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19 KiB
Plaintext
378 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
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This file was downloaded from
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_ ______ __ ____ _ ___ _ ______|\ ____
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| Y ___-o\ /\ | +||__-o\ /\ | V \ |U | /o _____//Y -o/
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| || \ \\ // \ | || \ \\ /+-\ | :|\ \\|| | \| \__/\| |/|/
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| :| / //./\ \ | :| / / ///\ \ | :| \ o\: | \ ___ \ :\____
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| .|__/ // ____ \| :| / // / ____ \ | .| / // | Y / // :____/
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| ____//°/____\ \__| / //\/ /____\ \| .|/ /| |\ . / //| .\____|\
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| | /________\ \__\ ./ \\_|\___\\ \__|__/ | //\ _/ // \_ ______\
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| / \ \||_/ \ \|°\ \ \ | //__Y___/ U
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| / \/| \_____\ \/ |// :
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|/ \| |/ .
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- Denmarks fastest 2400/9600 board -
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- 0 day wares - 24 hour online - 7 mb stuff each day -
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- Sysop: |ce Lord of |>irect -
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- Cosysops: Heat & Mean of Wall -
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_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ______ ______
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_|_ |____| |____ ___ (_____ ____) (_____ (_____) | _____) / /
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| | _____) (_____) (_____ (_____) / | _____) / /
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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***** Downloaded from *****
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"The Warehouse"
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(510) 689-7039
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Sysop: Warehouser
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(this appeared originally in the SanJose Merc. and has since been reprinted
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many many times across the country... caused enuf of an uproar in the
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Amiga community to prompt a reply (which follows) from that sleeping
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giant- CBM...) warehouser
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COMMODORE LETS AMIGA DIE SLOW DEATH
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Phillip Robinson
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The Amiga is dead. It's sad but true. But we shouldn't be surprised. The
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poor Amiga has been at death's door for several years. It managed to live
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because of its potent basic design and thousands of rabid Amiga fans who would
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rather switch to a typewriter than a PC or Mac. The Amiga died because
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Commodore denied it growth, support or even respect. And I watched this eight-
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year-long execution, hoping a reprieve would come and marveling at how much
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abuse the computer with the cute, friendly name could take.
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Back in 1984 I was one of the first to write about an exciting new computer
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that had special chips for sound, video and other "multimedia" work. Except
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that back then no one said "multimedia" about computing. In fact, the slick
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abilities with sound and images convinced many that the Amiga was aimed too
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much at game players and not at serious computing types.
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The Amiga appeared just as the Macintosh was failing, losing sales after the
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initial enthusiasm. The PC was conquering corporate, word-processing and
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spreadsheeting America. But the PC was laughably slow and clumsy with
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graphics, sounds and other such creative elements. There was clearly room for
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a machine that could live at first as an entertainer while building its chops
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to tackle the more prosaic types of computing. A group of refugees from
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companies such as Atari designed the Amiga, and then, needing money for
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marketing, sold it to Commodore. Commodore needed the Amiga because its
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phenomenally popular Commodore 64 home computer was faltering, unable to jump
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to a new generation of computing power.
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In those early days, the Amiga had a graphic interface like the Macintosh's
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but backed up by a true multitasking operating system.
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This computer was built to run more than one program at a time, something the
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Mac and PC are only now growing into.
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The Amiga also had the high-resolution graphic display of the Mac but with
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color. It offered more colors and more graphics programming than the PC.
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It had stereo sound in its heart, where the Mac could only produce simple
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sounds and the PC could only beep or buzz.
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Finally, the Amiga had video in its soul. Those special chips let it
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naturally and easily overlap its images with standard TV and VCR images. To
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add titles or special effects to a video, you could use an Amiga, or you could
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add thousands of dollars of hardware to a Mac or PC and pray.
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So what went wrong?
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First, Commodore took too long to get the Amiga operating system software out
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the door. It was always near completion, getting debugged, almost there.
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Without stable system software and programming tools, no one could create good
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software for the Amiga. (In retrospect, the Amiga's trouble attracting
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software developers shows just how historic Apple's quest for Mac software
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was.)
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Then Commodore waffled and missed its commitments to Amiga pheripherals. A
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card was promised that would give the Amiga PC-compatibility. That would tide
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you over, the story was, until Amiga software appeared. You could run your PC
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programs from 1-2-3 to WordStar. This card was delayed and delayed and
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delayed. Anyone who bought Amigas with that card in her plans looked pretty
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foolish.
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Next, Commodore didn't release timely Amiga upgrades. As PCs and Macs kept
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leapfrogging in processor speed and random-access memory and disk drives, the
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Amiga just waddled along. Eventually, the Amiga 1000 (the original model) was
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succeeded by the 2000 (with more memory and a hard disk) and the 3000 (with a
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68030 processor chip and more disk and memory). Even in graphics and sound,
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where the Amiga was once the world's best, the Mac and then later the PC added
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more colors, more resolution, more sound, while the Amiga stood still.
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The Amiga 500 appeared as a sort of Amiga Jr., with less power and memory but
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a $500 price. Too expensive to compete with Nintendo as a game machine, it
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was too weak for serious computing, especially for the one kind of computing
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the Amiga was best at: multimedia.
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Commodore repackaged an Amiga as the CDTV (which stands for Commodore Dynamic
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Total Vision, I think, though you can read pages of CDTV hype without finding
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that expression). This "interactive multimedia" machine is supposed to be the
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perfect tool for hooking to a television to play interactive video discs for
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games and education. It competes with the Philips CD-I player (similar price,
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less graphics and sound capability), and MPC systems (PC systems with added
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multimedia hardware, which costs four times as much). Interactive multimedia
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is still a questionable market, with more interest from sellers than from
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buyers. But maybe the Amiga will have a future there.
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The final insult to the Amiga has been Commodore's consistent lack of concern,
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attention and contact with Amiga dealers, developers and owners. It's still
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true today. I read in a local computing magazine how the loyal Amiga
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columnist is giving up, unable to bear another year of prying information from
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Commodore. I walk into a store that specializes in Amigas and ask about the
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latest Commodore news, and the staff admits that "it's strange, we know, but"
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they never get news from Commodore. All they know of plans and announcements
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is what they read in the magazines.
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But they're not much better off! The first article I read in the most popular
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Amiga magazine is about a new "A570 CDTV Adapter" that converts an Amiga 500
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into a CDTV machine. This is the lead article, the one hyped on the cover,
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and the editors are humiliated by having to add this note: "Just as this issue
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was about to go to press, AmigaWorld learned that Commodore officials were
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expressing some doubts about the scheduled release of the A570 this summer and
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about its suggested retail price of $499.99." I'll bet it wasn't even
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Commodore that told them!
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I know, too, that both times Commodore offered to send me an Amiga for a while
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to review Amiga peripherals and software, the promised machine never arrived.
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There's only one kind of life left for the Amiga: toasting.
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NewTek's Video Toaster is the best way to build an inexpensive video effects
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studio, and the Toaster requires an Amiga. In fact, the new Toaster models
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for Mac and PC are really just a Toaster and Amiga that you connect to your
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Mac or PC. You can see the popularity of the Toaster from the general
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computer magazines -- where it is the only Amiga product mentioned -- to the
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Amiga specialty stores -- where digital video and Toasters take up half the
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space.
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If you have an Amiga, don't fret about this news. You've adapted to living in
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the dark, being fed biodegradable stories about new models and upgrades.
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There will be some new games, a few new accelerator boards and fellow
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enthusiasts to club with for another five years at least.
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If you're an Amiga owner in Europe, you have more company than in the United
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States -- Commodore always has had a larger presence there. But the hardware
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hasn't kept up to date any more than in the United States. You should
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consider buying a mailorder PC or sneaking some Mac time to see what you're
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missing.
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If you want to work with digital video, the Toaster is good enough to warrant
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buying an Amiga. But don't think of it as your computer; consider it just a
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power supply for the Toaster.
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But if you're not already hooked on the Amiga or fascinated by video toasting,
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don't even think of buying one. You'll be getting into a relationship full of
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heartache and promises not kept. Maybe at least other computer companies will
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learn a lesson of caring and respect from this sad affair. --------------------
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Phillip Robinson analyzes and writes about computers from Sausalito. You can
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reach him at (415) 331-3973 or at P.O.Box 1357, Sausalito CA 94966 or on the
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MCI e-mail service as "probinson" at mailbox 327-8909.
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******************************************************************************
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AND COMMODORE'S REPLY:
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******************************************************************************
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This is cross-posted from another network at Commodore's request:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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TITLE: Commodore asks for help...
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Commodore is aware of the activity on computer networks in response to the
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"Amiga/Slow Death" article written by Mr. Phillip Robinson. Commodore wants to
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assure all you who are concerned that we are not taking this lightly, and
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would appreciate your help in responding to Mr. Robinson and to newspapers who
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have reprinted the article. Therefore, we are providing the information that
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follows. It is a version of a correspondence sent to dealers in market areas
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where the article has appeared.
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All of us at Commodore share your concern about this story. The Commodore
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marketing and communications staff agree that this story is one-sided,
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contains several inaccuracies, and does not communicate the current thrust of
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our emerging, dynamic and leading U.S. business presence in multimedia and
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related applications.
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Specific Actions And An Update
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We've had two conversations with Mr. Robinson since his article first
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appeared. We communicated to him all of the reasons why suggesting that
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"Amiga is dying a slow death" couldn't be further from the truth! We have one
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additional interview scheduled with Mr. Robinson next Wednesday (July 29th).
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He will be writing a follow-up article after the interview. The follow-up
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article will appear first in the San Jose Mercury News and then will be
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distributed through the Knight Ridder distribution channels to your local
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paper. That process usually takes up to two weeks.
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Mr. Robinson reports that the feedback he's currently receiving from the
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"Amiga/Slow Death" article is the heaviest he's experienced in the eight years
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of doing this column. He reports that some of the more virulent negative
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feedback has included threats of violence. We of course do not endorse
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violent feedback of any kind. But you can take constructive steps to channel
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your negative reaction to Mr. Robinson's article.
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You can help manage the negative public perception Mr. Robinson's article has
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created by taking action with your local broadcast and print media. Please
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consider doing the the following:
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1) Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper that ran the
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Robinson article. Correct the record. Use some of the message
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points we've provided. Voice your strong objection to the
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one-sided and ridiculous suggestion that Amiga and Commodore
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have no future.
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2) Send a copy of your letter to the editor directly to Phillip
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Robinson. His address is P.O. Box 1357, Sausolito, CA 94966
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(as printed in the San Jose Mercury News).
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3) If you wish, voice your opinion to Mr. Robinson by leaving a
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voice-mail message for him at (415) 289-9498. Do this in the
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next seven days so you have impact on his follow-up article.
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Here are the primary message points that Commodore hopes to get across to Mr.
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Robinson. Perhaps you can include some of them in your letters to the editor:
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* Commodore is a one billion dollar company.
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* There are more that three million Amigas installed worldwide.
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* Phillip Robinson's recent article, which talks about a "slow
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death" for the Amiga, was written with no input from Commodore.
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* Commodore is not "killing" the Amiga. In fact, the company,
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and its developer network, currently are working on several
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enhancements to the Amiga product line. Significant product
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announcements are planned this Fall at the World of Commodore
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show in Pasadena.
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* Approximately 1000 dealers distribute the Amiga in the United
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States.
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* Commodore recently signed a sole national distribution agreement
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with Merisel, Inc., the world's largest publicly held
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distributor of microcomputer hardware and software products.
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* Commodore recently signed a strategic product reseller agreement
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with Digital Equipment Corporation.
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* Commodore, its shareholders, its dealers, its developers, and
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its end-user base continue to have a long-term commitment to
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the Amiga and its future as a multimedia, business and consumer
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microcomputer.
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* Commodore (and the Amiga) is a pioneer in the emerging
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multimedia market. The company and its independant developers
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actually are helping define multimedia. Many companies say
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they are "in" multimedia without really knowing what that means.
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Commodore has a strong end-user base executing a wide variety
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of multimedia applications today.
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* Multimedia is not a single market or application. Multimedia
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is a method of designing and integrating computer technologies
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on a single platform that enables the end-user to input, create,
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manipulate, and output text, graphics, audio and video with a
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single user interface.
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* Commodore is focusing on four key business markets, for
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professional applications, in the United Sates: videography,
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professional training, kiosk information systems, and
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presentation systems. The company has significant market
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share in each of these business markets.
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* The company recently launched an aggressive marketing and
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advertising campaign to support and increase its leadership
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position in these four key business markets. In addition,
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Commodore is updating industry trade editors and reporters
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about the company's U.S. business strategy against these four
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key professional markets.
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* Commodore has added new senior management to the consumer side
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of the business. The company plans to extend current strengths
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of the Amiga into consumer channels with a variety of product
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announcements and new consumer applications during the next
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12 months.
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* NewTek is a valued developer. The Video Toaster is a great
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Amiga peripheral. But the Amiga is much, much more than just
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a power supply for NewTek's Video Toaster. In fact, to say
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that the Amiga is "just a power supply for the toaster" is a
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totally wrong and misguided depiction of the Amiga. And,
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NewTek's Video Toaster is dependent on the Amiga's custom
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chip technology.
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* The Amiga offers the best "price/performance" for multimedia
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computing solutions available today. In addition, the Amiga
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provides "traditional" office computing applications and a
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wide variety of entertainment packages. The Amiga also
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provides options to read and write MS-DOS and MacIntosh files.
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* This is the most exciting time in the history of Commodore
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and Amiga computing. The company's visibility in the
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microcomputer industry should increase significantly during
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the next year as new programs, products, strategies and
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applications mature.
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Final Thoughts
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We are taking specific steps to not only regarding this incident but also to
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ensure that we regain more leverage and positive coverage in the general media
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and reporting environment going forward. To that end, we're planning some
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specific press events at both World of Commodore and Fall Comdex. We've also
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begun an intensive telephone contact campaign to strengthen our ongoing
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relationships with hundreds of editors, reporters, and freelancers who write
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about Commodore and the Amiga. We are committed to increasing the flow of
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accurate information to these important and influential media audiences.
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In the meantime, please help us with the impressions precipitated by the
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Robinson article; follow through on the recommendations we've made in this
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correspondence.
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Please consider faxing Mandi Griffies, in our corporate communications
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department, copies of any correspondence you generate on behalf of this effort
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and report subsequent media feedback and results directly to her. Her fax
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number is (215) 431-9465. Thank you for your concern and partnership.
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P.S. "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
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-- Mark Twain, 1897
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209-536-0576 1ST OFFENCE BBS 209-536-0576
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-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=
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SYSOP-NIGHT FLY COSYSOP-/X\EGAZAP
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CRYSTAL DISTRIBUTION BBS!
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_____ _____ __ __ _____ _____ __ _____
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/ | \/ __>/ \/ \/ __>/ __>/ \/ __>
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/ | \ ___\ \ ___\___ \ \___ \
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\ | / / / / / / /
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\_|___/\_____/\__\/__/\_____/\_____/\__/\_____/
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____ ________
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/_ / /__ /
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/ / ___/ /
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__/ /__
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/______/
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______ ______ ______ ______ _______ _______ ______
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/ __ \ / __ _) / ____) / ___) / \ / ____) / ___)
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\ / \ / \ __) \ __) \ \_ \ /\ / \_____ \ \ \_
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/ \__/ \ / \ / \ / /__ / \ \ \ ____/ / / /__
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\______/ \__/ \__/ \______) \__/ \_/ (______/ \______)
|
||
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Sysop - /\/|GHT F|Y \ / co - sysop - /\/\egazap
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||
A M I G A --+-- Console
|
||
1 + 2 0 9 / \ 5 3 6 - 0 5 7 6
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[42m (( [33m<./\.| [0;42m)) The 7th [33m<[0;42mhurch of the [33m/\[0;42mpocalyptic [33m|[0;42mawnmower! (([33m <./\.|[0;42m )) [0m
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[42;33m-+*$> [30mANTHROX UNITED KINGDOM/LONDON HEADQUARTERS:[31m +44-81-459-4243 [30m[AMI] [33m<$*+-[0m
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[42m (( [33m<./\.| [0;42m)) The 7th [33m<[0;42mhurch of the [33m/\[0;42mpocalyptic [33m|[0;42mawnmower! (([33m <./\.|[0;42m )) [0m
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AMYLIVES.TXT [32mUPLOADED TO [31m<./\.| BBS [32mBy [0mMr.[1mP0T-NOoDLE[33m At WHENEVER[0m
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