Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!uunet!pyrdc!grebyn!ckp From: ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Why are Amigaoids hell bent on proving the Amiga is better ? Message-ID: <1991Jun27.170049.21231@grebyn.com> Date: 27 Jun 91 17:00:49 GMT Article-I.D.: grebyn.1991Jun27.170049.21231 References: <3104@kirk.nmg.bu.oz.au> Organization: Grebyn Timesharing Lines: 34 In article mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) writes: >2) Amigoids have to fight the image that the Amiga is a game > machine, which it is (and isn't). But why being a game > machine is a problem escapes me, because most of what makes a > machine a great game machine also makes it a great business > machine (and video machine and multimedia machine and...) Here's the thing: Game machines require only medium reliability. If a game machine crashes, you lose what? Your best high score? If your business computer crashes, you may lose untold $$ worth of data. So you guard it with things like, oh, parity RAM, so that you are assured that incorrect answers are not propogated. And you choose a vendor that has a reputation for reliability. In a game machine, speed counts, price counts, but reliability can suffer, and it usually does. (I once asked Dave Haynie, hardware dude of some renown, what reliability features were present in the Amiga, and his reply was that OFS is replete with robust features that made tools like DiskSalv possible. I found it quite telling that this hardware guy pointed out a software feature.) Businesses have to choose their risks carefully. In the case of a "game" computer versus a "business" computer, the business *should* choose the computer with the least risk involved. A game computer is risky, so it typically loses. On the other hand, a game computer's market is extremely price-sensitive, and so the game computer is typically very cheap (from the absense of reliability features, no doubt). This may win it a few business desks when cost is a major factor. -- Richard Krehbiel, private citizen ckp@grebyn.com (Who needs a fancy .signature?)