Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken!aunro!alberta!cpsc.ucalgary.ca!yogi.hsc.ucalgary.ca!janus.mtroyal.ab.ca!ewilts From: ewilts@janus.mtroyal.ab.ca (Ed Wilts) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: Hardware Idiots ? Message-ID: <1991May31.094111.8616@janus.mtroyal.ab.ca> Date: 31 May 91 15:41:11 GMT References: <21889@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1991May27.090523.8605@rulway.LeidenUniv.nl> <22006@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1991May30.095308.25743@rulway.LeidenUniv.nl> Organization: BC Systems Corporation, Victoria, B.C. Lines: 68 In article <1991May30.095308.25743@rulway.LeidenUniv.nl>, breemen@rulcvx.LeidenUniv.nl (E. van Breemen) writes: > > I bought one of the first A500 (no 14xxx). The OS hasn't improved for me. I > bought 1.3 1 year ago. Apart from FFS nothing much has changed. For the > normal user: Kickstart 2.0 is not released. So you can't speak of much > improvements of the OS (for the A500/A2000 users). > The next thing is the hardware. OK, you can have now 1MB chip (or even 2MB > if you take the A3000). But the hardware for the A500 stayed the same. In 1986 > having 32 colors was great. Nowadays not. Most computers can have 256 (real) It sounds to me like you bought your hardware for the wrong reasons. The standard reason is to find the software first, then buy the hardware that it takes to run. If your application still runs today like it did when you purchased it, then you really have no problem. If it doesn't do the job, then it is because your needs have changed, not because the hardware suddenly became inadequate. I seem to detect a typical whine that just because your machine doesn't have all the state-of-the-art features, you can't brag as much as you could before. > need is colors and resolution (both not just one of them). I work as an > astronomy student in Leiden. People prefer the Sun workstation above the > DEC 3100 even though the DEC is 3 times faster. Why? The Sun has the > possiblity to have a larger screen (in pixels). To be able to make a machine > which is attractive to the business market, one should look what is needed. Have a serious look at your "need" versus the machine you bought. You bought an A500, a CPU definitely not targeted for the business market. You're asking for a lot of Rolls-Royce features retrofitted into a VW bug. That isn't going to happen... You also have to separate the scientific market from the business market. There is no such thing as a computer that will satisfy all markets, just like there isn't an automobile for all people; a pickup truck and a Ferrari are both nice vehicles, but they're not interchangeable... > That is 1024*800 screens with 256 colors out 16000000. You have to stay in > front of the competition.(i.e. look at Screen machine , counterpart for > Amiga Vision). If that is not done, I see , I really regret this, the Amiga > just die a slow death like the C64. At the price your features (that you demand today!) would cost me, I wouldn't buy an Amiga because I couldn't afford one. My application is different than yours, and your "need" is my "why the hell did I have to pay for this" feature. Many people have demanded a built-in Ethernet controller in the Amiga. I'm glad Commodore is offering one (for their sakes), but I'm especially glad that it isn't built-in. That would have been a waste of money for me. As for your "slow death like the C64", remember that over 7 MILLION C64s were sold, and they are still selling. Is that so bad? That's probably a lot more than all of the Unix workstations in the world combined. If Commodore sells over 7 M Amigas, then they need to be proud of their achievement, and not be considered a failure (in fact, they did a damn fine job producing what they have, and can be proud of that). > As a possitive contribution: why not introduce a graphicscard standard. People > can buy the graphiccards they want, plug them into their Amiga and go. This > should be supported by a special library written by Commodore. Something > like the IBM. Then you are not limited by the original hardware. If the OS Which moving graphics standard are you referring to? The "standard" MGA, CGA, EGA, VGA, XVGA, or the whole slew of third-party (Hercules, etc) standards. Even with IBM's own set standards, you are averaging a new standard every 2 years. That doesn't sound like a well-designed standard to me... > Erwin -- .../Ed Preferrred: Ed.Wilts@BSC.Galaxy.BCSystems.Gov.BC.CA Ed Wilts Alternate: EdWilts@BCSC02.BITNET (604) 389-3430 B.C. Systems Corp., 4000 Seymour Place, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8X 4S8