PIOS newsletter #1/96 ===================== "Next Generation Hardware" A Statement by Dave Haynie Our general hardware philosophy at PIOS is simple: we will work to bring back Amiga compatible hardware that restores the price/performance factors and user confidence that will allow the Amiga's successful reintroduction. Along with that, we want to bring back the excitement Amiga systems once generated. In keeping with tradition, a powerful low-end system is one initial target. We believe that a careful hardware design coupled with the economies of the AmigaOS, and its superior handling of multimedia related issues, can deliver a new class of home computer at a price that Wintel systems can't match. While price is critical here, we expect to deliver powerful, modern systems that play great games, network easily, and offer productivity and multimedia performance hereto for only available in high-end systems. Above a certain price point, we expect to build systems that follow the existing industry standards for PowerPC system compatibility. Integrating Power PC Platform conventions (PPCP) offers the user a choice of operating systems, making PIOS systems a sound investment even when the AmigaOS is the primary OS of choice. Use of standard hardware components such as JDEC memory modules, IDE and SCSI peripherals, PCI bus expansion cards, and very probably a number of new emerging standards helps keep hardware costs down, thanks to industry-wide economies of scale. This lets us provide a better initial system value and it makes such systems easier and cheaper to upgrade or customize once in user's hands.