From: barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N Barrett)
Subject: How to Solve the Problem of A3000 C= CD-ROM Support
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 19:30:45 GMT

   There was a segment on CNN last night about a new program that IBM has 
created, to help schools teach with CD-ROM multimedia systems.  The systems
are PS/2 systems (of course) with generic CD-ROM drives, and the multimedia
software running on the systems is quite good, with stereo sound and 
partial-screen motion video (about as good as from a CDTV, but with higher
resolutions and color capabilities, and no NTSC/PAL flicker).  The program
teaches selected intructors on how to use the multimedia systems in their
classrooms, and asks that each intructor help at least one other intructor
on how to use the systems in their classrooms.  IBM has also been helping
by practically giving these systems away to various schools.

   This kind of support from IBM is the straw that broke the cammel's back.
I am sick and tired of seeing so much CD-ROM support from IBM, Apple, and
other companies, and absolutely none whatsoever from Commodore.  Apple is
getting ready to introduce several Macintosh systems in a month or so that
have built-in CD-ROM drives, and all we get from Commodore is the standalone,
unupgradable appliance called the CDTV.  To this date, Commodore has promised
CD-ROM support for the A500 and A600 but still has not delivered on it, and
has yet to even hint at such support for the A3000 and A2000 systems -- the
very systems that would form the backbone of competition with Apple and IBM,
if Commodore would get their act together.
 
   Commodore has been making modified versions of the CDTV OS compatible with
AmigaOS 2.0 available to CDTV developers for several months now.  I'm pretty
certain that only the extra 256K of CDTV-specific ROM has been modified; the
rest of the OS is the standard 512K 2.04 ROM.  What I propose is getting a
dump of the 2.04-compatible 256K CDTV ROM into the hands of one of the bigger
European cracking groups, with the challenge that they develop a software-only
package that would allow A2000 and A3000 systems with a capable SCSI CD-ROM
drive to run CDTV software.  After all, if Commodore will not support us,
why should we continue to support them by remaining loyal to them?  This
bypassing of Commodore could also send a signal to the Commodore management
that they need to get their act together, or the Amiga community will 
continue to disregard Commodore's directional and legal wants and desires in
the future.
 
   If any Commodore reps have the gall to say that this is somehow immoral,
I would like to ask them what is so immoral about trying in any way possible
to push the AMIGA (not the CDTV) into the booming CD-ROM multimedia market?
Commodore has shown absolutely no desire to provide support that would allow
the Amiga to survive and compete in this market, despite how easy it would be
to provide such support.  This is the greater immorality, IMO.

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| Marc Barrett -MB-  |  email: barrett@iastate.edu
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