#Amiga clones
16 messages in this thread
Hey Jerry,
Your point regarding the Amiga's survival in the iche market is
well taken. Its done so for the past couple of years, but it
irritates me the the machine I'm typing on now on autopilot WHILE its
DLing mac files on my Term program for the emplant may disappear. I
tried alot thats out there, and I've liked what I've seen and I've
also shaken my head for such things as multimedia and multitasking.
It just bothers me that what you said is very sound, and it really
bothers me to hear the hype (or do they really believe what they are
saying!?!?!) and claims by both parties. I guess we should just all
wait a little more, and give the winner whatever support we can.
Kinda of a blue christmas……..
CyberCruising at ya from Brooklyn, NY on Autopilot,
—Archie
"I guess we should just all wait
a little more, and give the winner whatever support we can."
The only support that will make any difference is people buying new
Amigas – and very few of the owners of older Amigas seem to have done
that in past. (That's an opinion based only on what I've seen in
comments here and in various media reports. It would seem that a lot
of people support the Amiga more in words than in deed and are still
running older machines.)
The Macintosh market, for example, wouldn't survive if it weren't
for people constantly upgrading their environments through the
purchase of new machines. Even so, that platform has been facing a
shrinking market share for the past several years. The PowerPC has
been an absolute failure for those well-wishers who thought that
Windows users would flock to a Mac that was as fast or faster than
their existing 486 machines. It hasn't happened – and it's as doubtful
as it always has been that it will.
With all the activity taking place right now in video production, multimedia
and kiosks, it would be a damned shame if the Amiga weren't available for that
market, at least. I really think some company could make a more than decent
living catering to it.
Jerry
Hi Jerry, I think the reason a lot of Amiga owners didn't buy new machines was
because of Commodore's dumb "economy measures" on the A4000 For people with
A3000's (myself includes) it was almost a step backwards! No SCSI, No
FlickerFixer, etc. We've been waiting for the A5000 that never came. 🙁
/ / / //ANDRE
"We've been waiting for the A5000 that never came."
Well, everyone knows about how well Commodore listened to its own market. <G>
Jerry
I would have even settled for an A4000T (at a reasonable price!).
/ / / //ANDRE
"I would have even settled for an A4000T (at a reasonable price!)."
Yeah – an A4000T at a reasonable price might have had a lot of
sales potential.
What really bugs me is that the trustees have been so utterly
hidebound during the liquidation process. It strikes me that they
could have – indeed should have – licensed someone to keep the
production lines going from almost the outset. It surprises me that
no one seems to have come up with this suggestion – or if they did,
that it was obviously totally ignored.
There isn't a business person around with any experience in
liquidations and bankruptcies who wouldn't prefer to see a business
continue as a going enterprise. Heck, continued production provides
cash flow and cash flow is what pays off the claims.
Maybe Dan Stets or someone will write a book on Commodore's
history, which actually is interesting. But it baffles me that no one
seems to have done anything to keep production going, even at a
reduced rate. Who knows? Maybe the trustees did try, but couldn't
acheive a deal. Or maybe they didn't.
While I certainly can't be considered an Amiga fanatic, I would
definitely have preferred to see my investment in Amiga gear
protected by a steady, if diminished, flow of new machines and
maintenance of at least part of their dealer and service network.
Oh well . . . it's not over yet.
Jerry
It's less surprising when you consider that Mehdi Ali appointed the trustees.
🙁
Steve
"It's less surprising when you consider that Mehdi Ali appointed the trustees.
:-("
Are you sure it wasn't the Bahamian Court who appointed the
Trustees? I don't know how it works in the Bahamas, but in the US,
it's the Bankruptcy Court that chooses the Trustees. Be pretty
foolish for any jurisdiction to allow the the petitioner in
bankruptcy to choose them.
I'm going by reports here. However, it wouldn't surprise me,
considering the other differences between the US and Bahamian courts.
A pretty good source told me some time ago that Franklyn Wilson was
appointed on Mehdi Ali's recommendation. I guess that's not quite
the same as saying that Mehdi Ali appointed FW, but it's easy to see
how it could mentally translate into that.
"A pretty good source told me some time ago that Franklyn Wilson was
appointed on Mehdi Ali's recommendation."
I certainly can't speak about it within a framework of Bahamian
law, but in the United States, that would have triggered an immediate
flurry of lawsuits forcing the removal of the Trustee. We're not
dealing with unsophisticated creditors here (i.e., Prudential).
But at this point, the horses are long gone and it's far too late
to lock the barn door.
I wonder. The Bahamian court appointed Frankyln Wilson; the fact
that the name was suggested by our hero, Mehdi Ali, is incidental.
At that time, FW was an employee of a respected accounting firm.
Seems unlikely to me that a beef could have been raised then. Later,
when FW departed from his firm but remained as liquidator, a lot of
questions might have come to mind…
But as you said, the horses are long gone from the stable. At
least, the front ends of the horses are gone ….
Ah, the Amiga book. I'd toyed with the idea, except every time I thought about
it, I'd realize the story has no ending, no moral, no lesson. A story that
technologists can't manage companies? A story that greedy investors can parlay
any company into an extended stock scam to siphon the cash for the high life?
A story that cool technology doesn't win over safe but stolid? There's no
story that hasn't been heard before… Is it a story of general interest?
Would PC owners buy the book, or would you just sell a copy to Amiga-heads?
The closest I came to enlightenment was a realization that Amiga users and
developers were like someone who managed to travel backwards in time by five to
ten years… and when you tried to show the local yokels all your nifty gizmos
from the future, they weren't impressed, and said "why would you want to do
that?". 🙂
"Is it a story of general interest?"
Probably not. More likely to interest students of business, I would guess.
It's not often that a company falls so far, so quickly. But unlike Osborne,
Kaypro and other past failures, it sure didn't make much of a wave in the news.
Personally I'm fascinated by the final chapters with only a couple of
second-stringers trying to acquire the technology and residue of the Commodore
estate.
Jerry
Sometimes I think that we should regard Commodore as a company that happened to
have a big, faddish hit – the C-64 – and never quite hit another home run, like
the company that made the Pet Rock.
"Sometimes I think that we should regard Commodore as a company that happened
to have a big, faddish hit – the C-64 – and never quite hit another home run,
like the company that made the Pet Rock."
Sounds like you hit the rock right on the head. <G>
Jerry