European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 18columns the stars and stripes wednesday May 28,19b6 $2,000 computer for just $3,113 by Andy Rooney last month ism announced thai it was Nutting a new Smigill computer on the Market called a pc convertible. Pc stands for personal computer. The announcement i raid said it would be a $2,000 All of you who had no intention of buying 11 personal computer anyway will be picked to learn mat you could t buy this one if you wanted to now and when you can. It won t be for s2,Odo. Far that you Don t get much Marc than the Box it comes in. It s like the old joke about the new car that was said with the engine As optional equipment. T still use my 1920 Underwood no. 5 to write on and a word professor Tor editing Ami transmitting so 1 went to the big ism display Center in now York to took at the pc convertible. They had one and it looked Good. The Salesman showed it to me and Cave me some literature. The following Day i called and Saint i wanted one. You want a Printer Wilh it he asked. A word processor in t Uny Good without a Printer so j said i did. "$295,"he said. What about a Modem. A Modem is computer language for a Telephone Gadget that lets you Send text from one computer to another. Yes i said that s Why i m buying it. To Send my inc he said. "s450. What about the Battery charge cart does it have a Battery i asked. Sure he said. Built Well then i said i certainly need a Charger he continued Down the list und then diked How i wanted to pay for it. Send me a i said and i la Send you a Check. When will i a it Middle or May probably he said. When the Bill came it was for $3,113, which is a lot of Money for a 12,000 item. 1 called the Salesman and asked Why everything was extra so he gave me an ism consumer questions number to Call in Florida. 1 called and first asked when the pc convertible would be available. What do Yon mean by available the woman said. Is thai a hard question i asked. When can t get one you know what 1 the woman transferred me us n Man. I asked him the same they re available right now he said. They have them at our display i know they have one on display but when can i Actu ally buy one right now this ism customer relations Man said Hung up and called the display Center which of course did not have one fur Sale. Serious now 1 called ism Headquarters in Armonk . They Slid the Man in charge of questions like that was not in today. Perhaps someone else could help me they added giving me the name of a person who was outto lunch. All these years i d been thinking of ism As this paradigm of capitalism and suddenly i Felt i was dealing with a driers License Bureau. I finally got la a knowledgeable ism executive named Don Kennedy. I asked when the pc convertible would be Dales for availability will be scheduled in May he old me. Hear that he did t say when it would be available. He did t say when they d say it would be available. All he said was the Dale it would be available would be scheduled in i concluded that ism was waiting to Sec How Many people ordered the pc convertibles before they made them. The original announcement in april said they could make one every six minutes. One every six minutes would be 80 in an eight hour Day 400 a week so they should have had at least 1,600 made without overtime. So i went Back to my original Salesman. I Don t think you people know what you re doing i said. He smiled hoping t was kidding. If you know what you re doing i continued Tell me when lean buy a pc convertible. They should be available by the end of May he said. Four week. Five five weeks in t the end of May i said that s Way into me your number he said. Let me get Back to you on o Tribune Madia services lobbyist battling Tor the Little Guy by Art Buchwald there arc Many sad men and women in Washington. They arc the lobbyists who took a terrible beating when the House and Senate passed slightly different versions of a lax Reform Hill one happens to be Arnic nevermore a Man was has spent the greater part of his adult life protecting the interests of he tax of America. Arnic rarely loses a big one and was in Shock when i talked to him in the Halls of the Capitol. When i think of All the Lousy meats i be eaten at 11,000 a plate i gel sick to my stomach 1 still can t believe they would vote Down lax you have a right to be sore Arnie. The lobbyists Are always the first to get hurl when lax Laws Are "1 Don l care for myself he said because i m going to get by whether my Money a sheltered or not. But i m worried about the Little Guy who ekes out a Bare living on a real estate Deal or two or an Oil lax shelter it s Good of you to speak up for the Little Guy Arnie. Most people Are just screaming to make the tax system fairer. But you re for protecting the taxpayers who need help the most. The ones who object to tax shelters Are those who would t know one if they fell into it. What Are you going to do now i m going to organize a letter writing Campaign that will blow their minds. I m going to Hove each tax shelter owner write 20 letters to his or her congressman Twenty letters How do you get them to write that Many any person who can afford to be in a lax shelter has to have a Secretary. The thrust of the letter will be thai the writer has no objection if the lower brackets get a better break As Long As the upper brackets gel what s coming to them. Tax Reform is full of mine Fields. Look at thu. You can Only deduct interest on your first and second Homes nol your third or fourth. Everyone knows it third or fourth Home Cosu More than the second or first one. So where is he equity Arnie was really wound up. You can t get investment credits under the new Bill. This Means All the equipment people buy for businesses comes out of their own in t there anything in the tax Law for the Well to do nothing that i can see. This tax Reform Bill is a Dag Ger aimed at the heart of the Rich. And it punishes he upper classes who Are trying to stay above the Middle class line maybe they won t pass the Bill. Congress has walked away from less controversial ones 1 Saint Arnie Shook his head. They won t walk away on this one because the Public thinks they re getting something Good. The truth is the Bill is a Lemon because the administration is going to have to tax the people after they give them their tax what Are you going � do i m going to work the Halls and if they Don t listen to me i m going to Tell them what they can do with Micir s 1,000-a-Plnlesqulshy chickens end Row her uni Hheryl 6 River in France 7 pants 8 Shin party. 9 narrow Footway 10 and others a la Huloa and hounds Lednun Gbson. 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