From: davidme@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au (David Meiklejohn)
Subject: Re: Don't let the Amiga Die (Part II)!!!
Organization: Qld Dept Primary Industries
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 00:45:40 GMT

In article <jon.taylor.61.724031139@uuserv.cc.utah.edu> jon.taylor@uuserv.cc.utah.edu (JON M. TAYLOR) writes:
>
>>>  The C-64 and the Amiga 500 were extremely successful!
>>
>>In their day.  We've now moved on.
>
>	I disagree.  The technology in both of those computers is outdated 
>now, but the concept of a cheap, powerful console machine that is primarily 
>for (gasp) games and hobbyist coding will never die.  And why should it?  I 
>don't see anything inherently wrong with having a machine specifically made 
>for these applications.

Ever heard of the A1200?  You just described it, and it's selling as fast as
Commodore can make them.  But, if that's all Amigas are going to be, I'll
buy something else.

>>>I wouldn't mind *at all* if the 2000,3000, and 4000 fell off the face of the 
>>>earth and commodore never made anything but console machines again.
>>
>>The high end is what drives Amiga technology.  Many of the neat gadgets you can
>>buy for your A500, from companies like GVP, are spin-offs from their products
>>for the high-end systems.  Why do you think we have so many accelerators, fast
>>SCSI adaptors, etc.?  For game players?  The serious users are the ones with
>>the money to buy this stuff, then, later, GVP can release something like the
>>530, and the low-end people have something to move to when they want more speed
>>and a hard drive.  If the high end didn't exist, add-ons for the A500 wouldn't
>>be as cheap, or as good, or as plentiful.
>
>	I don't think this is the case.  Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I 
>don't think the percentage of high-end systems is large enough to support a 
>company like GVP.  I think that most of their development is for the 500.

Originally, they only sold boards for the A2000.  It's not the percentage of
systems that counts, but who buys the most hardware.  The guys doing serious
rendering or whatever are willing to shell out $$$.  Those, like me, who
bought an A2000 rather than the cheaper 500 did so because it can be easily
expanded.  In other words, we bought them with every intention of buying
extra hardware for them.  That adds up to a big market for hardware companies.

The other thing to understand is that it's easier and cheaper to adapt an
existing design than it is to start from scratch.  Many products for the 500
are derived from harware designed for the bigger machines.  That makes them
cheaper than they would be otherwise.

>>>I know 
>>>that a lot of people here (usually transplants from the UNIX and DOS worlds) 
>>>like the high-end stuff,
>>
>>"Transplants"?  Hmpff!!
>
>	No insult intended.  As someone pointed out earlier, there are 
>basically two types of people in the Amiga world - those who were weaned on 
>mainframes (UNIX systems, usually) and PCs, and those who 'came up' from 8-
>bit systems like the C-64 and Apple IIx.  I (as if you couldn't have 
>guessed) happen to be one of the latter.

My history - I used ancient OSI micros in school, and my father bought a
Commodore PET for home.  When I started university (studying EE), I bought a
C64.  The courses I was doing led me to use Unix (timeshared minicomputers),
and I thought it was great!  I kept clear of DOS machines as much as possible,
but I had to use them from time to time.  So, by the time I bought my A1000 in
1986, I had been using a C64 at home and Unix at uni for a couple of years.
I liked both at that stage, and I'd developed a strong dislike of Intel
machines by then.

I went for the Amiga because it gave me the best of both worlds.  It was like
having my own personal Unix workstation at home, plus it played great games!
Who could want more?


-- 
David Meiklejohn (also known as davidme@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au)
 - Regional support guy for PC's, Unix, and networks thereof.
 - But I'd rather be using an AMIGA!  Wouldn't you?
Find me in Mareeba, Australia (on the pointy bit in the northeast)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy