Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site rayssd.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!rayssd!jxc From: jxc@rayssd.UUCP (Jeffrey J. Clesius) Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga Subject: Amiga 'Intelligent User' support Message-ID: <1190@rayssd.UUCP> Date: Fri, 25-Oct-85 13:00:59 EDT Article-I.D.: rayssd.1190 Posted: Fri Oct 25 13:00:59 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 25-Oct-85 23:55:13 EDT Sender: jxc@rayssd.UUCP (Jeffrey J. Clesius @ Raytheon Co., Portsmouth RI) Organization: Raytheon Co., Portsmouth RI Lines: 77 > The natural persistance of the Phosphor seems to hide > flicker unless you look very very close (1" with a magnifying glass). (-: Doesn't holding the magnifying glass hinder your typing? :-) Seriously folks, As a new Amiga owner, let me respond to Commodore's alleged comment about ABasiC being enough. The answer is an emphatic NO! The Intro to Amiga manual makes reference to at least three other manuals, namely the Amiga ROM Kernal Manual, The AmigaDOS User's Manual, and the Amiga Hardware Reference Manual. NOT ONE of these 3 manuals is supplied with the system or available from the dealer! (-: I checked my empty boxes twice. :-) It appears that the only way to obtain these manuals in a timely fashion (the dealer doesn't even know when he'll see TextCraft, much less the technical manuals) is to become a developer. If all of us who are interested in the technical information necessary to use the capability of the machine we have laid out our hard-earned bucks for have to become developers, then Commodore is going to spend an awful lot of money supporting us. I can understand that the Tutorial program was not shipped, it's hard to get everything ready for the release of a new product. But hey folks, the technical manuals already exist! Do I have to be a developer to want to be able to use the capability I PAID FOR?!?! One of the reasons I purchased my Amiga is that it offered the CLI in addition to the workbench. I liked the idea of having icons for my spouse who does not enjoy learning operating system commands, however, I like the brevity that DOS command syntax offers. Where can I find CLI syntax? See the AmigaDOS manual. No AmigaDOS manual? Should I become a developer? Figure it out from scraps on the network? Try different commands? Give me a break! Apple already has a computer 'for the rest of us', don't keep me away from the power of this machine by giving me no route to it! A few examples of ABasiC (and documentation) limitations: 1. No way to get interlaced mode (i.e., 320 X 400 and 640 X 400) 2. The ANIMATE command 'may' not be implemented. Even if it is, there is no technical description of the sprites it uses. 3. No means of getting menu options from ABasiC generated windows. 4. A SHELL command allows DOS execution from an ABasiC program, what's the syntax? 5. There is a command to copy a rectangular portion of the screen to memory and back. WHERE DO I PUT IT? On top of AmigaDOS? On top of ABasiC? Silly question, the answer is obviously NO. But where? There's no memory map! 6. On a one disk system I can't get a directory of my Extras disk. When I type 'dir' it asks me to insert the workbench disk and I then get a directory of the workbench disk! If I explicitly ask for the Extras directory, it tells me to insert the workbench disk (for the 'dir' command that's in it) and then gives me a 'Volume not found message'. Cute, where do I go for more information? 7. I can guess that the file syntax is probably 'dev:dir/dir/file', after having used Unix. But what about the poor slobs who haven't. And after looking at the 'Programming in C' example printed in _Amiga WORLD_ magazine, I don't expect great programming hints from them, either. Don't get me wrong folks, I LOVE this machine. But it's so frustrating. I know where I want to go and I can't get there from here! HEY COMMODORE, do us BOTH a favor and get these manuals out to the general public, IN A HURRY, and let us fully utilize its capabilities! It's not just software and hardware that will sell a machine, it's also the way you treat the people who buy it! And the people who buy this machine are probably those who can appreciate it's sophistication enough to want to exploit it! I OWN an Amiga, and I STILL want one!!!!! -- /^^^/ / __/__________________________________________________ / !/ Jeffrey Jay Clesius !\ / / Raytheon Submarine Signal Division !_\ /^^^/ / /! PO Box 360, Portsmouth, RI 02871 !/ / ^^^^ ! (401) 847-8000 (X4015) / / ! {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccice5} rayssd!jxc /! / !____________________________________________________/_! / / / ^^^^