Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tekig5!waynekn From: waynekn@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: A new Amiga from Japan? Keywords: FM Towns Message-ID: <5337@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM> Date: 9 Jan 90 23:12:13 GMT Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or. Lines: 132 I saw an article in Amiga Resource about an editor who traveled around the world seeing what the Amiga was doing in other countries. Since I just got back from Japan I was interested to see what he had to say about Japan. This was my seventh or eight time to be in Japan although I was only there for 17 days this time working and I was able to visit many computer stores and talk to quite a few people. I was even able to go to the Panasonic and Fujitsu showrooms. The impression I got was very different than this editor. I can only say that prehaps he doesn't know his way around and doesn't have an effective way to handle the language. (My Japanese is very poor and my reading level is below 1st grade but my wife is Japanese so I often use her help, I take her along with me most of the time.) My bone with this editor is that he just waves off the Fujitsu FM Towns computer with a couple of sloppy lines and jumps on to other topics. He is correct about some things in Japan like the Nec 9801 is king, and software is slower in coming. However he gives the Amiga 10,000 times more importance than it has ever had in Japan. In fact I took an Amiga 1000 with me this last trip mainly because I didn't want to risk my new 25Mhz 386 graphics work-stations (up to 512x512 32000 colors!), also it is nice not having any problems with customs since no one buys Amigas in Japan. Having it there gave me the impression that no one knew what an Amiga was. Sure many people have heard of the Amiga, just like most Americans have heard of Pachinko, but how many actually have had hands on experience -- almost none! This editor seemed to think the FM Towns was a very minor thing but from my point of view the FM Towns seems to be the Amiga of Japan. Yet it is more than an Amiga it is what the Amiga should be now. It is new and prehaps a real threat to the NEC computers since Fujitsu is pushing it in a very big way. In fact I bet everyone in Japan knows about the FM Towns or at least as heard about it. Can we say the same about the Amiga? So just what is an FM towns? Well it is the closest thing to a multi- media computer I've seen to date, not only is it as neat as the Amiga and seem to have very feature of the Amiga (many enhanced) but it can run IBM software. This is a very serious machine. I used to think that pc clones had no real place in multi-media, video work, etc. but, the the FM Towns has coverted me! The basic $3000 dollars system gives you the following: (Please note that $3000 is very reasonable in Japan and translates to maybe $1700 in the US mailorder) 1. RGB analog monitor. (Probably not multi-sync) 2. Keyboard and mouse. (Often separate items in Japan) 3. The system unit - containing (About 2/3 size of A2000) a. 16Mhz 386 with 1 Meg RAM b. Graphics card with 512K ram I believe. c. CD-ROM with a mini stereo so that you can also listen to your CD's when not using the the CD. d. Of coarse very good sound although I don't know anything about the sound hardware - but I heard some pretty great stuff. e. Expansion slots. I don't know the specs on these but it seems there is at least several available. Now the user interface is what of a cross between GEM, Amiga Desktop and the Mac. It seems easy to use. (Although I had some problems with some of the menu selections since my Japanese is sub par.) The graphics seem very fast compared to an Amiga and very colorful. It is possible to have multiple graphics screens and in the resolution area the machine really shines. Basic modes very all the way from 360 x 240 x 32000 colors (NTSC res. mode) to 640 x 480 x 256 colors out of a palette of 24 million. Seems like many modes/combinations of modes are possible. Compare Amiga graphics to the FM Towns is like comparing a bw Mac to a color MAC II. Software -------- At least a 100 major pieces of software not even counting of the IBM stuff. A lot of games, business, and some graphics tools. One 3D system which seems to be mostly a solid modeling based system and a very hot ray-tracer. Remember that this is a new system. Oh yes it seems that a great deal of IBM pc software that can also run on it. Some of the software felt way too fast for a 16MHz 386. So I bet some programs were compiled for a native 386 and not in 8086 code and most pc programs. (The interface seems really snappy, quick clean and easy to use.) Finally that are about ten or twenty different CD disk applications so far. Some are just public domain such others are complete software packages like the "Video Bible". The Video Bible is a large database of video's released in Japan. It has a slick point and klick interface and with it you can read about many videos, listen to part of the sound-track from the video and even look at the jacket cover from the video in 32000 colors! There were 20 or 30 options but I was only able to figure out a few since my Japanese is so limited and my wife was elsewhere when I was playing with it. I don't know if the FM Towns supports CD-I, but I suppose it is possible. Some of the applications looked like it but there wasn't huge amounts of animation in anything. However the CD ROMS are clearly used for data, programs, music and seem very flexible. Many announcements of new CD-ROMS coming out were to be seen everywhere. Hardware Expansion ------------------ Floating point math co-processors Several different sizes and types of hard disks. Two different NTSC video cards - $300 to $500 dollars MIDI boards (Maybe this is where the great music came from) SCSI, RS422, and many kinds of I/O boards. At least one kind of LAN maybe more. Memory expansion of coarse. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I was really impressed by what saw, heard and felt when looking at or using the FM Towns. Many of the demo's contained things that couldn't be done in any reasonable fashion on an Amiga. (Except that I wasn't over impressed with some of the smooth scrolling, my Animation:Titler program can do that better, but maybe that demo was poorly written and I am very biased.). Some things just simply amazed me and it has been a long time since a computer has amazed me. So I'll try to be fair. The Amiga is currently a 1985 computer. If the Amiga 3000 is to complete with stuff like the FM Towns it will need to be a 1990 computer! Still in 1985 the Amiga was amazing almost unbelievable. So I don't want to step on the Amiga too hard, also just think of the 1980 (mostly CP/M computers!). Still the Amiga was something to get really excited about. Now I think the FM Towns is a 1990 version of the Amiga. If the Amiga 3000 never comes out maybe Fujitsu will sell the FM Town system here. Wayne Knapp