compt.sys.editor.desk

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    compt.sys.editor.desk                          By:  Jason Compton 
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I really don't want to think about how many times I've had to write this
editorial.  Oh, the wording is different, and the people and the places are
somewhat different, but it's never fun to have to deliver the same news
more than once...and in the past few years, I've said this a lot.

But it still has to be said.  No, there is no major news involving the
Amiga acquisition.  No, it was not completed on or near September 20th,
which is the date we all thought was THE date.  Yes, we all want it to be
done really soon and realize that waiting is annoying and unproductive.
And yes, the discussions are continuing, which means that VIScorp still
wants to buy and Escom's trustee still wants to sell.

I'm not sure what's scarier...the fact that I've said this so many times
over the years in Amiga Report, or the fact that thanks to the people at
CUCUG's Amiga Web Directory, you can do a search on all the old Amiga
Report issues and find out for yourself.  Seriously, CUCUG does a great job
and Amiga Report is very thankful for the AR hosting, AR searching, Agnes
Amiga-web related searching, and the monstrous Amiga Web linking they
provide.  You'd do yourself a favor to check out CUCUG's Amiga Web
Directory if you never have.  I'll go so far as to say it is for Amiga Web
users what Aminet is to Amiga FTP users.  http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html
is the magic link.

Some people on Usenet are even more annoyed than I am at hearing me say
that we've got to wait longer, which they attribute to my position as
Communications Manager handling Amiga inquiries and news for VIScorp.  I
suppose to a large extent, they're right.  Nobody likes to hear that they
have to wait, least of all from an official source.  (I seem to remember
that during the Commodore auction, we were hardly ever lucky enough to get
a trustee or court-related announcement, which of course meant that at any
given time you could discount or accept any rumor) Now you good readers
(many of which are on Usenet, following the same threads and getting just
as annoyed) have to read it here, in Amiga Report, which is still my
magazine and will stay that way.  That may make you even more upset.

If this should happen, just keep this in mind: if it wasn't me at VIScorp,
it would be someone else as the Communications Manager handling Amiga
inquiries and news.  And that someone else would tell the Editor-in-Chief
of Amiga Report that he had to wait like everyone else.  And he'd be right,
too.  I DO have to wait along with everyone else.

Of course, the Editor in Chief of Amiga Report would tell this
Communications Manager that he felt VIScorp needed to act decisively, to
push ahead with the Amiga and make the community feel informed and kept up
to date with the happenings of the deal.  The Communications Manager would
say he and the company were doing everything possible at the moment to push
ahead with the acquisition.  At a personal level, he might even point out
to the Editor in Chief that there was only so much he could personally do,
since the acquisition cash was hardly coming out of his own pocket, and
that there was only so much any company could do, because sometimes the
scenarios look a bit different to a Communications Manager than they do to
an Editor in Chief.

The bottom line of this exchange is this: we all hate to wait.  You hate to
wait, I hate to wait, our writers and editors hate to wait, and VIScorp
hates to wait.  Nobody benefits.  However, if we believe in this thing that
is the Amiga, and will do our individual best to keep the unpopular belief
that computing should be, all at once, productive, fun, and personal, it's
a bit more bearable.  Why do you think I got involved in Amiga Report in
the first place?  Tired of watching events unfold around me, I decided to
get involved in a productive way.

Does being a contractor for VIScorp affect my ability to report on the
Amiga?  In a word, no.  What would the hypothetical Communications Manager
of VIScorp tell the Editor in Chief of Amiga Report that I personally, as
both, can't tell you now?  Nothing.  But since I am in the unique position
of being both people, I can tell you that the view from the business inside
is not the same as it is from the journalistic outside.  Trying to find a
harmony between them, ah, that's the challenge.

Enjoy the issue.

- Jason

PS: It's been quite some time since we've had a good, educational
discussion threaded through several issues of AR.  I'd like to suggest a
topic.  Please submit your thoughts, preferably in letter or opinion
article form, on the following issue: A good system of "Electronic Cash"
could help promote the growth of Amiga businesses (specifically, the
third-party and retailer markets) worldwide.

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