Aminet 52/Aminet 52 (2002)(GTI - Schatztruhe)[!][Dec 2002].iso/Aminet/docs/mags/agsaku19.lha/Muut/Tiedotteet.txt

Text File | 1996-06-30 | 9KB | 174 lines

VIScorp - News 25-MAY-96
By David Rosen, 25-May-96

VISCORP'S TOULOUSE GATHERING

In anticipation of VIScorp's likely acquisition of Amiga, we convened a
gathering of Amiga developers, vendors and users in Toulouse, Fr., on
Sunday, May 19th. It was a successful event, drawing over 250 people! This
event was far more comprehensive than an initial press conference held after
the Amiga World show in London in April, and serves as a model for a planned
series of additional gatherings to be held the future.

The purpose of this gathering was two-fold: first, to provide an opportunity
for VIScorp to introduce its senior management and corporate vision to the
Amiga community and, second, to secure valuable feedback from the community
as to their concerns and suggestions about the future of the Amiga. The
conference was organized by Eric Laffont, without whose commitment it would
neither have happened nor been as successful as it was. Our deepest thanks
go out to Eric!

The day-long gathering was divided into four major parts: (1) a morning
session of presentations and Q&A; (2) an informal lunch during which
participants could meet and discuss the morning session; (3) an afternoon
session of two parallel workshops, one with developers and the other with
vendors/distributors (users and the press circulated between workshops); and
(4) a concluding summary session followed by a reception. The morning
session was carried in realtime on the Internet's chat services, the IRC,
and many people throughout the world participated. The following presents an
overview of the presentations made during the morning session; the afternoon
sessions consisted of less formal presentation by VIScorp personnel and
provided participants with an opportunity to raise specific questions and/or
put forward their own ideas and concerns.

The morning session was the linchpin for the day's events. Bill Buck (CEO)
provided the opening introduction and laid out VIScorp's corporate mission
of a twin set-top and desk-top business -- this mission is anchored in a
fundamental commitment to the Amiga OS and its long-term maturation. Bill
made clear that VIScorp's commitment to the Amiga computer was based on a
strong belief that it could be a profitable business once again. Bill
reiterated the fact that VIScorp had not as yet secured ownership of the
Amiga and, therefore, could not layout specific plans. Nevertheless, in
anticipation of the acquisition, VIScorp had initiated preliminary
discussions with a number of companies (e.g., Motorola) as to further
platform development. Bill concluded his presentation with a demonstration
of the "ED" set-top appliance and a discussion of the company's belief in
the long-term opportunities of the Internet/Web.

Don Gilbreath (VP, Engineering) and Carl Sassenrath (Director of Software)
provided indepth technical discussions of the "ED" system as well as some
likely developments of the Amiga OS. Don showed off the new "ED"
motherboard, recently received from Solectron, and discussed the performance
capabilities of some of the key components. In addition, he showed a new
060-based motherboard which could be made available immediately and would
increase Amiga performance by four-fold.

Carl, a member of the original group that wrote the Amiga OS, provided a
detailed discussion of some of the additions currently being implemented for
the ED/Amiga OS. He outlined twenty-four (24) specific additions to the OS
that were being developed for the set-top environment and which will enhance
the overall performance of the Amiga (they will be provided to developers
separately). Both Don and Carl discussed some of the possible future steps
that VIScorp might take if it secured Amiga, including a review of a
possible relationship with Motorola for an Amiga PowerPC; they also
identified other possible migration path options, but stress that all these
ideas were purely speculative.

David Rosen (VP, Marketing) further elaborated on Bill Buck's presentation,
clarifying VIScorp's overall objectives of the twin set-top and desk-top
strategy. He made clear that the company had originally secured a license
from Amiga Technologies because it assess the Amiga OS as uniquely
appropriate technology to facilitate the convergence of (analog) TV,
telecommunications (especially networked-based interactivity and the
Internet/Web) and computing. He stressed that the dominate approaches to
networked-based interactivity in the U.S. -- i.e., the cable/telco ITV
approach and PC/modem (or Network Computer) approach -- had stalled,
providing a unique opportunity for VIScorp's Amiga-based solution.

David stated that given the clear break of home computing into two spheres
-- home/office productivity (with a "Wintel" monopoly) and gameplay (with
Sega, Sony, Nintendo dominance) -- could provide an opportunity for Amiga
because of the consumer's desire for choice, price advantage and unique
performance (true multitasking and multimedia). He added that conditions
were different in Europe (with an historically strong low-end consumer
business) and in the U.S. (with a stronger acceptance among vertical
business, especially media-production market), these differences represented
an opportunity for a well-targeted niche approach.

Eric Laffont (Manager International Technical Development Amiga) and Raquel
Velasco (Director, European Sales/Marketing) reviewed the findings of a
specially conducted Internet survey of Amiga users/developers. The survey
has more than 2,100 respondents from over 30 countries, including Peru,
Lithuania, Croatia, Uruguay as well as Europe and North America. 90 percent
offered positive words of support for the Amiga and to VIScorp. The survey
focused on two areas of inquiry: (i) the status of Amiga equipment
owned/used (model, peripherals, etc.) and (ii) what they needed/wanted for
the Amiga in the future. The survey represented the first time to our
knowledge that the Amiga community had been polled and provided us with
valuable insight into its concerns. (The survey and its findings will be
posted shortly on our Web site.)

David Rosen
Vice President, Business Development

www.vistv.com

                                   * * *

June 19, 1996 - Chicago, IL  USA

VISCORP VALUES THE AMIGA

System Improvements

In the months ahead, VIScorp will be making substantial improvements to the
Amiga system architecture, including both the hardware design and the
operating system software. These advanced new systems will be developed not
only for our upcoming Set Top Boxes, but also for future Amiga Desk Top
Computers. VIScorp is investing considerable resources into engineering
these improvements.

One of the primary objectives of VIScorp's business plan is to develop,
manufacture, market, and sell Amiga Desk Top Computer Systems.

Architecture Group

Many of the above improvements require an in-depth knowledge of specialty
markets and technologies. Because of this, VIScorp made the decision in May
1996 to form an Architectural Design Group consisting of a small number of
highly qualified Amiga experts. While this group is still in its early
formation stage, we intend it to oversee and resolve the numerous
suggestions and enhancements that must be addressed for the long term
success of the Amiga.

Technology Licenses

As stated above, VIScorp will research and develop valuable enhancements to
the architecture and technology of the Amiga, resulting in a wide range of
next generation, price competitive computer products.

There are, however, situations in which it makes sense for VIScorp to
license Amiga related technology to qualified companies whose business
objectives are consistent with VIScorp's long range plan. Such agreements
may include binary, ROM, and documentation licenses for the distribution of
Amiga OS upgrades, hardware and software system licenses for specialty
markets, and possibly source code co-development licenses to help expand the
Amiga and its feature set into the next decade.

Property Rights Infringement

It has come to our attention that several companies plan to build their own
"compatible" or "extended" versions of the Amiga without obtaining the
proper licensing from VIScorp. These companies will be placing themselves at
legal risk, because their systems will undoubtedly infringe on Amiga
intellectual property rights, including copyrights, patents, and trade
secrets.

In addition, we have recently become aware that versions of the Amiga System
ROMs are being reproduced and distributed without proper licensing. This is
a violation of international copyright law, and VIScorp will prosecute
offenders to the full extent of the law.

Realize that VIScorp is purchasing Amiga Technologies at great expense for
ownership of precisely the above property rights and considers them a
fundamental asset of the company. As such, VIScorp intends to aggressively
defend its position as the owner of the Amiga and its related technologies.
Companies that choose to violate the law are well advised to consider the
easier and less costly path of obtaining a license.

If you have important comments regarding the above statement, please send us
email using a subject line of "We Value Amiga".

Your mail will be read carefully, but please realize that we cannot directly
respond to all mail.