Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!olivea!uunet!cbmvax!daveh From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: The Amiga's Future Keywords: Future, Amiga, etc. Message-ID: <22227@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 6 Jun 91 23:02:29 GMT Article-I.D.: cbmvax.22227 References: <1991Jun4.023950.11286@ncsu.edu> <16577@darkstar.ucsc.edu> <22163@cbmvax.commodore.com> <16643@darkstar.ucsc.edu> Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 103 In article <16643@darkstar.ucsc.edu> galpin@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Dan Galpin (Amiga-quester)) writes: >>Adding to the A2000 is simple enough. Whaddya want, 10 different special >>purpose interfaces? That's not going to cut costs any, since these add-ins >>would be machine-specific. Except for coprocessors, whatever goes in your >>A2000 could go in your A3000 or any other slotted Amiga that comes along. >I was not really talking about an A2000 type machine. The Amiga 2000 is really >for the professional user. The A2000 is for anyone who wants an Amiga with lots of goodies in it. Sure, mine here has three hard disks and seven cards in it, which not everyone will want or need. It costs more simply because expansion, done properly, requires a level of support that you only get with $$$. >The machine that I referred to would be designed to augment the "low-cost" >Amiga line. The A500 is difficult to expand. I dunno, the last time I slapped an A590 on an A500, it worked just dandy. >Many add-ons must be "hacked" onto the motherboard, violating the warrenty. >The "commercial" user is not going to be interested (in my humble opinion) >in having to figure out how to install these things (especially since it is >quite possible that the individual has little or no dealer support... as they >bought the system through a place like Montgomery Ward's or Macy's.) There's a good reason for all of this. Those hacked in things violate the warrenty because they SHOULD violate the warrenty. You can't plug that kind of thing into an A500 and expect everything to work right. The A500's local bus isn't designed for extra loads. Neither is the power supply. The extra power supply, proper expansion bus with buffers, and dealer support, are what you pay for when you buy an A2000. There is no other proper way to do it. >The idea is that the end-user can add on to their system with simple >"cartridge" type attachments. These would not be "interfaces," but would >work based upon the way many of the "Hacks" work.. by taking lines from the >68000, Denise, Gary and giving easy access. Right now, you get a place for an A501, powered by the A500, and a place for a self-powered expansion chassis or SOTS box. That is all the A500 is designed to drive. Any extra goodies, done properly, are going to push the price of the system way up. You simply can't buy a Volkswagon and expect to get a real Porsche by plugging in extras. >True about no speed-switchable Macs.. but it isn't really that necessary to >make a new machine speed switchable. High-end PC clone makers have (until >recently) made their machines switchable for compatibility. That's simply due to shortcomings in the PC software design. There's no need for this goofiness in the Amiga, and probably not in the Mac. You're the one who put it on the list of features. >If I remember correctly, all Macs since the 512KE have built in SCSI. True, all those Macs have built-in SCSI. Except for the IIfx, it is extremely low performance SCSI. And you still pay much more for a Mac than for an A500. If you want SCSI on an A500, Commodore sells the A590, which gives you very decent performance, since we will settle for no less on our systems. If you want to go the cheap route, some third parties make Mac-like slow SCSI. >It is hard to see the A500 as a serious computer when a peripheral as >necessary to its high performance operation as a hard drive has to be hanging >outside of the left side of the case. The A500 is HOME COMPUTER. H-O-M-E C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R. Some people only play games on the thing. Lots of home users don't need hard drives, or 16MB of RAM, or all the things techies need. Get it? It is not a serious computer. The A2000 and A3000 are serious computers. It is a fun computer, which can also do serious work if you want to buy some extras. That's why we sell a million of these puppies a year. It's fun, and it's cheap. Same reason we sold 12 million (or whatever the latest tally is) C64s. >The Amiga 2000 could use (in my opinion) a 68881 slot and a faster 68000.. That would be nice. Though if you're going to the trouble of putting a 68881 in it, you really want a 68020 at the least, the 68881 doesn't buy you much with a 68000 driving it. >I am really (mainly) referring to the A500 and the difficulty in expanding >it to be a semi-professional system.. Imagine that. If you want to expand the A500 into a semi-professional system, you need to spend semi-professional money on it. You buy a real expansion box. See "Bodega Bay" for more information. You don't get a semi-professional system by hacking it. >>Anyone can offer a CD-ROM player, doesn't have to be Commodore. One 3rd party >>has one out already. You need a SCSI interfaced CD-ROM, and you need the >>ISO filesystem. That's pretty much it. >Point taken. However, only the backing of a large company such as Commodore >can guarantee standardization (in my opinion). The standards are there. Just like with the hard drives. C= told you what to do to be standard. They weren't the first out with a standard hard drive, they don't have to be the first out with a standard CD-ROM player. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "This is my mistake. Let me make it good." -R.E.M.