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Text File | 1995-06-07 | 28KB | 466 lines

/--------------------\ | ABOUT AMIGA FUTURE | \--------------------/ ( Note: Don't take care of my english, only hope you understand all.-) << This text is dedicated to anybody who can be in keeping with the Amiga, owning one, hate it, hesitate to sell for turning to the bad side of the scene or who knows anything about all but want to know more >> Mr of ESCOM, can you make the effort to read me, please. I present myself : THILMANY Alexandre 23, Voie de Vance // 6747 Saint-Léger BELGIQUE (près d'Arlon, Luxembourg) Tél: 063/22-34-01 || Int.:0032/63/22-34-01 I'm 22, I'm a programmer (3 years of school) since June 1994. I own : * One Amiga 1200, 540 Mo HD, 6Mo RAM, Blizzard III 68030 50MHz (copro soon and 18Mo of RAM too) * One Amiga 500, 2.5Mo RAM * 2 Extern Drives * A TV with scart * 1 (yet old) PC 486-40 Cyrix, 4Mo, HD 120... * HP 510 * S-NES, Megadrive et Gamegear... yes but ... This text has been (finally) written on 18th May 1995, so, lot of things may have happened since yet. Commodore has finally been bought by ESCOM. Escom promised to associate with C=UK, on the other hand for CEI, we don't know anything yet. To my mind, it should be good to associate with CEI, who certainly has more chances to sell Amiga to the States than Escom (which is totally unknown there). Well, still on last news, Escom seems very optimistic and plans to sell in 3 months the new version of the 1200 (Note the date : in August 1995 we should see some ... 1400, 1600, 1200+ ??). We will soon be able to estimate Escomite's promises. Never mind, i'm delighted of a such optimism and i'm all with Escom. Optimistic as i am, i hope to see (again) rapidly some 1200 for selling everywhere, hope maybe a good busting pub (read further) and above all one or some agreements with partners like C=UK, CEI and eventually some manufacturers and developpers (SCALA is our main card, we have to play it the maximum). But i haven't wrote these words in the aim to speak again about Amiga's wealth, no, i'm more optimistic. We are in September, our machine is again in sale and, sales are ... good. Factories run at 100%. Progressively during months, (Escom, C=Uk?)'s engineers reveal the futur hardware of the Amiga. Programmers rapidly launch a Workbench 3.2 and announce the 4.0 ... plenty of new developments have already started, Windows, still bugged is announced for December, the Intel's P6 has more bugs than the Pentium (hourah, record beaten) ... this is in this context i write these lines. I work since a litte time, fun of the life, i'm not programming, i principally have to maintain a PC network in a bank. The PCs, i know them very well, better and better, i've programmed on them, i use them all the days, i dismantle them, i configure them, etc... I want to precise that to be on a simple base : i'm not an Amiga-Lover-And-PC-Killer without any objectivity, i speak about a subject i know very well and anybody who does not agree me responds me. Yet, we can't really compare an Amiga to a PC, they've been formed from a totally different manner. And, for not jumping in big demonstrations proving the why of the how ('aie' for the traduction!, french expression), i'll conclude at last that for anything on earth i will sell my Amiga (except for a brand new better Amiga). On the other hand, my PC... no soul, no fun. For which reason do i write this article ? I want to give back hope to anybody who possess or has possessed an Amiga in his life. What is my aim ? Well, i've used this machine since some years, and, knowing all the market very well, i affirm that any computer is able to reach Amiga's knee. Not speaking of the performances/functionalities of the softs (what .. but) which run on it, but the magic which emerges and the indescribable pleasure which push me to switch on it in spite of another machine. Moreover, Amiga's softs are certainly amongst the best classed in the category "quality/cpu eat" or again in "quality/price". If you stay sceptic on what i say, verify by yourself : - Open a PC mag. If this one is detailed enough, it will be noticed on which minimized configuration the soft/game tested will be 'acceptable'. Generally, it's better to base on the 'recommanded configuration' for being able to gain a better use of the soft (and maybe still not the best use). We call that the elitism. Only those who can afford will profit of the soft. So, not astonishing yet to see fabulous quotations for PC's new softs, we erase the hardware part of the problem, we forgot the ones who bougth a PC (only) 18 months before, we test everything with the optimal configuration, as if everybody can afford it. - eh, i've got a PC, i'm rich. It's partialy due to that that i don't like PCs : elitism of the softs, the heterogenic construction based on a system old from 15 years, soft's prices (the ones who knows what the word 'buy' mean understand me), and an OS as old as its hardware, covered by a rotten graphics slice commonly called Windows. (who said it's impossible to sell in quantity a bad-made program, Windows is the best proof of all categories). I think that on this last idea, nobody will contest me, except those who think they know a lot on the subject but who knows, in fact, nothing. Windows 96 (96?) maybe could remedy to this large lack, but it must yet does his proofs and be able to run on a honest configuration ? Have you heard of a scientific in the Massachussets names Nicholas Negroponte who denounces the fact that only few programs are optimised because a more powerful processor appears every 2 months. This permit to maintain high prices and rapidly launch a new version of his word processing program which beat all records in (i-eat-plenty-of-cpu>. Ah, sure, this is the top of the softs, but warning, on PC, top soft rhymes with top hardware. And more, 90% of the users use a word processing at 25% of its capacities and a tabler at only 10% (i'm well placed to evaluate these numbers). In spite of that, it's true that there are very good softs on PC, some of the best on earth in a lot of domains, but at which price. Being cynical one more time, PC's softs which are the best programmed are the virus and at rares exceptions some 'real' good softs or games. Coming back to the Amiga. The machine starts out. One of the principal engine, certainly the principal is or are the softs. For continuing to be sold, the Amiga must stay competitive in all of the domains computers can do, and especially in his partiality domain which are the video and graphics. Why do i am still so optimistic ? I often look at the 'second-hand' market on the newspaper, and i've noticed something, the AGA owners actually still keep their Amiga. They wait, they hesitate to sell it, but the big 'sell' rush has not came yet and hundred of thousand people are waiting for a one thing, it's to see back an Amiga on the ring. So, keep hope ! And, for trying to do something in this mess, the only thing i've found to do is to sum up every things that should be done to maximize the come back of the beast. -= A =- THE CONSTRUCTOR, THE CHIEF : ESCOM, C=UK, ?? --------------------------------------------- 1 - Hardware : Our machines are too slow, the basic 1200 is really at the limit. In spite of the rumor about the new '1200', here is what i propose. I hope these ideas will serve, or maybe will change some things. 2 versions of the basic Amiga : the 1200+ and the 1300. (or another name!) * AMIGA 1200+ (light modifications) Cheap, the one we actually know, but with a (some) big mistake to correct. - disk drive HD 1.76 Mo - port PCMCIA 32 bits (eventually) - 1 Mo of Fast Ram more (it doubles the speed of the 1200 !!) - Look at the 1200's box for being able to put easily a HD-3 1/2 and supply a cable to link the controler 2-1/2 to a 3-1/2 HD. * AMIGA 1300 (big modifs) - 68030 minimum 25 MHz with MMU if not too expensive. - disk drive HD 1.76 Mo - PCMCIA 32 bits - 2 Mo of Fast (4Mo standard !) - Look over the box for HD 3-1/2 - If it's ready, at last put the new sound copro (standard !!) * AMIGA 4000 - Tower based on 68060 - New sound copro if ready ... * Screen(s) - Associate with a manufacturer to conceive a 19 and 21 inches monitor which can support AGA and most spread graphics cards. * Futur (Amiga Next Generation) - Apparently, all has been changed if we consider the works made during C= (long) bankeroute around the HP-Risc processor. We only can tell them to do their best to emulate (soft or hard) the AGA. Here are some others ideas i had, sometimes fancy : - Put 2Mo (or more) of EEPROM (Electrible Erasble Programmable ROM) FREE. An EEPROM is like a ROM, almost the same characteristics unless we can write and write again eternally in this chip. In other terms, it's like a tiny Hard Drive with memory speed. We should be able to put there our most frequently used programms. But ! you say. We can do the same thing at the starting of the Amiga ! The RAD Disk, the Ram Disk are almost similars ! No, we should have the advantage, of course, that infos stay in 'memory' once switched off, second, it does not consume any other (precious) RAM and above all, it'd be standard and revolutionist. But question to the engineers : is it considered (possible), the prices ?? - An intern optical disk drive ! Yes, it can read usual disks 3-1/2 DD, HD and double HD, but alos some optical disk of ... 128Mo (it's already well in spite that now we reach more than 1Go). Of course, SCSI. It 'suffices' to cope with a manufacturer of such hardware and hop. I again think that, basically on a configuration, maybe expensive, it should be revolutionist and very appreciated. Yeah, i think that in 1995 (1997 when the new Amiga will come out if all's still ok) it is RI-DI-CU-LOUS to have a little disk drive ultra slow of 1.76Mo to communicate with the world. Mr the engineers, what do you think 'bout ? - Again standard, being able to get the TV signal in the Amiga OS. Or if you prefer, a kind of Genlock integrated (or that the new graphic chipset should be able to do himself this functionality). - Still standard, being able to manage two independent screens. It certainly demands a good revision of the Workbench. But if the developement of a such functionality is not too long, it should fastly find an interest in realtime multimedia applications. I sometimes animate a big screen in my village's balls, i'm obliged to cut the Amiga output the time to prepare a new animation or demo. Think one time, on a lonely machine, an OS which is able to cope with two users at the same time independently, if the multitasking is respected, it should again be a real revolution. Please, Mr the engineers, think at this idea twice, we should sometimes 'have plenty of cheek' like the ones who, in 1984, said "we will put on the market a revolutionary machine, we hope it will have success". --> And you, do you have a realistic idea which can really innove in the computer mess (hard or soft). In this case, give your ideas to the boss Escom or to me, i'll give them. The competition is open. 2 - Software : * Everybody is waiting for the WB 4.0. At this level, i've not a lot to say, only that a lot of people (young) have realised some superbs softs and librairies improving the WB. I hope that the next message will spread, it's addressed to the WB designers : Please, contact all the guys which have made interesting modifications on the WB, try to make contrats with them and to integrate the best ones in the new version of the WB. Best, launch a 'sample survey' on internet and BBS and ask to the users what they think about. I should be happy to answer such questions. A very important think : let all the development kit at hand of anyone, it's really very important that anybody can use his gifts. If you have ideas, but no idea at 'who' you should give them, you can send me them and i'll try to put them at the right place. It exists, i think, some internet sites where you can deposit your ideas, like the imagine's programmer possesses a forum mailbox where anyone can send his suggestions. For instance, i've a very litte idea for the WB (if nobody thought about it before and write the new command ...) -The Assign command, it defines a precise repertory and it's all. A simple amelioration should be to assign more than one repertory for a lonely logical name. For example, i've got a 'music' repertory which contains 3 repertories : Pro, Med and Other. For gathering all my modules in a lonely logical repertory, type : "Assign music: dh0:music/pro + dh0:music/med + dh0:music/others". Simple little idea which ameliorate de WB. If you too have little ideas like this one, or better a new innovating concept, don't hesitate to conctact the rights persons, or myself. I unfortunately do not have in my possession Escom's address nor C=Uk ... 3 - Politic : * Last idea for the new boss of the Amiga. Since the bankrupt of C= in June 94, i thought about differents ways to save the boat. I was near to send this idea to David Pleasance when nothing was yet done on the buying of C=. Lastly, i read an article talking about IBM and a second about Apple who just had the same idea as me (i'm devin). The chinese market is opening. Ok, seeing how they pirate, it's not very interesting for the soft market actually. But speaking of hardware, there's a standard to put there. I made myself this reflection : chinese families now have, generally one child (government restriction). This last one is very ... spoiled (i saw a reporting showing a new problem in Chine which is the obesity of the young chinese people). So, as this new reform is in way since some years, we have a big packet of young chinese people to spoil ! eh ! Think now at a right price for a 1200 (please, no 500 nor ECS based machine), a big pub campaign everywhere in chine which strikes hard and the round is over. I already thought on what an ideal publicity should be to praise the Amiga for the youngs (warning, i don't say that the Amiga is only for the youngs, no, you'll understand why i speak about a publicity aiming the young guys. ...) PubTime: << - Show some young people who can only play at video games, playing and still playing on their console, and they're fed up with. All of that in some fast and little clips presenting their occupations. - Next, in any manner (apparition, look in a store, a friend who presents it ...), an Amiga appears and speaks to them : "Wanna play ? Yeah, you already can play with me ... but not only that ! " - Next, the 'voice' enumerates all we can do 'more' with our machine (drawing, music, word processing, video, ray-tracing, management, others, ... with illustrations), and, at last, giving the final punch saying (and it should be, to my mind, the most justifying for a young guy) "And if you're really gifted, you can yourself make your own games, if you haven't yet understood, continue playing". Last of the pub, a good idea is to make all the pub on an Amiga and to notice it at the end, like "Hey, i forgot, this pub you've just seen has been made on an Amiga" >> I don't know what you think about, but i estimate a kind of pub like this one will do a real devastation, but it too should be difused in Europe and everywhere before december (limit date). -= B =- US (us, we, not United States, eh!) -------------------------------------------- Stop talking about the ones who have the main control, speak of us. It's useless to precise you that if the ovulation of the Amiga depends (now) of Escom, the baby's survival is in our hands. We will never stop to repeat it, every pirates notice it in their texts : "A game worth playing is a game worth buying". So, try to buy the softs you use, try to buy a well quoted game in a mag instead of waiting the pirate version you will more or less soon receive. You own Brillance II pirated, but you don't possess enough money for buying it for you, or, you estimate using it not enough for having really the need to buy it. A solution, even if it won't be accepted by the programmers themselves, make an effort, take 1, 2 or 3 friends, buy you the soft and copy it if you really can afford it yourself, it's even better than possessing each the pirate version. Do you know that if piracy wasn't possible, PC should be far from having the success they actually have with the prices they apply, a lot of people will stay with their Amiga, attracting so more development teams and so plenty of softs. The shareware, support it. Generally, these youngs programmers don't want a lot. Some of them just propose just to send them a postcard if we do not possess enough money for buying the soft. But, show them you're there, that you support them even morally in spite of financially. After having read this article, glance through yours utils and notice all those you use. Read the readme files, the About and think a bit about them. I'm not event a good example, but as i now earn my life, i hope to do better. You want to program, you can program but you don't know what ? I too have some ideas, but i'm waiting for yours. If you don't have the profile of a programmer but you have plenty of good and interesting ideas. Well, call me or let it know, spread your ideas or give them to a friend programmer. This file will pass througt the max of internet sites and BBS, and spread it the more you can, please. So, ideas of softs : ----------------------------- + A text converter. It should'n be an easy-to-make program, i think it should be very complicate. But imagine this soft in his first version : you can import/export files in ASCII, Final Copy II, Wordworth, Page Stream ... for enumerating the most known ones. And more, we should be able to import/export an ASCII text from/to PC an Mac (yeah, maybe Ascii seems standard, after the character 127, it's not standard anymore, make the test trying to import a text just coming from edit from the DOS, with some special char.). So, all these functions from a format to another, keeping a max of text attributes between the conversions. Next, the soft will evoluate and should be able to import the Write format from Windows (not so hard), and next harder, the conversion of Word 2 and 6 and Wordperfect for the best known. It's simple, if the Amiga market stays, a soft like this one should be promised to a big success and will certainly become indispensable, and too, the Amiga's interest should grows up a good step. Notice that to make such a soft, you need to procure the structurs of the differents files of the word processing from theirs programmers. Who will try to do it ? Who jump on it ?? ----------------------------- + A new tabler. There's not a lot of competition at this level, and to my mind it's still possible to entirely create a new tabler. But it's higly recommanded not to be alone for creating this kind of soft (when you see the programmers team from Microsoft, pfff ..!). Again, think about convertions between other Amiga tablers, PC and Mac. ----------------------------- + A traductor. Easy to make. For instance, at its begining, it should be simply able to traduct the words, next, it will propose to add dictionnaries of different languages, and then, will begin to traduct common sentences. First, typic sentences, after, a better analysis of an "any kind of" sentence to make a more sophisticated traduction. And the evolution of the soft could cope with word processing and all others soft which use some text ! Imagine this soft can be entirely run via AREXX, we could have a standard spelling checker, a standard dictionnary used by any application and also a traductor. I've just had this idea, i think it's superb, i don't have actually time to program, that's why i prefer sharing my ideas. ----------------------------- + One and more ... 'education softs'. I noticed it recently, i had to advise a computer to a friend of mine for her 3 girls (from 9 to 14), the choice has not yet been taken, but it has been difficult to give an answer when we talk me about 'education soft'. ?? To do well, if Escom proposes a Pack Amiga, they should put with it an education soft. It's not so hard to make such softs. Drawing for the youngers, logical, languages, spelling, geographie, history, common culture, ... Il you are missing of ideas, it doesn't cost a lot to start making this kind of soft, and better, if your soft become interesting, why not a convertion to the PC after meeting a big editor, why not too a contract with Escom to include the soft in an Amiga package. Go on instead of making only demos. ----------------------------- + With the growing importance of the synthetic images and the diversity it takes, it's now possible to concentrate on one aspect of this (becoming) huge domain. We can now make little/big "add on" programs, kind of experts softs which almost perfectly realise a specific task that the big softs "which are able to do all" realise the work quite less good. For instance : converting between different formats (yeah, not new but still not perfect), a specialized modeler, being able to preview the textures (like Forge), a soft to manage the animations, or maybe a brand new ray-tracing soft, but only if you're good with math. There are many others ideas on this subject, i don't know it enough to imagine other applications. ----------------------------- + So, there are certainly plenty of other original softs to create, i'm waiting for your propositions. If i receive a lot, i'll send a kind of text like this one anywhere i can. Just think about me if you take one of my ideas, just give me a sign to tell me something, well, should be sympa. ----------------------------------------- I'll speak too about a negative point in all this story. No more serious development teams want to go for x months for a big development on Amiga. The reason is simple, piracy is too high. Not higher than on PC, but on PC, there will still have enough people who will buy their softs and so will largly satisfy the programmers, will fit enough their wallets and will justify(motivate?) them to go on on another development. Actually, the (rares) teams which are developing on Amiga are the ones who sufficiently sold their last soft, or a fanatic team who hate programming on PC (i like these teams 'cos i understand them -), or a brand new young team beginning its first soft on Amiga, but which will in 1 or 2 years turn to the PC as actually everybody does (Blodhouse, Team17). And they are not to blame, they are right, they will earn much on PC. But then, what to do ? Us, the users, it's to try to make an effort by buying more softs/games, this is the only way to make the development teams come back (or to keep the ones who stays). I don't know the exact number of the AGA machines sold in the world, i hope we reached the million (glups). With so many guys, there a possibility to realise good sales, so, all depends on this million. I tell you this to prove you that if we want, the Amiga market could become interesting. It depends on you, on us. I think that a normal programmer will find it's more agreeable to program on an Amiga than on a PC (only because of the infinites differents configurations for a PC), that, it's an advantage for the Amiga. But it's not enough comparing to the packet of potential money these programmers could receive on the PC market. Maybe a solution for them, they can make all their programms on an Amiga, and after sell the licence of the soft/game to another PC's developement team. It's a good alternative, but it doesn't replace the real big sale which bring back plenty of money. Don't hesitate to send a postcard to a development team or a mail on internet, there's nothing better for them after the aspect "how much will i gain". The success of the Amiga was to have a revolutionary machine with an OS perfectly adapted to his hardware. Do you know that the famous PowerMac or PC has nothing terrible in spite of its calculation performances. Its architecture is simply mono-processor. We have to hope a future where the Amiga will keep its originality in its conception (putting it between a PC and a graphic station), that it will be able to run others OS and also its own softs. Imagine in 2 years, using Word7 on Windows96 in multitasking with the Workbench. You have to put in your head that the soft market will take from more to more importance contrary to the hardware market. We are aiming not to a standard hardware configuration, but to a standard software multi-plateformes configuration, in others terms, it will be (?) possible to run any OS on any machine. At this time, softs will all be the same, only some of the machines, more sophisticated will be able to run (or to run better) a special soft because the machine will have a special hardware that others don't have. It's at this level that if the Amiga survey, it will have a plus comparing to others machines. For instance, a PC and a Silicon both running a ray-tracer soft on Windows96. As the PC will have access to 10 options in the menu, and one more it it possesses the new Turbo-PCI25- Atomic-Reaction-Card, and will realize a defined rendering in 30 minutes, the Silicon will realize this operation in real time with full option in the menus. This example is (very) volontary exaggerated but can be considered as realistic. We have to hope that Window96 (yes i know, we'll maybe have to do an effort to accept it) will be executable on Amiga (68040+ and/or Amiga Next Generation), because i guarantee you that the survey of the Amiga depends a lot on that, unless our machine will be able to emulate in hardware another computer on which Windows96 will be compiled. Stop there, i'm waiting for your reactions, answers, questions and critics. You can contact me at my address in Belgium (see begin of text), or you can send messages on the next BBS : (Toxic is the Sysop) -O-----------------·E·U·R·O·--·T·R·A·D·E·--·C·E·N·T·E·R·-----------------O- < NoDE 1: +32-63-67 58 75, 28.8 dUAL · mASTERZ aRE · > < NoDE 2: +32-63-67 78 61, 16.8 hST tOXiC/oUTLAWS - s /\/\ S/oUTLAWS > < NoDE 3: +32-63-67 78 53, 14.4 hST fLYNN/oUTLAWS - hE-MAN/oUTLAWS > < NoDE 4: +32-63-67 SOON!, 16.8 hST BoWeN/sKiD rOW - cHa0s/oUTLAWS > -O-----------------------------------------------------------------------O- or yet send mails to this internet address (one of my friends) : georges@gfux01.fsagx.ac.be Question : I like very much the main tune of the old game 'Lost Patrol', do someone possess this tune, or maybe is someone able to hack it and sent it me ? Also the same for the main tune of Pear Demo 'Satisfaction guaranteed', and above all tunes from Digital Disco II of Crass production. Personal message : Salut Bernard, Toxic, Pierre-Etienne, Marc, Willy, Arpegiator. Au fait, je t'... Maryline -Alex-