Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!hobbes.physics.uiowa.edu!news.iastate.edu!vaxf.iastate.edu!TAAB5 From: taab5@isuvax.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: The Amiga's Future Message-ID: <1991Jun18.124836.28792@news.iastate.edu> Date: 18 Jun 91 12:48:36 GMT References: <1991Jun15.112510.17324@news.iastate.edu> <1991Jun15.121453.5511@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>,<22516@cbmvax.commodore.com> Sender: news@news.iastate.edu (USENET News System) Reply-To: taab5@isuvax.iastate.edu Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA. Lines: 67 In article <22516@cbmvax.commodore.com>, daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: >In article <1991Jun15.121453.5511@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> rjc@wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell) writes: > >> I don't expect Comodore to ever release a 32-bit chipset. I expect them >>to work on DIG. I'd rather have add-in boards that are constantly >>evolving rather than rely on one companies product. > >Regardless of what Commodore does or does not do in the way of new Amiga chip >sets, RTG (Re-Targetable Graphics, what everyone really wants, the "Workbench >on a ULowell card" level of graphics support) is more important. I do not agree at all. Every day, I grow increasingly convinced that DIG/RTG is *NOT* the answer, and that a new, powerful chipset is needed instead. DIG/RTG could be more important for high-end or mid-range systems used for applications that can justify not having the graphics capabilities built-in. However, the bulk of Commodore's sales are with the low-end A500 systems, and Commodore wants to expand their dependence on low-end systems with the CDTV. The best DIG/RTG-based operating system in the world will not help the A500 and the CDTV against Japenese competition. The CDTV already has color capabilities vastly inferior to the CD-I products, and a new chipset for the CDTV is going to be needed to fix this situation. The CD-I systems are not here in force yet, but by this time next year they will be, and Commodore needs to decide if they want to truly compete with these products, or resort to keeping the color capabilities the same and hope no buyers of CD-I/CDTV systems care about color capabilities. The Japenese are also not going to stand still. The latest issue of U.S. News and World Report (I left it at home by accident, so I do not have it with me to do exact quotes) has a short article about the low-end game-machine market, and contained a short blurb at the end that mentions a Japanese company that is planning to release a $650 dedicated game system next year that has true 24-bit graphics and animation. If this thing is for real, it will likely also be paired with CD-I technology and marketed as a CD-I system with superior graphics to even the present CD-I systems. Commodore already is in the position of having a low-end computer with color capabilities inferior to the less-expensive Super Nintendo, and this is going to get drastically worse if this 24-bit game machine is for real. In short, DIG/RTG is no solution for Commodore's long-term survival. With DIG/RTG and no improved chipset, Commodore could hang onto the above-$2000 computer market, but would lose the under-$1000 market along with all of the investments that they have made with the CDTV. I predict that within three years, there will be CD-I players available for less than $1000 with 32-bit processors, 24-bit color, and HDTV resolutions. The question is whether or not Commodore wants their CDTV system to still exist when these systems are available. > >-- >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. ------------------------------------------------------------- / Marc Barrett -MB- | BITNET: XGR39@ISUVAX.BITNET / / ISU COM S Student | Internet: XGR39@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU / ------------------------------------------------------------ \ The great thing about standards is that / \ there are so many of them to choose from. / -------------------------------------------------------