Gone, But Not Forgotten

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Today, she points out, the company cooperates fully with FOG in providing vital information, such as solutions to bugs in the software or hardware. "They are fabulous," she says. "We get much faster answers. We get more accurate answers."

User groups, generally, have been the brightest -- and sometimes last -- refuge for Osborne users. FOG, for instance, prides itself on having the most up-to-date information for users. For example, if Carrig had called the organization, FOG would have been able to refer him to a source for a replacement drive that would have cost him only $65 or $70. Many entrepreneurs, particularly former Osborne Computer employees, says Rhoades, have entered the Osborne after-market since its Chapter 11 filing. "So we now have a fairly extensive list of where to get parts," she notes.

Osborne Computer also gave the group diagnostic software and the technical manual containing schematics, which was unavailable previously. So a FOG volunteer or staffer could have explained to Carrig how to remove his drive, which he could then have shipped to a start-up in Hayward, Calif., that sells new and refurbished Osborne replacement parts.

For those who aren't excited about do-it-yourself projects, Xerox, under its Xerox Americare program, offers a one-year service contract to Osborne owners for $285. (Carrig, in fact, had received a notice from Xerox before his machine went on the fritz, but passed up the contract as "outrageously priced.") Xerox bought more than $1 million in parts from Osborne Computer, and more than 3,000 dealers have either become Americare dealers or applied to Xerox to start dealerships. And smaller companies, such as Micro Products Repair Centers Inc. in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., a subsidiary of Computer Maintenance Corp. in Secaucus, N.J., now regularly service Osbornes.

Some owners, though, don't want to fix their existing Osbornes. They want to buy new ones. Why? Bill Purdin, president of Legend Inc., a 10-employee advertising agency in Marblehead, Mass., decided to purchase a third Osborne, his second Executive, last January. (It is interesting to note that he ordered the micro through FOG, which Rhoades claims is now Osborne Computer's biggest dealer. The group, she says, receives no money from acting as distributor, only new members.)

Purdin admits that if he were prescient, his first computer probably would not have been an Osborne. But, he points out, "Osborne didn't bother putting out a notice that said, 'Hey, we're thinking about going out of business in the next two years, so if you're thinking about buying us, you better take that into account.' "

Indeed, when news first reached Purdin of the Chapter 11 filing, he says, "my heart sank. I had this empty feeling. You can't imagine how important a purchase a [computer] can be for a company." Still, he observes, if you are going to go only with companies that are guaranteed to exist in the future, you are stuck buying IBM. And Purdin didn't want IBM -- Big Blue's micro offerings were simply too expensive for his small business.

Now Purdin feels that he must remain with the Osborne line. Since each brand of computer formats its own disks -- that is, prepares them for reading information in a different way -- he can't use data produced on one kind of machine in another computer without a great deal of extra effort. He looked into buying a micro from Digital Equipment Corp., but quickly recognized that there would be problems of compatibility with his Osborne.

"So all of a sudden, I'm operating on an island," he says. "That's not why [I bought the computer]." He heard about software programs that allow one kind of computer to communicate with another brand, but had difficulty obtaining the information he needed. (These programs include UniForm [Micro Solutions Inc., DeKalb, Ill.; $69.95] and Filetran [Business Micro Products Inc., Glenwood Springs, Colo.; $99]. Kaypro Corp., in San Diego, includes a version of UniForm with each Kaypro II portable computer it sells.) Besides, he says, "once you get away from the complete compatibility of unit to unit, you're just in a world of inconvenience."

As a result, he wrote out his check for another Osborne. Although Purdin admits that he "may be digging his own grave," at heart he is a true believer. "There is nothing like an Osborne," he says. "All the rest are just cheap imitations." Furthermore, he is convinced that his new machine is among the best built in the company's history. "To put out a piece of junk now," he says, "would be death for them."

Stephen Carrig too -- who certainly has had problems aplenty with his Osborne -- thinks there is a "whole up-side" to the situation. Shortly after the Chapter 11 filing, for instance, he received a letter from a company that makes the modem for the Osborne. The device's price, the manufacturer announced, had been slashed from $265 to $99. Carrig marched down to his local dealer, showed him the letter, and bought the modem at the same cut-rate price. He also purchased a supplementary word-processing package that counts words and checks spelling at substantial savings. And he anticipates prices for other hardware and software will soon tumble.

Besides, he points out, "the machine is basically sound. You can't beat it for the price." His Osborne, he says, paid for itself in two or three months anyhow. "So I could throw it out the window and break even."

And Carrig has even found hidden benefits in having the machine go down. For one, he has enjoyed meeting new people through his user group's bulletin board. But he is most excited by the fact that his Osborne has given him an interest in electronics -- and a great idea for a new business.

Carrig is now seriously exploring the idea of opening a combined used-computer store and repair center. Judging from his own experience, he says, "I think the market's wide open." In fact, although Carrig is disappointed that Osborne Computer filed for Chapter 11 and annoyed that he had his difficulties, he has no regrets whatsoever. "I see it as a business opportunity," he says. "It might have been the best purchase I ever made."

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