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.../General Q&A, Announcements, and Help!/Commodore at Australian show
16026.3.634.1 from usenet
11/9/93 21:48 136/6934 Harv
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
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s.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!dpi-gw!qdpii!davidme
From: davidme@qdpii.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au (David Meiklejohn)
Subject: Well done, Commodore!
Message-ID: <CG7s94.E34@qdpii.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au>
Organization: Queensland Dept of Primary Industries
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 07:46:14 GMT
Lines: 121
Portal-Origin: Usenet
Portal-Type: text
Portal-Bytes: 6425
Portal-Location: 17267.3.5567.1
On November 4-6, IDG Communications (magazine company) presented the
Australian Macworld Expo at the Sydney Exhibition Centre (Darling Harbour).
In conjuction with it, they also held the first Publish / Multimedia World
Expo. I went along on Saturday to have a look, and see what's happening in
the world of Macs. I also expected to see some "interesting" applications
of PCs (along with the Macs) in the multimedia section.
The exhibition was divided into two equal-sized halls, one devoted to
Macworld, the other Multimedia. According to the floorplan, each was
arranged in the same way, with the major exhibitor having the largest stand,
in the centre of each hall. For the Macworld Expo, that was, of course,
Apple Computer. In the adjoining multimedia hall, the major exhibitor was,
you guessed it: Commodore Amiga! They had actually booked as much
floorspace as Apple, at a predominantly Mac show. To understand the
significance of this, it helps to know that, on the exhibition floorplan,
every exhibitor is identified by a number only, except the two major
exhibitors: Apple and Commodore.
The show catalog is divided into two halves - open it at one end and you
get the Macworld show guide, but open it from the other, and it's
Multimedia world. On opening the Macworld section, the inside cover and
first page is a two-page Microsoft spread. Open the guide from the other
end, though, and the first thing you see is: "Amiga. The affordable
multimedia solution!" Very professional looking. Less professional is
the facing, inside cover, which is a full-page ad for the "Amiga CD^32
32-bit CD based entertainment system."
Turning to the exhibitor list, we see, under Amiga:
Commodore at Macworld?
Commodore has some pretty exciting news for visitors to Macworld -
but it has nothing to do with Macs!
Commodore will be showing visitors to its stand in Multimedia World
the amazing Amiga computer: the perfect alternative to the Mac on every
count.
Specifically, Commodore will be demonstrating its top-of-the-range
Amiga 4000, the computer which has become the machine "of choice"
amongst the professional video/graphics industry.
The Amiga 4000 is designed for multimedia - a job it does exceptionally
well at amazingly low cost. In fact, countless TV stations, video
production companies, advertising agencies and in-house video units
have adopted the Amiga. But it's more than a multimedia performer:
desktop publishing, desktop presentation, desktop video, disktop audio
and even interactive design are just some of the fields the Amiga 4000
is found in today.
If you're thinking about a computer for multimedia, think again - and
think Amiga. Try a hands-on demonstration of the power of this machine
at the Commodore stand at Macworld.
Obviously, Commodore found someone who knows what hype is to write the
above. :-)
In fact, saying that the Amiga is the perfect alternative to the Mac on
every count is a bit over the top (although, with an Emplant, you do pick
up most of the software base) and it's the sort of claim that could have
left Commodore to fall flat on their face.
But -
I hadn't looked at the showguide when I wandered in. It's my usual
practice to look quickly around a show to see what's there, before
stopping at individual exhibits. So, I started in the Mac hall, and saw
lots of Macs doing amazing things. Then I gazed across toward the
multimedia hall and the first thing that caught my eye was a large sign,
with a spotlight moving on it, hanging from the ceiling in the middle of
the hall, saying "Amiga - Multimedia _now_". Needless to say, my jaw
dropped and I rushed right over.
They had a video wall set up, which was connected to a CD^32. Plugged into
the back of the CD^32 was an MPEG board, and playing on the video wall was
good old Bon Jovi. Now, there were lots of 24-bit quicktime animations
playing on high-end hardware, over in Mac land. But, none of it could touch
the quality and smoothness of the video being played by the humble little
A$1100 CD^32 (the console is $699 here; the MPEG board will go on sale here
for A$399 (US$267) next month). They had seats set up, continually full of
people watching the screens. While not demoing CD^32, they showed an
Opalvision video.
Some of Commodore's area was taken by a video production company, although
I didn't really check it out - video not being my thing. Another area was
taken by a dealer (Sigmacom?), who had a display that was impressing quite
a few passersby.
They were showing off the new 150MB Bernoulli drives by playing 24-bit
animations off one, while subjecting it to a repeated drop test. What I
found nicest though, was the Workbench screen on one of the Amigas there.
They had an EGS board in an A4000, connected to a NEC 6FG, which is about
20", and sharp as a whistle. The WB was running at 1280x960 in 256 colours,
and was quite fast to use. They had set it up with background and window
pics, and had installed MagicWB. The whole thing looked very appealing,
and it made the Amiga look like a truly professional system, able to match
it with the big boys.
I was most impressed when a couple of "suits" walking past, noticed this
screen and remarked on what a good-looking desktop it was. These guys had
never even heard of an Amiga, and it had to be explained to them that they
weren't looking at some new Mac OS.
Of course, the price tag of that sort of system is way up there, but no
higher than most of the other stuff on display at that show.
All in all - words fail me. It was one thing that Commodore grasped this
opportunity to present themselves to a receptive and influential audience
in such a big way. It was quite another to see the Amigas attracting much
interest, and quite able to match any other display at the show. Add to
that, actually getting to see CD^32's MPEG in action, and, well, I'm glad
I went, to say the least!
Let's hope they keep it up, and maybe try some of the same in the US.
I think the American Amiga supporters could do with some good news.... :-)
------------------------------
/Gateways/Usenet/comp/sys/amiga/announce/Virus on Disk 919 and CD-ROM
17258.3.705.1 Virus on Disk 919 and CD-ROM
11/7/93 21:42 76/3835 fnf@fishpond.cygnus.com (Fred Fish)
On Nov 2nd, two hours before I had to leave to get on a plane to go to
the WoC show in Cologne Germany, I got a FAX that said there was an
active Saddam Hussein virus on disk 919 in the BBBF submission. This
was later confirmed when I arrived in Cologne on Nov 4th.
Because the contents of disks 911-930 are on the Oct Fresh Fish
CD-ROM, this problem also affects that CD-ROM.
The details, as I understand them at the moment, are:
(1) The virus is on disk 919 in the BBBF submission. The exact
filename is "BBBF/FileVirLib/VirusToTest/Saddam_Hussein_virus".
(2) The virus is only dangerous if you are running kickstart
1.2 or 1.3. However it is a *very* dangerous virus.
(3) In order to infect your system you would need to execute
the file containing the virus. Under normal use of the
CD-ROM, there is no danger from the virus.
User's might legitimately ask how such an error could occur, including
an easily detectable virus (using most virus checkers) and one with an
obvious name as well! The only explanation I can offer at this point
is that we obviously didn't run a virus checker over all files on the
CD-ROM (though we do normally have virus checkers running on the test
systems that will detect viruses when they get run), and that the
person working for me on that batch of floppy disks didn't realize
that this was an actual working virus and not just a test file that
simulated a virus or a castrated virus that would be no danger. It's
still my responsibility though, so any blame for including it must
fall on me.
As soon as I return home, on about Nov 12th, I will reissue disk 919
with the virus removed, and send copies of the replacement floppy to
all of my direct subscribers. I will also send a letter to all of my
direct CD-ROM subscribers, notifying them of the problem and offering
a replacement CD-ROM at no charge, should they wish to return the
virus infected one. I will not insist that all CD-ROM users return
their CD-ROM's, except those that use the CD-ROM in such a way that
the file containing this virus is publically accessible, such as on a
BBS or ftp server.
Once we were certain that the CD-ROM contained an active virus we
halted further distribution of the CD-ROM. This meant that I had to
destroy approximately 500 CD-ROM's at the WoC show in Cologne, much to
the frustration of local German users who begged to be allowed to
purchase them. The optical side was carved up with a knife, I signed
the front, and we gave them away as souvenirs of the show.
Ultimately I expect this virus to cost me about $3,000 to $5,000 in
lost productivity time, CD-ROM replacement production costs, and
shipping charges. So you can be very sure I'll be doing everything in
my power to avoid future virus problems.
I am very disappointed that Safe Hex International apparently offered
no warning that their distribution included an actual working virus
rather than just a file simulating a virus or a castrated, harmless
virus. Furthermore, to pick such a dangerous virus seems to me to be
very irresponsible. I'm not contemplating any sort of legal action at
this time since I don't feel that the submission had any malicious
intent, though I'm also not ruling such action out for now, or in the
future should I discover new submissions containing trojan horses or
viruses.
Because of the time I will lose dealing with this problem, the next
Fresh Fish CD-ROM may be delayed a week or so. My best estimate at
the moment is that the December Fresh Fish CD-ROM (aka the second
monthly CD-ROM) should ship about the second or third week of
December.
-Fred
------------------------------
/Message Bases/General Q&A, Announcements, and Help!/CBM at COMDEX.... not!
16026.3.638.1 Centaur has the booth
11/15/93 18:34 32/1458 Harv
Commodore does not have a booth at COMDEX/Fall (Nov. 15-19, 1993,
in Las Vegas... 170,000 attendees expected. Over 2000 exhibitor booths).
They are listed in the ridiculously huge show book/directory but upon
arriving at the "South Annex" hall and looking for their booth number,
instead I found Centaur Development with their familiar OpalVision
demo booth, being manned by Greg Niles, tireless demodude and
Centaur phone support guy.
Greg had a bad sore throat and was not enjoying the prospect of facing
an entire week of doing demos during which he narrates his on-screen
actions to a crowd of viewers.
Greg told me that it was his understanding that CBM turned their booth
space over to Centaur at virtually the last minute.
Hopefully CBM will, as they promised at the WOCA show in Pasadena in
Sept. '93, have a good showing at the upcoming Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) also to be held in Vegas the first week of January, 1994.
I would certainly hate to see them bail out of that show too, since that
is when/where they claimed they were going to roll-out CD^32 to the
full USA market.
COMDEX is about 98% PeeCees. Bill Gates, Intel, and IBM own this show,
for all intents and purposes. There are a few Amigas scattered about
here and there, but I won't kid ya, the Amiga is practically invisible
here unless you know where to look.
Ah well, there are plenty of other things to do in Vegas for the rest
of the week ;-)
» Delphi News «
-----------
20113 10-NOV 06:02 Potpourri
RE: usual questions (Re: Msg 19981)
From: LMCCLURE To: XIS (NR)
DCTV is Digital Creation's Digital Composite TeleVision, totally
unrelated to Commodore's CDTV. (Well, not *totally* unrelated...it was
long expected that Commodore would be bringing out a DCTV display-only
expansion for CDTV. However, this never occurred).
DCTV is a black box that attaches to the DB-23 video port on the Amiga
and to the parallel port. It has a DB-23 pass-thru port for your RGB
monitor, a composite out port (for DCTV video), and a composite in port
(for digitizing). BTW, the parallel port connection is needed only if
you are digitizing.
While DCTV is not true 24-bit output, I would say it is every bit as
good as what you see on TV, and at best resolution, actually better than
what you get from a typical VHS tape, based on my own experience. (Yep,
I've got one). From what I recall from my last digitizing session,
"RAW" format files take up around 450K, while "DISPLAY" files take up
*much* less (around 96K, as I recall). This is for an image that is
stored in Amiga RAM as a 4-bitplane, hi-res interlaced, overscanned
image. I see used DCTV's pop up for sale for $200 or less, a savings of
$100 off the new mailorder price. If you are interested in one, and have
nothing against used goods, I strongly recommend this route.
The RGB convertor, so that you can use an RGB monitor, and more
importantly, use DCTV graphics with a genlock, runs $200 new. I rarely
have seen this item for sale used separately, and not that often in
combination with the DCTV itself. Of course, with used color composite
monitors available for well under $200, the only real need I see for
this is genlocking DCTV graphics.
As I recall, the A3000 has 4 slots, the same as the A4000. The video
slot is inline with one, and PC slots are inline with the other three,
if I am not mistaken. Since the A3000 already has a flicker fixer and
SCSI controller built in, this should be adequate for most folks,
especially if you don't plan on using a Brigdeboard. This would give you
room for one card (Videotoaster, Opalvision, etc.) in the video slot, a
Retina or other video card in a regular slot, with two more slots left
for other goodies, such as a VLab framegrabber, DKB memory expansion,
multiport board, etc. To put it another way...if you could afford to
fill up all 4 slots, you could probably afford to buy an A3000T (which
has more slots)! <GRIN>
The Toaster 4000 will work in the A3000 without modification. (It has a
video I/O section that snaps off and changes the configuration...it
comes set up for the A4000/A3000). The older Toaster board (intended
only for the A2000 series) would work, but either required the A3000 or
the Toaster board to be physically modified for it to fit.
The flicker fixer in the A3000 is certainly worth it, as it is
included! <grin>
Seriously, if you are talking about getting one for the A2000, I would
give the Microway FlickerFixer a definite thumbs down...the places I see
still selling it ask as much or more for it as Commodore's own 2320
board, and it does not work as well. ICD's Flicker Free Video 2 has the
advantage of not taking up the video slot, but costs the most... over
$200 new (actually, around $225). I have seen some places selling
Commodore's A2320 new for as little as $125 (and used prices even lower
on occassion), so unless you have something intended soon for the video
slot, I strongly recommend it. Your first few sessions with rock steady
640x400 Workbench displays on your Amiga will convince you it was money
well spent. Also, for normal use, all the 2.04 ECS modes except Super
hi-res (i.e. 1280x200 and 1280x400 interlaced) will work with an
inexpensive VGA monitor with a Commodore A2320 or the ICD FFV2.
------------------------------
20356 17-NOV 22:05 General Information
RE: clone mice (Re: Msg 20326)
From: JUHLER To: XIS (NR)
Howdy,
A BUS mouse from the clone world will work on an Amiga. There is
a write up on this in the Jan. 92 issue of Amazing Amiga.
Pin out:
(9- pin Sub D) (9-Bin Din)
(Amiga) (IBM)
1 4
2 2
3 5
4 3
5 7
6 6
7 1
8 Ground 9
9 8
Chassis Ground Chassis Ground
» FidoNet News «
------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 10 Nov 93 22:18:05
*** From: John Strzykalski (1:107/344.0)
*** To : All
*** Subj: THE BEST OF AMIGA
Has anyone ever had any dealing with the people who put out a monthly
publication on disk (usually 3 disks) with PD & shareware programs on them,
called "The Best of AMiga". Well I have, and it will be my first and last
dealing with them!!!! Over 2 months ago I purchsed a 3 disk set in which 2
of the disks had read.write errors. Inside the package was a little note
stating thatif you received defective disks to send them back. Well I did,
along with 2 follow up letters, and they never responded to me!!!!! Now I'm
out $15.00 for the purchase of this, but worst of all I do not have these
programs which I really wanted in the first place. I'll be damned if I'll go
out and buy it again. I have no use for companies like this who do not have
the decency to respond to the customers needs. I told them in my last letter,
that it was the final one, and if I did not receive a reply them, I would
handle the matter myself by telling the AMiga community about thier
non-existent disk replacement service. I hope a compnay like this goes out of
business tomorrow!!!!!!!! I have no use for them. I should have known better
when I had seen that they operated out of a P.O. Box. I had sent the disks to
a place in Cape Coral Florida.
So the next time you see this publication anywhere, think twice before you
purchase it, for if the disks are defective, odds are, you are NOT going to
receive replacements for them!!!!!!!
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 13 Nov 93 20:26:17
*** From: Mike Levin (1:273/912.0)
*** To : All
*** Subj: C= Shareholder Movement
Dear Member of the Commodore Community,
Minutes before trading ended on the NYSE this evening, Commodore released
their financial statements for the last two quarters. For Q4 93 ending
June 30th, Commodore had a loss of $82.9 million; making a total loss of
$356.5 million for the year. Q1 94 ending September 30th had a loss of
$9.7 million. Demand that Commodore meet with the Commodore Shareholder
Movement. We all have a stake in the fortunes of this company, and the CSM
offers the most promising and lasting route to recovery. We can only
achieve this with your participation. Please support the CSM by dup-
licating and sharing this questionnaire (at user groups, dealers, shows,
etc.). By the way, if you are planning to buy stock, Monday might be a
good time. Thank you.
Commodore Shareholders Movement
Post Office Box 8296
Philadelphia, PA 19101
Phone: 215-487-0440
Fax: 215-825-3966
Internet/Portal: MarcR@cup.portal.com
Sincerely yours,
Michael Levin
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 14 Nov 93 13:53:26
*** From: Lorne Laliberte (1:348/706.3)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Frontier!
Well, much to my surprise, when I called a local dealer Friday to find
out if anyone tried When Two Worlds War yet (both the dealer and I are
waiting for a first-hand report, since it's been pretty trashed on the
local nets) I asked if there were any new releases. He remembered me,
asked how the story was doing ("still having troubles with it?" ;), but
started listing new IBM titles, the brat. I said "How 'boot on the
Amiga, Duncan?" and he laughed (a bit embarrassed I'll bet). "Let's
see..." checking a list. "Frontier, um..."
"FRONTIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU HAVE FRONTIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I blew his ears off. I hadn't slept in a long time, but I said "hold it
for me I'll be right there" and rushed into the city.
And I've got it! Man, what an amazing program. It almost doesn't seem
right to call it a game - it's a universe!
100,000,000,000 planets is a nice number. But look at the galactic map,
and zoom out, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay out, until you realize that that huge
map they give you (looks nice in any room by the way - already on my
wall!) is only a few pixels on a screen full of 'em. It's amazing. I
spent an hour in the star map, zooming in and out, scrolling around
(it's gorgeous...it moves so smoothly on the A1200!). I discovered an
undocumented feature carried over from Elite - use shift with the cursor
keys moves the view in the star maps a sector at a time, instead of in
minute increments. ZOOM! The map flies, and it goes on, and on, and on,
and on..."Unexplored," "Unexplored" the stars all say. <GRIN!>
(At least, I think that feature is undocumented, I haven't found it in
the manual yet).
There are some pretty wild star systems in Frontier. You name it, it's
there. I've even visited a system with 6 stars (though one was a brown
dwarf and considered a sub-star). Two binary stars, each set of binaries
rotating around a white dwarf (I think) and a brown dwarf around that
little white star as well. A planet around the brown dwarf, and a space
station around that planet. Sometimes it's a long trip to get to the
planet, though, since there's a lot of open space in this system (if the
computer tells you it's out of range, shut off the engines and fly
manually using RETURN for forward and SHIFT for reverse thrust. The
Autopilot decelerates using reverse thrust, but it's never as powerful
as forward thrust. I recently bought a new ship (an Eagle Long Range
Fighter Mk 2 to replace my Mk 1 - it's got more forward thrust, less
reverse thrust, and 2 tonnes more cargo space than the Mk 1, which is
why I wanted it ;) and while it has 28 Gs forward thrust, it only has 4
Gs reverse thrust. So pedal to the metal, then coast, flip around, and
decelerate with the main engines.
You also have a better chance of avoiding hostile ships if you go
faster - ships catch you when you're coasting or decelerating, usually,
and the less time you spend decelerating, the better.
Combat in Frontier is not for the weak hearted! Battles last a lot
longer than they ever did in Elite, I find - lasers now are very hard to
use, the little 1 MW pulse laser you start out with (and a bigger laser
almost requires a bigger ship or forget trading anything - lasers take
up hull space like everything else you buy) in the recommended starting
position (there are 3 starting positions - more later ;) isn't that hot,
and you have to get really close (under a kilometer, which is a lot
harder than it sounds) to get a good shot, unless the target is flying
in line with you at the time - then you can try thrusting at him with
guns blazing but hope you blow him up before he does you, or before you
collide.
Save the game often in spaceflight if you have to. It's easy, Frontier
has the quickest file requestor I've ever seen. It's gorgeous to use.
It's really weird - HD installation consists of opening up the drawer
on your HD where you want Frontier to be, and moving the single icon
over to it. That's it. That's absolutely it! And Frontier loads faster
off the HD than my Workbench loads, for heaven sakes. It seems to me
that somethign over 600k usually takes longer than that to load, but
maybe I'm just in all around shock right now. <g>
The game is very nicely done. You have a choice of using Elite-style
controls, or using controls better suited to the mouse. After struggling
in combat with the Elite controls (thing just move too fast in combat,
sheesh) I switched to the mouse, and have had better success.
The game is very open ended, of course, but you really have to work to
make money. Trading animal meat and robots between two rich systems is a
good way to go, but when you only have 3 tons of cargo space and one of
them has to be used for Hydrogen Fuel (and hope you don't need more ;)
you don't make much per trip. That's why I moved up to the Mk 2 Eagle,
as soon as I could afford it - 2 more tons of cargo space.
There are a good number of ships in the game, and they're very nicely
rendered in combat and otherwise. But there's so much to decide! The
Constrictor is there <g> but while it has cargo room it's relatively
slow and needs an extra crewperson to man it, which you'll have to find
and hire (in other words, you have to pay him a wage!). The Cobra Mk III
is very tempting, being a 1-pilot ship, and with lots of cargo room,
but it's slow compared to the new fighters. It has room for some real
equipment, though, like more powerful lasers and shield generators.
Frontier gives you the option of starting in any of three different
situations. Recommended is the first position, with an Eagle Long Range
Fighter already equipped with the essentials on Ross 158, nice and close
to Sol. Position number two puts you on Mars (terraformed ;) with an
Eagle that has a larger Beam laser but nothing else. Position number
three is for old fogie Elite die-hards, giving you a Cobra Mk III in
orbit around Lave (yes it's there! Part of a small group of stars with
only one planet arond them ;). You have a laser and that's about it, but
the ship is worth a LOT if you want to sell if off real quick...and you
have a lot of cargo room, so you can make money quickly. The kicker is
that you start off as a Fugitive in the eyes of both the Federation and
the Empire - Lave is an independent world, so you're safe enough for
now. But things get really hot with a price on your head. Police fines
are bad enough for us honest folk, fire a laser accidentally in the
wrong place (even ifyou don't hit anything) and you might face a 7000
credit fine.
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 14 Nov 93 14:57:52
*** From: Lorne Laliberte (1:348/706.3)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Still Frontier!
Of course I'm not done yet.
Included with the game are a nice manual (though a bit sparse in some
areas, compared to the original - there's more to cover though), a
Gazetteer of famous star systems with some hidden hints, a book called
"Stories of Life on the Frontier" with little stories set in the Elite
universe, a quick reference card, a very nice star map (though only a
fraction of what's out there), a notice for a Frontier T-shirt (I want
one! Call me an easy mark but I want one!) and two disks - the game
disk, and a Data Disk. What the Frontier Data Disk does, I don't know -
unless it sneaked its way onto my hard drive while I wasn't looking, HD
users don't use it (or will it be asked for later in the game? Who
knows). It's only 13% full anyway - I suspect it's included mostly for
saved games.
It took me a while to understand the physics in the game - versus the
lack of physics in the original <g>. For instance, in the orginal, the
space bar increased your speed, and another key decreased it, and you
maneuvered a la Star Wars. In Frontier, you accelerate and decelerate.
In manual flight the ship spins on its gyros and you point it wherever
you like, and the computer works the thrusters to bring the ship to that
course. If you're already moving pretty fast, the speed might not even
seem to change if you turn 180 degrees, because of scale, and the fact
that it takes a while to change speed even with 25 Gs. In other words,
your inertia is taken very much into consideration now. In combat, it
may seem as though you're zooming around your opponent, but you're still
moving in your original direction at great speed. Say I'm heading for
the planet Discovery, and I'm doing 20,000 km/s (kms^-1 in the game,
same thing). A Sidewinder attacks me, and I thrust towards him. What
I've done is add a component to my velocity vector, changing it
slightly. My line-of-flight crosshairs won't seem to move, because at
20,000 km/s a few seconds of thrust to move 8 kilometers left or right
doesn't mean much. Once you're able to shake off the feeling that your
velocity (or line-of-flight) vector doesn't HAVE to move for you to be
zooming around your opponent, everything's fine.
Targetting tunnels help a lot in spaceflight, by giving you instant
feedback on the closing velocity between you and the targetted opponent.
And it's best to switch off the engines and control thrust yourself.
Outrunning opponents is possible if you have a faster engine, but if
you're heading for a planet you can't just thrust towards it forever -
you have to think about deceleration at all times. But if you're careful
you can keep an opponent at bay by thrusting for the planet, then
turning and decelerating at the last possible moment. Most likely the
other ship will zoom past you harmlessly, and if you keep up your thrust
he'll have a hard time catching you again. Of course, if the other ship
has more powerful engines you'll have to do this many times. It's
possible to beat off the fast ships by reversing your thrust and keeping
them in a yo-yo chase, but it's tricky to do that without overshooting
the planet you're aiming for.
In combat ships' designations are shown on screen, and you can actually
identify ships by it - I've had run-ins with the same ship after
evading it once before on another trip. The designation appears on most
ships' hulls, and that's indicative of the wealth of depth in this game.
If you thought Elite seemed real, ha ha, wait till you try the
Frontier.
Bounty hunting is still possible. You no longer collect a bounty on
every ship - only on those that are wanted. And, you collect nothing
unless you've got a Radar Mapper to positively identify the ship, and
give you information on its specs. It takes up a ton of cargo
space...ship building in Frontier is laced with choices. Do I go for
that beam laser, and lose another 4 tons of cargo space? Do I really
need an atmospheric shield? If I only take one missile I can take an
extra tonne of goods each trip...
There are faster military engines available, that burn special fuel,
but its converted into radioactives yo have to pay to have dispose of
(jettisoning anything is illegal and results in a fine ;). There are
amazingly powerful weapons but only large ships have room for them.
Everything is a trade-off. You can make good money fast running errands
for people, but keep an eye on the date! People aren't happy when things
are delivered late. And not everyone keeps their half of the bargain -
I've delivered parcels and had the authorities notified instead of
payment made! Good thing I asked for half-payment up front, or I
wouldn't have seen a penny.
If you have any imagination. If you enjoy games where the goals
parallel those of life itself, and the aim is to survive. If you want
your games to last as long as you want them to. If the thought of
exploring strange new worlds excites you.
Buy Frontier!
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 11 Nov 93 22:13:20
*** From: Tim Lloyd (6:700/267.69)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Scala Part 1
Got some info off Compuserve I thought you might like. It's in three parts....
NEWS RELEASE
Ameritech 30 South Wacker Drive Suite 3400 Chicago, IL 60606
Media contacts: Geoff Potter, Ameritech, (312) 220-2383 Linda Barker, Scala,
(303) 628-5442
November 8, 1993
AMERITECH AND SCALA FORM MULITMEDIA ALLIANCE
Ameritech now will help its Midwest customers create proprietary
information delivery networks of multimedia presentations combining, text,
video images, animation and sound.
The company today announced an alliance with software firm Scala,
Inc., to market computer-based information network that are both
cost-effective and easy to use.
With this alliance, Ameritech now will offer its customers Scala's
proprietary multimedia network product, known as InfoChannel, for uses
ranging from employee information video magazines for corporations to class
registration and campus event information networks for schools to
point-of-sale advertising displays for retailers.
Specifically, customers can call upon Ameritech to design, install,
maintain, and provide training for their own multimedia networks which
utilize the Scala InfoChannel software to create the on screen material and
to update, schedule and transmit the information over standard telephone
lines.
For example, J.C. Penney uses InfoChannel to produce and broadcast
its daily employee news program, McDonald's uses it for point-of-sale
advertising at several stores in England, and the University of Michigan
uses it to assemble and send important campus news to 15,000 students at
their residences.
Ameritech will package these kinds of applications using Scala
software and market them through its business units to customers in many
markets, including the health care, education and financial industries.
The alliance also calls for joint development of multimedia products for
customers in specific markets.
"Scala products let you produce unsurpassed multimedia programming
on a desk-top computer, with a minimum of training, at a price point that
no other product can match, " said John Hillman, Scala marketing vice
president.
Businesses, government agencies and schools can create these
multimedia programs and then transmit them over standard lines or ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network) lines to stores, remote offices,
schools or other sites. The information can be updated and displayed at
these sites on television sites, desktop compute monitors or interactive
touch-screen kiosks.
"Ameritech is quickly expanding from an order taker of network
components to a value-adding partner and market maker," said John Vaughan,
president of Ameritech information industry services, the Ameritech unit
that serves third-party network services and information providers.
"Scala's multimedia products, coupled with our networking and
marketing ability, enable us to provide many exciting customer applications
in both existing and new markets." Vaughan said.
With 45,000 users in 40 countries, Scala is the leading
international developer of multimedia authoring software for distributed
information systems. Scala was founded in Oslo, Norway, in 1987 and
incorporated as a U.S. company in Delaware in 1992. Today's world
headquarters are in Reston, VA., with domestic offices in Portland, OR,
Philadelphia and Chicago.
Ameritech is a leading provider of full-service communications and
information services to about 12 million customers in the Midwest, and it also
has operations in New Zealand, Norway, Poland and other countries. Its 1992
revenues were $11.2 billion, and its assets exceed $22 billion.
Customers may call (800) 451-5283 for more information. ###
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 11 Nov 93 22:14:14
*** From: Tim Lloyd (6:700/267.69)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Scala Part 2
The best multimedia authoring software for the Amiga just got better!
Introducing the next generation multimedia presentation software:
SCALA MULTIMEDIA MM300
Check out these new features:
Drawing Tools - Create and manipulate lines, rectangles and circles! Each
drawing can be moved and resized. Add different attributes like color, wipe,
outline, shadow, etc.
Resize Brushes and Pictures - Scale, crop, change-aspect-ratio of backgrounds
and brushes!
Load Resolution - Change resolutions and number of colors on the fly!
Fast Floyd-Steinberg Dithering - Pictures and brushes can now be remapped
quickly with the Floyd-Steinberg dithering technique. Images will look
smoother and cleaner than ever before!
Optimize Palette - This time saving feature automatically calculates and
remaps the color palette for each background, brush and text color!
File Format Support - The Scala EX system now loads GIF, TIF, PCX and BMP file
formats from other computer platforms! You can even save IFF pictures into
the Microsoft Windows BMP format!
Absolute Timing - New SMPTE compatibility feature allows you to set frame
rates for PAL (25 fps), NTSC (Drop-Frame and Non Drop- Frame), and Film (24
fps). Scala scripts can be slaved to Time-Code chase with the new MIDI 2.0 EX
and any Amiga compatible MIDI-to- SMPTE device (eg. Blue Ribbon Soundworks
Triple-Play Plus)
File Requester Shuffler - Now you can see a "thumbnail" picture of
backgrounds, the first frame of an animation, and brushes!
Stunning New Wipes - FadeToWhite, Nuclear, Random, Dissolve, Ants, Rollodex,
Flipover, and Cccut are a few of the new wipes in MM300. Plus many of the new
and old page wipes are now text wipes! Most wipes can now change directions
using the "Turn90" and "Backwards" options in the Page Wipe Menu, creating
hundreds of new wipes!
Sound On Buttons - You can now add two globally set sounds to buttons for
feedback on interactive applications.
DSS Sound Module Support - MM300 will now playback music modules created with
GVP's Digital Sound Studio package that comes with the GVP DSS 8+ Audio
Sampler! Take advantage of the DSS8+ enhanced features using Scala's built-in
sampler editing features!
"Automagic" Creation of Buttons - Click on a screen object like a brush and
MM300 will automatically create the button border surrounding the object!
New Backgrounds - Nine new backgrounds have been added to the standard Scala
package. Additional Scala Background Libraries can be purchased seperately.
Save Script in a Drawer - this time saving function now copies all brushes,
backgrounds, sounds, fonts, etc. to a drawer for easy transferring!
New Text/Button Attributes - Underline color can be independent of text, an
improved 3D Attribute function, and an all new Beveling Attribute function
which creates 3D, four-sided buttons with ease!
Text Box for Subtitling - Allows you to create Text Box Headers with a
different color and transparency. Great for video subtitling!
Sound Playback Directly from Hard Disk - Any size sound sample (mono or
stereo) is now spooled directly from hard disk, saving precious Amiga Chip
RAM.
Preview 24-Bit Pictures - A fast IFF 24-bit preview allows you to browse
through your 16 million color images and then load them into any ECS or AGA
screen mode!
Enhanced Scala Utility Support - The utility launcher now start other Amiga
programs that modify scripts, pictures, animations and sound files!
Enhanced AnimLab - Now has Anim8W and Anim8L support, new Scala animation
formats Anim16i and Anim32i, animation support for FLIC (a common animation
format on MS-DOS PCs), change resolutions of animations and pictures, enhanced
palette control, add text to animations, much more!
New EX Modules - Scala MM300 now includes these improved EX modules:
MIDI 2.0 EX - Enhanced to support Blue Ribbon Soundworks' One Stop Music Shop
and Triple Play Plus. The EX also reads MIDI Time-Code from MIDI to SMPTE
devices like Dr. T's Phantom.
CDTV 2.0 EX - Enhanced features now include the ability to play multiple
tracks, use time-code for in and out points, wait for specific locations, fade
volume in and out.
New Genlock EX Modules - MM300 now includes EX modules for GVP G-Lock, Digital
Creations SuperGen and G2 Systems G2 Genlock (PAL)
GVP IV-24 EX - Control the picture-in-picture, keying modes, and display
24-bit IFF pictures.
AVideo/Colormaster 24 EX - (For A500, A2000, A3000 only) Display 12 or 24-bit
backgrounds with overlayed Scala graphics, playback of 12-bit animations in
the avnm/avnmd format.
System Requirements:
For A500, A600, A2000 and A3000; Scala MultiMedia MM300 requires AmigaDOS 2.04
or higher, at least 1 MB of Chip RAM, at least 2 MB of Fast RAM, Hard Disk,
ECS Chipset recommended (ECS Agnus and ECS Denise). Accelerator and
additional Fast RAM also recommended.
For A1200, A4000 and other AGA based Amigas; Scala MultiMedia MM300 requires
AmigaDOS 3.0 or higher, 2 MB of Chip RAM, at least 2 MB of Fast RAM, Hard
Disk, additional 32-bit Fast RAM recommended. NOTE: For Amiga 1200, use of
PCMCIA 2 MB or 4 MB Memory Card may degrade performance.
Suggested Retail Price: $399.00
Release Date: November 15, 1993 Deliverable Date: December 1, 1993 or sooner
For more information contact:
Scala, Inc. 12110 Sunset Hills Rd. Suite 100 Reston, VA 22090
Tel: (703) 709-8043 Fax: (703) 709-8242 Scala and Scala MultiMedia MM300 are
registered trademarks of Scala, Inc. All other producst mentioned herein are
registered trademarks of their respective companies. Specifications, features,
price and other information subject to change without notice.
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 11 Nov 93 22:15:08
*** From: Tim Lloyd (6:700/267.69)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Scala Part 3
Scala FYI
To: All Scala Product Owners From: John Chang, Technical/Sales Support Subj:
Upgrading to Scala MultiMedia MM300
For information on the new Scala MultiMedia MM300, please see message titled
"Scala MM300 Factsheet" for more information in this forum.
For all registered owners, Scala, Inc. will be sending you an upgrade
notification flyer in the next two weeks. For those of you who forgot to
register your Scala software, this information is for you:
MM300 Upgrade from: Special Price After Rebate
Home Video Titler $298.00 N/A
Scala Video Studio $298.00 N/A
MM200/A3000P* $298.00 $229.00
MM200* $198.00 $129.00
MM210* $168.00 $ 99.00
Like the current version of Scala MultiMedia MM200/MM210, MM300 will come with
a green Scala Key (dongle) for license enforcement. The special price allows
you to keep your current Scala software license agreement and upgrade to
MM300. Therefore you will have two Scala Keys. The one you currently own and
the MM300 version. Please note that the MM300 green Scala Key will run MM300
and MM200/MM210. Your current red Scala Key will *NOT* run MM300.
* If you do not wish to keep your current Scala license agreement, you may
return the red Scala Key and receive a rebate check for the difference in the
above indicated After Rebate price. (Example: Pay $168.00 for the MM300
upgrade, turn in your red Scala Key, receive a rebate check for $69.00. Net
cost to you is $99.00)
If you have not turned in your registration card, we strongly suggest you do!
Hurry, this is a limited time offer!
For more information contact:
Scala, Inc. 12110 Sunset Hills Rd. Suite 100 Reston, VA 22090
Tel: (703) 709-8043 Fax: (703) 709-8242 Scala and Scala MultiMedia are
registered trademarks of Scala, Inc. Prices, specifications, price and special
offer subject to change without notice.
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 13 Nov 93 15:11:28
*** From: Mark Dickenson (1:284/8.2)
*** To : All
*** Subj: OMG! I saw an Amiga and a Squirrel!
In our never ending quest to find occurances of the Amiga in any media I
have just found it again in an unlikely place...
I even got to see a squirrel!
Pickup the comic "Ninja High School Yearbook 93" by Antarctic Press
(Issue 5 for Oct. 1993) that just came out this month.
You will find a story called "Ninja High School Prequal" by Amiga
Animator "Eric Schwartz". The cartoon stars every Amiga owners favorite
female, Amy the Squirrel along with a cameo by his newest character
Sabrina and an unnamed sexy female mouse. You will find an Amiga
computer with the familiar Amiga Checkmark on the screen in one panel as
well as the Commodore Logo on the "Die You Bastard Die!!" handgun.
Looks like Eric might be branching out into comics. ;)
------------------------------
*** Area: AMIGA Date: 6 Nov 93 1:36:37
*** From: Jonathan Gapen (1:121/6.11)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Doom not spoken here
Okay all you naysayers of the echo, I have four words for you:
SIERRA'S BACK IN TOWN!
Yes, we will see King's Quest VI on our AGA Amigas! Of course, if you
get Amiga World, you probably have read that by now. That, and an AGA Wing
Commander. *Maybe* an AGA Day of the Tentacle from LucasArts.
KQ VI won't be another cheap Sierra port, oh no, it'll be done by
Revolution Software of England. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Amiga World lists 50 AGA games that are under way or out. They did have to
stretch a little with some PD and a rumor, but there's still 50 games listed.
The AGA games are really coming now. Even some of the "big boys" are back in
the Amiga arena, so it's not all gloom 'n doom as some people are so fond of
claiming.
We've got some great, amazing productivity software coming soon, great
Amiga games and a fair amount of ports from Clone games. CD³² is selling
extremely well in Europe, which could bring even more developers into or back
to the market. Commodore plans to advertise, bringing more recognition for
the Amiga name.
I suppose you can look at it in two ways. It's simply that markets change.
You can look at the loss of the old as bad omens or the new potential. I'll
look at the bright side.
------------------------------
*** Area: OMAHA Date: 14 Nov 93 13:54:36
*** From: Lee Dise
*** To : Don Ferree
*** Subj: Lost Kitties
Noting the recent traffic concerning Joan's lost kitty -- I've a very soft
spot for lost animals, cats in particular -- something few people realize is
*how* cats and dogs get lost. In the hopes that somebody can make use of this
information, I'll pass it along.
According to Desmond Morris (author of the best-selling _The Naked Ape_ and at
least two books on cats), cats and dogs orient themselves differently. Once a
dog loses sight and scent of his or her domicile, the dog is lost. Period.
Cats, on the other hand, seem to have almost a magnetic orientation. They
have been known to travel hundreds of miles to a former home, unerringly.
Problem with cats is, they don't always realize when their families have
moved. People often lose cats shortly after moving because they let the cat
out, and the cat tries to find its way back "home." It's tragic, really.
I always suggest to people with cats that after they move, keep the cat in
doors at least for two months -- maybe three. You want to give the little
furball enough time to realize the new place is really "home."
» AmigaNet News «
-------------
*** Area: AMIGA_DESKTOP Date: 11 Nov 93 15:27:16
*** From: Peter Stuer (2:292/603.7)
*** To : All
*** Subj: Final Copy font trick
I don't know if anybody has posted this trick before or if it is even
appropriate in this area but here it comes:
This trick works with KickStart 2.04 and up.
If you (like me) think that the screen font that comes with Final Copy has a
certain 'flair' but is not quite what you like you will find that there is no
way to change the font Final Copy uses using one of the preference requesters.
Here's how you can do it:
1. rename the original "SWScrFont" directory and "SWScrFont.font" file in the
"FCFonts" directory to something else, f.e. add ".orig" to both names. That
way you'll always have a backup.
2. copy the ".font" file of the font you like to the "FCFonts" directory using
the name "SWScrFont.font". This font can be propotional or even an outline
font.
3. Copy the font directory of the font using the _original_ name to the
"FCFonts" directory. Make sure there's a font in it that is about the same
size as the original SWScrFont.
4. Start Final Copy: Tadaa!
Apparently Final Copy is _completely_ font sensitive! I don't see why the
writers haven't added a font requester to change the screen font.
------------------------------
*** Area: NEWS_AMY Date: 8 Nov 93 0:18:52
*** From: Gustav Kjeldsen (39:140/101.24)
*** To : All
*** Subj: New AGA/CD32 Titles
Hey!
Apparently you guys haven't seen this yet, a list of games to be
released in
November '93.
Watch, then look into my eyes, and say: The Amiga is Dead!
you CAN'T!!
Game Publisher Team Game Genre AGA CD32
--++*++---------------------------------------------------------------++*++-
Hardcore 21st Century Digital Ill.
Simon The Sorceror Adventuresoft Adventure Yes
Addictive! Black Legend
Fear Black Legend
StarDust Bloodhouse Shoot'em up
Fantastic Voyage Centaur Yes Yes
Cosmic SpaceHead CodeMasters Arcade Adv.
Curse of Enchantia 2 Core Design Adventure Yes
Darkmere Core Design Arcade Adv.
Heimdall 2 Core Design Iso. Adv.
Cyberace Cyberdreams Racing
I Have No Mouth Cyberdreams Adventure
Boot! Daze Football
Elizabeth I Daze Ascon Strategy Yes
Flight Sim Toolkit Domark SIMIS FlightSim.
F1 Domark Lankhor Racing
International Rugby Domark Rugby
BioSphere EA Bullfrog Strategy Only Yes
Creation EA Bullfrog Yes
EA Ice Hockey EA Sports
Pip EA Bullfrog Yes
Campaign 2 Empire Wargame
Cyberspace Empire 3D RPG
DreamWeb Empire Adventure
Maelstrom Empire Strategy?
Twilight 2000 Empire 3D sim Yes
Genesis Flair Adventure Yes Yes
Liverpool Grandslam Sports
Nick Faldo's Golf AGA Grandslam GolfSim. Yes Yes
Realms Of Darkness Grandslam RPG
Seventh Sword Of Mendor Grandslam RPG Yes
Tensai Grandslam Arcade Adv.
Disposable Hero Gremlin Shoot'em up
K240 Gremlin Strategy
Litil Divil Gremlin Arcade Adv. Only Only
Legend Of Soracil Gremlin RPG/Adv. Only Yes
Lotus Turbo Trilogy Gremlin Racing Only
Utopia 2 Gremlin God/Strat. Yes Yes
Zool 2 Gremlin Platform Only Yes
Global Chaos Hex Rave Music Only Only
Akira ICE Only Only
Total Carnage ICE Shoot'em up
Detroit Impressions Strategy
The Blue and the Grey Impressions Wargame
Buzz Aldrins Race Interplay
Star Trek 25th aniv. Interplay Adventure Only
Survival Kompart UK Strategy Only
Naughty Ones Kompart UK Platform
Batman Returns Konami Denton Designs Beat'em up
Legends Krisalis RPG
The Lost Kingdoms Krisalis RPG
Day Of The Tentacle LucasArts Adventure Only Yes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
:D
Genesia Microids God/Strat.
A.T.A.C. Microprose Action/Strat.
B17 Fl. Fortress Microprose FlightSim. Yes Yes
F117A Microprose FlightSim.
Fields Of Glory Microprose WAR/Action
Formula One Gr.Prix AGA Microprose F1 Sim. Only Only
Harrier Jump Jet Microprose FlightSim.
Pirates! Gold Microprose Strategy Only Only
Sub War 2050 Microprose
The Legacy Microprose Magnetic Scr. RPG Yes Yes
Brutal Sports -Football Millenium Sport
Daughter of Serpents Millenium Adventure Only Yes
Dinoworlds Millenium Adventure Yes Yes
Operation Starfi5h Millenium Platform Yes Yes
T-Rex Millenium Jump-n-Run Only Yes
Beastball Mindscape
Captive 2 Mindscape Tony Crowther
Champions Mindscape
Drive Fractulus Mindscape SUE/Fl.Sim. Only Only
Flag Mindscape
Liberation Mindscape Yes Yes
Mario is missing Mindscape Education
Metamorphosis Mindscape
Sim City 2000 Mindscape God/Strat. Yes Yes
Sim Farm Mindscape God/Strat. Yes
Son Of the Empire Mindscape RPG
Wing Commander AGA Mindscape Action/SF Only Yes
Jack The Ripper Mirage Adventure
Return t.t. Lost World Mirage Adventure Only Only
Rise of the Robots Mirage Beat'em up Yes Yes
Space Junk Mirage Adventure Only Only
Guiness b.of Records 2 New Media Records Only Only
First Contact Ocean SF.Adv. Yes Yes
Inferno (Ex.Oddysey) Ocean D.I.D. SpaceEpic Only Yes
John Joe Ocean Adventure Yes Yes
Jurassic Park Ocean Action/SEU Yes Yes
Lobo Ocean
Mr Nutz Ocean Ocean France Platform Yes Yes
Open Golf Championship Ocean GolfSim. Yes Yes
Ryder Cup Golf Ocean GolfSim.
TFX (Ex.Inferno) Ocean D.I.D. FlightSim Only Yes
Amiga CD Football Plattsoft Football Only Only
Armour-Geddon 2 Psygnosis
Ben E Factor Psygnosis Puzzle Adv
Brion The Lion Psygnosis Platform Yes Yes
Codename Hellfire Psygnosis SEU
Creepers Psygnosis
Dracula Psygnosis BEU/Adv. Yes Yes
G2 Psygnosis Adventure
Globdule Psygnosis Platform
Innocent Until Caught Psygnosis Adventure Only Yes
Lemmings Trilogy Psygnosis Puzzle Only
Magican's Castle Psygnosis Platform
Microcosm Psygnosis Action/SEU Only Only
Perihelion Psygnosis RPG
Puggsy Psygnosis Puzzler Yes Yes
Second Samurai Psygnosis Platform
Superhero Psygnosis
Walker 2 Psygnosis Blaster
X-Mas Lemmings '93 Psygnosis Lemmings!
Striker 2 Rage Rage Platform
Elfmania Renegade Terramarque BEU Yes Yes
Flight o.t.Amazon Queen Renegade Adventure Yes Only
Rough n' Tumble Renegade Wunderkind Platform Yes Yes
SensibleWorldOfSoccer Renegade Sensible Soccer Yes Yes
Defense Of The Crown 2 Sachs Entert. Strategy Yes Yes
FIST Supervision Steve Jackson Adventure
Lovers Guide CDTV Supervision 18+
Monopoly Supervision Boardgame
Last Ninja Trilogy System 3 Puzzle/BEU ? Only
Putty 2 System 3 Platform Yes Yes
Body Blows Galactic (2) Team 17 Team 17 Beat'em up Yes Yes
Project X 2 Team 17 Team 17 Shoot'em up Yes Yes
Case of the C. Condor Tiger Media Yes Only
Battle Storm Titus Shoot'em Up ? Yes
Super Blues Bros Titus Platform
Air Search Rescue Thalion
Ambermoon Thalion Yes Yes
Non Second Prize 2 Thalion Motor Racing
U96 Thalion
Heroic a.o SpaceFlight Troika NASA History Yes Only
Blades of Destiny US Gold ATTIC RPG
Evolution:Lost In Time US Gold Platform Yes
Kingmaker US Gold US Gold Boardgame Yes
Raiden US Gold Shoot'em up
7th Quest Virgin Adventure Only Only
Alladin Virgin Platform Yes Yes
Beneath a Steel Sky Virgin Revolution Adventure Yes
Black Sect Virgin Lankhor
Cannon Fodder Virgin Sensible Soft. Puzzle
Cool Spot Virgin
Eden Virgin Cryo
Heart Of Darkness Virgin E Chahi/F Sav.
Malfunction Virgin
Miracle Bat Virgin Miracle Games
Mortal Combat Virgin Acclaim Beat'em Up Yes Yes
North Polar Expedition Virgin Adventure Yes Yes
Terminator II - Arcade Virgin O.Wolf-type
--++*++---------------------------------------------------------------++*++-
I'd say, im going to wish for CD32 this christmas!
And I say "Bye, bye, Atari Jaguar, 3DO, CDI, SEGA, Nintendo!!!!"
Gustav Kjeldsen
------------------------------
*** Area: QUEST_AMY Date: 6 Nov 93 8:38:32
*** From: Greg Blanchard (40:708/51.0)
*** To : Jim Huls
*** Subj: Re: MultiView where?
JH> When you have a product mostly for kids, anything can
JH> happen. I think the CD32 is what C= should have done originally
JH> instead of either CDTV or even the A500. The lowend systems are used
JH> for games so sell a console. If they want a computer that probably
JH> ended with an 030 or greater, buy one of the high-end models so C= CAN
JH> make money instead of selling cheap lowend computers that get upgraded
JH> with non-Commodore products. Commodore is said to be phasing out the
JH> 1200 and 4000/030. If so, they are at last realizing what needs to be
JH> done to survive in these economics. They just might be too late.
JH> :-(
I agree with most of your post but I strongly disagree with your elitist
attitude. If C= hadn't pumped out millions of cheap computers the yuppies
and the so called 'business' types (who only look for tax deductions) would
STILL own the microcomputer world.
When I think of the likelyhood of $10,000 Apple ][s or $25,000, 64K I*M
PeeCees I could puke......
I go back to the Personal Electronic Transactor, VIC-20 days when an Apple
cost $1500 for an entry level machine (B/W too). Those machines were mostly
bought by people with the need to show off (with pirated software usually).
The less fortunate, unwashed masses were to be mildly pitied and allowed to
admire the neat toys, even play with them, but NEVER to enter the hallowed
halls of COMPUTER OWNERSHIP!
If the VIC-20 wasn't available in 1982 at $149, I would never have purchased
ANY computer. (And I was thankful for the PD creations from the PET as well
as -few remember- 'type in programs')
I fear that the world of computing would be very much the poorer if all
those eager teens hadn't the chance to discover the joy of machine language!
Imagine the legions of so called "MIS Professionals" who would only
understand Time Share and Batch Processing.
Save us from the "business school" types and "professional computer users".
Long live the programmer with ML under his/her nails and the urge to create
something more than a prettier spreadsheet.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!! AMIGA!!!
BTW, as you can see this touched a VERY raw spot. I agree that C= needs to
work closer with 3rd party developers to maximise EVERYBODY'S profits. I
just don't think that C= needs to beg at the feet of the monied few. It
didn't work too well for Apple, in the long run either.
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