Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!gatech!psuvax1!news From: melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Amiga OS *IS* state of the art, but the NeXT is better Message-ID: Date: 3 Apr 91 07:05:18 GMT References: <1991Apr3.033827.1716@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <.$2G0ysf1@cs.psu.edu> <1991Apr3.045757.24803@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Sender: news@cs.psu.edu (Usenet) Distribution: usa Organization: Penn State Computer Science Lines: 74 In-Reply-To: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu's message of Wed, 3 Apr 1991 04:57:57 GMT Nntp-Posting-Host: sunws5.sys.cs.psu.edu In article <1991Apr3.045757.24803@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) writes: >I used to own a Commodore 64 and 128 so I know all about them. The >Amiga lost, in my opinion, because is could have done so much better. So that makes you qualified to discuss the Amiga? If the Amiga were on the same level as the C=128, I'd give up too! You make it sound like the game is over and Commodore has stopped developing for the Amiga. There is still a bright future, especially now that sales are up and there is more money at Commodore to do things! Right, Commodore does have a niche market. All I was saying is that they could of had a lot more. >Then again, you need a flicker fixer. People might >go for VGA machines instead. > The A3000 has one built in and the cost of one is under $250. I know the A3000 has one built in, but that isn't Commodore's $1000 machine. People don't want to screw around with a flicker fixer, they want to pull the computer out of the box and start typing. Besides, when they are shopping for a computer, the flicker fixer isn't going to be installed. Commodore already has a two marks against them: Apple and IBM. People are going to look at the screens, and they are either going to like what they see or they're not. The people in my office were definitely turned off by the flicker. I suppose the salesman at the store could always explain it to the consumer(think about why this isn't good -- extra points). That's just a cheap shot that lowers your credibility even more (didn't think it could go negative, did you 8) The Amiga is the BEST in video work in the micro/workstation industry. All the major video magazines are moving over towards HEAVY Amiga coverage. The quality of Amiga software in most business areas is acceptable although not miraculous. And, BTW, the Amiga DTP software is also quite good in its own right, capable of publishing magazines. Isn't a Toaster being made for the Mac? And don't forget to watch out for the NeXTDimension board from NeXT. People aren't going to buy an Amiga(or NeXT) just because it has acceptable software, if they can get a Mac that does the same thing better. Very competitive software is needed! >Should we throw in ethernet? That costs an extra $500 on a Mac. And >why the hell is Commodore still using 800K drives in the Amiga? > I guess that's why Commodore just developed/announced a HD Amiga disk drive! Good to hear? I hope it reads/write DOS diskettes. What's their capacity? Why didn't they just use the 2.88MB floppies like NeXT did, or the 1.44MB drives that have been around for a couple of years? Not if they've only sold 20,000 new machines! If, after the initial burst of sales from the new machine launches, they've only made that many sales, then they can never make a profit (nor will Lotus or Word Perfect) and they will simply survive until Steve Jobs runs out of money with which to fund the company. Of course! And, BTW, they've already made a mark. That doesn't mean they'll be around in the long term. Commodore, however, will be, as they are making a clear profit and their sales are growing. And that doesn't mean that Commodore will be around either. They did go through some bad years a while back. -Mike