25 September
2003
By Ray
Czosek
Today
we are talking with Russ Norrby, owner of Mr. Hardware
Computers. Russ has been a stable fixture in the Amiga
community since 1985. First off Russ I'd like to thank
you on behalf of the Amiga community as well as the
NCSCAUG members for taking the time to sit down and
answer our questions. I'd also like to thank you for
hanging in there even during the toughest times. The
dedication and determination of companies like Mr.
Hardware is truly appreciated by all.
[NCSCAUG]
Could
you please give us a brief overview of how you became
involved with Amiga computers and how Mr. Hardware came
to be?
[Mr.
Hardware]
Mr. Hardware Computers was started by Joe Rothman back
in 1985. He fell in love with the Amiga computer and
saw its great potential. I started out in 1987 doing
video editing and I started working with an Amiga 500
and TV Text. I heard of something called the "Video
Toaster" that would revolutionize the industry
and the Amiga 2000 that would make it work. I purchased
the A2000hd when it came available maxed out with 8megs
of ram, 40meg hard drive, and 2400zi internal modem.
Upon arrival the floppy drive did not work and I had
to fix the ribbon cable, my first repair. I met Joe
in 1990 and started working with him in the mid 90's
going on location to do Amiga repairs mainly on Video
Toaster systems. In April of 1999 Joe died and Pam his
wife sold me the business. I relocated it to Rocky Point,
New York.
[NCSCAUG] There
are people who still use Amiga's in their work and depend
on them for success in their day to day business. Do
you use Amiga computers to help run Mr. Hardware, and
if so, what tasks are they performing, and what software
do you use?
[Mr
Hardware]
I know we are the only Amiga dealer in the USA and perhaps
the world that runs our entire business on an Amiga.
We use our own Amiga software Retail Escort run on top
of our other software product SBase4Pro formerly SuperBase.
Even our website was made and updated on an Amiga. After
all how much does an Amiga dealer believe in it, if
he does not trust it to run his business.
[NCSCAUG]
Based on sales, customer feedback, your own interaction,
etc., what is your overall opinion of the AmigaOne so
far?
[Mr
Hardware]
It is a dream come true. The G3's and G4's offer the
next step that we have been waiting for a long time.
[NCSCAUG]
How have the sales of the AmigaOne been going,
and are you seeing more AmigaOne boards or full AmigaOne
systems being ordered?
[Mr
Hardware]
Sales have been going OK, the bulk of the customers
are waiting for OS4.0 to ship. 90% of our customers
have ordered full systems. The ram is kind of proprietary
and our ram is made specifically for us and is the only
ram out there that you can use more than one stick of
ram on the motherboard.
[NCSCAUG] There
seems to be a lot of ex-Amiga users coming back to see
what is going on in the market. Many of them are dragging
their Amiga out of storage and booting them back up
again. Has the recent activity in the Amiga community,
with users preparing for the OS4 release, led to an
overall increase in business for you on the "classic"
Amiga side as well?
[Mr
Hardware]
Funny you should mention renewed interest. I have been
getting a number of people pulling out there old Amigas
looking to upgrade them or get them running again. We
need Jim Collas back to hype up the big magazines when
OS4.0 is released.
[NCSCAUG]
What level of contact do you have with Amiga Inc., Eyetech,
and Hyperion?
[Mr
Hardware]
We have a great relationship with Alan Redhouse and
his staff at Eyetech. I call Alan once every couple
of weeks to talk shop. Ben Hermans is a great guy and
we had a great time hanging out with him at AmiWest
and running his presentation on our AmigaOne. Ben is
the chief PR man at Hyperion. Hyperion's whole staff
is incredible and I love that OS4.0 is in thier hands.
Amiga has been quiet although I have talked to Fleecy
Moss a couple of times. Expect Amiga to become very
vocal when OS4.0 comes out.
[NCSCAUG]
What
is the number one need from a dealers point of view
that you feel Amiga, Inc. is currently not fulfilling
or needs to improve upon, and are there any area's where
Amiga, Inc. excels in assisting their dealers?
[Mr
Hardware]
Communication.
[NCSCAUG]
We've
all seen the market sort of disappear in front of us
over the last few years. Many users have left, developers
had to move on to make ends meet. What has been the
one single thing that kept you supporting the Amiga
platform over the years, and how have you managed to
survive with such a small and shrinking market?
[Mr
Hardware]
I believe in the Amiga. Joe Rothman's game plan was
to be the last Amiga Dealer standing if Amiga never
produced another computer. We do all phases of the Amiga.
I believe we are the last official Amiga repair place
in the US. We also make hardware such as our keyboard
and mice adapters that enable you to use PC multimedia
keyboards and 5 button dual scroll optical mice for
your Amiga. SBasePro4 is our very powerful multirelational
database system. We also make Retail Escort and Video
Escort to help the Retail, Video, Catering company's
run their business. We sell new and used Amiga computers
and parts.
[NCSCAUG]
What did you think of this year's AmiWest show?
[Mr Hardware] I
am glad that we were there. I love meeting all the people
and the Saturday night parties at all the shows. We
could always use more customers to show up.
[NCSCAUG]
Have there been other new opportunities from hardware
or software companies, and if so, which ones?
[Mr Hardware] We
have been in touch with a number of companies in Europe
to get in product, more to come check our website.
[NCSCAUG]
A
while back, Amiga Inc. listed dealer built AmigaOne
systems on the hardware page in the Amiga Mall, which
were later removed. Have there been any further discussions
with dealers like yourself about advertising your AmigaOne
systems in the Amiga Mall? What are your feelings on
this?
[Mr Hardware] It
was a big mistake on Amiga's part. Amiga Mall should
never participate in this.
[NCSCAUG] Based
upon your knowledge as a dealer, what do you project
the market will look like for the Amiga platform one
year from now?
[Mr
Hardware]
I see a lot more activity. I see me employing more assistants
to get machines
out and repairs finished.
[NCSCAUG]
Do
you have any plans to update your website?
[Mr Hardware] I
just did, a couple of days ago and have big plans for
future expansion on adding info pages on many products.
We sell between 2500-3500 products.
[NCSCAUG] Is there
anything that you'd like to say to the Amiga community
in general?
[Mr Hardware] We
are on the developers list of OS4.0 and it blows my
mind on the configurability and many other improvements
such as making CDRW's and DVDRW's drag and drop for
files. The future looks bright! I think there will be
a big shortage of AmigaOne's when OS4.0 is released
at the end of October. If you think you want a system
you can pre-order the motherboards now and decide on
other parts later. If you order before they make the
final release official you get OS4.0 for free.
[NCSCAUG]
Thank
you for your insight into being an Amiga dealer in today's
marketplace. This information will help the community
understand the challenges that you have faced, and may
face in the future, and hopefully facilitate a better
overall understanding between users and their equipment
suppliers. Thank you again for your time. You may visit
Mr. Hardware online at http://www.mrhardwarecomputers.com.
Regards
About
Mr. Hardware Computers:
--
Mr. Hardware Computers - Amiga Since 1985
sales@mrhardwarecomputers.com
- http://www.mrhardwarecomputers.com
__ Phone: 631-821-2364 Fax 631-821-2519
///
__ /// Owner & Developer of MRHK-2 Pc to Amiga keyboard
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& mouse
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