Estimation on size of the Amiga scene

[mcgeezer]

Being away with the family this weekend and away from reliable internet it had me pondering how big the current Amiga scene is.

Does anyone have any idea? I’m not just talking about the EAB but the whole scene. Hundreds? Thousandas, tens of thousands?

How many do you estimate?

Also, is it growing at all?

Geezer

[DamienD]

That's a very hard question to answer

On EAB there are the following, which has grown a lot since I joined in August 2005:

Members: 10,284, Active Members: 2,106

Don't quote me, but I think the Facebook Amiga Group has 33,000 members or something.

...no idea in regards to other Amiga forums though.

[nobody]

I would say about 15.000 active.

[eXeler0]

Ok, guesswork ahead...
I think the numbers would vary a lot depending on how you define active.
But...
I think there is quite a large group of "somewhat nostalgic" ppl who still care about the Amiga in one small way or another. Lets says there's 30,000 of these.. (facebook group reference)
Then people who still own an Amiga but not necessarily use it or spend any money on it... Say 5,000?
But then if you look at active users that will actually still use the Amiga and spend money on it then that number shrinks significantly I believe.. Maybe a 1000-2000 tops.
I'm probably wrong ;-)

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by nobody

I would say about 15.000 active.

I think it would be great if it was but i estimate it is probably half that.

I think we have to define what the scene is really. So i guess the question would is ‘have you used an amiga in the last month’ would define u as part of the scene. I guess u might have people who just have a passive interest as well.

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by eXeler0

Ok, guesswork ahead...
I think the numbers would vary a lot depending on how you define active.
But...
I think there is quite a large group of "somewhat nostalgic" ppl who still care about the Amiga in one small way or another. Lets says there's 30,000 of these.. (facebook group reference)
Then people who still own an Amiga but not necessarily use it or spend any money on it... Say 5,000?
But then if you look at active users that will actually still use the Amiga and spend money on it then that number shrinks significantly I believe.. Maybe a 1000-2000 tops.
I'm probably wrong ;-)

I actually think u are right.

[Leffmann]

Originally Posted by mcgeezer

How many do you estimate?

Also, is it growing at all?

My guess is somewhere between 5000 and 10 000, based on number of active users, and the totals on various communities.

Difficult to say whether it's growing, but some time back the number of active users here on EAB was at 1500, and today it's 2100. Since I came back in 2008 I've seen people leave, pass away, go inactive, but also a steady trickle of returning old Amigans.

I've always believed the Amiga online shops would have a good estimate of the number of users and their distribution based on the customs, in particular amigakit.com, but I don't think they're willing to share the info.

If you ask the larger manufacturers of hardware, they seem to insist there's "hardly any money to make", to quote one of them, but again that's exactly what you want other manufacturers to think.

[nobody]

When the A500 Vampire opened for preorders I saw about 300 in 24 hours. No way it is 1000-2000 and all of them are ready to spend 300€ or so for a piece of hardware. Should be 10 to 15.000 as I understand the size, maybe even more.

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by Leffmann

If you ask the larger manufacturers of hardware, they seem to insist there's "hardly any money to make", to quote one of them, but again that's exactly what you want other manufacturers to think.

I always thought toni willen would have the most accurate number based on number of winuae installs.

It would be great to find out the number in a roundish way.

[dreamkatcha]

I suppose another way to get a rough idea is to look at the number of views on Amiga related videos on YouTube. You'd have to focus on just the most popular channels that anyone who cares about the Amiga should be familiar with. You're not watching Amiga video content if you're not actively interested.

Last I heard, it was 2,620 vampires. But only the team really knows.

People are waiting for another run of the V500 Vampire.

There is still a waiting list and V4 isn't out yet.

I would say around 15,000, but V4 standalone version, could bring many thousands back who have sold or have failed Amiga's.

It will be an interesting few years.

[alpine9000]

The problem with estimating the size of "the scene" is that the scene is so diverse. A subset is only interested in playing old games, a subset is interested in restoration of original hardware, a subset is interested in new hardware, a subset is interested in new software. And of course there is overlap between subsets.

If you take the entire spectrum and include people that are casually interested I am certain that group is approaching 20k (close to the size of the most popular FB group).

For each scene subset (not including casual interest) I would guess low single digit thousands if that.

[nobody]

The problem with the Amiga is that is old and a bit unreliable hardware after 30 or so years. If there was a new A1200 with 030@50 mhz replacing the old 020 I bet it would sell 10.000 easily. The various hardware manufacturers understand this and you see various attempts to build a new motherboard, vampire team-chucky-and Jens if I am correct. If there was new hardware the scene would skyrocket to 100.000 easily.

[Gordon]

I think the best place to find out how big the scene is, is e-bay. Thats captures all the scope from the gamers, to the hardware buyers. I know theres people in the "scene" who do not buy from e-bay(or at all) but even the most anti e-bay people still have to resort it to it.

[DamienD]

Personally I never use eBay so wouldn't be included in this then...

[Daedalus]

All of these techniques will in one way or another leave out fair chunks of the scene. I don't watch very much Amiga content on Youtube, and rarely buy anything on eBay. I'm sure there are many users who simply download all the games they want and play them on their PC for example.

Recreation motherboards like the ones mentioned are never intended to be produced or sold in such quantities as the requirement for custom chips will always hamstring them to whatever numbers are remaining.

[AdvanceFollow]

I guess it depends on how you define the "scene". Maybe as many as 7 million Amigas were sold, which means that millions of people have fond memories of using an Amiga in their childhood/youth. Many of those have probably tried an emulator at some point, but very few would probably be interested in paying hundreds or even thousands for new hardware. Most would settle for a Friday night of alcohol-induced nostalgia on Amiga Forever, and then forget about the Amiga for a couple of years.

[jPV]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

All of these techniques will in one way or another leave out fair chunks of the scene. I don't watch very much Amiga content on Youtube, and rarely buy anything on eBay. I'm sure there are many users who simply download all the games they want and play them on their PC for example.

Heh yeah, if comparing to me, I don't watch much Amiga stuff from Youtube (I find it mostly waste of time, because I'd read articles coverig the same stuff much quicker), never bought anything Amiga related from eBay (using domestic forums/sites only), quite rarely buy new Amiga HW (have enough Amigas and stuff already.. I guess the latest was Indy mk2 5 years ago), I'm not active WinUAE user/downloader (I guess I've only downloaded two versions of it ever), and so on. But I still count me about as active Amiga user than anyone can be (using Amigas/compatibles daily as my main machines, coding software for them, taking my Amigas to events/shows several times a year, being very active Amiga user group member in all ways).

[Hewitson]

Depends what you mean by the "scene". To me, the scene is crackers, democoders, etc. Not just people who are using Amigas.

[lantus360]

150000 people viewed my Wicher 500i A500 video. you tell me?