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%% Inexpensive Personal Computers                     by David Tiberio %%
%%                                     dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu %%
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With Commodore's release and acceptance of the CD32, it may
be time to re-evaluate the competition in the marketplace to
see just exactly how the CD32 is doing. Here I will discuss
various other platforms, and their influences on the market.

For example, the consoles include the 3DO, Jaguar, SEGA
Genesis, CD-I, and SNES. While each can be grouped into various
categories based upon performance and price, we'll have to
compare them all as one group, since each serves the same
purpose.


3DO, developed by the Newer Technology Group, is the most
expensive system. This one boasts texture mapping and a custom
chip set, along with licensing of their chips. But where am I
leading? Simple. Much of the 3DO software is developed using
Amiga computers. After the big release of the REAL system from
Panasonic, a news broadcast on CNN showed Amiga 4000 systems
running applications for a 3DO software developer. The 3DO
was designed by many of the original designers of the Amiga 1000.

Atari has released the Jaguar "64 BIT" system. Although
many still speculate that it has 2 32 BIT buses, what matters
is what it offers software wise. My local Electronics Boutique
claims 2 titles are available. But let's take a deeper look;
Atari also released the Lynx system, developed by some of the
original developers of the Amiga OCS chip set in the Amiga 1000.
Likewise, Atari has been using Amiga computers to develop Lynx
games.

The SEGA Genesis is one of the most popular game consoles
to date, and is doing very well currently (but not for long).
What few people realise is that the original software development
systems were Amiga 500's with special expansion cards on the
exterior bus. This is because the Amiga had nearly identical
specifications with the SEGA Genesis.

Philips, makers of the CD-I interactive system, uses Amigas
to create software in its Sidewalk Studio in Santa Monica,
California. In fact, as Commodore's CDTV unit matured, some of
the support staff "moved on", one to later join a CD-I publishing
company. Philips also uses Amigas to perform research on LCD
displays in the Netherlands.

IBM has probably done more Amiga based presentations than
any other competitor. These mainly focus on Scala multimedia
software, doing presentations for its OS/2 operating system at
CEBIT in Hannover, and at some other exhibitions. The Minnessota
Mainframe site uses Scala to create multimedia presentations.

The best is always saved for last... Apple Computers used
Amiga 2000's to control video sequences at a MacWorld exposition
a few years back. And best of all, the machines were spotted by
onlookers behind the curtains. The Video Toaster, an Amiga-only
product, was titled the best product at the Mac show by a Macintosh
magazine.


In a future column I'll list some universities that have Amiga
graphics departments, many of whom also offer courses using Amiga
computers, such as Amiga Animation 101!


David Tiberio
dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu