Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!jonabbey
From: jonabbey@cs.utexas.edu (Jonathan David Abbey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Mac and Amiga (Games--Macintosh vs A500)
Message-ID: <227@atacama.cs.utexas.edu>
Date: 4 Mar 91 17:23:10 GMT
References: <27253@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <1991Mar3.223546.12173@rice.edu> <1991Mar4.013846.26519@gsm001.uucp> <1991Mar4.030134.7183@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <19467@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 37

In Reply To: raible@cbmvax.commodore.com

I just thought I'd mention that in interviews, Jay Miner and R.J. Mical
have stated that while the original investors who provided the front money
for the Amiga wanted a great game machine to ride the game boom that was
being ridden by Colecovision et al, the Amiga team from the beginning were
interested in making the ultimate personal computer.  That's why you have
things like a multitasking operating system, the seeds of which were done
as early as January 1983.  In fact, Jay Miner had to fight for the expense
of having an expansion port, as well as seperating the keyboard from the
CPU.

I think, personally, that the 1000 fulfills their vision of the ultimate
personal computer to a large degree.  The trouble is that the people who
buy computers in volume are not so interested in them as devices akin to
hyper television sets, but as work tools.  This is why you also find such
a large cult in Amigaland.  Many who bought the Amiga did so because they
wanted the best personal computer around, just because it was such a great
personal computer, and not because it had great software, or because there
it had lots of useful software which would help them get practical problems
solved.

Commodore's greatest problem now, of course, is finding a way to solve
practical problems with the machine in such a stunning fashion that it is
compelling to buy the Amiga over a Mac or PC compatible.  A rather difficult
(some would say nigh impossible) proposition, all things considered.  The Amiga
may well end up an Atari 800 ten years from now, granted.  But it will not be
because the original Amiga team wanted to make a game machine, but because the
original Amiga team wanted to make a personal computer, rather than a business
computer.


-- 
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Jonathan David Abbey              \"I am stronger than the passing time" -Frost 
the university of texas at austin  \  jonabbey@cs.utexas.edu  "Does any of this
computer science/math?/psychology?  \ (512) 472-2052           make sense?" -Me