Conference hydra::amiga_v1

1391.0. "Max Finally Shows!" by LEDS::ACCIARDI () Mon May 02 1988 00:35

    Since this was such a momentous event, I thought I'd start a new
    note for comments on Max Toy's appearance on The Computer Show.
    
    All in all, I was rather let down.  The single feature that sets
    the Amiga apart from the crowd is multitasking, right?  So how does
    Max demonstrate this wondrous capability?  He runs a clock program.
    Sheesh!  There must be a zillion interrupt driven clock programs
    for every computer ever made.  Totally underwhelming.  The whole
    point of multitasking is independant programs creating OUTPUT
    simultaneously.  Macs and Ataris can sit there with lots of windows
    open, but only one of them can be creating output at a time.  I
    think this point should really have been driven home.  I would have
    shown Sculpt or VideoScape rendering a frame while I was downloading
    stock quotations or composing a letter.  Slide the screens up and
    down, let everyone see that each process hasn't stopped.
                     
    The genlock demo was more impressive.  The host seemed impressed
    that all this slick overlaying of Amiga graphics on live video could
    be done on a <$2000 computer.  He seemed to miss the point that
    it could also all be done on a <$700 computer, the A500.
    
    The show's host seemed aghast that the Amiga has sold 600,000 copies,
    considering that the Mac only recently passed the 1,000,000 mark.
    They repeatedly said '...where ARE all these Amigas?'  

    The final letdown came when one of the guest analysts (remember,
    you can't spell analysts without A-N-A-L) questioned the practical
    usefulness of multitasking.  Harrumph!  Wait till OS/2 ships.  I
    bet they'll be impressed then.
    
    Ed.
    
                                                                    
    

    rather a depressing show.  The analyst from PC World magazine seemed
    to know more about the Amiga than the Ray Tracing person.  At least
    he knew what the bridge card was.  I got the impression that the
    other guy had never used an Amiga, but did use Macintosh
    "multitasking".
    
    The demo at least showed the sliding screens and genlock, but i
    agree, the "running" clock was a very poor choice to show multitasking.
    They also didn't show that the PC could be doing something at the
    same time as the Amiga.  That Lotus screen didn't even show graphics.
    
    Maybe now that Max has done his bit, they can get some CBM and 3rd
    party folks to do a better demo.
    
    -dave

    re: .0
    
    I thought the shock over the "where are the 600,000 Amigas" was
    interesting.  I'm real glad Max mentioned that.  It implies a
    sizeable customer base that is being ignored by the press with
    the big focus on ibmpcs and macs.  600,000 is impressive for a
    computer that isn't sold by Toy's R Us or ComputerLand.  I suspect
    Radio Shack and Atari are the only other companies that realize
    the size of the untapped computer literate home computer market.
    
    -dave