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From: DISPATCH@NCSUVM.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Some praise for what Commodore is doing *right*.
Message-ID: <247DISPATCH@NCSUVM>
Date: Tue, 17-Nov-87 08:04:42 EST
Article-I.D.: NCSUVM.247DISPATCH
Posted: Tue Nov 17 08:04:42 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Nov-87 15:07:20 EST
References: 21739@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: North Carolina State University - Computing Center
Lines: 41

I had been using Macs for 3-4 years. Accumulated over 75 disks with
Macstuff on them. Bought several Mac programs, even though I don't
own a Mac.
  I now have a 2000, and have never looked back. If anything, I am
looking forward to all new hardware to come out. Stuff like  Newtek's
Video Toaster (I hope they keep that name), CSA's 68020 board, etc.
  It isn't the prettiest machine in the world. I could have held out
for another year and maybe the prices on the MacII would come down,
and maybe there would be hardware/software to do what I needed to do.
   But these are a lot of maybes.
I don't care if people complain about various aspects of the 2000.
It was, overall, a smart move on Commodore's part. The 1000 was
limited, much in the same way the Mac+ is limited. Closed box
architecture is obviously a dead end, although you can pull "tricks"
to give you more memory (MacSnap), hard drives, etc. The problem is
that these are nothing more than tricks. I have seen many 128k macs
fry soon after getting the 128k - 512k upgrade, early in the upgrade
game. SOTS stuff that passes the bus falls into this category.
   PC slots? Why not. The amiga is never going to be the most popular
computer in the world (maybe). Going with a defined standard means
startup costs for third party manufacturers is lower, which means
higher profits, lower hardware costs to customers. Even if someone
doesn't buy a bridgecard, and use those slots, they will benefit
from this decision.
   The Amiga 500 is going the redefine the home computer market. It
really is "a computer for the rest of us". A user friendly, iconic
based user interface that supports multitasking. The C64 was revolutionary,
although it is hard to think of it as being so at this date, because
it put a full fledged micro in the hands of people who normally wouldn't
be able to afford one. It is going to have a much bigger impact in the
long run than the MacII, PS2 Model 80, etc. simply because the sheer
numbers of people who will use one at home, and write software for it,
and wonder why their machine at the office can't do the same things.
They will expect multitasking, a user friendly interface, and color.
And kids growing up with the Amiga will be attuned to the pitfalls
of multitasking, and better equipped to use or write software that does
it elegantly.
    Enough pipe dreams. Gotta get to work.
Peace,
Hal                   Netoprhm@ncsuvm.bitnet