Re: Amiga Faces Extinction

[ZCEL02@TULATCPA.amoco.com (Charles Lott)]

Just thought I'd post this article found in Comp.sys.mac.advocacy.
I guess I sympathize.  Oh, for the days when there were flamewars
about whether the Amiga or the Apple //GS were better :)

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>Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
>
>FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN FOR AMIGA COMPUTER USERS AS MAKER FACES
>EXTINCTION
>08/01/94
>LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
>
>    The ranks are thinning at the San Fernando Valley Amiga User
>Group, where membership is down by half and attendance at monthly
>meetings has dropped from 100 to 40 computer users.
>     Ernie Potvin, the group's president and a Simi Valley resident,
>isn't happy about other computer users' ebbing faith in the Amiga,
>but he understands. After all, the company that made the Amiga,
>Commodore International, went bankrupt in May.
>     "We just hope the technology doesn't die," Potvin said.
>    Commodore's collapse left Amiga users hoping that another company
>will continue developing software and supporting the Amiga, but the
>computer's future is uncertain.
>     Formerly based in West Chester, Pa., the company's remnants were
>moved to Norristown, Pa. earlier this year. Company officials did
>not return phone calls.
>     Unless another company steps in, owners of Commodore computers
>will be keepers of technological museum pieces, with workings unlike
>and software incompatible with world standard bearers like Apple and
>IBM/PC-compatible machines.
>    Retailers and Amiga software makers say that despite making
>high-quality, low-cost computers, Commodore was not well managed in
>its latter years, forcing it into bankruptcy.
>     "The only way I could convey my depth of feeling (that Commodore
>was mismanaged) is to put it all in caps and attach bells and sirens
>to it," said Perry Kivolowitz, president of Elastic Reality Inc. in
>Madison, Wis..
>     "The momentum is gone. The equipment is gone. The lead has
>gone to other computer makers," Kivolowitz said.
>     Several companies are vying to purchase Commodore in a Bahamian
>bankruptcy court, which ultimately would rescue Amiga users from
>scrapping their computers or spending the rest of their lives
>worrying about spare parts and the lack of software development.
>Commodore was incorporated in the Bahamas.
>     Commodore creditors are trying to retrieve $145 million in debt,
>while several major electronics firms are reported to be interested
>in a purchase. They include Samsung Electronics of Korea, Philips
>Electronics of the Netherlands and a management team from a more
>successful Commodore subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
>     Some are buying used Amigas for spare parts. Others are buying
>hardware that will adapt to Apples and PCs.
>    Doug Nakakihara, an Amiga owner in Simi Valley, is getting
>discouraged.
>     "If nobody picks up the technology, you basically have a couple
>of years left in it," Nakakihara said. "If that happened, I would be
>moving to a different platform."
>    Two Valley retailers still sell Amiga products almost
>exclusively, although one said its sales are off.
>     "Actual traffic has dropped quite extensively," said Michael
>Donahue, sales manager at KJ Computers in Granada Hills, which sells
>mostly Amiga-compatible software.
>     Donahue said he is beginning to offer other types of software
>but is hoping Commodore is purchased.
>     James Woods, manager at TS Computers in North Hollywood, said
>sales are steady at his Amiga-only shop. Neither Woods nor Donahue
>would provide sales figures.
>    Amiga users also are seeing defections among software
>manufacturers who can no longer support themselves in the market
>without beginning to develop Apple or PC software.
>     David Joiner, software designer and partner at Dreamers Guild
>Inc. in Chatsworth, said Commodore's bankruptcy means his company
>will no longer develop Amiga programs unless the firm is rescued.
>     "Let's just say for the past six months, I've been so depressed
>I haven't even turned the (Amiga) on," Joiner said. "The Amiga was a
>very elegant machine."
>     Founded in 1954 as a typewriter repair company, Commodore hit
>its stride in the early 1980s by offering low-cost, user-friendly
>machines. Jack Tramiel, the company's founder, pushed the firm into
>the information age under the slogan of building "computers for the
>masses, not the classes."
>     Although Commodore managed to build low-cost machines, it
>initiated a number of firsts in computer manufacturing, Halfhill
>said. The Commodore 64 was the first to include sound effects and
>music.
>    The Amiga's unveiling was the company's crowning achievement,
>Halfhill said. It advanced sound and graphics a quantum leap, had a
>built-in voice that talked to users and could perform what is known
>as "multi-tasking," which allowed it to do two jobs simultaneously,
>he said.
>    Around the time the Amiga started selling, Tramiel left the
>company. The company's fortunes began to slide after that.
>     Zwetchkenbaum said Commodore slipped to second in U.S. shipments
>in 1985, third in 1986, fourth in 1988, eighth in 1989 and ninth in
>1990.
>     Halfhill said the company never was adept at marketing its
>products, unlike other manufacturers.
>     Analysts said if Commodore is purchased, a new company may have
>a loyal following to build upon. But even those loyalists wonder
>what the future of Amiga technology will be.
>    David Oseas, vice president of the Amiga users group, said there
>have been many defections among Amiga software developers. He may
>have to give up using his Amiga.
>     "I'm a little bit concerned that unless this new company hits
>the ground running," Oseas said. "I would need to see what has
>changed. There's a basic architecture that's difficult to scrap and
>go somewhere else."