Re: Zip Chapter 11

[ah499@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (John Daniels)]

>Be careful about ordering ZIP Technologies products. They have filed
>Chapter 11 They have announced that they can no longer replace Zip
>Chips for the //e One can only guess what will happen with the GS
>boards.
>
>...found on my local BBS...
>Thomas Kishel

That posting appeared on local BBSs in my neighborhood too.

Updated information from better sources say that Zip is no longer in
Chapter 11  and that production of the 8-bit chip is going to resume
shortly.  Please redistribute the following message to any BBSs that
posted the original message about Zip's supposed problem:

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Topic 3   Tue Apr 26, 1988
A2.CHET [BB Editor]   (Forwarded)
Sub: Rumor mill and basic Apple chit-chat
1 new messages.
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Category 5, Topic 3
Message 16  Fri Jan 08, 1993
S.WEYHRICH [ Historian ]  at 21:29 EST
 
 Here is a reproduction of part of my upcoming A2 News Digest that I
thought deserved posting immediately:
 
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 --Zip Continues Zippin' Along
 
  Out of the blue, there was a report from the National AppleWorks User
Group posted in their category on the A2 RT on GEnie. It read as follows:
 
 
  "Zip Technology no longer sells Zip Chips, replacement processor chips
that dramatically increase the speed of Apple II+, IIe, and IIc computers.
According to J. P. Hayes, President of Zip, the company can no longer find
a manufacturer capable of producing these 'hybrid' chip products. When
NAUG contacted Ms. Hayes in early December, she reported that Zip had a
single Zip Chip in stock that would be kept by the company. She indicated
that the company is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from
its creditors.
 
  "Although Zip Chips were recently sold with a one year guarantee, the
company originally advertised an unlimited 'satisfaction guarantee' on the
product. According to Ms. Hayes, Zip can no longer replace defective chips
and, under the terms of their Chapter 11 protection, cannot refund
customers' payments for these products.
 
  "Ms. Hayes reports that Zip continues to manufacture accelerator
products for the Apple IIgs. However, NAUG suggests that its members
consider the company's financial condition carefully before buying a Zip
product."
 
  Naturally, this raised some concerns among Apple II and IIGS users who
read the message. In my preparations for this article, I decided to
contact Zip myself and see exactly where things were at this time. On
January 8, 1993, I called Zip and Ms. Hayes spoke to me. In our
discussion, I found a some major inaccuracies in the NAUG article. Ms.
Hayes stated that she is Zip's CEO (not president), and that they have been
in Chapter 11 for two years, and actually went OUT of it four months ago.
That means that they are NO LONGER in Chapter 11 at this time! (For those
who don't know, a Chapter 11 declaration simply provides protection from
creditors, while a company reorganizes itself to change its operations to a
more profitable situation. It is NOT the same as a company declaring
bankruptcy and going out of business).
 
  Secondly, and of similar importance, she said that Zip had indeed lost
their previous manufacturer for the Zip 8 Chips, but they HAVE located a
new company for doing this work. It is not a trivial operation to create a
Zip Chip, and it will take another four to eight weeks until they will be
back at full production again; however, Zip Technologies WILL still be
making the 8 MHz Zip Chip for 8-bit Apple II computers, as well as the Zip
GS card for the Apple IIGS.
 
  Now, it concerns me greatly that there could be such a discrepancy
between what NAUG says it learned in talking to Ms. Hayes in December, and
what I learned in talking with her on January 8th. If we can assume the
best, that no one was INTENTIONALLY deceiving anyone else, we DO have a
serious miscommunication here. It is so serious that just the RUMOR that
Zip was in Chapter 11 could easily have mutated into a rumor that they WERE
out of business (perhaps the rumor has done so by now). Press coverage
like that can kill a company. If we who write news articles (such as NAUG
and myself) are going to be helpful to the Apple II community, we need to
make things absolutely clear. The people that PROVIDE information should
try to make sure that whatever they said was understood (the correct
message was transmitted), and we who try to write up this information must
take care to ensure that we have REALLY heard what we think we have heard
(the correct message was received). It may simply require a phone call to
clarify things.
 
  The whole situation reminds me of the inCider/A+ "announcement" that
indicated a major change in direction was in the works, and then their
subsequent correction that stated that, no, they were NOT decreasing
Apple II coverage. I was just as guilty as any in transmitting the
incorrect information; I assumed (erroneously) that the statements made by
Cameron Crotty were an accurate reflection of upcoming corporate policy.
As it turned out, whether minds at inCider were changed because of the
ruckus that was raised by the suggestion of such a radical change, or
whether the statements made by Crotty WERE incorrect at the time, things
did NOT change for the worse, and all that hand-wringing and name-calling
was unnecessary.
 
  The bottom line for this situation is this: If you were interested in
a Zip accelerator for YOUR Apple II, rest assured. For the time being, at
least, Zip Technologies will stay in business and continuing producing
products for both the 8 and 16 bit platforms. And it doesn't hurt to point
out that if you want them to STAY in business, it would be a good idea to
plunk down some money and buy an accelerator from this company.
 
 Zip Technology
 5601 W. Slauson Avenue, Suite 190
 Culver City, CA 90230
 
       (310) 337-1313
  Fax: (213)-337-9337
 
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Thought y'all might like to know...
 
 
Steve Weyhrich <IX0YE>--<
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						John Daniels
						ah499@cleveland.freenet.edu