Was the Atari Lynx sabotaged?
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 4:42 pm
A while back I was reading about the Atari Lynx on Wikipedia, and the
one thing that jumped out at me was the mention that the one of the reasond the Lynx failed to get any real significant number of buyers was
because the first model was incredibly big and bulky, and that Atari decided
to build it that way because people attending a focus group said they wanted
a physicaly big system. This because " they felt they got more for their money."
SERIOUSLY?
Even back in the late 1980s, companies were striving to make portable
electronics smaller and lighter because it was both more convienient
for the consumer and a mark of sophistication of the product. What the
article said flies completly contrary in the face of what customers (then and now) want and the common wisdom of the time. This is very fishy, to say the least.
What I think happened is that one of Atari's competitors pulled these focus
group members aside and paid them money to lie and say this in order
to derail the Lynx. I would guess Sega, scince they probaly had plans
for the Game Gear at the time the Lynx was proposed and already being worked on when Atari held this group (the Game Gear being released 2 years later in the States after the Atari Lynx). If this was the case, I am suprised
it did not atleast raise suspicion within Atari, and worse, they actualy went and made the first model the hulking monster that it is. Atari has made some very questionable and downright stupid marketing decisions in the past, but
this takes the cake!
Oh well, whatever happened, I thought I would throw this nice little conspiracy theory out there.
one thing that jumped out at me was the mention that the one of the reasond the Lynx failed to get any real significant number of buyers was
because the first model was incredibly big and bulky, and that Atari decided
to build it that way because people attending a focus group said they wanted
a physicaly big system. This because " they felt they got more for their money."
SERIOUSLY?
Even back in the late 1980s, companies were striving to make portable
electronics smaller and lighter because it was both more convienient
for the consumer and a mark of sophistication of the product. What the
article said flies completly contrary in the face of what customers (then and now) want and the common wisdom of the time. This is very fishy, to say the least.
What I think happened is that one of Atari's competitors pulled these focus
group members aside and paid them money to lie and say this in order
to derail the Lynx. I would guess Sega, scince they probaly had plans
for the Game Gear at the time the Lynx was proposed and already being worked on when Atari held this group (the Game Gear being released 2 years later in the States after the Atari Lynx). If this was the case, I am suprised
it did not atleast raise suspicion within Atari, and worse, they actualy went and made the first model the hulking monster that it is. Atari has made some very questionable and downright stupid marketing decisions in the past, but
this takes the cake!
Oh well, whatever happened, I thought I would throw this nice little conspiracy theory out there.