This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (1,513 messages)
Silly, wasn't it? Educational sales died on 3000s cause of power-ups. On the A500s the educational price was dropped to power-up prices. I don't know if the 3000s are the same story. — Ethan
2.0 supports Compugraphic Intellifont Technology, but on screen only. I believe screen resolution is 76dpi, right? Well, some such. Point is, you can get the maximal display quality for your screen, but printing is still 76dpi. All-round Compugraphic support is a future goal. CompuGraphic is the font technology used in…
I never remember a claim of 100% compatibility. Such a claim would've been really dumb. I can imagine it coming from an individual employee who hadn't thought out their words, but not in any official word. As to the many upgrades of 2.0, there have been 2 (not including the…
There will be some bugs in 2.0, yes. But there were some bugs in 1.3 as well. Sometimes rewriting the code can be very important. Ridding the world of BCPL isn't the worst idea in the world. 😎 Also, who knows what kind of speed improvements were possible by rewriting…
John, I don't think that is a fair assessment at all of the 2.0 situation. First off, yes, they broke SOME things, but so many things still work it is pretty amazing. It was interesting to watch compatibility grow between releases. I still remember running Excellence under the release 2.00…
I'll dig up that list and post it all, or maybe upload it. Remind me if I forget. — Ethan
Victor, here's a suggestion: Call 800-843-8934. That is the number for NewTek, maker of the Video Toaster. Ask them to send you their two video-tapes demoing the Video Toaster. If you tell them that you intend to review the product (whether you do or not is irrelevant) then they'll probably…
Vic: what Jonathan said! — Ethan
Sounds to me like the Denver area has better Amiga support than the U.S. area, by far! Funny how the Amiga's support is very regionalized. Not surprising why Denver was chosen for DevCon. Talking about DevCon, it'd be nice to see one of these amazing dealers. So who is organizing…
It just sounded like your article was going to be called "Orphaned Computers" and was going to put the Amiga alongside the Apple II and the PCjr. BTW, not even the C=64 can be considered orphaned. It is selling over 700,000 units a year! — Ethan
You have to consider the structure of Commodore's operations, which really does make sense. There are so many divisions because it makes no sense for someone in the U.S. to make policy for Sweden or Australia. There are national companies, usually very small, which make marketing/sales decisions within their country.…
There is a company that has done a GadTools clone for 1.3. They are charging $1,500 for it, however. 😎 — Ethan
What bothers me is that all you really need is a recompile to move most all SVR4 software between platforms, and yet it isn't being done. Commodore doesn't seem able to convince companies to actually port/recompile. I saw a nice lengthy list of all the software that is supposedly ported.…
The Sidecar may be one example of a product delayed in the U.S., but the 1500 isn't really. That isn't a computer made by CIL so much as it is CBM UK just calling a 2000 with an extra drive by a new name. — Ethan
Actually, Commodore is a Fortune 1000 company, or at least would be if they were American. They would be appr. 300th. — Ethan
Don, you and I haven't been reading the same thread Or at least you missed my earlier messages. I said that I am GUESSING as to a possible explanation for what is going on. I think it is the only rational explanation, and as the only alternatives here are: a)…
Don, why would Commodore nix 2.0 in the U.S. but then sell it, say, in Europe? Because all those game-toy owners really need the prettier workbench? That makes ZERO sense. No matter how convoluted your logic is, that makes no sense. And, Don, I have been reading the thread. I…
Don, as I said at the beginning of the thread this is just my guess as to why Dionne's order for 2.0 would be cancelled. To assume that you or I or anyone else really knows what is going on or what Ali intends is, well, egotistical. 😎 — Ethan
He did have 10 toasters, true. But that entire thing was 3-D rendered. There weren't any straight video clips. If you plan on doing an animation that is all 3-D rendered, be prepared for a slow process. But do keep in mind that 040s are now out. — Ethan
Harry Copperman has, apparently, left Commodore. It seems to have happened very quietly, but I asked someone in Commodore and they confirmed this. I'd give it 90% odds. Take it as a rumor. However, it is important to note that in Copperman's contract, if he was fired before May 1…
BTW, I haven't gotten the impression that 2.0 is breaking too many games. It is hard for me to tell, since on my 3000 the problem could be the 030 or it could be 2.0, but I have very few games which require me to boot down into 2.0 to…
I guess it is POSSIBLE that Commodore will not put 2.0 ROMs in anything but 3000s, but that brings up another question: Why can developers currently buy 2.0 ROMs for the 500 and 2000? Just so that developers can stick them in their machines? Sounds fishy to me. 😎 –…
Keep in mind that Commodore bought Amiga Corp when it could no longer pay its debts. Hence, had no one bought it we wouldn't have an Amiga. — Ethan
Hmm. Ben? Are you listening? Are 3000UXes available via power up? I thought you said your rep couldn't get it? There's this person I know waiting to get a UX… — Ethan
What the delays in 3000 production tell me is that Commodore didn't expect the demand it got, although it is also quite possible that they screwed up badly. I don't know, and I doubt most people here know either. — Ethan
The figures I heard about Macs said 7 million units, not 10-12. Where'd you get those numbers from? — Ethan
I never claimed that the Amiga has been selling 1 million units a year since the beginning, merely that they have been growing in units/year and are approaching that figure now. As to the misunderstanding regarding 2.0, it is NOT Commodore's fault. That is nuts! Someone in R&D reveals private…
No Don, that's not the story. Unix lost one PROGRAMMER. They also lost the manager and 2 documentation people. That leaves four of the original eight. Two were shifted to AmigaDOS and one is working on a contractual basis. — Ethan
I think you misunderstood what I said, since your message doesn't seem to relate to what I said. Since Denny said that the nixing of enhancer kits came from Ali, not Dionne, most likely Commodore Intl (the one that chooses what gets produced in the first place) has decided not…
1) It is cheaper for Commodore to make only one kind of chip rather than two. That is why Commodore is installing 1MB Agni in the A500s, even though only 512K is activated (I believe). 2) If Commodore nixes 2.0 upgrades, they are idiots. But considering they spent god knows…
This past April Jim Dionne announced the shipment of the 3 millionth Amiga. It was the October (give or take a month) before that that Commodore announced the sale of the 2 millionth Amiga. Sounds a lot like just under 1 million a year to me, perhaps 800K. And Apple…
Oh yes, I forgot. Why I would be put out. If the Amiga were in an article titled "Niche Markets" I could deal with that. If the article is titled "Orphaned Computers" or "Computers of the Past" or some such, I would probably cancel my account the next day. –…
I'm sorry if you think the Amiga, which is selling close to one million units a year, is an orphan. I don't. I also think that this stuff about 2.0 not being made available in N.A. is probably going to all turn out to be nonsense. Complete misunderstanding. What I…
I can't remember the last time I actually read an article in the magazine. Probably cause I never have. 😎 Agreed, lower the rates instead. — Ethan
And what is happening with the development team? (You DID bring it up, after all. 8) I understand if you can't say specifically. I had thought that almost all of the damage was focused around the Unix team. — Ethan
Dionne is what Copperman was, and what Toy was, etc., …, et al. He manages the United States operations in terms of sales and marketing but he has no effect on R&D. — Ethan
I believe Ali is CEO, but I'm not certain. In any case, from what I gather he does most of the management of the company. He is the highest paid (higher than Gould) which leads me to believe that Gould is paying him to run the company while Gould "owns"…
One point that we can't forget is that Commodore is not going to manufacture two different versions of the KS chip. That would be idiocy. So new computers will eventually be made with 2.0. It would be totally non-sensical once that happens to not make it available to all owners.…
Excuse me? Let me see if I understand this: The Amiga is going to be one of the focuses of an article on orphaned computers? This is a joke, right?? I understand the angle you are trying to pursue, but if the Amiga is placed in a context that makes…
Karen, take a look at Todd Rundgren's music video "Change Myself". It is entirely computer graphics and entirely Toaster (except for the last 3 secs which are a shot from the Mac screen-blanker after dark 8). It is a VERY impressive video. BTW, call up NewTek and they'll probably send…
Wayne, Central Park is 2.5 miles N-S and about 1/3 mile E-W, in the middle of one of the most densely populated parts of the country. "Near" Central Park is kinda vague. 😎 To be precise, Ben is at 83rd St. and 3rd Ave. — Ethan
I know I've been gone for a while, but, Wayne, I really don't remember you being this childish. How old are you? I notice everyone else is ignoring you, I guess that's a hint. I thought CompuServe was a step up from Usenet in terms of level of understanding. BTW,…
Dionne spoke at the mini-DevCon at WOA NYC, but I don't remember him taking questions (could be wrong). He emphasized at that point the home markets and said that the professional markets were a longer-term proposition. Not very reassuring. We'll see if he has anything more to say. What'll be…
Knowing Apple, I doubt it'll come with a keyboard. 😎 — Ethan
Steve, did you deal with Go Amigo before it merged into Creative? Cause I know that I liked Go Amigo a lot beforehand and I had been wondering if they'd gone downhill. I take it you feel they have? — Ethan
Keep in mind that, as of now, there is NO evidence that low-end users want CD-ROMs. Currently they hold magazines, data and fonts for the most part. I don't see Apple coming out with a full Mac Classic style computer with CD-ROM for $600, unless it is Sony who is…
Philips makes drives for lots of people, CD-I and CDTV are a small percentage. I believe that Commodore buys from Philips, but I don't know what the deal is between Sony and Philips and buying from one is the same as from the other. — Ethan
Analysts were predicting higher earnings. Alex, Brown and Sons were predicting earnings twice as high as they were. The main problem was currency rates. — Ethan
The idea of shipping an RKM includes/autodocs with disk is interesting. It might even be feasable. Unfortunately I don't work for Commodore so I can't tell you. 😎 However I think that the RKMs on paper are an excellent resource and, if you need more than that, you should know…
Great News. Glad to hear it. Wonder what he'll be working on… — Ethan
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