News article on AT&T

[wmartin at ALMSA-1.ARPA]

From:      Will Martin -- DRXAL-RI <wmartin at ALMSA-1.ARPA>

The following extract is from an article by Paul Richter, credited to
the Los Angeles Times, and reprinted in the business news section of
the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Tuesday,June 26. Headline is AT&T CALLS
ON COMPUTER MARKET. Most of the article dwells on AT&T's new personal
computer and compares the marketing of it with that of the IBM PC.

Anyway, in the last third or so is found the following text:

"...during a spring interview, Jack Scanlon, plain-spoken president
of AT&T's Computer Systems division, insisted that AT&T does not 
deserve a reputation for weak marketing.

As an example, he cited AT&T's decision to give away thousands of
copies of its UNIX operating system to students in dozens of 
universities across the country in the last decade. As a result,
there are now an estimated 150,000 programmers and professionals
who used the software in college.

UNIX is expected to be a key common element in most of the line of
computers AT&T will ultimately roll out." [more followed]

Well, I would like a show of hands from all of you out there who
received free copies of UNIX as a student in one of the "dozens
of universities" cited above, during this fabled free "giveaway".

Sure must irk the rest of you/us who had to PAY for UNIX, right?

Where should the blame lie for this misinformation? Mr. Scanlon
or Mr. Richter? If the latter, will someone in the LA area have
him quietly put away before he writes again? If the former, will
someone at AT&T have your PR people give him some training in
dealing with the press?

Anyway, I cry "Discrimination!" and demand my own "giveaway"
copy of UNIX. To where shall I write?

(Dear Abby, maybe?  :-)

Will