Reporter’s Notebook : Atari Supplies Fun and Games at Computer Show
This was Atari’s first time at Comdex, and from all appearances, the reborn Sunnyvale company was one of the biggest successes at last week’s computer industry trade show here.
Even during the slow times when other booths attracted only glances from the crowds milling around, the Atari booth, located just a bit off the beaten track, was consistently jammed. Often people were standing two and three deep at each machine on display, allowing only the most adroit of elbowers to get through for a look.
But appearances can be deceiving.
The booth was not nearly as large as many of its competitors’ display areas and was not occupied by Atari alone. Rather, it was joined by more than a dozen different companies that make software and other specialized products for Atari’s jazzy graphics-and-sound ST computer, each with their own little niche in the exhibit.
The exhibit bolstered Atari’s argument that its machines have grown up since the days when games were its bread, butter and main course. Even so, more than a few of the Atari STs were being hogged by arcade refugees intently zapping colorful alien enemies.
Another well-attended booth belonged to Aldus, whose PageMaker software is used with Apple’s Macintosh and other computers for desktop publishing systems.
Aldus had continuously running mini-classes in page design, combining text, art and typesetting techniques. Would-be students jostled for seats at the Macs and Hewlett-Packard terminals that Aldus had set up for the instructional demonstrations.
Double take: Burroughs and Sperry each had committed to booth space before their merger this past summer. The exhibits were designed and set up while the combined company’s name was still a secret, and last Monday morning, new signs were hastily slapped up at each booth, proclaiming “We’re Unisys now.”
Said one Burroughs representative: “We call these booths Unisys east and Unisys west.”
With about 1,200 exhibits spread through five major halls, many of the companies relied on time-honored gimmicks to attract the crowd’s attention. Besides the reams of informational handouts, there were buttons galore, pens, magnets and bookmarks; some companies staged drawings for equipment such as printers, software and even a video recorder or two.
Ziff-Davis, publisher of several computer-related magazines, put attendees’ photos on the “cover” of a pretend publication. At International Business Machines’ booth, the Charlie Chaplin look-alike who stars in its commercials entertained during an otherwise serious video presentation on the company’s offerings.
It is said that Comdex’s 80,000-plus attendees don’t spend as much money at Las Vegas’ gaming tables as the 5,000 mining engineers who convene here once a year. Part of the reason may be the plethora of receptions and parties sponsored by companies and trade publications.
Dispelling the “nerd” image of techies, thousands of attendees donned suits and ties and changed their tennies for wing-tips, bypassed the tables and made party-hopping their favored sport.
One sure way to increase the odds of finding the liveliest parties was to follow the party animals: One Comdex attendee seen at all the best gatherings wore a fake-fur hat shaped to resemble a moose head; another sported a fine-feathered fake bird on his shoulder.
