Amiga Format CD 29/amigaformatcd29.iso/-readerstuff-/nick_anderson/articles/others-pt2/petition

Text File | 1998-06-02 | 7.5 KB | 183 lines

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 WWW   : http://web.ukonline.co.uk/turnermator

 Keith G. Robertson-Turner
 Inchbuie
 Craignavie Road
 Killin
 Perthshire
 FK21 8SH
 SCOTLAND

FTAO : Digitiser@Teletext

Sir/Madam,

I write to complain bitterly about the violent attack on Amiga owners
recently in Digitiser.

I have been an Amiga owner for many years, and I am deeply insulted by
the malicious and untrue assertions made in that publication.

On page 171, Stuart Campbell writes :

"The survey revealed via AF and CU Amiga, the perhaps not at all
surprising fact that almost 68% of all Amiga owners have never had a
girlfriend. Ever."

After pointing out that Amiga means "Girlfriend" in Spanish, he then
goes on to say :

"One can only imagine that the original management of Commodore were
playing a funny practical joke on all the people who would buy their
computer. So little change there, then."

This is outrageous. Even if the survey results are not, as I suspect,
"cooked" to make some kind of frivolous point, I take great exception
to the suggestion that I have been "ripped-off" by buying my Amiga.
On the contrary. Having used all manner of systems, from UNIX/VAX
workstations to Sinclair ZX80's and everything in between, I can say
with some certainty ( based on many years experience ) that no other
computer system even comes close to the ease and power of the Amiga.

And yes, I have had PLENTY of girlfriends, and none of them were made
in a factory !

On page 175, an unknown author writes in "GameSpotting" :

GAMER TYPE 5 : AMIGA OWNER

"He buys shareware because that's practically all there is to play on
his Amiga, he writes his own programs, though they're rarely anything
more interesting than a Spreadsheet, and he's possibly the most tedious,
anally retentive individual on earth."

"He so wants you to believe that the Amiga is a viable gaming platform."

"A cliche, yes, but unfortunately, this archetypal computer nerd really
does exist. We know this for definite."

An Amiga owner's only friends are members of his coding club, and there's
nothing he enjoys more than a 24 hour coding marathon."

"Locked away in his bedroom for days on end, his pale complexion, poor
eyesight and unkempt appearance are clues to the average Amiga owner."

"He thinks multi-tasking is somehow a substitute for a catalogue of
cutting-edge games. Did we mention he lacks a sense of irony ? Typical
quote : 'Yes, but the PC can't multitask.'"

To tackle these points one at a time :

(1) ... I don't have any shareware games. All my games are commercial,
        and there are PLENTY of them I can assure you. Not to mention
        games on the horizon which will make use of the PowerPC
        architecture and it's associated hardware.

(2) ... Yes I write my own programs because, unlike PC owners, I have
        the intelligence to do so. That is, after all the whole POINT
        of buying a computer. There are much cheaper ways of pursuing
        the childish activity of playing games.

(3) ... If the author takes a look at Aminet now and then, he will see
        that Spreadsheets account for a microscopic fraction of the
        sowftware in the archive.

(4) ... Tedious ? News to me ! Also news to the dozens of party goers
        who invariable come round my house every other night.

(5) ... Anally Retentive ? No I am not the kind of person who becomes
        incensed if everything is not in it's place / as it should be.
        If anything, I would describe my life as 'utter chaos' at the
        moment.

(6) ... The Amiga is, has been, and will continue to be a considerably
        MORE VIABLE gaming platform than the PC. The PC is, after all,
        fundamentally based on a prehistoric hardware/software
        architecture originally designed for "anal-retentives" to run
        their spreadsheets on.

(7) ... I am neither a Cliche, nor a Nerd. I am a 29 year old offshore
        worker who has been known to physically dismember people for
        saying less insulting things to me than the authors in Digitiser.

(8) ... I am not in a coding club as such, but if I were, I would be
        proud to count its members among my friends. At least they are
        the type of people who actually USE their computers once they
        buy them, unlike the majority of PC owners that I know - who
        simply buy a PC for the prestige; don't have a clue what to
        do with it; let it sit in the box for a month before unpacking
        it; unpack it then spend the best part of a year trying to get
        it to work properly; give up and eventually just let it sit in
        the spare room as a 'showpiece' statement that says ... 'look
        I'm clever enough to spend two grand on something useless.'

(9) ... There's only two things I do in my bedroom, and neither of them
        has anything to do with the computer. Isn't it typical of a
        PC owner to associate his PC with the bedroom. Symptomatic of
        all those hours on www.pornbyus.com or www.xtc.com.
        My complexion is not pale nor am I unkempt, in fact I spend a
        small fortune on clothes. You must be confusing me with PC
        owners who, having blown all their money on something that looks
        like an air conditioning unit ( and serves as much use ) they
        have no money left for 'luxuries' like clothes. And you have
        the audacity to call Amiga users 'nerds'.

(10) .. The Amiga multi-tasks properly. The PC doesn't. Period. There
        isn't really much more to say. As for us believing that the
        Amiga's ability to pre-emtively multitask easily is a
        substitute for 'cutting-edge' games, I've never heard such
        rubbish. The Amiga invented the concept of 'cutting-edge games',
        and now the best the PC can do is come up with some raytraced
        animations ( which were probably done on SGI's not PC's ) and
        slap them together and call it a game. Crap. At least Amiga
        games are fun, and will in the near future provide the same
        level of mindless '3D-ness' that every technophobic, first-time
        -buying, lame PC owner seems to want these days.

(11) .. I do have a sense of irony, otherwise I wouldn't be able to
        appreciate the fact that even though the Amiga has always been
        fundamentally superior to the PC it has been largely ignored by
        the large corporations due to dubious backhander operations -
        ( mainly involving Intel and Microsoft ) - and the subsequent
        ( and equally dubious ) marketing decisions by those same
        corporations. This resulted in the Amiga being left at the
        bottom end of the market and eventually slipping away on ....
        I've lost count .... is it 3 occasions now ? only to rise like
        a Phoenix on each occasion.

I think the comments made on Digitiser p175 on Sunday the 10th of August
1997 were libelous, inflammatory, and deeply insulting, and I intend taking
further action with the ITC.

The following is a list of names, ( with optional comments ), collected
from various Amiga enthusiast around the world, who have all read this
letter, and feel as strongly as I do.

Name                         Comment

Nick Anderson

Arnie Finen

Steve Bradford

Dan Wood

(come on readers, we've done it see! - NICK)

Keith G. Robertson-Turner    I think I've said plenty.
Next ...

: We'll keep you updated when the final petition is complete readers.

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