Official update to OS 3.1 from Hyperion

[matthey]

Originally Posted by Olaf Barthel

So, long lead-up to a short answer: unless the conditions for a back-port were favourable (funds available, every AmigaOS 4 developer in agreement, target hardware specs clear, etc.) I do not see it happening. It's just too hard under the current circumstances, and the current circumstances do not suggest it might even be a good idea to try.

There isn't much favorable about the Amiga situation. It has been beat back and encircled. So how do you try to break out? Use embedded PPC with AmigaOS 4 to attack the demanding upper class high end desktop market again or try a customizable and tiny foot print 68k with a mean and lean AmigaOS to lead the charge in an attempt to take some of the low end miniature computing for the masses market? There is the other option of hoping and waiting for an opportunity while trying not to burn through available funds. Which would you choose?

Do you think anyone has tried to raise capital? Ever heard of angel investors? They are investors who usually invest their own funds for small/startup businesses who have an interest in the business for reasons that go beyond pure monetary return. I don't suppose there would be anyone in that category around or who has already invested in the Amiga. Of course even most angel investors only invest when there is a plan to grow.

Originally Posted by Olaf Barthel

I am not really disappointed.

It has been almost exactly 30 years now since I began using the Amiga, and eventually writing software for it. The Amiga shaped my life, my choice of profession, enabled me to conclude my professional education and to set up my own company. It has been a gift which kept on giving, and in turn, I tried to give back some of that gift in the work which I did for the Amiga.

From that long perspective, with all the ups and downs and the very low, low downs, it's hard for me not to feel "blessed" in some way

You are good at making the best of a bad situation and not getting down.

[MrDBUG]

Trevor Dickinson is an angel investor who made the recent AmigaONEs happen .. and I agree about the plan B - 68k :-)

Originally Posted by matthey

There isn't much favorable about the Amiga situation. It has been beat back and encircled. So how do you try to break out? Use embedded PPC with AmigaOS 4 to attack the demanding upper class high end desktop market again or try a customizable and tiny foot print 68k with a mean and lean AmigaOS to lead the charge in an attempt to take some of the low end miniature computing for the masses market? There is the other option of hoping and waiting for an opportunity while trying not to burn through available funds. Which would you choose?

Do you think anyone has tried to raise capital? Ever heard of angel investors? They are investors who usually invest their own funds for small/startup businesses who have an interest in the business for reasons that go beyond pure monetary return. I don't suppose there would be anyone in that category around or who has already invested in the Amiga. Of course even most angel investors only invest when there is a plan to grow.



You are good at making the best of a bad situation and not getting down.

[Olaf Barthel]

Originally Posted by matthey

There isn't much favorable about the Amiga situation. It has been beat back and encircled. So how do you try to break out? Use embedded PPC with AmigaOS 4 to attack the demanding upper class high end desktop market again or try a customizable and tiny foot print 68k with a mean and lean AmigaOS to lead the charge in an attempt to take some of the low end miniature computing for the masses market? There is the other option of hoping and waiting for an opportunity while trying not to burn through available funds. Which would you choose?

I would choose, if the choice were even available, to begin by learning how the Amiga is being used today, what makes it relevant, which need does it fill. The answers to these question may not be comforting.

It appears to me that the wish to solve the problems which kept the Amiga from reaching its potential in the 1990'ies produces solutions which have not caught up with the times. The Amiga has become a much more humble platform by now. My impression is that the focus recently shifted towards catering for the hobbyist users. New hardware is available which makes the Amiga more accessible to newcomers, for example. This has become much more of a business than it used to be, say 2-3 years ago.

Still, this is not yet a business with respectable returns (as far as I know) which might attract outside investors.

Do you think anyone has tried to raise capital? Ever heard of angel investors? They are investors who usually invest their own funds for small/startup businesses who have an interest in the business for reasons that go beyond pure monetary return. I don't suppose there would be anyone in that category around or who has already invested in the Amiga. Of course even most angel investors only invest when there is a plan to grow.

That seems to be precisely the problem at hand: perspective, or the lack thereof.

It used to be that this lack of perspective was not a major issue when Commodore was still new at making Amigas. The void created by the lack of perspective was filled by the 3rd party Amiga developers, creating the software and the hardware which fulfilled the promise of the Amiga makers.

At this point I believe we are dealing with a lack of perspective, and the means to fill the void are not a good fit yet.