From: robtu@itx.isc.com (Rob Tulloh)
Subject: Re: CBM is a game machine company
Organization: Interactive Systems Corporation, Boulder, CO
Date:  7 Apr 92 03:13:00 GMT

davidme@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au (David Meiklejohn) writes:

>In article <mykes.2235@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG> mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) writes:
>>
>>I see a few IBM-type clowns out there that have 32-bit fast buses
>>and hires graphics.  But Windows blows, and OS/2 is hardly supported.
>>I see expensive Macintosh systems that begin to look like powerful
>>computers.  This only leaves Unix boxes.  As much as I hate Unix,
>>I am beginning to believe that is the direction I will end up going.
>>But I'm going to need a 2nd mortgage on my house to afford the kind
>>of computer I feel I need :(

>This sums it up for me pretty well.  When I bought my A1000 in '86, I didn't
>expect to still be using an Amiga in '92.  After all, five years is a long
>time in the computer industry, let alone six!  I have no particular loyalty
>to Amiga (or C=) as a brand - I just want a good, high tech computer that
>does what I want, and is enjoyable to use.  The last point rules out PCs
>completely, for me.  If Macs had a decent OS, I consider them, but, for now,
>they don't.  And, I can't afford a cool Unix workstation.  Maybe if I could
>buy at educational discount prices, but I have to pay real money.

Well, I bought my A500 in '88. Mostly because I was wowed by a friend's
A1000 and the fact that I could dump my '286 machine for something with
a multi-tasking O/S, tons of colors, nice graphical interface, and
the ability to learn about programming a real system (not a brain-dead
Intel segmented memory boondoggle).

I can't say that I am disappointed. I have played plenty of games on
my machine and written quite a few C programs including the entire
Unix Standard C library (with help from P.J. Plauger). I have noticed
that other machines have caught up, but not really worried too much
about it since the Amiga does for me what I want it to do. It's not
Unix (I get that from 9 to 5), it's not MS-DOS, and it's not a Mac.

Only recently have I felt pangs of regret about owning an Amiga. The
market for Amigas is multimedia oriented. I do nothing with multimedia
and do not plan to. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't move on to a new
machine which is faster, and is more oriented to the things I like
to do with my home computer. Well, I looked around and I just couldn't
find a machine for the price of an Amiga that does what I want. So
instead of a new machine, I gave mine a facelift. I spent $1K and bought
a 68030 board and some RAM and I guess time will tell if I made a
good investment.

Besides, there seem to be just enough other folks out there doing just
what I do with my Amiga that I'll have company for a while longer :-)

>So, after all this time, there still is no alternative to the Amiga for me.
>I had thought that something good may have come from the ACE initiative, but
>that seems to be falling apart.  It may be another couple of years before
>there's a fast box with good graphics and an OS that can compete with the
>Amiga's, so, I'll just have to wait.  In the meantime. who knows?  C= could
>conceivably change direction and release the A4000 we've all been waiting
>for.  We'll see...

I plan to stick with it and see what happens. There may be another machine
for me in the future, but right now, the Amiga does it all for me. 

I will point out one thing for those who might wish to switch from the Amiga to
a Mac or a PC. Right now, you can buy hardware/software for your Amiga which 
will let it emulate a Mac and let it run MS-DOS. So, why spend bucks
for a new system when you can add those systems to your Amiga for less
money?  Unix for the price of a 3000 is a bit steep, I'll bet we'll 
find it for less in the sometime in the near future.

Food for thought...

Rob
--
INTERACTIVE Systems Corp.         Tel: (512) 343 0376 Ext. 116
9442 Capital of Texas Hwy. North  Fax: (512) 343 1414
Arboretum Plaza One, Suite 700    Net: robertt@isc.com (polled daily)
Austin, Texas 78759                    robtu@itx.isc.com (same thing!)