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==  compt.sys.editor.desk                           By:  Jason Compton  ==
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It's always nice, when things don't look all that great, to do something
that makes a statement.  The Amiga situation certainly has been better, and
even current users in some circles have started calling it a "dead
platform" with "no hope", etc.  etc...

Tell that to the 450 people who participated in the CEI Conference on IRC
last Tuesday-the ones that set records for involvement in any event or
channel.  To be sure, there were certainly some skeptics among them, but
not enough to keep them away from the fourth public forum Amiga Report has
held on the buyout.  The conference is being translated into at least two
other languages, and I have already been approached by journalists from
three magazines to do report articles on the conference for their
publications.

I can't envision holding more conferences with CEI in the near future, but
I just contacted C= UK again and made a rather strong case for their
participation.  Still waiting for a response.

The most recent information available is as follows: This past Friday
represents the last day Commodore Norristown engineers will be paid.  The
Commodore money to pay them ran out November 4th (the old UK-signing
"deadline", established on that day for that very reason).  I do not know
what C= UK's response to this is, but CEI plans to negotiate a reduction in
their bid with the liquidators, as the liquidator was considering the
engineers and their contracts with Commodore to be an asset.  With that
asset gone, CEI seems unwilling to pay for it.

The effect this will have is as yet unknown.  CEI still seemed willing to
sign the contract next week, but that will likely hinge on how much they
try to lower their bid by and how the liquidator will take it.

In relating this story to some people, I have been asked what the effect of
this would be.  Obviously, if any delay occurs, it's bad for the
short-term.  However, the less money spent on the Amiga, the more money
left over to develop and sell it.  It's a toss up and a balancing act.

There's still no guarantee that any company will get it, but I haven't
heard any rumblings from anywhere but Florida in the past couple of weeks.


We'll see, as always.

Be sure to check out the conference...

Jason

P.S. For European readers, AR is now available on a Poland WWW site.  A
German site also exists, but I've lost the URL-will the maintainer please
contact me?