Aminet 33/Aminet 33 - October 1999.iso/Aminet/docs/mags/AIOV27.lha/aioissue27/data/fe7

Text File | 1999-08-19 | 14.0 KB | 246 lines

{center}
{subhead} Phase5 QNX opinion{def}{p}
Article by Wolf Dietrich
{left}
{p} {p}

This is a copy of an open letter which Wolf Dietrich of Phase 5 posted
to the comp.sys.amiga.misc newsgroup in response to questions concerning
their announced adoption of QNX and their differing goals from AI...
{p} {p}
From: Wolf Dietrich <[e-mail]>{p}
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc{p}
Subject: Open Letter to the Amiga Community{p}
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 13:50:45 +0100{p}
Organization: phase 5 digital products
{p} {p}
Dear Amiga friends,
{p} {p}
in addition to our recent announcement about a cooperation with QNX
Software Systems Ltd. and our new AMIRAGE K2 project, this Open
Letter shall address some of the controversy questions that many of
you are asking these days. It contains my frank personal analysis and
view of the state of the Amiga market, the goals of AI and the
general situation, which are the reasons for our decision to take the
chance for the cooperation with QNX and to provide alternative
solutions in the future. If you are interested in these statements, I
encourage you to read and - especially if you are a developer -
consider it carefully. First of all, there is the question "why did
they do that, why do they split the Amiga market" in all of it's
incarnations - often combined with the assumption that we want to
"steal away the Amiga" or become the Amiga ourselves. The answers to
that are fairly simple:
{p} {p}
1.We want to design a superior technology, which we believe is in the
spirit of the original Amiga, or, in different words, a technology
that many creative users would like to see. This includes innovation
in software and hardware. We don't want to make major compromises,
just to follow the mainstream or to do what everybody does.
{p} {p}
2. There is obvioulsy no place for phase 5 (as well as many other
developers, as I will outline below) on the roadmap of Amiga Inc. We
are simply doing what we believe is the right thing in respect of our
vision, the technological goals we follow, and also the business
opportunities which we believe are the best for our future. From our
point of view, AI will be developing and marketing a product that has
only the name in common with the original Amiga. They probably have
some nice ideas (although many details are still quite vaguely
described by common buzzwords at this time), but we can't see any
revolution in there - only evolution similar to that you can see in
many places of the computer industry today.
{p} {p}
Looking at the available information, to us it seems obvious that
Amiga will build an appliance based on Linux, incorporating JAVA
technologies and their extensions named AmigaObjects. It is an
appliance to "fulfill the promises of the information age". That's
nice, but there are others to do so, too.
{p} {p}
I strongly feel that the major revolution that Amiga is talking about
is the next marketing revolution, when you can sell "information
appliances" to those millions of people who are not computer users,
but shall be connected to the Internet just as they became connected
with telephones long time ago. There's nothing bad in this, but what
has it to do with an Amiga computer? What I feel most uncomfortable
with is the fact that there is obvious no intention to create
something new, spectacular, extraordinary because this is risky;
instead, the new product is intended to be sold to millions,
requiring to accept many compromises and to follow the mainstream.
{p} {p}
So, what has the upcoming AI product in common with the original
Amiga and it's spirit? It may be a nice product, that many people
will go for, but such are palm pilots, cell phones, playstations,
stereo systems, TV sets, beer and candy bars as well (I left out the
Wintel-based PC intentionally from this list). There's nothing wrong
at all when Amiga users are saying, "hey, this is a nice thing I'm
gonna buy it", just as there's nothing wrong in Amiga users buying
palm pilots, cell phones, playstations, stereo systems, TV sets, beer
and candy bars as well (I left out... uh, you know what I mean).
{p} {p}
Amiga has not been talking to us, phase 5, except than in a meeting
on Jim Collas' trip through Europe. Ever since then, there was not a
single email, contact, any information to us. They didn't supply us
with an NDA, allowing them to tell us more about their plans earlier,
and supporting us in making our decisions. Instead, they watch us
(where "us" means many other developers as well) supporting the
"Amiga Classic"  and following the PPC route, while they are going to
cut it off again. Is that fair or loyal against the developers and
users supporting the Amiga platform with their efforts and their
money? It gives me the strong feeling that  don't even care what
happens with us. There is no indication of any kind of partnership at
all, so there can't be any mutual loyalty either.
{p} {p}
I do not know which contacts have been made to other existing Amiga
developers. Many of them seem to be surprised by the latest
announcements, many dislike them, some may appreciate them - but if
so, did they think about their own future? Personally, I believe the
lately announced "contacts to Corel" are a significant message. Why
didn't we read "AI works closely with H&P to port Amiwriter to the
AmigaNG", "AI has choosen NovaDesign's ImageFX to ship with the MCC",
"AI and WorldFoundry announce availability of two hot 3D titles with
the release fo the MCC" or similar announcements?
{p} {p}
It's simple: AI follows the industry standards. Just as they use
Linux and need the momentum from Linux to carry them forward, they
need the big names such as Corel to carry them forward. They don't
need, for example, phase 5 as a hardware company supporting their
projects, and I strongly believe they (at least think they) don't
need the Amiga S/W developers for their success. Jim Collas said in
his "Response to Linux feedback" of July 10:
{p} {p}
"I simply don't believe we can gain enough momentum without tapping
into the Linux momentum. Linux will give us continuous access to new
technology and components as they are released. With QNX we could get
out a new platform but I don't believe we would keep up with the
rapid technology changes in the computer industry."
{p} {p}
Can we read from this that all the active Amiga developers - who have
supported our platform with so many products and technologies that
make the Amiga still up-to-date and useable -  are assumed to be
unable to provide the necessary software technologies on a new
platform? I think so. Jim Collas showed concern about the business
success if Linux hadn't been choosen. Obviously, the relationship
with Corel seems to be important to AI also, to support the business
success. Who will be the next important partner, preoccupying market
segments on the new Amiga platform? Adobe? ID Soft? Who knows....
Now, just a thought: If there wasn't that Linux momentum right now,
would then be Windows compatibility important for the success? A
question to the Amiga developers: Do you appreciate that AI considers
it important for the success of the MCC, that the big names in
industry come to the platform to provide the technology/software
products that - as it seems - AI doesn't believe you could provide?
And a question, to the Amiga users: What is more important for you,
the success (and shareholder value?) of a company that carries the
name Amiga, or the technology that they bring to you?
{p} {p}
When the new AI MCC shall be sold in millions, the current Amiga
community will not be a sufficient market at all. I believe it is
then the latest, when AI's loyalty to the Amiga community will end -
just as AI's loyalty with the current Amiga developers has ended.
The same, I strongly believe, will be the case for the small
remaining base of dealers and distributors. What will count for AI is
not the fact that those have supported the Amiga many years - the
business success will demand that the MCC is sold by the BIG ones.
And that's what it is all about: becoming BIG, selling BIG, making
BIG money. Nothing wrong about it - but the loyalty of the Amiga
community, which AI is surfing on these days before their BIG take
off, will probably not be rewarded. And while AI teams up with the
already BIG ones, the chances of us small ones to grow big with the
new Amiga generation are getting smaller each day.
{p} {p}
Where does this leave us? From my point of view, there is no place
for us - and I mean not only phase 5, but most if not all of the
current Amiga developers - on the Amiga roadmap, and in the future
that Amiga wants to create. That also means for us as companies: no
more (Amiga) business. But with QNX, there is an OS solution that
will fulfill the promise of technological excellence - and we here at
phase 5 are able to provide some really advanced hardware as well as
concepts for future computing.
{p} {p}
Just a side note: What Amiga today calls a revolution, are just
concepts (and some developments from such)  which we have proposed
three years ago already. We proposed hardware-independent distributed
processing a long time ago, and we outlined our vision of application
tasks or threads (read also "Services" or "Objects" or "Revolutionary
objects" or "You-know-which-kind-of Objects") that run on different
CPUs or processors or appliances, somewhere in a box or a network,
and communicate with each other. I don't want to say that AI may not
have some additional and new ideas, but if they are so revolutionary
remains to be seen - and guess what remains there if you climb down
from the above-JAVA level to the underlying levels of software
technology.... QNX Neutrino will allow fantastic software to be
written, to support similar revolutionary services, applications and
developments. There is new and stunning hardware technology available
to us - PPC G4, the stunning Altivec technology, multimedia
processing in many kinds, and the digital convergence (we talk about
high-performance digital convergence here, not about a fusion of a
cell phone and a palm pilot) - and this altogether can be the base
for a wonderful platform for all the creative users out there, as
outlined in our latest announcements. It can be a future that we
design altogether - the users, the developers, the user groups and
all others who support the Amiga. We definitely need to team up now
and develop our future, instead of waiting for AI's BIG thing we have
been waiting for three years now. And so I am asking you all out
there, to make a stand and show your position. I am asking you
developers to show publicly your support for the QNX Neutrino running
on PowerUP boards, and our upcoming AMIRAGE computer series (and
maybe other hardware from other manufacturers, too...). With 13 years
of Amiga history and experience, I can only underscore that the
strong support of the majority of Amiga users and developers for this
new path will create succesful products, most creative and stunning
technology, and a growing and valuable market in which all those who
start now can become technology leaders.  We all have survived in a
shrinking market for so long, and now we can decide actively if we
want to start off into a future that will realize technological
excellence and open up new dimensions for us, or if we want to be
lost in the mainstream  finally, which we could have joined many
years ago already.
{p} {p}
BTW, I deny those assumptions saying we would split the Amiga market.
We are just offering the products that AI won't offer - and just
considering the features and price position, our product may
initially not be in competition with Amigas MCC (although we have not
heard about the MCCs price yet). We are following a path that AI has
obviously dropped, and we want to team up with those Amiga friends,
users and developers which Amiga wants to leave behind (maybe not on
purpose, but probably with a "hey sorry if you came under the BIG
wheel that we are turning now" attitude).
{p} {p}
I would also like to say some words about our former projects, the
A\BOX and the pre\box, in comparison the the new AMIRAGE K2 project
(BTW, we knew that some would read it as AMI-RAGE, and others as
A-MIRAGE, but we  a) have no problems with some self-irony, and b)
recommend to speak it with a french pronounciation). There are voices
critizising us, blackening about the vaperboxes and such. It is true,
we failed to deliver these two products, while we - in contrary to
others - did at least provide the leading Amiga add-on technology,
continuously throughout the last years, in a difficult market. The
A\BOX development was delayed following the initial delays in the
PowerUP development. After PowerUP had been finished, the market
situation had changed significantly since Amiga had been sold to
Gateway, and many users and Amiga people were waiting for
developments/announcements at/from Amiga Inc. It was a logical
business decision to stop the A\BOX project, as we couldn't justify
continued development efforts and investments into it at this point.
Later, in March 1998, we announced the pre\box, a simpler and
easier-to-realize stand-alone product, planned to support MP and the
PPC transition, for which we also signed a license agreement with
Amiga for the OS 3.1. But shortly after the pre\box was announced,
AI announced on the WOA 1998 in London that they would not use the
PowerPC but the MMC chip instead, an announcement that significantly
hurt our business (as well as the business of many Amiga developers
and companies). As a consequence, the pre\box development was put on
hold and went back into the drawers later that year. I think that it
is obvious that our chances to succesfully realize the former
demanding projects - which would have required support of AI, the
developers and the community - have been badly influenced by such
external decisions. Today, with the AMIRAGE K2 development, we are in
a completely different situation, as the use of the QNX Neutrino OS
will allow us to focus on the hardware development, and exploit the
options that todays's latest silicon technology offers, without
drawbacks and compromises. We are convinced that we can deliver on
our promise with the dawn of the next millenium.
{p} {p}
Hoping to see you in the future.{p}
Yours sincerely{p}
Wolf Dietrich