Talk:AST Research

No header
Weren't AST's sold through Radio Shack after the latter discontinued their own TRS-80 and Tandy lines? I'm pretty sure my sister got her old AST 486 at RS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by A plague of rainbows (talk • contribs) 19:07, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Hmmmm... most AST computers of the 486 era were distributed via major wholesale distributors like Softsel and CompuServe; some dealers like Computer Innovations and ComputerLand may have been big enough to buy direct but I don't remember Radio Shack selling them - doesn't mean they didn't - they could have easily sourced them from the wholesalers just like any other computer retailer who passed muster for manufacturer authorization (warranty, service personnel, training, etc). Tandy co-existed with AST during the heyday of the 80486 processor; if I remember correctly the last Tandy branded PCs had 486 processors, however Radio Shack sold a lot of different products other than the house brand so it wouldn't surprise me if AST was one of them. Garth of the Forest (talk) 00:54, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I was employee #16 hired by AST Research, started by the founders who were test engineers at Computer Automation, where I also worked. They hired me away from CA to be AST's first production bench technician and handle after sale support. Along the way I named a couple of their most successful products, the SixPakPlus and the Rampage! I was there until 1990 and have much insider knowledge. I was close to the founders and heads of engineering and manufacturing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.2.62 (talk) 04:47, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

One of the problems encountered by AST in the 90's was when it acquired the production facilities of Tandy in Fort Worth. In gaining these assets, it also inherited the deeply ingrained problems caused by the top-heavy Tandy culture. The managers didn't know what they were doing (something Tandy believes in rewarding). AST management failed to recognized the dysfunctional culture present at these facilities and simply put their AST logo on the building while keeping everything inside as it was. As a result, AST paid for a poorly run facility with low morale among the workforce (something Tandy business practices create, but fail to care about or recognize) and severe quality problems. The demise of AST Research during this period has a direct connection to the long, slow business failure of Tandy/Radio Shack that has been occurring for years. Prestonp94 (talk) 17:17, 24 October 2014 (UTC)