Well! It had to happen sometime, and it has. My son, Gary, now attending College in Cumbernauld (Accounting) uses a PC to do most of his work, So he decided to get his own! Now! some people might see this as, Jumping Ship, I DON'T! It is simply a Natural progression! The Need for a tool to do a job, One that can't be done with the tools at hand (the Amiga)
So one Sunday, It was into the car and a quick trip to PC World, Emerge 30 Minutes later (and £1000 Poorer) with a nice Pentium III PC with a 17" Monitor, Sound & Graphic card etc.
After arriving home, In 30 minutes it was set up and running (Easy as that) So what is the verdict? Me a life long Amiga Fan and user, What is my thoughts on the PC?
Well! I have never really been a PC (Spit! Puke! Boak!) type of person! I have always stuck with the Amiga, Because it does exactly what I require from it, It does it fast enough and well enough to keep me satisfied.
So How do I get on with this intruder?
Very well indeed! It a real Powerhouse of a machine,
Running at a thunderous pace, Displaying graphic's that are
out of this World. Its like stepping out of our LADA Samara
and into a Roll Royce.
Yes! That is exactly what I am doing, and I don't apologize
one little bit! The PC like the Amiga, Like the Apple
Mac, is simply a tool to run the software. The PC and
the Mac are now streets ahead of the Amiga, And it will NEVER EVER
manage to make up for the lost ground! So do I think that the Amiga is
dead? YES as a stand alone Computer Machine it cannot survive!
I think Amiga/Gateway (the company) were right in their decision to Scrap the idea of a NEW machine, It would just not (regardless how revolutionary it was) present a serious challenge to the PC domination, and it would be crazy to even try it! So what of the future! Well! What I would like to see Gateway/Amiga do is to develop an alternative OS that would run on a PC.
Look! Before you all start sending me HATE mail, consider this,
You have in the world of Computing, Four styles of Operating Systems
So is there a need for another PC OS to challenge WINDOWS/LINUX ? Yes! I believe there is, Can you imagine a Powerful Pentium/Celeron PC combined with the User Friendliness and Stability of an Amiga type Operating System, It would be pure Heaven!
AH! but you say! That would turn the Amiga into a Software Package as opposed to a Computer! YES! it would, However if Commodore had done the right thing with the Amiga! I still believe that it would have had turned into a PC type platform anyway!
PC's are reasonably cheap to make, Easy to upgrade and there is plenty companies producing them (From budget machines to the Top of the Range models) The main Complaint from users about the PC, Is not the machine but the unstability of the OS and software!
Amiga/Gateway would be crazy to build a new manufacturing plant, and try to produce a NEW computer to challenge the Dominance of what is already regognized as Standard PC, Much better to work to improve the performance of the Industry Hardware by introducing a NEW OS.
OK! Time to get off the "Soapbox" and talk about something else. I was saddened to read "Dr Jekyll's" article regarding the closure of the "Crypt" Magazine. OK! I would be the first to admit it may not have been my cup of tea, However it was well presented and produced and was one of our long standing Amiga Magazines.
Perhaps the saddest thing about the Crypt, is the reasons for it closing!
Every issue we cry out to you the Reader that we need your Contributions
to survive! Every issue we have to squeeze articles from people.
We at the Ripper know just how the editor at the
Crypt feels, Despite all the teams efforts you
can't continue to publish a magazine if the Reader will
not help.
We are all sad at the fate of the Crypt, But even sadder that it is the Crypt today and us Tommorow! Yes we have talked about giving up, We have said is it really worth carrying on, Thankfully we have managed to scrape together enough for this issue! but what of the future? Well that is in your hands, You send us the material and we will publish the Magazines future is your future, We need you!