Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!remus.rutgers.edu!romulus.rutgers.edu!andrewsr From: andrewsr@romulus.rutgers.edu (Rich Andrews) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: Wanting to snub Emulators Message-ID: Date: 27 Oct 90 21:20:38 GMT References: <12733@chaph.usc.edu>, <40636@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> <8b_SvTO00awQQ0vkYD@andrew.cmu.edu> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 100 > >> Does anyone know what amax announces itself as? I would like to have > >> my software NOT run when it sees an emulator. > > When I write software, I write it for a specific platform. Think about it, > running software on a machine it wasn't designed for is a little like > piracy. I have a couple notions to support this. > 1)Many software licenses state that the licensee is not allowed to > transmit or translate the software in any form. Isn't an emulator > synonymous with the words 'translate' or 'copy'? But, this "emulator" does not do much translating: it turns the Amiga INTO a Mac. There are, of course, some differences including a Recoverable Ram Disk, no AppleTalk, and no color. Your software is NOT translated. It is simply run---just like on a Mac. > 2)Let's say I wrote a wonderful cad/cam package for various machines. > I spent resources to support my software on multiple > machines, using the strengths of each. So Joe user, who might have > both an Amiga and a Mac has no reason to support me and my > efforts if they have an emulator. But, the user who is using the emulator *is* supporting your Mac version, not your Amiga version. Remember, the market for A-MaxII is very small now, and will probably not grow much (at least legally) considering that Apple stopped selling the ROMs. The real question is whether or not ReadySoft can design their own MacROM equivalents before they run out of money. If they do, it will be only a matter of time before they have an emulator with color, AppleTalk, etc. On the other idea: if you had created the software package on both the Amiga and the Mac, then why would you care which version someone bought? What is really happening is that you now have a package than runs on another set of computers (around 2 million) for which you did not have to change a single line of code. I would think that you would like that! > Why should I (the developer) support users who don't support me? But they are supporting you. They have bought your Mac package. (If you are worried about Pirated versions of your software, then you have every right to be upset. But isn't pirating a problem on every computer? And that topic is irrelevant to this discussion.) > concepts behind it. Emulation can kill good ideas by stealing markets; > it doesn't really create them, does it? Yes they do create markets!, I, for one, was not interested in any of the Mac software until I purchased an A-MaxII. For *me*, buying the A-MaxII and the ROMs gave me a Mac for only $300. Not a bad deal considering I am using a 5 year old Amiga. (No, I don't have a Mac drive, but I can download stuff or take my A-MaxII to school and use one of their drives). > > Ps. Of the several Amiga users I know, all have Amax, only one bought it, > and all of them have the 'software' version of Mac ROMs. Kind of like > stealing a machine... That is truly sad. I bought the package, and I bought the ROMs. If you write software to stop me from using software that you write, then that is your choice. But I certainly don't know why you would not want me to *buy* your package! I have a simple solution to those of you who want to stop your code from working on an emulator: write "bad" code that does not use the operating system. For, of all the packages that I have tested, all of the productivity stuff ran great. To the Mac community: I have received an education on the benefits of the Mac through A-MaxII that I would not otherwise have. But, (now donning flame gear), I am even more impressed that my 5 year old box can run Mac stuff too. I still don't understand why Mac users get so defensive about A-MaxII. The market for A-Max is for *Amiga* users who want to run Mac software. Isn't this beneficial to the Mac world? I doubt that people who want a Mac are going to but an Amiga with A-Max! (For now at least). The Mac does not have a "clone" threat until ReadySoft solves some of the major drawbacks to A-Max. I also doubt that Amiga users who want to run Mac software are going to buy a Mac. In effect, the Mac market has seeped into the Amiga market (NOT vica versa). I can understand the Mac community feeling threatened by the POTENTIAL of A-Max. Sure, a card that you could slap into an Amiga 3000 to turn it into a Mac machine rivaling the ][fx in functionality would be very threatining. But that day has not arrived. The Mac community should feel more threatened by the developing Amiga software market than the Mac market running on an Amiga. A-MaxII users are not different from Mac users: they still have to buy Mac software--which helps the Mac market. And, finally, for those of you who keep saying that the Amiga can only do video: the Amiga (with A-MaxII) can run the same software as the MacII--thus, are you saying that the MacII only good for video? -Rich -- // Rich | "Like any good philosophical discussion, the | // \X/ Andrews | conclusion is left unresolved." -McLaughlin | \X/