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From: geoffk@otl.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Geoffrey Kim)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Amigans Unite - need help against pompous PC-oid!
Message-ID: <131@otl.SanDiego.NCR.COM>
Date: Fri, 23-Oct-87 16:00:23 EST
Article-I.D.: otl.131
Posted: Fri Oct 23 16:00:23 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Oct-87 17:47:15 EST
Organization: NCR Corporation, E&M San Diego
Lines: 66
Keywords: Sic' em, boy!

Fellow Amigans,
   I picked this piece of enfuriating drivel up from rec.music.synth
   and would appreciate help in setting this obviously misguided
   individual straight.  Thank you for your support.
                             Geoffk @hp-sdd!ncr-sd!otl

#Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
#Subject: IBM PC Midi Interface
#Message-ID: <7973@mirror.TMC.COM>
#Date: 23 Oct 87 04:56:16 GMT
#Sender: UUCP@mirror.TMC.COM
#Lines: 113
#In response to Duke Robillard ....
#Why would you ever want to 'break down and buy an Amiga'?  You already have
#a computer which will blow away (in MIDI applications) anything else on the
#market.  Sure you see a lot of neat ads for Amiga, Arari and Mac music
#applications, but you have to read between the lines.  Remember, the Mac was
#suposed to be the computer for 'the rest of us' (i.e., non business, non
#technically oriented users.  Similarly, the Amiga was originally crafted as
#a graphics engine and is, for all intents and purposes, a glorified game
#playing machine with very pretty graphics.  The Atari ST, well, what can I
#say.  I am not belittling any of these machines, and because of their 68000
#architecture, they are very technologically sophisticated.  Their problem
#lies in the software which overly uses their graphics interfaces and makes
#mouse clicking a probable future course in major computer departments.  The
#Mac, has finally been allowed access into the business world because it
#finally spawned software which is usefull to the business world.  The Mac and
#Amiga (and to some extent the ST) have been taken to the hearts of many
#musician software developers.  Unfortunately, the software is far from
#spectacular.  The Mark of the Unicorn stuff nonwithstanding, for the most part
#the 68000 stuff available for music comes in only 3 flavors (with varying
#degrees of excellence): Sequencers with graphics interfaces which make them
#look like they are emulating multi-track recording studios (right down to
#simulated tape reels and tape transport controls - Can simulated vU meters
#be far away?); scoring programs which take the output of sequencers and
#produce musical notation; and patch editors and librarians.  All the stuff
#is OK for what it does, but it is accompanied by too much graphics overbaggage
#so that you really loose track of what it is you are REALLY trying to 
#accomplish.  If some clever programmers start to work on some real production
#software (this does appear to be happening for the Mac), clearly it might be
#of interest to consider purchasing one of the 68000 machines for MIDI use.
#The final flaw in the 68000 marketplace (Amiga and ST, especially) is the
#gameland background from whence the machines themselves were spawned.  While
#it has been sometime since there has been any successfully marketed copy
#protected programs in the IBM PC market, almost anything worth more than
#$19.00 come copy protected for the 68000 machines.  People with game-playing
#computers have become accustomed to buying software which is copy protected.
#Conversely, most people with IBM type equipment, have hard disks (when you
#can add 20 Meg for under $300, and a Mac external floppy costs more than $200
#it is easy to see why this is true) and even Lotus learned that it isn't
#fun to alienate the hard disk user, even tho the point of necessitating
#the use of Key disks.  So now that I have hopefully convinced you that you
#really don't need, or want an Amiga (there is nothoing that you can do with
#one that you can't expand your IBM to do for less overall cost, and with
#a lot more support and convenience), I'll address the MIDI interface
#situation.
#           [... omitted random garbage on PC MIDI card ...]
#If you really have to buy a 68000 system, get a MACII or something that
#has some serious real application (i.e., business use) support.  At least
#in doing so you will have purchased a product which won't be orphaned when
#a new and better game playing, cutsie computer comes around.  It's a shame
#that 68000 technology hasn't been exploited as it should have been about
#2 years ago.  Hello 65816, surprise 68000!
#John
#Rossi@NUSC.ARPA
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