGM-340 Affordable, Low-Emission Monitor

Radio Shack. has a new SuperVGA Monitor.  It has a dot pitch of
.39 mm, and up to 1024 x 768 (interlaced) resolution.  Even
better... the VGM-340 meets the Swedish MPRII guidelines for
lower electrostatic, magnetic and alternating current emissions
that many of you have been requesting.  Many school districts,
state and local governments are now requiring this feature.


Your Questions

Why doesn't Radio Shack or Tandy initiate a trade-in program?

First, Radio Shack has never accepted trade-ins on any of its
products.  Our business isn't structured to be able to do that.
We and others have from time to time run promotions where we
accepted trades on old computers "in any condition," allowing
about $100 on them if you traded on an upscale new model.

Frankly, you can sell almost any working PC in the classified ads
of your local paper for several times that amount.  It just
wasn't an attractive offer, or a very popular one.

Trade-ins in most fields, require that the dealer either 1) pad
his new price or 2) give you a very low trade.  At the current
price of new PCs -- ours and others -- you aren't likely to get
any trades at all.  Prices have never been lower, and neither
have profit margins. While it would be a great PR move, and
welcomed by everyone who ever wanted to trade up, it's just not
economically possible.

There are upgrade possibilities on the horizon.  Intel's strategy
for their '486 chip family is to allow upgrading via their
OverdriveV chip family.  For example, you can upgrade a 4825 SX
(25 MHz 486 SX) to a 486 DX that runs at 50 MHz internally, by
simply plugging in the new chip.

At the DX2 chip  introduction, the company hinted their path
might not stop there.

Why hasn't Tandy and Radio Shack responded to the recent price
cuts?

Respond to them?  We were one of the first to reprice with our
new strategy, announced in February '92.  Compare (pardon the
expression) apples to apples, and you'll be surprised.  The 2500
SX/25 is a system packed with extras... 85 MB HD, a mouse,
digital sound, DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1 and Microsoft Works for
Windows, at $1,299.   The best superstore price I've seen on
Compaq ProLinea 3/25 with DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, mouse, works and
a monitor is just under $1,500.  That puts the two machines on
just about an equal footing, except you don't have to drive to a
superstore or mail order your 2500 SX/25.  And, you get local
service and support after the sale.

And now, you might compare with the RSX, described above.

At $2,699 with monitor, our 4850 EP 50 MHz 486 DX-2 computer is
an absolute steal compared to anything I've seen in computer
stores. Tandy's new 1992 pricing strategy makes us very
competitive -- and -- you have local service and support.


Why do you change models so often?  I can't keep up!

It's not us... it's technology.  Our new strategy does call for
keeping up with the latest changes as technology and pricing
permit.

It would be far more economical (and profitable) for us to "lock
in" a product for a year or two.  But, we can't do that and bring
you the latest in technology, or the benefit of price reductions
as they come available for us.  Unfortunately, change is a fact
of life in this industry.  That's about it.

See you next month!
