[Coco] New CoCo videos from Radio Shack

Fri Sep 14 11:14:55 EDT 2012

I can tell you that even though "retro" is as popular as ever, efforts to
monetize it have been hit or miss, and a company like RadioShack would be
unlikely to want to pursue efforts like the ones you describe below, which
would never pay off in sales versus effort. It's all too easy to project
what WE want on what others might want. There are many different levels of
retro enthusiasts. I'll give the upcoming Atari Flashback 4 from AtGames,
which I've recently reviewed, as an example. This unit plays 75 classic
Atari 2600 games and has similar styling to the classic hardware. The
expectation is to sell several hundred thousand units, and it will be
carried by major retailers like Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and Amazon, and will
sell for $50. Now, it does a great job of emulating the Atari 2600, but
it's not perfect, with the occasional not-quite-right sound or colors. REAL
fans will accept nothing less than perfection that only the real hardware
can provide and will be VERY critical of this. They'll also want things
like SD card slots to add their own ROMs. Here's the thing, though, these
REAL fans only number in the thousands, but those who remember the system
and may want to re-live their youth in a casual fashion, won't really
notice or care, and they come in far greater numbers. THAT'S who makes
possible something like the Flashback 4, where you can target the
not-quite-perfect engineering that will still appease the greatest number
of buyers.

Let's also face facts, RadioShack is more or less a cell phone store these
days. The fact that many stores even have a DIY section is amazing in and
of itself.

Again, it's still important to keep all options and avenues open, but we
sometimes need to put ourselves in others' shoes, particularly when it
comes to things like profit and motivation.

===================================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade,
Inc.<http://www.armchairarcade.com>
===================================================
Authored Books<http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1>and
Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to get
in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
===================================================

On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 10:53 AM, Juan Castro <jccyc1965 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Retrocomputing, if you count all classic platforms combined, is probably
> quite huge. I could think a number of ways a company like RS could make a
> killing therein. What about...
>
> ...a new computer monitor, good like any other you see around and perfectly
> buyable by anybody who doesn't give a rodent's sphincter about retro, but
> which accepts 15 kHz RGB?
> ...new hardware for classic computers, like disk emulators?
> ...RS-sponsored retro meetings?
>
> Not a marketing guy, and my point of view is admittedly slanted, so I'm not
> sure if those or others would make marketing sense. Boisy, what about
> floating these ideas (and others I failed to think of right now) with your
> cool new friends?
>
> Juan
>
> On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Bill Loguidice <bill at armchairarcade.com
> >wrote:
>
> > RadioShack is planning a push at a later date to their Twitter and
> Facebook
> > accounts, both of which are heavily subscribed. Correctly so, I think,
> they
> > didn't want to do too much promotion now due to all the buzz with the
> > recent tech announcements, particularly the one from Apple, which would
> > have muted most of the reaction. Either way, though, these types of
> videos
> > probably don't have a great deal of general interest, but you've still
> got
> > to try.
> >
> > As for the other questions, we'll definitely investigate all possible
> > avenues for the book, including some type of partnership with RadioShack,
> > though that is of course a long-shot (their stores are simply not set up
> > anymore to carry books outside of a few of the stores with the "hacker"
> > sections). It's still a bit early in the process to determine anything
> > final with the book's ultimately destination, but we'll definitely keep
> > everyone up-to-date. Thanks!
> >
> > -Bill
> >
> > ===================================================
> > Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade,
> > Inc.<http://www.armchairarcade.com>
> > ===================================================
> > Authored Books<
> > http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1>and
> > Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to
> get
> > in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
> > ===================================================
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 10:05 AM, Brian Blake <random.rodder at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > On 9/14/2012 9:15 AM, Aaron Wolfe wrote:
> > >
> > >> The first has 300+ views now.  That is a little above average for a
> > >> video mentioned on this list but not overwhelming.  I did post it in
> > >> the coco facebook group as well, maybe that helped a little.  Not sure
> > >> what other 'advertising' was done and I'm not sure what kind of
> > >> response RS considers "good".  I guess it seems to be getting the
> > >> attention that most CoCo things get but not much beyond that, I can
> > >> see how that might look good or bad depending on expectations.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > I don't know if it'll generate anymore traffic, but, I embedded the
> vids
> > > on my site. Last I knew there were a few guys to are not on the list
> who
> > > watched my site - they've probably been bored as hell for the last
> year,
> > > tho...
> > >
> > >
> > > --
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> > > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > > http://five.pairlist.net/**mailman/listinfo/coco<
> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco>
> > >
> >
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> >
>
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