Does the Amiga have a bright future or a doomed one? It seems almost too
easy to predict the answer, especially with the bad luck that has befallen the Amiga
in the past. However, despite the Amiga's history of corporate disasters,
the prospect of the Amiga's survival and growth is surprisingly bright.
There are several reasons why the Amiga is still alive
and will continue to survive and even grow despite the lack of leadership
of any kind from a parent company. There are few users who have used the
Amiga for any length of time who don't appreciate the tremendous design of the
hardware and operating system. Although dated in many respects, the
Amiga's overall design has kept it a viable computer platform even for
today's market. There is a very energetic and inspired group of
developers, both shareware and commercial, hardware and software, who have
more than made up for the lack of continued official development from a
head company. Every Amiga user is aware that the Amiga has lurched
from one horrible experience to another and yet, through it all, there is still a strong and
vocal community of
users. It is not merely a user base of X percent of the market, and it is more than
a large user group -- it's a community of friendly and dedicated
people. This strong community is the most important factor in determining the Amiga's
future. It is up to the community, not some phantom company, to keep the Amiga and
its spirit alive and prosperous.
Commodore as a company may have been a huge failure, but the hardware and software engineers who designed the Amiga and helped it grow through the years (despite adverse conditions at Commodore) are to be applauded. The Amiga's excellent hardware and software design is the first reason that the Amiga will continue to survive. The world has never seen a better designed or more advanced home computer than the Amiga. The operating system was years ahead of its time, and even today the last update, version 3.1, remains one of the best performing and most flexible operating systems available. The Amiga is not a machine that dictates how your have to use it, but rather it allows the user to configure and customize it, creating a truly 'personal' personal computer. It undoubtedly hurts devoted users to realize that the rest of the world will never fully recognize the Amiga's elegance and power, which for the better half of a decade was never seriously challenged by any other computer platform. The Amiga may not own the market today, but that is not a fault of the Amiga's hardware and software. Today, the stock Amiga is dated technology, but because of its fantastic design, users can still use their machines productively and creatively without modifications. There are no other computers that have had such longevity. A decent PC is dated within months, and although there are plenty of inexpensive computers out there, none give as large a return as the Amiga. While new Amigas and parts may be expensive, you don't have to upgrade every few months. However, if you want to upgrade your Amiga, there is a wealth of third-party support that can help bring your Amiga raw cpu performance equal to that of the rest of the computing world and you do not have to learn a new operating system or buy new software. Imagine an Amiga with a PowerPC cpu running your favourite software or game on a PPC version of the Amiga operating system! The performance will be much greater than a bulky PC program running on an even bulkier OS.
The innovations from third-party developers are a second major reason why the Amiga continues to survive and has even begun to prosper once again. There is a lengthy list of fantastic new software and hardware choices available from just as lengthy a list of resellers and suppliers. While you may not be able to browse through products at a local store, there are many product reviews available in Amiga magazines, and resellers are making it easier and easier to buy their products either by mail, phone, or internet. On the hardware side, there are many cpu accelerators, video cards, and other devices that can enhance the Amiga to greater levels. On the software side, besides having many long-established software companies providing world-class word processors, graphics programs, programming environments and more, there is a large and adept group of shareware authors creating fantastic programs that are easily accessable online, through the mail, or through the many Amiga magazines that carry cover disks. The Aminet, a central source for Amiga files and programs, is the world's largest freely accessable file collection on the internet! A computer platform that many have written off time and time again has the largest file collection available. Amiga websites such as the Amiga Web Directory are among the most visited sites on the internet. With new internet and computer emulation software, the Amiga is now one of the easiest and best internet machines on the market. The Amiga is certainly not dead, despite the clouds of uncertainty that surround the Amiga ownership situation. It is not dead because there is a wealth of products from third-party software and hardware developers, and more importantly, because of the strength of the Amiga community.
This powerful community has held together because of the strong, mutual support of users and skilled hardware and software developers. The Amiga community has watched one Amiga parent company after another mistreat and mismanage the computer of our choice, driving both themselves and at first glance, the Amiga, into the ground. No head company, no direction from on high, and no advertising, and yet the Amiga survives. Granted, if you are not online, it must be nearly impossible to keep in touch since much of the Amiga revival stems from the internet, but even for those who are not, there are expositions, user groups, printed and disk magazines, and newsletters to help Amiga users get the most out of their computers. Nonetheless, it is not easy to be an Amiga advocate. Despite the fact that we know we have a good machine, we are vulnerable to advertising pressure from the computing world which tries to make all computer users, PC or otherwise, feel that they have an inadequate machine. The entire industry has built into itself the need to create constant upgrades and planned obsolescence so that the rampant expansion does not stop or slow down. Do PC users have a sense of community? How does it feel to buy a computer and not be able to run the latest games and software as soon as one year after purchasing the machine? When the next supposed multi-tasking operating system becomes available for the PC, or some new multi-media cpu ships for Wintel computers, will the designers care if it runs the users' favourite software? Not when the PC industry knows that with enough advertising and hype, they can sell the common public almost anything, no matter what the actual performance is like. Do PC owners have fellow users who are ready to help solve any problems that arise? Not only do they have more problems to solve but the user usually has to pay to get help. Non-Amiga aware people may smile wryly at Amiga users but it is out of ignorance, for if they were to see an equally equipped Amiga in action, they would be amazed at the Amiga's capabilities. The Amiga has a great hardware and software base, excellent and varied third-party support, and a vocal and exciting community of users. With these elements, how can the Amiga's future be anything but bright?
The truth of the matter is that the Amiga community has learned to live
without the support of the Wintel world, and we have gone on to create
amazing computing results in our own way. The Amiga is not on its last legs
for the lack of a clear and strong-willed parent company. "Wintel has won!"
claim the computing pundits, but what have they won?
Everywhere in the PC computing world there seems to be a
disturbing drive for dominance and sameness.
Why do people have to believe and accept that there is only one choice?
Should there be a time when there is
only one computer to choose? Amiga, PC, or otherwise, there is
enough room in the computing world for more than one platform. For the
Amiga to continue to compete, it is true that at some point in the near future there
have to be new and better-designed Amiga compatibles available -- not
Amiga-like or Amiga-ish, but Amiga compatible. Ask Amiga retailers and read the Amiga
magazines and you will see that there are amazing things being done by
third-party
developers and the community itself! There are some companies who plan to build and
bring us these Amigas of the future, and that bright future may not be as far off
as it seems. When do we stop hoping? When do we stop waiting
and sell off whatever hardware we can and sink into anonymity in the computing world?
Obviously that answer is a personal one, but the Amiga only dies when the community
falls apart -- when the users themselves decide to kill the Amiga. We are not in a
powerless position, but in a powerful one where we all together determine the destiny
of our favourite computer. We can do more than hope while we wait for some saviour
company to come to the Amiga's aid. The Amiga's future does not lay so
much in a corporate boardroom as it does in the community's care and there
is no better place for it to be.
-- James Ceraldi, 15 Nov 1996
"Survivor" graphic �1996 Eric W. Schwartz
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Last modified: 19 Nov 96