CompuServe Messages

Pete, > I am going to PC land because of software, pure and simple. Good luck with the new machine. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. If you get a chance, let us know how you like. I've checked out a few PCs lately and they're very impressive. The hardware seems excellent now and of course the software and support are unbeatable. There's nothing wrong with getting a PC and don't let anyone tell you differently. What happened is that the Amiga hasn't had that many improvements since 1985, but the PC has improved tremendously in virtually every respect. I also hear that Windows 4.0 will be excellent and will no longer require DOS. The Amiga has never really sold that well, but the real problem has been the kind of people that bought it. The main reason the Amiga is still around is because of European sales. It probably would have been dropped long ago, just based on U.S. sales. Now even with European sales, it still isn't a big seller, but at least it has allowed the Amiga to continue. The problem is that the large majority of European sales, and hence the majority of all Amiga sales were to people who really weren't that computer-savvy. That's not meant as a knock. Most of the Europeans originally bought the Amiga because it was cheap and they wanted to play games. Witness the decline of the American-made games. Software game manufacturers know who's buying their games and they cater to that market. Most of the Amigas used to be A500s with one floppy, 512K, and a 68000 CPU. That's why games were made that would run on that configuration. I think U.S. users were more likely to expand their machines, but the software often didn't take advantage of that expansion, because it was designed to run on the machines owned by the majority of Amiga owners. That's changing a bit with the A1200, but there are still many Amiga owners with unexpanded A500s. The point is that someone with a computer with only one floppy, no hard drive, only 1-2 meg of RAM, and a 68000 CPU is not a power user. So I think the majority of Amiga users (the ones that are responsible for the machine still being supported) are not power users at all, but are people who use the Amiga as a game machine. Again, I think the average U.S. Amiga user is different, but based on U.S. sales alone, the Amiga would have been a flop. So the U.S. Amiga user is atypical of the average Amiga user. And the average Amiga user is not a high tech person who bought the Amiga because of its advanced OS or custom chips. They bought it (A500) because it was cheap, it used to have a lot of games, and with the RF box it could be hooked up to their TV. The average Amiga user wasn't a pioneer who knew or appreciated the advanced (for its time) capabilities of the machine. They bought it because, at the time, it was the best game machine, and it was cheaper than other computers in Europe. So I don't buy the argument that the average Amiga user is so sophisticated that he bought it because of its superiority. I think the exact opposite is true. The average Amiga user is probably the least sophisticated computer user. Remember, I'm considering the average user to be a European with an unexpanded A500. But even a first-time PC buyer will undoubtedly have a machine with expanded RAM, a hard drive, and a 386 or 486. Anyway, that's my take on the situation. I only brought it up because you said you were getting a PC and I can understand your choice. Good luck with it. Dom Fontana –> Sent from NY via AP <–