Commodore Free 10/Commodore_Free_Issue_10_2007_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.iv mario

Text File | 2023-02-26 | 12KB | 395 lines

u      Interview with Mario Misic
    The big book of Amiga Hardware
http://amigahardware.mariomisic.de/ind
              exDe.html

Q - Please introduce yourself to our
readers

Dear readers, I'm a 39 years old and I
work as the Managing director at a
Tyre shop. Since the age of about 10
or 12 years old, i have used Commodore
computers and have learned to love
them.

Q - What was your first experience
with Computing and especially the
Commodore Brand?

My first experience with computers was
in the Middle of the 80's and the
first computer I played around with
was a VC20 later I used a Commodore
64, before eventually using the Amiga.
Unlike most people, I don't play games
on these machines. From the start, i
asked myself: "why has the Amiga
(workbench)-window 4 corners and not
six, eight or even more?" "Why are
they rectangle and not round?" "Why
must I use a machine in a certain
way," "Why can't use the machine in a
way, which I WANT?

Q- What Commodore machines do you own
and which of these are still actively
used by yourself

Within my Commodore-time, I first used
the VIC20, then later the C64, Then
moving to a C128 before I came to the
AMIGA. All machines have fascinated me
for a long time. I learned about an
absolutely new technology and I was
very interested and keen to learn, all
about how this new technology worked.
Now, in the 21st century, no other
computer has reached the so called
"AMIGA feeling.

Q - Please tell our reader about the
Big Book of Amiga Hardware project,
what is its main aim

The Big Book of Amiga Hardware (BBoAH)
was created by Ian Chapman over 8
Years ago. Over the years, Ian tried
to find some Users, to host a mirror
of the BBoAH. But no one had the power
to keep a mirror running for long. A
few years ago I set up a German mirror
for the BBoAH and i was the first one
to mirror the website, Additionally to
Ian's main BBoAH I established a
mirror and provide this "step by step"
guide with an additional part in the
German language The main aim of the
BBoAH is, to support all interested
people with information about every
piece of hardware created for AMIGA
computers. Without becoming
acommercial project.

Q - How many people contribute to the
project will you accept information
from anyone

Over the last 9 years, hundreds of
Users have contributed the BBoAH with
different kinds of information about
AMIGA related hardware. So many people
have supported the BBoAH, that it's
impossible to name them all here. Some
people have sent us Images. Others
sent us further information,
documentation or special jumper
settings, manuals, install
introductions or driver disks. Without
this support of the AMIGA community,
the BBoAH, today, would not be the
resource it is.

Q - So anyone can send information, if
our reader Thinks he has some value to
add to the project how Would he
contribute?

Everyone is welcome to send
contributions to the BBoAH. Behind the
BBoAH there is a small team of people,
who will try to verify the
contributions and do the updates on
the various items of hardware. We try
to give a response to each contributor
- if his suggestion becomes part of
our database. But don't be angry, when
you don't receive a reply. Maintaining
the BBoAH is a lot of work and time,
more time than you can imagine, and
sometimes one of the contributors
could be forgotten.

Q - So there images of the products as
well as text

We like to receive as much information
as possible for each item of hardware.
We try to collect all information
about Amiga hardware. This could be:
Images, hardware descriptions, Jumper
settings, install disks and much more.

Q - Was it the projects intention to
provide things like driver disks and
installation software

The main intention of the BBoAH is, to
provide the AMIGA Community with all
information they would need. This will
include as stated earlier driver
disks, installation guides and
manuals. Until just one year ago, you
may remember, a lot of those files
were provided by the BBoAH, for
download, but For legal reasons, the
download area of the BBoAH had to be
closed. In the last year some
copyright owners "attacked" the BBoAH
and forced them to close the download
area. However we continue to collect
all related suggestions. But we can't
name a date, when download area
becomes live again.

The BBoAH Team is annoyed about
copyright owners, who actually support
the AMIGA platform in NO WAY, but
"attack" the BBoAH with legal and
copyright. The BBoAH was and is still
a hobby project and we don't have
plenty of money to pay lawyers to
defend the BBoAH against legal issues.
The Users of the BBoAH have no idea,
how complicated the background of the
BBoAH is.There are a lot of
complications we have to consider.
These things we try to keep away from
our users.

Commodore Free - Copyright yes I
understand you're problems I have
tread on this path myself

Q - Do you have images of the boxes
the items came Packaged in, is this
something you would like to see for
the project

At the moment, we don't collect
images, of boxes or packages. Pictures
of Boxes only have an individual
background and do not really affect
the Hardware information and hardware
use.. The BBoAH won't be a museum. It
will be a guide for those users, who
use the AMIGA's day by day.

Q - What is documented, is it just
make model serial Number or are there
things like instructions and
Installation guides etc In past the
BBoAH provide the hardware support
with as much information as was
possible. But since we've touched by
legal reasons we've come together, to
come closer to the will of the right
owners. We don't want the BBoAH
getting in danger and having to be
closed because of legal reasons.

While Ian Chapman owns the BBoaH, the
english law was considerably. After
Ian has given the BBoAh into my hands,
German law will take affect to the
BBoAH. For this reason i made a
relationship with the geman publisher
"Amiga-Future" Amiga-Future is a
German Software publisher and also a
German AMIGA related print magazine,
the magazine has been running for a
long time. My intention in this way
was, that a professional publisher
with his Knowledge could help with the
running of the BBoAH.

Q - How are the entries verified does
someone look over them before they are
placed on the website

Suggestions as they arrive will be
verified by a lot of Amiga experienced
users worldwide, before they become an
official BBoAH-Update. The actual
BBoAH team is supported by some well
known german hardware developers who
have been in the AMIGA market for many
years. Because of this, the BBoAH team
has a lot of knowledge, but cannot
know all things. To ensure that BBoAH
has correct entries. People are
welcome to amend information, So the
BBoAH never will be complete and
everybody was pleased, to Change
incorrect information.

Q - Is there a downloadable version of
the project or is it just a web only,
was the project intended to be a
commercially printed book

Ian Chapman established the BBoaH As a
HTML-based project at first for many
years until the early 2006. The BBoAH
until this date is available as part
of the "kicktart Archives on DVD" In
2006 the BBoAH has changed it's
structure from a HTML based to a
database provided site, which will
provide the BBoAH with a lot of more
features. Actually this way provides
the "Sort by Manufacturer" or the
"Sort by connection" -feature. Also
the multilingual BBoAH become
available because of that. At the
Moment, the BBoAH is available in
english and german language. Because
of the possibilities we try to provide
the BBoAH in other languages, too. If
someone would like us to provide the
information in another language please
contact us, your mail is welcome every
time.

Q - Have you come across any problems
while compiling the list

Very often we get mails with
new/additional information. To keep
them all up to date just in time alone
is the biggest "problem" we have. A
massive problem in the near past was,
to convert the known HTML based BBoAH
into a MySQL based structure. Ian
Chapman solved this problems by
himself, and most users would not have
noticed, that the BBoAH "structure
behind was changed"

Q - Is there any hardware you
particularly want to know the details
of

We've a lot of hardware we don't know
anything about. For this reason, we've
crated a category called "Mystery
Corner" in which we introduce unknown
hardware to collect information, until
the mystery's solved by the community.
In past, all our "Mysteries" have been
solved by some of our readers.

Q - what do you think personally of
the current state of Amiga, are things
finally starting to look up again for
the machine

The current AMIGA state is quite
complicated. It's not possible to say
where the AMIGA will go in future. I
have a dream that the AMIGA would
again reach the status, that it had in
the past. But I'm old enough to let
this dream be a dream. Today, is
another time and the technical side is
another matter all together time moves
on and a machine from The early 80's
would need updating, for the AMIGA to
have a real chance of a comeback.

Q - What in your personal view is an
amiga, for example is it just the
software (operating system)

In my mind, the AMIGA is NOT hardware
and NOT software. AMIGA is more
afeeling, which is much more hard to
explain like the feeling of LOVE.
Amiga was and is a feeling you have to
live to experience. The Amiga is, for
those people, who are in my
generation, a machine which came out
at the right time in the right place.

Q - when will the project finish, will
this project run indefinitely, and how
will you know when all hardware is
documented

I don't think that the BBoAH ever will
be finished. There is so much very old
hardware, which is not listed in our
database, because no one has any
information about this item. From time
to time we get new info about
interesting old hardware AND complete
the database with the new info.

Also the AMIGA community worldwide
develops more new and interesting
hardware. These items are also listed
in the database we need more
information for them. For example I'd
like to name the A500-Clockport-card
for example. The idea for this item
was born in a german Amiga community.
It takes a lot of months to discuss
this item and the users wrote down
their wishes for the device. Also a
lot of german AMIGA hardware
developers are users of this forum. At
last, one of the hardware developers
produced the hardware for the
community. As you can see, you can see
no end of the BBoAH.

Q - What question would you have liked
me to ask

As a german, I've heard nothing about
your great magazine. I feel this is
harming the community; we need to
establish much more communication
between AMIGA and Commodore users all
over the world. Especially: I would
like to ask what is the thinking of
your British readers about the "German
krauts"? Is this a justified
prejudice?

That's a really silly question, i
know. But it was a question I'm very
interested in, because we German
AMIGA'ns have fewer contacts with
British AMIGA users than we would like
to have.

Q - If you were given 1 million GBP
pounds what would you spend the money
on

If i have 1 million GBP, i'd like to
spend them in the same way as i'll
spend the money, which Ian has
collected with BBoAH donations as I
announced some month ago. If anyone
had an absolutely new idea for any
amiga related hardware, the BBoAH
would like to be involved in the
project, helping the idea. If the most
of the People prefer that idea, the
collected money will be transferred to
this project.

Thank you very much for this interview
and I wish you many success for your
magazine in the future.

Kindest regards, Mario Misic

http://amigahardware.mariomisic.de/ind
exDe.html


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