CMD aquisition - news!
Martin Fensome
grabbed it right from Mr. Randall's web site...
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Click Here Software Co is currently finalizing a deal with Creative
Micro Designs in order to take over the licensing, manufacturing, and
distribution of their entire Commodore-related product line. We intend to
keep these products available for many years to come in addition to
continued support of all the existing products through new and exciting
upgrades.
The CMD staff is taking the 4th of July week off and when they return
from vacation, I will be making a trip to East Longmeadow, Massachusetts to
spend a week learning all the tricks involved in getting each CMD product
produced and running. Following that, I will be returning back to Michigan
with a truck and trailer full of anything and everything that CMD has that
is Commodore-related. And I mean EVERYTHING! CMD is getting out completely.
Their current business simply doesn't provide them with enough time in the
day to continue producing the Commodore related equipment.
CMD has provided us with some products that no other company could do
or was willing to do for us. I want to personally thank them for that.
While I'm at CMD, I will also be helping to fill some of the orders
that were taken during the final two weeks prior to June 4th. However, the
bulk of the orders will be filled by myself at my shop in Michigan once I'm
all set up for production. I estimate it will take about 2 weeks to get
everything organized in my shop here in Charlotte to begin producing the
products.
I have a 13,000 square foot building here that includes a machine shop
and metal fabrication area. I can set up equipment here to fabricate the
special cases needed for products such as the RamLink. This capability will
save me from having to hire an outside fabrication shop to do the work. This
also means that the RamLink will remain in production since the per-unit
cost of the cases will be lower. The same will hold true for the HD, FD, and
SCPU cases. CMD always had the cases built by one outside shop and then
shipped to another shop for painting. The whole process including the baked
on paint finish can be performed "in-house" now.
Now for the only problem I've got right now... I've been trying to get
the financing for this acquisition. However, the two finance companies I've
tried have not been helpful. The computer industry is obviously not as sound
as it was a couple of years ago, and they are leary of it. Add to that the
fact this business is targeted at Commodore owners and you can imagine what
the finance people think.
However, with some of my own money and with the help of another
individual, I'm able to come up with a good portion of what I need to finish
this deal. Presently, I'm lacking about $10,000 to complete the deal. I'm
trying to work this deal in a way that I don't get myself into a financial
mess. The only way this takeover can happen is if I make it a successful and
profitable venture. So far, I'm OK.
Ideally, it would work best for me if I could get some of the current
orders pre-paid. Believe me, CMD took in a lot of orders at the end of May
and just a portion of those orders would secure this deal for me. Remember,
CMD is turning all of those orders over to me as part of this deal. I just
don't know who you all are yet. But I thank you in advance for placing your
orders!
Another idea I have to raise some capital is to announce some of the
new products I plan to introduce soon. If I can pre-sell enough of these, I
would have the remaining amount of money that I need to finish the purchase.
In exchange, everyone will get a nice new product that will truly be
enjoyed.
THE NEW HD-DOS
I'm doing an upgrade to the HD-DOS and it will contain many new
features. Remember the talk about the print spooling? That's what the
auxiliary port is for. You can plug in your Commodore-ready printer or
printer interface into the auxiliary port and the HD can act as if it were
the device 4 printer. The HD intercepts the printer data when an application
tries to print. The HD will then store the data into the printer partition.
It will then either send the data immediately to the printer or save it for
later printing. There will be several configuration modes. For instance, the
incoming data can be sent out as-is. In this case, a program such as TWS
might be sending data as if the printer were in Epson mode. If you have an
Epson compatible printer plugged in, then the data should pass on to the
printer as-is. But what if you have a PostScript compatible printer? In this
case, you would set the configuration for incoming Epson data and outgoing
PostScript data. The HD-DOS would interpret the incoming data and
automatically convert it to PostScript code for the printer. This makes it
possible for most any Commodore program to be able to print to a PostScript
printer. There can also be an HP PCL mode as well as a Canon BJ mode.
How can a hard drive do all this? CMD made this possible by putting a
64K computer inside the HD case. Yes, there's something very similar to a
Commodore 64 sitting inside that case. If it had a video chip, think what we
could do with it!
Some users are presently connecting a CD-ROM to the HD, but special
programs are needed to handle the data transfers. To make things easier, the
new HD-DOS will incorporate a new partition type called "CDROM". Just create
a CDROM partition and when you switch to that partition, you will be able to
access the CDROM drive just like you would any partition on the hard drive.
Plug in a second cdrom drive and create a partition for that one too!
There will be other features added to the new DOS such as the ability
to recognize a disk change for those who have installed Iomega Zip drives
into their units. You will no longer have to partition all your disks the
same way and you will not have to press the reset button during a disk
change either. When a disk change is sensed, the DOS will automatically
re-read the partition table from the new disk just like the FD drive does
when you insert a new disk.
The new HD-DOS will include a new BOOT ROM which is very easy to
install and a new DOS disk which will also include some new utilities. I'm
estimating this upgrade will be sold for about $40.
THE NEW HD-ZIP DRIVE
Another nice new product will be an official production HD-Zip drive.
For us Commodore users, this makes much more sense than having a hard drive
with gigabytes of storage. You'd be surprised at how much stuff you can put
on a 100 megabyte Zip disk. If you get low on space, just get another Zip
disk! Or keep different projects on different Zip disks.
The new HD-Zip drive will have all the same features as the regular
HD-Series drives. The only difference will be visible on the front, where
the Zip disk is inserted.
The HD-Zip drive will also include the new HD-DOS mentioned above.
I don't have a firm selling price on this unit yet, but I've
determined that the price will be $299 or less (plus shipping). Once I get
production up and running on these units, I might find that costs are low
enough with the "in-house" cases and other in-house production that I can
keep the selling price below the $299 figure.
If I were to pre-sell just 30-35 of these, I would have the remaining
funding needed to finish the purchase of CMD's Commodore business.
HD-ZIP KITS
Do you already have a CMD HD? How would you like to put a Zip drive in
it? I will be selling a kit in two forms, with or without the actual Zip
drive mechanism. The kits will also include the new HD-DOS mentioned above.
The kit will give you the necessary bracket and screws, a template for
cutting the front panel, a new front panel decal, and an instruction sheet.
Currently, I can only estimate what the selling price of these kits
will be. Most likely, the kit without the Zip drive mechanism will be
somewhere around $55. (remember, that includes the new HD-DOS)
MY REQUEST AND MY PROMISE
Once again, I'm putting out a request for anyone interested in the
above products to go ahead and send me your order. Or maybe you're still
thinking about ordering a SuperCPU, or an FD drive, or whatever. Go ahead
and send me an order and I'll get this deal going and get your order to you
just as soon as I finalize everything with CMD and get up and running with
production. Naturally you won't get your order shipped in 24 hours, so
please be patient with me.
I'm currently not set up to take credit cards, although I plan to
later on this summer. So, money orders or personal checks are accepted.
Email me if you prefer paying by credit card and I'll look into getting
something set up with PayPal for the time being.
HD-Zip drive (complete) $299 plus $15 shipping
HD-DOS upgrade (for existing units) $40 plus $4 shipping
HD-Zip kit without mechanism (includes HD-DOS upgrade) $55 plus $4
shipping
HD-Zip kit with mechanism price not yet determined
The above prices will be guaranteed on pre-sold orders. If I determine
at the time of production that I can lower the prices, then I will refund
the difference.
Please send your order to:
Maurice Randall
% Click Here Software Co
426 Sumpter St
P.O. Box 606
Charlotte MI 48813
You can call me or email me with any question you'd like to:
PH: (517) 543-5202
mau...@ia4u.net
A big thank you in advance...
-Maurice
jf...@lava.net
your new startup
Joe (aka kilroy)
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