#Future of the Amiga
9 messages in this thread
Perhaps you are right, Ethan. Although, I have heard of a lot of 500's coming
in to a local shop with power supply related problems. Of course, since there
are several ram expansion options available which use lower current ram this
may be a non-problem anyway.
But the "lack ofthe need to improve the 500" logic could be applied to an RF
modulator as well….
Rick
I've always felt that perhap's there should be an "inbetween" versio…. a
1500, for example. Basically the same as a 2000 with no AT slots, and perhaps
only 3 zorro slots. Keep the cpu copocessor slot, perhap's a smaller power
supply. If this were to happen, perhap's I could see a "cheap" 500.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of cost reducing the 500, but no the point
of making a "cheap" 500. The Amiga already has a perception problem, and I
would hate to see this be compounded by a machine which is cheaply made.
Another part of the problem is, the peripherals for the 500 could stand a
little cost reduction as well….-Rick
You won't see a 2000 without AT slots and a lower price because Commodore
likes making a large profit!
— Ethan
Ethan, Look…
First of all, the a1000's development costs have long since been assimilated.
The molding, the design, etc.
The chips are better now, and certainly cheaper.
You keep going on about the 500 being kept low priced for the "lowend" user. If
it had an RF mod built into it, it would be cheaper for THEM to just buy the
machine and use it with their TV. For the more advanced user, they could buy a
monitor and they would be out probably another 5-10$ at the most, but they have
this new capability which, btw, makes the base 500 MUCH more portable.
If the a1000 was re-engineered to have a couple of slots, the fat agnus, and KS
ROMs, it would be cheaper than it was, all other things being equal – one very
expensive item that would be gone is the kickstart ram daughter board.
The question isn't at _all_ how expensive the a1000 would be, it's entirely
"what would it do to the sales of the 2000 series."
I am quite certain, from reading your messages in this thread, that you have
never been on a design team for a computer system, and that you have little
idea of the realities behind it's initial development costs, its manufacturing
costs, how these are applied to the selling price from the manufacturer, and
what that means _to_ the manufacturer. Not your fault, of course, but please
lighten up on the declarations of how much the 500 "can" sell for and so on.
Bottom line is C= doesn't WANT to do these things, or they would already be
done.
Why? I don't know – and you don't either. We can guess based upon their recent
history, and the verdict is virtually certain to be incompetance if we use that
yardstick. But we ARE guessing.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
Ben, its the guessing games that make CI$ fun! I'm throwing ideas back
and forth and not claiming to be perfect. The A500 and A2000 are probably
high-profit items for Commodore. And by making all owners either buy the A520
or (usually) the Commodore monitor, they make even more.
What is your opinion on this: CBM decides to develop an A1000+ (i.e.
slots, Agnus and KS ROM) and they decided to make the same profit margin (%)
off of the 1000+ as they do off the 500/2000 series, what do you think the
A1000+ would cost? What would development cost? As you develop hardware
products, what do you think the final costs would be?
— Ethan
Ben, fer' crissakes give them a chance to market it. We can pass judgement on
them in January, after the Christmas season, and the much vaunted $14M
advertising campaign. If they sell well, they've done right. The bottom line
will tell.
"…certain to be incompetance [sic]…" sheesh! Give 'em this one, last
chance, at best!
–Gabe
Did'nt say we would see AT/less 2000, Ethan, just that it would be nice if we
did see one, that's all, ok? -Rick
Ok Rick,if you want an inbetween Amiga,how about an A900,a machine with
relocatable kbd (like the A1000 up),with A500 guts,and perhaps a A2000 slot
onboard for say a HD or Network(Ethernet) card…maybe 2 slots.
The only problem then is that it may just get too expensive…as in getting too
close to the A2000 price…although if the A2000 gets discontinued in favor of
the A3000,it may then be a viable consideration.
C u laitr
Brendan Pratt – Queensland,Australia.
Beautiful one day,
Perfect the next!
Well IMHO,the A500 should stay as it is,but with a decent sized power supply,as
over here in OZ we have the same problem of an under-sized power
supply…..keep the current video out slot,so obviously the A520 remains as it
is.
Anymore mods to the A500 is going to simply make it too expensive for the low
level user…they might just be silly kids getting them,but at least most of
them grow in to *real* amiga users.
C u laitr
Brendan Pratt – Queensland,Australia.
Beautiful one day,
Perfect the next!