If Sun had bought Commodore...

Madcrow · 17 August 2007, 16:05

Back in the early 90s, Sun was apparently impressed enough by the Amiga that they considering buying Commodore. At that point they were looking to expand out of the techincal market and into the "creative" market (where the Amiga was a major contender, especially in the color graphics, video production and music creation areas) and into the home market (where the Amiga was the undisputed king in Europe). Sun also figured that the A3000UX would make a decent "entry level" Unix box. Sadly Commodore wasn't very interested (in 1990 they didn't realize just how deep of trouble they were in) and Sun didn't care enough to pursue the matter very much, so nothing ever happened...

Still, the question remains. What would have happened if Sun HAD bought Commodore. Would the Amiga still be a major player? Would it, rather than the Mac, be the dominant player in the graphics design market? Or would things have not really changed, with Sun losing interest and dropping the Amiga product after a few years and the system fading into relative obscurity along with NeXTSTEP, OS/2, BeOS and all the other superior bits of computer technology that never made it...

Paul_s · 17 August 2007, 16:10

If you read the Commodore book, they (Commodore) had the opportunity to buy Apple in the 80's.

Ah, if only?

Madcrow · 17 August 2007, 16:13

If CBM had bought Apple, I can guarentee that that would have changed NOTHING. CBM was a poorly run company that would have failed even without the Mac pulling the Amiga down. Maybe NeXT would have done better though and iPods would look a bit different.

Capitaine · 17 August 2007, 19:55

Whatever company would have bought Amiga, the machine should have been changed to get PC hardware.
Check what is the Macintosh today : PCI bus, Intel CPU...

Commodore started doing wisely so with Sidecar, Intel extension, ISA bus.
But the efforts were not enough.
The PC got the US market in the late '80, while the Amiga lost it, and Apple kept its place.

spiff · 17 August 2007, 20:13

Instead of Commodore/Amiga going the Apple/Mac way and eventually PC (with ppc and all that) I'd rather have seen them releasing consoles.

Nothing can beat the PC for price/performance computer today, the amiga would have as others said just have been another brand PC.

Commodore releasing something like the X360 or PS3, all special in house built circuits and running linux. That would have made me happy and more in the spirit of the amiga.

Paul_s · 17 August 2007, 20:45

It really is so different these days as opposed to the old days.

Now it's all but the PC market and a handful of consoles to choose from.

Back then the market was flooded with all sorts of cool gear and the consumer had a wide choice for hardware

Games were more playable (some may disagree with that

) and the whole Amiga scene just felt 'special' to me.

When I buy a component for a PC now it just doesn't fill me with joy or anything. Same when I install a PC in a school. Yippee another PeeCee with IE7 on

:fires up Amiga before I hang myself

:

boing_1000 · 17 August 2007, 21:28

Since I've learned how to build my own computers, I can say that it's a pretty good feeling. Of course it doesn't equal the nostalgia that I feel when using my 1000, but I would say that knowing how to build my own pc definitely takes off some of the edge of wishing that the Amiga was still around today. But as far as Sun buying Commodore, I honestly don't think it would be that different. The Amiga is a dead machine, for enthusiasts only pretty much. It's a PC/Mac world. I've accepted it.

Madcrow · 17 August 2007, 22:07

Note, I was talking about the 1990/1991 timeframe, back when the Amiga (and even the C64) were alive and well. If the Amiga had been bought by a company that actually knew what it was doing, why do people think that there would have been no difference?

Flashlab · 17 August 2007, 22:44

No-one knwos what would have happened; so it's irrelevant. Dreaming about it may sound nice but playing "what if" history can be a sad pasttime...

Madcrow · 18 August 2007, 01:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flashlab

No-one knwos what would have happened; so it's irrelevant. Dreaming about it may sound nice but playing "what if" history can be a sad pasttime...

What ifs are fun...

17 August 2007, 16:05	#1
Madcrow Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 228	If Sun had bought Commodore... Back in the early 90s, Sun was apparently impressed enough by the Amiga that they considering buying Commodore. At that point they were looking to expand out of the techincal market and into the "creative" market (where the Amiga was a major contender, especially in the color graphics, video production and music creation areas) and into the home market (where the Amiga was the undisputed king in Europe). Sun also figured that the A3000UX would make a decent "entry level" Unix box. Sadly Commodore wasn't very interested (in 1990 they didn't realize just how deep of trouble they were in) and Sun didn't care enough to pursue the matter very much, so nothing ever happened... Still, the question remains. What would have happened if Sun HAD bought Commodore. Would the Amiga still be a major player? Would it, rather than the Mac, be the dominant player in the graphics design market? Or would things have not really changed, with Sun losing interest and dropping the Amiga product after a few years and the system fading into relative obscurity along with NeXTSTEP, OS/2, BeOS and all the other superior bits of computer technology that never made it...

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17 August 2007, 16:10	#2
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,336	If you read the Commodore book, they (Commodore) had the opportunity to buy Apple in the 80's. Ah, if only?

17 August 2007, 16:13	#3
Madcrow Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 228	If CBM had bought Apple, I can guarentee that that would have changed NOTHING. CBM was a poorly run company that would have failed even without the Mac pulling the Amiga down. Maybe NeXT would have done better though and iPods would look a bit different.

17 August 2007, 19:55	#4
Capitaine Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: France Posts: 37	Whatever company would have bought Amiga, the machine should have been changed to get PC hardware. Check what is the Macintosh today : PCI bus, Intel CPU... Commodore started doing wisely so with Sidecar, Intel extension, ISA bus. But the efforts were not enough. The PC got the US market in the late '80, while the Amiga lost it, and Apple kept its place.

17 August 2007, 20:13	#5
spiff Oh noes! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Neverland Posts: 766	Instead of Commodore/Amiga going the Apple/Mac way and eventually PC (with ppc and all that) I'd rather have seen them releasing consoles. Nothing can beat the PC for price/performance computer today, the amiga would have as others said just have been another brand PC. Commodore releasing something like the X360 or PS3, all special in house built circuits and running linux. That would have made me happy and more in the spirit of the amiga.

17 August 2007, 20:45	#6
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,336	It really is so different these days as opposed to the old days. Now it's all but the PC market and a handful of consoles to choose from. Back then the market was flooded with all sorts of cool gear and the consumer had a wide choice for hardware Games were more playable (some may disagree with that ) and the whole Amiga scene just felt 'special' to me. When I buy a component for a PC now it just doesn't fill me with joy or anything. Same when I install a PC in a school. Yippee another PeeCee with IE7 on :fires up Amiga before I hang myself :

17 August 2007, 21:28	#7
boing_1000 A1000 Addict Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Eastern USA Age: 37 Posts: 567	Since I've learned how to build my own computers, I can say that it's a pretty good feeling. Of course it doesn't equal the nostalgia that I feel when using my 1000, but I would say that knowing how to build my own pc definitely takes off some of the edge of wishing that the Amiga was still around today. But as far as Sun buying Commodore, I honestly don't think it would be that different. The Amiga is a dead machine, for enthusiasts only pretty much. It's a PC/Mac world. I've accepted it.

17 August 2007, 22:07	#8
Madcrow Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 228	Note, I was talking about the 1990/1991 timeframe, back when the Amiga (and even the C64) were alive and well. If the Amiga had been bought by a company that actually knew what it was doing, why do people think that there would have been no difference?

17 August 2007, 22:44	#9
Flashlab Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 158	No-one knwos what would have happened; so it's irrelevant. Dreaming about it may sound nice but playing "what if" history can be a sad pasttime...

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