Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!mmdf
From: AAW151%URIACC.BITNET@brownvm.brown.edu (Andy Patrizio)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: The Amiga
Message-ID: <33768@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 17 Oct 90 14:49:43 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 70

There has been a great deal of neurosis lately over the Amiga, what with
the new Mac line and such... so I'm gonna do a little soap-boxing.

Hardware-wise, this machine is easily the most impressive and has the best
capabilities on the market. Mac is a bloated, expensive slug. Computer
Shopper really let 'em have it when they said only Apple could slow down the
68000 processor.

And, of course, the price. Back in 1988, Macworld did an article on how much
it cost to build an SE (20 meh HD, 1 MB RAM, etc). The price tag was $588.
That was back when I sold PCs, and was asking about $3000 for the same machine.

My commision was about $60...

But anyway, Macs sold for several reasons, like ease of use, DTP, etc. But
the underlying reason was the software. MS Word on the Mac is fantastic. I
wish I could say the same for the IBM version, but that would be a blatant lie.

Same program, same company. Yet radically different. One easy to use, one so
bad I was reluctant to sell it.

It's all in the software, boys. Amiga may be the finest assemblage of silicon
and plastic available today, but much of the software SUCKS! It's bad, plain
and simple.

Or, it doesn't exist. People in business have a small computer vocabulary.
They know words like "Lotus," "DBase" "Microsoft," etc. And Amiga does not
have that software. At that point, the business world will look elsewhere.

What does exist for the Amiga, most games from what I've seen, are bad ports
from DOS and Mac machines. The only decent software available is made by
Amiga-specific companies, like New Tek and Psygnosis. They bring out the
tru capabilities of the machine.

But too often, I see lazy, sloppy ports, like Might and Magic II. I can't
believe they had the nerve to put Apple IIe graphics in an Amiga game, but
they did. Sierra games are the sam way; they don't take advantage of the
machine's capabilities.

What will propell Amiga forward is serious software that brings out the best
the machine has to offer. MS Excel on the Amiga could blow the Mac version
out of the water, especially in the graphics department. What's needed are a
few Amiga programmers at Microsoft.

Anyway, I think I've made my point. Better software is needed, by the name
players in this industry, that bring out the best in the Amiga. Until then,
it will always be looked upon as a second-class machine by the big shots.

Who needs 'em, you say? Well, considering they are the ones who buy in
volume, Commodore does. Home users buy one machine at a time. Major corporation
s
buy dozens at a time (I know this personally. The commision was great! :-))

Anyway, I welcome further discussion on this subject.

PS. To the list managers: If there's a way to kick -MB- off so we don't
have to put up with his garbage any more?


---
Andy Patrizio              Bitnet: aaw151@uriacc.bitnet
B100C Ellery               Internet: aaw151%uriacc.uri.edu@brownvm.brown.edu
URI                        Usenet:  simon@sbs.bbs.com
Kingston, RI 02881         or... uunet!rayssd!idsvax!andypo @ idsvax.ids.com
---
rip_off()
{
    NeXT = (Amiga * steroids) + $6000;
}
---