Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!leah!rpi!batcomputer!cornell!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!mp1u+ From: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Byte Bites. (So have we read the Graphics section yet?) Message-ID: Date: 4 Apr 89 18:19:52 GMT References: <8904011630.AA21629@jade.berkeley.edu> Organization: Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 74 In-Reply-To: <8904011630.AA21629@jade.berkeley.edu> Before you start writing flame mail to BYTE magazine, perhaps it might help to actually read the article from which these quotes were taken out of context.... > *Excerpts from ext.nn.comp.sys.amiga: 1-Apr-89 Byte Bites. (So have we rea..* > *Jonathan Crone@UREGINA1. (1829)* > Page 258. > Supposedly a screen picture of the amiga version of flight simulator > is really a screen picture off a PC, Because it sure as heck ain't the > screen that i see when I fly flight Sim.... Granted. That was a pretty slimy thing to do. > Furthermore.... > "From the original Amiga1000 to the less expensive and > LESS EXPANDABLE?????????? {Emphasis mine} Amiga 500 and the higher- > powered Amiga 2000 the amiga begins with 68000... " That sentence could also be interpreted as saying that the 500 is less expandable than the 2000, though I admit that it reads as if the 500 is less expandable than the 1000. > "the amiga has a trio of custom IC's dedicated to processing > video information..... the amiga has a degree of multitasking..."" The complete quote, "Instead of leaving the 68000 CPU to handle all the graphics calculations along with its other chores (the Mac strategy), the Amiga has a trio of custom ICs dedicated to processing graphics information. Because these chips can handle video information while the main CPU is working on other tasks, the Amiga has a degree of "multitasking" -- the ability to handle more than one job at a time." is incorrect, but not a deliberate attempt to slam the Amiga. It merely confuses "multitasking" with "multiprocessing". If you decide to write a letter to Byte, it would be wise to simply correct their terminology and point out that the Amiga has a multitasking operating system in addition to multiprocessing capability at the chip level. Such a letter will get the attention of the editors and likely get printed. A knee-jerk flame won't. > "the amiga's strength is shown in pure graphics tasks such as games > animation and video work..." > relatively true, but i'm not sure i'm happy about the F***ing Games > mention.... You left out the following sentence... "The Amiga's real strength is shown in pure graphics tasks such as games, animation, and video work. There, it has a clear advantage over the PC or the Mac, with direct connections to standard video formats and with special graphics acceleration hardware to produce smooth and more realistic games and graphics applications." > yes I'm frustrated, and its almost enough to make me write > my first letter to these bozos, > (not that they'll print it of course..) They certainly won't print a letter that reads like your post to the net. Furthermore, by sending them such a letter, you'll make them think all Amiga owners are a bunch of knee-jerk flamers. To conclude: while the article contains factual inaccuracies, it is not a deliberate attempt to slam the Amiga and actually says very nice things about the Amiga, pointing out places where it can do things the PS/2 and Mac can't. It is worth writing Byte to correct them. It is not worth writing Byte to alienate them. -- Michael Portuesi * Information Technology Center * Carnegie Mellon University INET: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu * BITNET: mp1u+@andrew UUCP: ...harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!mp1u+ "Some say that knowledge is something that you never have" -- K. Bush