Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!crdgw1!passaret From: passaret@brahe.crd.ge.com ("Mr. Mike" Passaretti) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Wake Up Commodore! Message-ID: <17745@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> Date: 20 Mar 91 21:14:02 GMT References: <1991Mar20.194243.11450@news.iastate.edu> Sender: news@crdgw1.crd.ge.com Reply-To: Organization: GE Corporate Research & Development Lines: 53 In-reply-to: xgr39@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU's message of 20 Mar 91 19:42:43 GMT In article <1991Mar20.194243.11450@news.iastate.edu> xgr39@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU (Marc Barrett, who else?) writes: # In article , # >lcs@remus.rutgers.edu (Lyle C. Seplowitz) writes: # >What else, well better graphics displays would be nice. I'm not # >talking about those 24-bit boards out now, I'm talking a change in the # >graphics chips. Why can't the Amiga have 24-bit color standard? What # >about 8-bitplanes of color? The low-end machine might not have all the # >graphic capabilites as the A3000, but users should be able to expand # >easily. # # This has been hashed and bashed before, by me in particular if by nobody # else. The problem is that the custom chips are already at their limits, # and no big improvements are possible unless the custom chips are totally # redesigned. Yup, Yup, and Yup. # Unfortunately, Commodore isn't exactly in a hurry to redesign the # custom chips. Commodore has not been investing enough in research and # development for the past five years, and recently slashed what little # they were investing. Thus, I would not expect any improvements at all # in the Amiga's color, graphics, sound, or floppy I/O capabilities for # at least three years, minimum. No 24-bit color, no 8-bitplanes, no # improvements. I'll take that bet, -MB-. I'll bet you that we see at least a 2x increase in CHIP bandwidth before the end of the year. I'm not acting on any inside info here, just common sense. I've looked at the 3000 schematics, and I've thought about this a lot. Commodore is NOT stupid. Really. I know you disagree, and that's what we're really betting on here. I'm already resigned to a motherboard replacement to see the 4-8x improvements I'd like to see, but I'm not willing to bet that that's not going to happen either. # I don't like it any more than anybody else, but this is the harsh and # bitter truth. When a company like Commodore invests nothing in their # future, the future cannot be expected to be bright. Commodore has not # been investing in their own future, and the future isn't bright for # either themselves or the Amiga. # # -MB- Marc, if you had ANY idea of the work Commodores R&D is doing, you'd be much less likely to cry wolf. Not, of course, that I have any such info. I just know the kind of people working for CBM, and if they weren't doing new, nifty things there, they'd be out the door. And _that_ is enough for me to keep the faith. - MM -- passaretti@crd.ge.com {whatever}!crdgw1!brahe!passaret