HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jaxh@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Jon Hanson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: The Amiga A1200 ??
Date: 13 Oct 92 10:05:17 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh


Apparently, the British 'Computer Trade Weekly' had an article claiming C=
are going to release an A1200 at one of the upcoming computer fairs.

It will have the new chipset and Falcon-beating spec's for under 500 pounds.

Does anyone have any extra info on this ?

	Jon.
From: don@chopin.udel.edu (Donald R Lloyd)
Subject: Re: Why A3000 Owners Are Mad
Organization: University of Delaware
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 15:32:29 GMT

 trevore@vast.unsw.edu.au (Trevor Elbourne (Supr. Hell) BE) writes:
>
>  What does a dec station offer that couldn't be accomplished with a Zorro III
>  card and RTG? Nothing -- so !@#$ what, doesn't mean that dec stations are
>  worthless. What do you guys want, a 200mips processor 64 MEGS RAM,
>  200 MEG HD, with 2Kx2K screens in 24-bit with 100KHz, 16-bit sound, 
>  DSP, framegrabber and hardware video compression for under $500 US ??

     Sounds good to me! :-)
     Just make sure the HD is SCSI.  Oh, and put in a deinterlacer chip 
just to keep MB happy.  Of course, if the 2Kx2K resolutions are still
interlaced, he'll gripe about it anyway.  And why should we spend $500 on
this machine when we could get a $12.99 P5 Windows box at Joe's House O
Clones, or that new Atari DoDo with 101KHz, 17-bit sound for $499?



-- 
Don Lloyd                / "No, I just think that a computer grafted on top of \
don@chopin.udel.edu      | another computer is a kludge.  It has nothing to do |
GeNIE: D.LLOYD7          \ with the Intel CPU"  - Jerry Shekhel                /
BIX: DRL
From: danaf@bray1a.its.rpi.edu (Frank R. Dana Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: I hold in my hands the CBM 1992 Anual Report....
Date: 13 Oct 92 01:13:56 GMT
Article-I.D.: rpi.0kzzs=q
Reply-To: danaf@rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

In article <1992Oct09.181959.12212@microsoft.com>, iank@microsoft.com (Ian Kennedy) writes:
|> If you go to page 7 in Commodores 1992 Anual Report you will see
|> a picture of two "doctors" "using" some "multimedia" software
|> to learn more about the human spine. If you look closer you will
|> see that the display on the monitor is backwards, a mirror image.
|> It is obviously a fake. It is also Microsoft Word for Windows.

GROAN.

Help Wanted:

Commodore Business Machines is looking for a new Vice President of Marketing. 
Duties will include deciding where to "do lunch", telling the engineers that
"I can't sell features, just make it CHEAP!", and other responsibilities. 
Applicant should have High School diploma minimum (GED need not apply), must
be adept at inserting foot in mouth. Familiarity with the Amiga line, Commodore,
or electricity preferred but not necessary.

|> P.S. Get the Anual report. It's a barrel of laughs... Oh, the official
|> number of Amigas sold now is up to 3.7 Million (page 2).

PHEW! I knew 4.5 million was wayyy out there.

..So, actually, that's only 200,000 more than last year! GULP.

|> -- 
|> /* IanK@Microsoft.com				*/
|> /* Waiting for what comes after the A4000! 	*/
|> /* In the meantime I think I'll pick up a  	*/
|> /* '486 box...					*/

-- 
/////////////////////////[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
(718)             (212)                        (516)             (518)
=======Amiuser============Frank R. Dana, Jr.============Doc Ami=======     
--------My opinions rarely reflect those of any sane person,----------
	   living, dead, or undead... that's gonna CHANGE.
From: agb16@mbuc.bio.cam.ac.uk (Alan Baxter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: 4000: Is it so great?
Date: 15 Oct 92 21:31:01 GMT
Organization: U. of Cambridge, England

isorry folks, just trying to find the address of this account!
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: COMMODORE - HERE'S A CLUE
Date: 14 Oct 92 21:48:48 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <OA92-901-306p1_964826C3@piraya.bad.se> Hans_Bergengren@p1.thulos.bbs.bad.se (Hans Bergengren) writes:
> 
>  GR> > Hey! As far as I have understood, the DSP is NOT needed for Audio
>  GR> > output (even 16-bit stereo, or maybe 8-channels).
>      < ... >
>  GR> From the description of the "audio matrix" it sounds like some analog
>  GR> multiplexing of the audio signals.
>      < ... >
>  GR> but the DSP is probably the only on that can generate 16-bit audio.
> 
> Some people here in this newsgroup seems to claim that a DSP is the only
> component capable of producing CD-quality 16-bit audio. This makes me wonder:
> how come then that almost (99.9%) every CD player does NOT feature a DSP? And
> then - the CD players that DO feature a DSP, only use it to add more
> athmosphere to the sound!

Well, a couple of things pop to mind.

The real basis for the assertion is simply that you don't have enough storage
to hold much sampled sound, so unless it is in some form of compressed data,
be it ADPCM, MPEG audio or musical notation you can only have brief snippets
of audio.

It follows that the DSP is perhaps the most flexible way to de-compress audio
data to address this problem.  You can set up a DSP to expand ADPCM or MPEG
audio or you can set it up as a waveform systhesis engine working from "notes"
and emulating one or more instruments.

The second minor argument is that most state of the art Audio players do contain
"DSP" functions, typically a DSP based oversampling or "MASH" style filter between
the Error Correction chip (sometimes referred to as a DSP!) and the analog part
of the DAC.

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     work:   to be avoided at all costs...
but no way officially representing:   uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
Commodore, Engineering Department     domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie)
Subject: Re: A 32bit game player system under development
Originator: torrie@Xenon.Stanford.EDU
Keywords: Electronic Arts plans for 93 Christmas release
Organization: CS Department, Stanford University, California, USA
Date: 13 Oct 92 06:16:18 GMT

ggiles@cie.uoregon.edu (Gregg Giles) writes:

>In article <1992Oct12.195958.10413@clipper.ingr.com> kontos@clipper.ingr.com (Thorne Kontos) writes:
>>Another interesting bit of info is the development of a
>>32-bit game system from Electronic Arts due out in 1993
>>for Christmas release. With the large software entertainment

> EA going into hardware? Hmmm, I really wonder about the validity of that one.
>Have a source I could look up?

  See the San Francisco Examiner business section, Sunday 10/11/92.
Actually, it's not Electronic Arts going into hardware; it's another
company which EA founder Tripp Hawkins has set up.  There was something
like a whole page devoted to this story in said paper.
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Torrie.  Stanford University, Class of 199?       torrie@cs.stanford.edu 
Embrace rationalism, reject superstition.           Break away from the past.
"...there is only one thing worse than having marketing people on a project,
 and that is having no marketing people on a project."  - Larry Tesler.
Xref: sparky comp.sys.amiga.advocacy:26433 comp.sys.amiga.graphics:6670 comp.sys.amiga.hardware:16910 comp.sys.amiga.misc:15014 comp.sys.amiga.programmer:14360 comp.sys.mac.advocacy:1479
From: bcleve@ha10.eng.ua.edu (Brian D. Cleve)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy,comp.sys.amiga.graphics,comp.sys.amiga.hardware,comp.sys.amiga.misc,comp.sys.amiga.programmer,comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: A-MaxII+ ?
Date: 12 Oct 92 17:25:33 GMT
Organization: The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

In article <1992Oct12.122559.6360@pcnntp.apple.com> Dale_Adams@gateway.qm.apple.com (Dale Adams) writes:
>In article <Per_Salmi.0dpz@augs.se> Per_Salmi@augs.se (Per Salmi) writes:
>> At that time the Quadras had serious problem with running System 7 OS 
>but it worked great on an A3000 with 040 accelerator and even faster than 
>the Quadras! The salesman was very proud when telling me these thing as he 
>liked the thought of Quadras not being able to run it own OS. :-)
>
>Sigh....  You imply that the Quadras can run System 7 just fine today, but 
>could not some time ago.   The Quadras have never had a problem running 
>System 7.0.1, the OS they originally shipped with.  This is the same 
>version of the OS they are shipping with _today_.   How could the same 
>hardware running the same software suddenly become magically compatible 
>without any changes being made (granting, of course, your original 
>assumption of incompatibility)?  If you believe what an Amiga salesperson 
>says about a Quadra, I've got some swampland I'd like to sell you. :)  In 
>my experience, most salespeople for one type of computer, are incredibly 
>ignorant about most other types of computers (and this goes for 
>salespeople for Macs, Amigas, PCs, etc.....).
>
>- Dale Adams
Applauds Adams in his insight, that most people over look because they are too
busy looking at their favorite machine be it Mac, IBM, Amiga, etc., and agreeing 
with prejudice that all others do not stack up. 

Brian
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.sys.next.advocacy,gac.general
From: vin@netcom.com (Vin Locke)
Subject: Re: PR Blunder of the Millennium!
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 01:36:57 GMT

>|> home in Sri Lanka, with Mars on the screen.'  I glance to the monitor
>|> behind him: Mars.  "Rmm... I wonder what kind IBM gave him for
>|> supplementing their supplement...rrr...I can *just* make out the
>|> monitor...COMMODORE!?!  1084???  Hey, whats that computer sitting next
>|> to it...an Amiga 3000!"  I sit back in my chair, chuckling.  The word

What I'm wondering is what Clark is using for electricity -- Ceylon/Sri Lanka
(the money says "Bank of Ceylon" (and is very pretty!) and the newspaper is
called the "Ceylon Daily News" (or some such)) has scheduled as well as
sporadic power outages . . . now that would be one hell of a place to be a
Unix sysadmin!  Clark must have his own generator.  
Speaking of hell, it gets as hot as such down there -- must be tough on
the chips.

 
-- 
					--vin

vin@netcom.com

"...you think YOU know fear -- I've seen them naked!"
				--L. Simpson
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: jerry@cs.mcgill.ca (Gerald (Jerry) KUCH)
Subject: Re: A 32bit game player system under development
Keywords: Electronic Arts plans for 93 Christmas release
Organization: McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 02:58:07 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.020308.20796@nntp.uoregon.edu> ggiles@cie.uoregon.edu (Gregg Giles) writes:
>In article <1992Oct12.195958.10413@clipper.ingr.com> kontos@clipper.ingr.com (Thorne Kontos) writes:
>>Another interesting bit of info is the development of a
>>32-bit game system from Electronic Arts due out in 1993
>>for Christmas release. With the large software entertainment
>>product base already in EA's possession, this new 32-bit
>>game console appears to be a winner. Apparently, all games
>>will be released in a CD-format. Makes one wonder what
>>Nintendo will call their next system? What about Sega?
>
>   EA going into hardware? Hmmm, I really wonder about the validity of that one.
>Have a source I could look up? As for Sega, you'll see something new coming out
>of New York in about, oh, round about the end of this week. :-) (I know because
>I had one stolen off of my desk today. Kept me at work all weekend.)

There have been rumors flying for over a year now that Trip Hawkins wanted to
go into hardware because he was unhappy with the personal computer/console
status quo.  I've heard a few bits of the machine's details from a developer
working on it (semi-indirectly) who spilled a few beans... it sounds like
the hardware should be interesting.  Now we'll just have to see if there is
room on the market for it.

>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Gregg Giles (Dynamix, Inc.)                   BIX: ggiles 
>All opinions expressed are my own.            Internet: ggiles@cie.uoregon.edu
>Amiga, MSDOS CDROM, Sega CD                   > Go Braves! Pirates must die! < 


-- 
 Jerry Kuch (jerry@cs.mcgill.ca) ----- SOMETHING NEAT SHOULD GO HERE.
 "I was wrong to play God.  Life is precious, not a thing to be toyed with.
  Now take out that brain and flush it down the toilet."
                  --- M. Burns  "Treehouse of Horror II"
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie)
Subject: Re: FALCON VS AMIGA
Originator: torrie@Xenon.Stanford.EDU
Organization: CS Department, Stanford University, California, USA
Date:  8 Oct 92 03:31:54 GMT

hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu) writes:

>The decision to attempt to eliminate jargon was obviously a well-reasoned one,
>it not only makes the system appear more user-friendly, but it locks users in
>to the Apple product line; their users never learn the basic language necessary
>for navigating in a real computing environment.
                     ^^^^

  Define "real".  Does it mean "obtuse, command-line driven, inconsistent, 
difficult to use"?  

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Torrie.  Stanford University, Class of 199?       torrie@cs.stanford.edu 
Embrace rationalism, reject superstition.           Break away from the past.
From: chucks@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Erik Funkenbusch)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: A4000 is kinda UGLY !!!
Date: 10 Oct 92 15:45:04 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.

mac1@Ra.MsState.Edu (Mubashir Cheema) writes:
>
> Got my copy of Amiga World today. Well I have to admit this, the A4000
> thats on the cover looks like no computer I have ever seen. Its the ugliest
> of them all. Hell it even has a keyboard lock right in the middle of it, yuck 
> Hell its a big SQUARE BOX, no innovative design that we Amigans are used to.
> How many people share my disappointment ?

Funny, i thought it looked ugly from the pictures as well.  However, when i
saw it in person at one of our local dealers, the pictures didn't do it
justice.

It's *NOT* big.  it's maybe a half inch wider than the 3000, about the same
height, about the same depth.. it really doesn't look that bad in person.
.--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| UUCP: {amdahl!tcnet, crash}!orbit!pnet51!chucks | "I know he's come back |
| ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!chucks@nosc.mil        | from the dead, but do  |
| INET: chucks@pnet51.orb.mn.org                  | you really think he's  |
|-------------------------------------------------| moved back in?"        |
| Amiga programmer at large, employment options   | Lou Diamond Philips in |
| welcome, inquire within.                        | "The First Power".     |
`--------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: wallmann@backus.pu.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Natuerlich!)
Subject: Re: Struggling computer science student needs a free A4000.
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 22:40:03 GMT
Organization: MSD software vault #9 @THD


>I used to eat Wheaties, but it never got me very far.  Beer and granola is the
>breakfast of champions.
>Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Cool Advanced High-End Systems You Can't See Yet)

To quote David Lee Roth:
	"The Breakfast of Champions isn't cereal, it's the competition!"

Nat!
-- 
"Don't ask what your boyfriend can do for you   
Ask what you can do for your boyfriend"       
				[JFK on a taped phone call to MM]
---	from "Secret Tapes" by Richie Noxin
From: tmc@spartan.ac.BrockU.CA (Tim Ciceran)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Why A3000 Owners Are Mad
Date: 11 Oct 92 16:58:28 GMT
Organization: Brock University, St. Catharines Ontario

In article <jayson.03v9@tbag.tscs.com> jayson@tbag.tscs.com (Jayson Phillips)
writes:
 
>Our A3000's aren't actually being tossed, but to be told that they can't be
>upgraded to the level of a new machine so similar (Zorro III etc) is a real
>kick  in  the  pants.  Especially after going thru this with my A1000.  For
>the  first  time  (since  I  bought  an  Amiga  Jan/86)  I've  developed an
>"attitude" towards CBM regarding their Amiga technology upgrades.

The biggest constraint with upgrading the A3000 to A4000 capabilities is
certainly not the hardware, but rather the software. High performance video
graphics coprocessors (Resolver, Domino, EGS, Visiona etc.) are becoming
increasingly more prevalent, economical and arguably offer more than the
AGA chipset. It is not AGA which is the liability of the A3000, but rather
RTG. Had 3.0 incorporated device independent graphics, this discussion would
be moot. 

>I  expected the A3000 prices to fall.  Heck, a month after I paid $1495 for
>my A1000 (CPU) my friends were buying them for $1095.

They have. The current A3000 promotional pricing is $1499 US. Add a PP&S
A3000 '040 accelerator for $829 and you're only a marginal step away from
the A4000. Throw in a Domino card for $450 and you have a high-resolution
display.
 
>You  were  used  and so was everyone else who bought an A3000.  Or an A1000
>for  that matter.

I disagree. I purchased an A1000 in January '86. When the A500 and A2000
were released, I knew that this would benefit the entire community.
ABasiC and TextCraft aren't enough to sustain a user base. Besides, many
people (including myself), would argue that the A1000 still has its merits
up against the A500 or A2000.

>The A3000 and A4000 are both 32-bit machines.  Making an
>upgrade  for  the  A3000 should (obviously) have been a design goal for the
>next  graphic chip set.

This would have only restricted the capabilities of future platforms. What
does the AGA chipset offer that couldn't be accomplished with a Zorro III
card and RTG? Nothing.

>I wouldn't necassarily expect the A3000 to upgrade
>to  the next chip set after AGA but one should expect to be able to upgrade
>to  at least one level higher with a machine full of slots.

I wouldn't suggest that anyone have any delusions about the limitations of
the A4000 either. 

>But time will tell.  I still can't figure it.  If CBM made an AGA board for
>A3000's  there  would  be thousands of "AGA based systems" in the field for
>supporting AGA software developement in a real short time.

When CBM releases RTG, it will foster competition among third-party
hardware vendors, increase the longevity of existing machines and allow
people to select their graphics capabilities based on personal need.

AGA is the question. RTG is the answer.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
From: boberg@lysator.liu.se (Stefan Boberg)
Subject: Re: Struggling computer science student needs a free A4000.
Organization: Lysator Academic Computer Society, Linkoping University, Sweden
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 10:40:25 GMT

david@ariane.cam.org (David Lebel) writes:

>In article <25380022@hpsad.sad.hp.com> kevint@hpsad.sad.hp.com (Kevin Taddeucci) writes:

>> Yes! To clear up the confusion, the 640x400 mode on an A4000 is flicker
>> free and can not only do 256 colors but can do 256,000 colors as well.
>> The modes, this anonymous person (Gee I can't imagine who we are talking
>> about here) was referring to which do still flicker are 1280x400 and
>> 800x600.

>   False.   Only  the DblNTSC:  (or DblPAL:) and MULTISCAN:Productivity ARE
>FLICKER-FREE  if  you  select  the  "Hires Interlaced No Flicker" in Dbl#?:
>modes.  

  Did he say anything else? You can have a 640*400 DblNTSC/PAL screen, no?

>|                David Lebel      ///  Let me hear you                      |
>|   Ariane Development Group     ///   Make decisions                       |
>|       david@ariane.cam.org    ///    Without your television              |
>|    lebeld@jsp.umontreal.ca \\X//     Let me hear you speaking just for me |
>|  (514) 343-6532 ext. 44644  \X/               - Martin Gore, Depeche Mode |

  Well I just have to compliment you for your good music-taste :-)
-- 
Stefan Boberg - AP & EE student at Linkoping Institute of Technology, Sweden
 Author of LhA, ArjA and LhArcA. Co-author of Alien Breed, Project X ...
  EMail: boberg@lysator.liu.se, lha@augs.se           FIDO: 2:204/404.7
    UUCP:  {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmehq!cbmswe!team17!boberg
From: ccb8m@onyx.cs.Virginia.EDU (Charles C. Bundy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: COMMODORE - HERE'S A CLUE
Date: 8 Oct 92 15:22:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: murdoch.1992Oct8.152203.27725
Organization: University of Virginia Computer Science Department

grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes:

>In article <1992Oct5.180757.1@cc.helsinki.fi> jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi writes:
>> In article <OA92-901-306p1_88E8203B@piraya.bad.se>, 
>> Hans_Bergengren@p1.thulos.bbs.bad.se (Hans Bergengren) writes:
>> > 
>> >  GR> Not even Atari was dumb enough to try and create a custom chip that
>> >  GR> did 16-bit audio, the job is much better given to a DSP to handle.
>> > 
>> > It's NOT! Suppose you want the DSP to do other stuff, like voice 
>> > recognition, image enhancing, or 3D graphics, or any other of that 
>> > nice stuff a DSP can do, why waste bandwidth on such a simple task 
>> > as outputting audio?
>> 
>> Hey! As far as I have understood, the DSP is NOT needed for Audio output
>> (even 16-bit stereo, or maybe 8-channels). There is a special
>> audio-matrix-subsystem for that. You use the DSP, if you want some
>> realtime audio processing.
>
>From the description of the "audio matrix" it sounds like some analog 
>multiplexing of the audio signals.  This suggests that you can combine 
>the DSP and the other on-board noisemakers in various clever ways, but 
>the DSP is probably the only on that can generate 16-bit audio.
>
>It could be something better, but don't assume that something nice sounding
>like and audio-maxtrix-subsystem offers more than offered by the basic 
>on-board resources.
>

I have one simple question to this ongoing thread :)  How on earth can a
DSP "generate" any kind of audio?  Does it have an ADC?  Your bit limit
range on sound comes from the ADC not the 56K DSP in the falcon.  The
statement "16 bit sound can only be generated by the DSP" doesn't make
sense in this context (unless you have a bunch of resistors hanging
off it:)

For audio applications the DSP can be used to perform all kinds of neat
filter/wave modification stuff in real-time, but it won't generate any
kind of analog signal...

DSP's can also be used as input noise/signal conditioners (if you have an 
ADC, in addition to a DAC) and I've seen numerous video processing/
active vision projects using DSP's.  Neat stuff, and I can't wait until
one becomes standard for the Amiga (sure I can wait, I waited for a minimum
8 bitplanes, with a tightly coupled video subsystem :)


Charles C. Bundy IV
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy