Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!princeton!twg.com!david From: david@twg.com (David S. Herron) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Amiga in the Workforce Message-ID: <8971@gollum.twg.com> Date: 23 May 91 22:12:18 GMT References: <1991May22.222801.4049@convex.com> <1991May23.012705.24776@leland.Stanford.EDU> <1991May23.083717.1055@cs.ruu.nl> Organization: The Wollongong Group, Palo Alto, CA Lines: 63 In article <1991May23.083717.1055@cs.ruu.nl> ptavoly@cs.ruu.nl (Peter Tavoly) writes: >In what serious workforce (except graphics/video firms) do the employees >play sounds and view GIFs all day? The important files are 1-2-3, WP, >DBaseIII+/IV and CAD applications. Since most of these programs do not exist >on the Amiga yet (WP-Amiga is not up to par, but there are some good CAD >programs), the problem is really simple: Why on earth would I want >to use an Amiga instead of a PC if I do not need it? Hmm.. you should see the GIF collection my office mate has ;-) At any rate, part of what I am doing here is developing an e-mail user agent targeted at the X.400 standards. The customers are wanting to be able to do voice, pictures and video. They want an Amiga, right? Since it does it so well? They want this stuff embedded in e-mail messages, BTW. The reason is that as you go from text to speech to still pictures and up to moving pictures, the quality of the communication increases. Check out any beginning linguistics book if you don't believe me. Them business types do a lot of communications, right? So if they want to do effective communications they want to be using the best medium, meaning something better than text. People around here giggle when I suggest putting our stuff onto Amiga's.. (sigh) >Technically speaking, the problem is twofold anyway: > >1. How do I get those files over there? >2. How do I get those files in the format I want? > >The answer to problem 1 is easy: Use one of the various (good) programs like >CrossDos. Mac2Dos etc. What? You don't have a network? Ever hear of ftp, rcp or ftam? The first two are available on AmigaDOS now.. the last could be available if C= were to ask us to port it (to Unix, that is; AmigaDOS would take a little while longer..).. ;-) >The answer to problem 2 is more difficult (your GIF >example illustrates this, though I have an IFF <-> GIF converter for the >Amiga; sound is utterly unimportant except maybe in advanced research fields >like speech recognition). eh? See the above. Pictures *AND* sound are very important for the application I'm talking about above. And I'm talking about normal everyday e-mail, not esoteric things ... >Now you could add 'problem 0.': 'Serious' companies >use 'serious' software, not 'creative' software. As it stands now, I would >rather label the Amiga creative than serious. (This does most certainly NOT >mean that the Amiga is not *suited* for serious software). Yes, that must be why people giggle at me? ;-) David -- <- David Herron, an MMDF & WIN/MHS guy, <- Formerly: David Herron -- NonResident E-Mail Hack <- <- "MS-DOS? Where we're going we don't need MS-DOS." --Back To The Future