#CEI/CBM Status
3 messages in this thread
Mark,
>> The home computer is dead.
Uhm, you mean for the Amiga? You surely don't mean in general! I think some of
what the Amiga would need for a comeback in the home market is good software
products, things like:
Lotus Notes
Finalcalc 🙂
Quicken
The 7th Guest
Myst
Doom
Also something like (but much better than) MSWorks for Winders. Even tho the
Amiga lets you mix and match your software as you please better than those
other GUI platforms, most folks, IMAO, don't want the hazzle. So I think a
simple, integrated package which ran (SIMPLE!) spreadsheet, wordprocessor,
database, scheduling and checkbook programs on one screen would be immensely
popular. (in fact, one might leave off the spreadsheet in favor of a checkbook
program, unless there was an extremely *good* checkbook template for the
spreadsheet, in which case the checkbook could be dumped). Improving the
hardware will definitely help; but I think a serious targetting of those
software types that are popular on PCs/Macs would help as much.
Just thinking.. this near-demise of the Amiga could be a good thing for it; as
many of the developers have had to/chose to move to other platforms, it's more
likely that Amiga software in the future will be multi-platform, and therefore
make people more willing to switch from their current system to the Amiga,
since they can still run software they're familiar with.
The home computer market that spawned the many sales of A500 type systems
is over. Most people will buy a PC for their main home/office machine.
You gotta be compatible with the stuff at work ya know. How else do you
get software for your PC? See?
Paying to have some of those titles makes little sense. What does make
sense however is allowing the machine to _run_ those already existing
applications _fast_ and just like a real PC.
Use the Amiga for the things it does well. Use the PC for the things it
does well.
-mark=
Otto Pilot Engaged..
Mark,
The home computer market has changed since the days of the Amiga 600.
Intel is selling the Pentium as an entry level system, and it is working.
I know at least two families that purchased new 60 MHz Pentium PC's as
home computers. They "work great" for multimedia.
You are right about compatibility with software at work. Our license
agreement with Micros**t allows our employees to bring home copies of the
Windows software they use at work, free and legal. The only catch is that
85% of the software's use occur in the office. Not one of them is likely
to spend hundreds of dollars on a different application.
Micros**t has Mac versions of Word, Excel, etc. They _could_ have been
persuaded to produce Amiga versions of the same software.
As for using the Amiga and PC for the things each does well; well, in the
short run that probably makes sense. But the Amiga list is shrinking while
Bill Gates works full time to convince the world that the PC is great for
everything. Eventually, the Amiga would be best at nothing. For that
reason, in the long term, it is vital for the Amiga to move back into
markets abandoned in the past. Multimedia is a good one. Apple is selling
Macs as "Multimedia that works." A similar angle would work for the Amiga.
Then move back into presentation software and other business applications;
and update network compatibility. If you have ever used an Amiga on a
Novell network, then you have seen the VAST untapped potential in that
environment.
And finally, a 68040 or PowerPC powered laptop is an absolute must. Yes it
would be expensive, but Toshiba and Dell can't build $4500 laptops fast
enough for the demand.
Tab Trepagnier
Cruising on AutoPilot from Beaumont, Texas