Finally, the wait is over and good old Amiga is purchased. Sincethere are already TONS of text files floating around about the C= buyout I have no intentions of carrying on in there about it. Instead I am including the very well written Amiga Report Special Edition to catch everyone up on the C= situation. I have much more important things to discuss other than rehashing old news.
This issue is a special one. We are now located on the Internet. Itmay not sound like much, but a lot of people have put a lot of time and effort into making this transition, and I want to thank everyone for their personal contributions to the move. You are not forgotten. More about the internet in the net WELCOME TO THE INTERNET column. Die hard Dispatch readers will notice the absence of the HARDWARE REVIEWS column. The reasoning is quite good, I cannot afford the latest hardware and we are still not yet big enough to warrant major companies sending the stuff to us for review, sooooo.... Until that time comes, we will keep you hot on the Internet instead.
So, you are wondering what DUP thinks about the new buyout? Well,here is what I think. ESCOM has the power to bring the Amiga back, or to finish her off. The worst part is that I feel for some reason that the descision has already been made and we will have to just wait and see what it is. ESCOM seems to have a good future and with any luck, the Amiga will be part of it. Regardless of the descision, the Amiga will live on for at least a few more years and DUP along with her. With any luck, the Amiga will be back with a vengence and a slick new process- or and the hottest OS on the planet. Already rumors of a new FMV card are on the horizon. Be sure to check out the rest of the newsletter to learn more about it!
Finally, the last thing on the list. One more plead (then I willleave you all alone) for you all to start supporting the developers. It is going to be a trying time for developers for awhile until ESCOM shifts into high gear and gets products out the door. Remember, good shareware developers go on to become good commercial developers so don't forget them when you spend the cash to pick up Image FX 2.0 or plop down the mucho denaro for Final Writer. If you want more CD development, get a CD32 compatible drive and start buying the stuff. Money talks. Write to or send E*Mail to some of these big guys and TELL them how much you want to get good stuff like a Wordsworth CD chock full of fonts and clip art. Developers listen. In the new column for the Internet we will try and provide you with E*mail addresses that you can use to get heard. I was talking to a guy from VISION software (yes, one more chance to plug ROADKILL - C'mon go buy the thing) and he said they actually LOST money on Roadkill and that to me is totally amazing. For a change a great game finally poked its nose up and everyone is either pirating it or missing it. They are already making tracks (no pun intended) to the PC realm with Super Skidmarks II and other product. Let's not give them the TIME to write for other platforms. Give them the incentive to ONLY make Amiga products. Don't let these talented companies get away!
Enjoy the newsletter and you all have my best wishes for thefuture!
- Shane R. Monroe Dark Unicorn Productions