Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!emory!auc!rar From: rar@auc.UUCP (Rodney Ricks) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: A3000 and BYTE magazine Summary: If you want something done right... Keywords: Byte A3000 Message-ID: <32464@auc.UUCP> Date: 2 Aug 90 00:16:18 GMT References: <334@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> <1990Jul30.165229.718@bushido.uucp> Reply-To: rar@auc.UUCP (Rodney Ricks) Organization: Atlanta University Center, Atlanta, Ga. Lines: 77 In article <1990Jul30.165229.718@bushido.uucp> donb@bushido.uucp (Donald Burnett) writes: >In article <334@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> s8825698@mqcomp (Daniel Bielik) writes: >>Has anyone noticed how most new, revolutionary computers (and some >>not-so-revolutionary ones) get scores of pages of technical data and >>performance information written about them in BYTE magazine, No, not the brand-new ones. >> yet the MAY, 1990 >>edition with the AMIGA3000 as the cover story has 3 pages of information >>regarding this new machine. I'll have to check what few recent issues of Byte that I have around to see, but the pattern that Byte has unfortunatley fallen into seems to be this: If a "new, revolutionary" computer comes around, they'll do a story on it before it actually hits the market. Since Byte said that they don't review products before they hit the market, they do a short, "First Impression" of it. When the product finally hits the market, it's old news now, compared to some other new product, which they also do a first impression of, and they never get around to doing an actual, long, fully researched, useful, good old-fashioned review of the product. The only machines Byte seems to review are those that they didn't do a "First Impression" of, so it often seems to turn out that they only review the somewhat uninteresting products (or those that slipped on the market without their notice). What would be nice is if one of you people out there who has a 3000 and is a good writer would write up a FULL review, including such things as some specs of the Zorro III Bus, and would port the IBM PC & Macintosh benchmarks to the Amiga and run them. The review should also tell some of the features of AmigaOS 2.0. It should include some nice pictures of the 3000's high-res displays, to show how the new workbench looks. Of course, it should not be done in a "my computer is better than yours" tone. The review should be meant to inform (and to impress), not to annoy. Don't forget to mention the quality of the built-in speech (it HAS been improved, right?!?), and the built-in sound capabilities. Oh, and while that person is at it, someone else should write an article to Byte showing expressly how and why the Amiga blows away other machines (of comparable price) as far as multimedia goes. >>Or possibly is there a better review coming up in future editions of BYTE, in >>which case I would ask the question "Why did BYTE make this minimal story their >>Cover Story?". I don't think we can count on the Byte staff itself to come up with a review of the 3000. Jerry Pournelle (sp?) doesn't even mention it in his columns anymore; he did for a few issues. If we want a review of the 3000 in Byte, we'll have to write it, and it will have to be useful and interesting to non-Amigans, as well as being unbiased. Maybe Commodore can send Jerry an Amiga 3000? ( 1/2 :-) ) Maybe Commodore can send ME an Amiga 3000?!?! I'd love to write a review, but my 2000 is 1000 miles away ... (maybe there's a song in that!) :-) >>Danny Bielik. >>3RD year Computing student >>Macquarie University >>Sydney, Australia. Rodney Ricks. Nth year Computing student Morehouse College, by way of Georgia Tech AT&T Summer Intern USA, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, ... :-) :-) -- "We may have come over here in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now." -- Jesse Jackson // \\ // Rodney Ricks, Morehouse College \/