XOR patent ended CD32, and Commodore-Amiga

[gilgamesh]

There is yet another theory of Commodore's demise: Software patents did it.

Apparently Commodore-Amiga owed $10M for patent infringement. Because of that, the US government wouldn't allow any CD-32's into the USA. And because of that, the Phillipines factory seized all of the CD-32's that had been manufactured to cover unpaid expenses. And that was the end.

http://xcssa.org/pipermail/xcssa/200...ry/002587.html

[Zetr0]

I wonder who's patents did they infringe?

I also wonder what patents where in fact infringed too!

[Redwood]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

I wonder who's patents did they infringe?

I also wonder what patents where in fact infringed too!

The patent was owned by a company called "Cad Track" or "Cadtrak". More information on the patent can be found at http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/clas....html#NinePats. There's a brief discussion of the patent issue on the Amiga CD32 Wikipedia page too.

If you watch Dave Haynie's Death Bed Vigil video, during the Layoff Party at Margarita's Evergreen Inn, one of the Commodore employees advises Commodore management to "next time, just pay Cad Track".

[CritAnime]

Wow that sucks. I wonder how much Commodore would have actually had to pay if they hadn't have messed around in paying the infringement.

[SpeedGeek]

C= could not even afford to pay Employee saleries - much less $10M for patent infrigment. This is just another nail in the C= coffin. C= failure was combination of poor marketing decisions, greed and financial mismangement. C= shot itself in both feet and then cut off both legs to stop the bleeding!

[desiv]

Originally Posted by SpeedGeek

C= could not even afford to pay Employee saleries - much less $10M for patent infrigment. This is just another nail in the C= coffin. C= failure was combination of poor marketing decisions, greed and financial mismangement. C= shot itself in both feet and then cut off both legs to stop the bleeding!

I mostly agree.
Although, had the payed CadTrack up front (and I think it's a bogus patent myself), it would have been less than $10M.

And Commodore was killing itself..
The question is, if that hadn't happened, would the CD32 release in the U.S. given them a new lease.
It would have been a year and a half plus lead on the Playstation. Much less expensive than the 3DO...

There was a spot in the market for it and there was potential..

I still lay money that Commodore would have messed it up somehow tho.

desiv

[Thorham]

XOR patent, eh? Wasn't everyone already using the XOR 'trick'? Sounds like prior art to me...

Originally Posted by desiv

And Commodore was killing itself..
The question is, if that hadn't happened, would the CD32 release in the U.S. given them a new lease.

Probably not, because Amiga hardware isn't ideal for games, and sticking it in a console is just a stupid idea When it comes down to the kind of games the Amiga platform offered (most of the games), even a 16bit SNES is more capable than AGA+68020.

Originally Posted by desiv

I still lay money that Commodore would have messed it up somehow tho.

They did screw up, and big time, too. They started out with having the best machine. How on earth can you fail if you have the best? By screwing up big time

[Christian]

Yeah and whatever they did, the Playstation would've killed them anyway.

[Skope]

He's dead Jim, he's dead.

[TCD]

I keep telling them Skope, but they won't listen

[Skope]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

I keep telling them Skope, but they won't listen

[Jonathan Drain]

It's funny how other companies succeeded where Amiga failed: the CD32 -> the Playstation, the Amiga as a computer and games machine that's more expensive than consoles -> the Windows PC, AmigaAnywhere -> smartphones.

[illy5603]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Drain

It's funny how other companies succeeded where Amiga failed: the CD32 -> the Playstation, the Amiga as a computer and games machine that's more expensive than consoles -> the Windows PC, AmigaAnywhere -> smartphones.

I loooooove my CD32 but I am not going to pretend for a minute that it is a better gaming platform than the playstation. Heck, it wasn't even as good as the SNES.

It was too little too late.