Most annoying things non Amigians say

[lordofchaos]

The Amiga was a machine with a soul

Amen to that.

[moxavius]

Originally Posted by Patarival

Amiga was a very important computer, the first real multitasking capable computer

My PC is a real multi-tasker. It can display 10 errors, all at the same time!

[lifeschool]

Originally Posted by gimbal

The Amiga was a machine with a soul.

Absolutely! The disk drive has a character of it's own - NO other computer disk drives made the same 'music' as the amiga drives when loading disks. The 'custom chips' all have soul: - agnus, paula, kickstart. The LED drive lights have soul - they are long and in three coloured parallel bars - so much nicer than a single red 'HAL' LED like most PCs have - and anyone who had an amiga will have goosebumps just remembering those classic drive lights. And then there's the design. And then there's the logo. And then there's the applications and the games and the workbench. The amiga is almost a character - and a mascot - all by itself. Yes I couldn't agree more.

Other annoying things: when they say 'but the PC version is so much better' - oh yeah??!! Keyboard driven CGA/EGA graphics on most games pre-1990, dire sound, clunky gameplay - yeah the amiga still beats some PCs (outside of 3D gaming) even today!

[Thorham]

Originally Posted by Patarival

the first real multitasking capable computer and you're an IT guy! Know your roots, man!

Eh, no. The Amiga is not the first multi tasking capable computer. Any computer with a programmable timer with interrupt and a changeable stack pointer can do preemptive multitasking.

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by Thorham

Eh, no. The Amiga is not the first multi tasking capable computer. Any computer with a programmable timer with interrupt and a changeable stack pointer can do preemptive multitasking.

Wow you know your stuff Thorham...Well regardless of what the first real multi tasking computer was I think we can all pretty much agree that the Amiga was the first "successful" multi tasking computer, this reminds me of another argument, who invented the world's first working computer, coming first doesn't always seem to guarantee recognition, but I digress.

One thing that always struck me as odd was why there hasn't been any real in depth documentaries about the Amiga, whenever there's a program on tv about computers it's usually geared towards Apple or Microsoft, Commodore is lucky to even get a mention in passing.

[moxavius]

Originally Posted by lordofchaos

One thing that always struck me as odd was why there hasn't been any real in depth documentaries about the Amiga, whenever there's a program on tv about computers it's usually geared towards Apple or Microsoft, Commodore is lucky to even get a mention in passing.

Because history is written by the winners.

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by moxavius

Because history is written by the winners.

True, still there's plenty of documentaries out there on lesser known stories and inovations, maybe because it's a computer and computers tend to get lumped together in a general sphere of ignorance...Or maybe it's a global conspiracy, dun dun dahhhh!

[moxavius]

Originally Posted by lordofchaos

True, still there's plenty of documentaries out there on lesser known stories and inovations, maybe because it's a computer and computers tend to get lumped together in a general sphere of ignorance...Or maybe it's a global conspiracy, dun dun dahhhh!

I think there is valid argument that certain historical information about computers is suppressed by pop media. You will often hear it acknowledged that PCs of the 1980s took all day to boot and weighed as much as a refrigerator, but what you never hear is that Amiga computers of that same era were smaller, far more powerful, had vibrant color, stereo sound, and pre-emptive multi-tasking.

In other words, you'll hear the truth that early PCs were crap. But you rarely hear that the Amiga, an eminently superior product, existed at the same time.

[lordofchaos]

In other words, you'll hear the truth that early PCs were crap. But you rarely hear that the Amiga, an eminently superior product, existed at the same time.

Yep I would agree with that. Dam it I need closure! Now you must excuse me, I have to write to Oliver Stone and get this thing straightened out once and for all.

[Patarival]

Originally Posted by Thorham

Eh, no. The Amiga is not the first multi tasking capable computer. Any computer with a programmable timer with interrupt and a changeable stack pointer can do preemptive multitasking.

Of course, but Workbench was the first which did it without any tricks and clever programming - just out of the box.

[Thorham]

Originally Posted by Patarival

Of course, but Workbench was the first which did it without any tricks and clever programming - just out of the box.

On machines for the consumer market, yes. Preemptive multitasking is of course much older than the Amiga, and so are quite a few of it's features. AOS is only innovative as a consumer OS (probably ).

[moxavius]

Originally Posted by Thorham

On machines for the consumer market, yes. Preemptive multitasking is of course much older than the Amiga, and so are quite a few of it's features. AOS is only innovative as a consumer OS (probably ).

I disagree. Amigas were used for a lot of non-consumer things.

I know NASA used them. Movie production, music studios used them, TV stations. Martin-Marietta had a massive rendering farm of Amigas for many years. Military used them. Iomega rumored to use them to emulate Macs because the Macs were too slow. Kiosks, interactive educational displays.. and on and on and on.

I would argue that the Amiga was more successful for commercial and industrial applications and a failure in the consumer market, which is unfortunately the one that counts.

[modrobert]

Originally Posted by Patarival

I mean, it was a very important computer, the first real multitasking capable computer and you're an IT guy! Know your roots, man!

Originally Posted by lordofchaos

Wow you know your stuff Thorham...Well regardless of what the first real multi tasking computer was I think we can all pretty much agree that the Amiga was the first "successful" multi tasking computer, this reminds me of another argument, who invented the world's first working computer, coming first doesn't always seem to guarantee recognition, but I digress.

I know my roots and was that "IT guy" Patarival refers to. At the time when Amiga was released my job was with mainframe computers, such as Sperry/Univac 1100 series (Unisys) and Siemens 7500 (BS2000). The bus on those computers were 1024 bits wide IIRC, which still beats the 64bit used in PC systems today, not to mention the operating systems which were multitasking indeed, long before the Amiga.

Regardless of multitasking, the Amiga has soul, no doubt about it. I think any piece of hardware which can stand the tests of time while still having flaws has character, and character is required for that "soul" to slowly build.

[mikele]

I hate when those ignorants confuse time frames. When I refer to using Amiga in the early 90s, they usually come up with memories of playing superior Quake or some PlayStation game. It's like:

Me:"oh how I miss the 80s"
X: "yeah, Take That was blast".

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by mikele

I hate when those ignorants confuse time frames. When I refer to using Amiga in the early 90s, they usually come up with memories of playing superior Quake or some PlayStation game. It's like:

Me:"oh how I miss the 80s"
X: "yeah, Take That was blast".

LOL

[mc6809e]

Originally Posted by Thorham

On machines for the consumer market, yes. Preemptive multitasking is of course much older than the Amiga, and so are quite a few of it's features. AOS is only innovative as a consumer OS (probably ).

But before the blitter, though, on previous machines weren't most bit blits handled directly by the CPU or some special circuit that worked together with the CPU? I think the blitter might have been an original feature.

It's a real shame that development on the blitter wasn't continued. Todays GPUs are a logical extension of the blitter. Commodore could have put the Amiga on a PC card and owned the graphics acceleration market. That foot-in-the-door might have even put the Amiga's OS in a position to displace the offerings of Microsoft.