#WOC Toronto, Dec. 6-8
30 messages in this thread
Well, there was good news today for anyone planning to attend WOC in
Toronto, Dec. 6-8.
There was an Ozzy Osborne concert scheduled for the night before and I had
been wondering if the International Centre would be usable afterwards. 😀
Ozzy's been rescheduled for Jan. 19 so WOC is safe.
Anybody here gonna be there? I'll be there on the Friday and Saturday and
look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.
Malcolm
I'll be there all day Saturday along with some friends (car-pooling for a
change).
-dave-
Look for Newer Technologies' Portable Amiga and tell us what you see, how
much it is, what's their attitude on it costwise and saleswise, etc….
Darin, SPC Technical Support
– via Whap!
Sure will. That'll be an interesting item…
David Czaya
Bad news: the Newer Technologies' Portable Amiga were not on demonstration
at the WOC this weekend… the rumor is that the guy from the compagny was
there but C= didn't let him come with him machine! Why!??
– via Whap!
The weather here in Ottawa, to Toronto, was terrible on the weekend.
Driving was dangerous at times, with the blowing snow, etc. I delayed
leaving by 8 hours, and ended up missing the developer events, although
that's ok, as it was not the promised 'mini-Denver'.
The only real motivation I had in going to WoCA, was to see the portable
Amiga, and of course, meet with some of my CBM friends with whom I used to
work.
The spec sheet that I saw (on the portable Amiga) made a huge stink about
the fact that they would be showing their portable at WoCA. It was
specifically mentioned. I saw this sheet almost a full month before the
show, so they had plenty of time to get a prototype together and solve any
last minute problems. They didn't show.
Those [insert some colorful yet slimy slander here] people didn't show up.
As it was, I don't feel that the show was really worth the trip (although
the person I drove up with certainly got a lot out of it).
Actually, I should say that the DMI booth had some nice stuff. The DMI
Resolver and their Floptical (20 megabyte floppy) drive. The GVP booth was
a very poorly designed thing that was just plain scary to go near. I'm sure
there were a few other tidbits that I am missing, but the point of this all
is…..
THE PORTABLE AMIGA WASN'T THERE, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, AND I'M NOT A HAPPY
CAMPER!
Is the thing real? Should I believe that it's not a hoax? Grrr.
Jim
What? A whole month to solve any last minute problems? <big grin>
A month goes by like one second when you're trying to solve "last minute"
problems 🙂
But it is a shame they didn't make it to the show.
I dunno about that.
When you go to the trouble to print up something that says you are going to
be somewhere, to show something, a full month in advance, you had best be
sure you are going to be there.
If they had even showed up with a non-working unit, that would have been
better than not showing up at all. As it is, I can't be sure that this
company, let alone the product, even exists. It might just be one great big
joke. If they had shown up, at least I might have believed that the product
'exists'.
Jim
Jim:
Someone here stated that they were ready to show the portable, but that CBM
put a stop to it (rumor only!).
– Whapp!ng from the North Coast Michael
I don't buy that for a moment. CBM doesn't really have the power to
discriminate that way. World of Commodore-Amiga is a show that is
controlled by the Hunter group. Hunter isn't going to refuse a customer a
booth simply because CBM doesn't want them there. Unless, of course, CBM
insisted very very strongly. However, I can't see any real reason for them
to want the laptop to NOT show. Besides, they could easily just set up on
someone else's booth…say, one of the magazines. What is CBM going to do
then?
Anyways, knowing the background of the folks that we THINK are making this
laptop, none of this surprises me at all.
Jim
>"knowing the background of the folks that we THINK are making this laptop,
none of this surprises me at all.<"
True.
– Whapp!ng from the North Coast Michael
Yep, don't worry about the mini developper conference… it was not that
big; read the december issue of AMIGA USER and you will learn the same
things we learned there.
Regarding the Portable Amiga, the words are that the demonstration unit was
ready for the show but Commodore didn't want the portable to be seen
there!! Strange marketing decision!?!
Very interesting the new GVP FaxCard system! An very impressive the IV 24.
Pat
– via Whap!
> "Very interesting the new GVP FaxCard system!"
Could you eleborate a little, please? What is it?
And, knowing GVP, I have to ask, How much is it? 🙂
– Whapp!ng from the North Coast Michael
I do not really like the DMI 20MB drive because it can not read or write 1
or 2MB floppies…. TTR was suppose to come out with a version that can!?
Pat
– via Whap!
The DMI 20 meg drive CAN in fact read/write 880K and 880Kx2 disks, and I've
heard from somebody who has had it read IBM high density floppies using
some sort of handler.
And DMI is selling the drive cheaper than TTR. (Or so DMI says)
…Steve
Steve:
I thought DMI & TTR had some sort of mutual distribution agreement? Or am I
mistaking them for somebody else? I've use the Konica KT-510 (5.25"
floptical10meg) to read IBM formatted 360k & 1.2meg disks using the SAME
mountlist entry.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
Well, as far as I know, being SCSI, it's not surprising that you'd use the
same mountlist entry for all of them – TTR and DMI are selling the same
drive, I think, though I'm not sure of that.
(Neither of them makes it – it's just a repackaging). The DMI guys did say
they were cheaper than TTR, so they must be competing.
..Steve
Thats true, the DMI drive is nothing more than the Insite floptical drive
wrapped up in thier own enclosure. The same drive is now being OEMed by IBM
for the new PS/2 machines. If it is not compatible with the IBM disks it
should be little problem for DMI to include software drivers for those
format. The drives also support Macintosh disks…
I telephoned the Hunter Group to see if Newer Technologies was going to be
there. I was told that they were not as "Commodore has not approved the
machine". What that means you will have to guess at.
Terry Williams, Vancouver, BC, Canada – via Whap!
I don't remember Commodore having to approve those 'briefcase' A500
conversions, though. Those guys just bought A500s, coverted them, then
showed them.
andy
Were the A500 briefcase versions using new circuit boards? Or the stock
board?
One of the ones I saw was a 'cut and pasted ' circuit board. I haven't
seen the inside of any other. Hasn't Phoenix laid out their own PCB for one
of their projects ?
Why do you ask, BTW ?
andy
Thanks. Why did I ask? Because a thought was being put forth that CBM
might not like allowing others to create an Amiga "clone" using their
chips. You said that the briefcase versions didn't require permission from
CBM. But of course, if they used stock Amiga boards, they didn't need it.
As for the Phoenix thingie, I have no idea if CBM Australia can stop them
🙂 Did any of those boards finally get sold, btw? Anyone know?
It makes perfect sense to me if CBM were actually wanting a deal/halt on/to
Amiga clones. If I were them, I wouldn't want to allow the precedent
either. At least, not without some kind of deal and/or oversight option.
This would be valid whether or not it has anything to do with the laptop
not showing.
PS: or was that New Zealand for Phoenix? Been so long…
It was Australia. But I've seen the ads for the boards in this country,
and I've heard someone complaining about the board, so they must have
shipped at least one 🙂
Personally, I don't see how/why CBM could stop the _showing_ of a laptop,
at a show run by a 3rd party. I would have expected 'non-public' showings
at a nearby suite, at the least.
andy
Yah, a non-public showing would make sense. So… who knows?!
thx – kev
I don't know; I'd certainly like to get one.
andy
Kev,
Well, if there was a non-public showing, they didn't contact the press. The
AmigaWorld folks were just as disappointed as I was that the laptop wasn't
present…
Andy,
if the creator of this Amiga portable is in fact infringing on any
of the copyrights held by Commodore, then Commodore most certainly does
have the right to dictate the future of that machine.
The precedent has been set in the Apple market, and lets face it, without
the support of Commodore this portable could be a lame duck anyway.
I'll be there for the whole show, helping man the COMPUTE booth.
Denny,
Well, guess I'll see you on Sunday then!
–Gord