Commodore Amiga Global Alliance

[DDNI]

DP has commented publicly that he had zero interest in the Amiga HW. To him it was stock that needed to be sold in numbers. That is not a bad thing, and he did it well. However it is at total odds to us end users who invested emotionally into the machine and scene.

I wish DP no ill will over this. He has hit a bum note with this KS and is reacting badly to it. Having spoken to him at several events he is a pleasant chap with some old time stories. He is certainly no Amigan.

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by crabfists

Fair enough. Maybe I was being unfair with the point about the book then.

I think you hit the nail on the head about the anti-capitalist mindset of the Amiga scene. Perhaps it's because we saw the capitalist world of the PC come in and take over back in the day? The Amiga is a rare product because it was created as an idealistic venture by Miner's team (or so I've been told).

Many UK Amigians came from the world of the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro I think, where little cottage industries made games and cool peripherals. Profit and passion were bedfellows.

Amiga was a global commercial interest for a while, but upon Commodore’s demise I think they doubled down hard, back to that cottage mindset, where one never does anything just for the money.

We became self sufficient, to the point where we didn’t even need a saviour.

[a_crow]

Originally Posted by Paulee_Alex_Bow

There’s something in the Amigian’s psyche about feeling abandoned by the commercial world I think, meaning that any overly commercial enterprise that doesn’t feel like a guy in his garden shed making cool things for the love of it, is not widely accepted.

I personally identify heavily with the punk rock DIY ethic, so that obviously informs my opinion, but commercial enterprises can totally ruin a hobby, just as centralisation can.


People making cool things for the love of the game are the lifeblood of any community. If you make something cool, people will buy it from you, and you can share it too. Shackling yourself to a commercial enterprise doesn't really make sense in this day and age, especially for niche projects.


The future for vintage computing hardware lies in open collaberation. Open hardware, open source software. Making sure everything is out there ensures that in ten, twenty, thirty years time if someone wants to get into Amiga and needs a bit of hardware then as long as the gerber files and a BOM are mirrored somewhere, they can build it themselves and adapt or improve it. I don't know about this "AGA" group, but generally speaking commercial enterprises are often loathe to share developments they've funded, preferring to sit atop a pile of IP like Smaug on his treasure. That's no good for anyone.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Paulee_Alex_Bow

We became self sufficient, to the point where we didn’t even need a saviour.

Well said I came back last year to find that the Amiga scene is maybe smaller today than 10 years ago, but there is lots of new stuff and it just works without any kind of artificial leadership. I think that most Amigans that are still around today feel the same way about it. I'm sure that DP has some interesting stories to tell about the old days, but I doubt that he understands today's 'scene'.

[BSzili]

This is why this paywalled website Kickstarter should be judged on its own merit. It doesn't matter whether DP has interesting stories about his Commodore days, or how well he did selling Amigas back in the day.

[merman]

Originally Posted by Dunny

This is the same David Pleasance who has two accounts on Kickstarter so he can get around needing one project to finish before he starts another? Or having to fulfill promises to backers on his other account? That David Pleasance?

From what I can see, starting the new Kickstarter Profile is related to the email problems David was having. I don’t believe there was any intent to get round the rules. But... not completing that project before starting this one (and using those books in this campaign) comes across as very disingenuous.

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by TCD

Well said I came back last year to find that the Amiga scene is maybe smaller today than 10 years ago, but there is lots of new stuff and it just works without any kind of artificial leadership. I think that most Amigans that are still around today feel the same way about it. I'm sure that DP has some interesting stories to tell about the old days, but I doubt that he understands today's 'scene'.

The scene now is magical. I was able to walk into my local WH Smith’s and pick up a magazine with an article I wrote in it! I don’t think it actually can get better.

[fxgogo]

Give it time Paulee, give it time….

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by fxgogo

Give it time Paulee, give it time….

Well, I know it will get even better next month when me, Ravi and H0ffman take to the stage lol

[BippyM]

Originally Posted by 7-Zark-7

Oh my goodness, my post "beer" virus braincells are going mushy, Bippy!
Lovely to see an old face!

I'm still knocking about, although not too active. Real life gets in the way far too much these days

[OlafSch]

Just my 2 cents...

a central portal including all beginners informations might make sense if you want to interest new users outside of the community and give them all important informations in one place, under one brand after f.e. attending events. There you can give the website to interested people and they can visit it and decide what to do or to buy. But for that you need one brand, one common platform and strategy and even then I would not ask for money but offer free informations. The current community not needs this and for me everything is too vague. Ironically he asks which amiga website currently promises to invest money but forgets to ask which amiga website asks for money to be member.

Besides the most efforts are needed to create the content, not to set up a website with a CMS. If he expects the people to create the content for free and asks for lots of money just to create the website I see a problem. I buy products and sometimes donor money if I like what someone does but I will certainly not back this kickstarter or make a subscription with monthly fees where I have no control what happens with the money.

[Lineof7s]

Originally Posted by Paulee_Alex_Bow

Well, I know it will get even better next month when me, Ravi and H0ffman take to the stage lol

The f*cking what now?! Oh please tell me someone's filming that!

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by Lineof7s

The f*cking what now?! Oh please tell me someone's filming that!

I’m sure someone will film it on their phone

[d4rk3lf]

On a serious note from my part.

I love listening interviews of DP.
I think he is charismatic, and it's interesting for me to watch him.
There's 2 main reasons that I think is cause of heavy fail of this projects:
1) His complete ignorance of the Amiga scene (Or even on the Internet overall (like Google search)).
2) He heavily underestimated intelligence of the Amigan's. Looks like he thought we are a bunch of middle age guys, ready to spend vast amount of money for anything Amiga related, not even asking for the reason.

What puzzles me the most, is why nobody of his friends, that actually know how things works, and live in 2023... why they just didn't say to DP: "Look bro. This won't work. There's google.. there's plenty of sites... people are not that dumb to pay you something they already have for free... better do some crowdfunding in try and purchase some copyrighted Amuga stuff, and make it open source.. or some idea like that".

[TCD]

The Kickstarter not only didn't get any new backer in the last day, but lost one. So the whole thing will most likely sort itself out.

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

On a serious note from my part.

What puzzles me the most, is why nobody of his friends, that actually know how things works, and live in 2023... why they just didn't say to DP: "Look bro. This won't work. There's google.. there's plenty of sites... people are not that dumb to pay you something they already have for free...".

Some of them have and he's dismissed them, others who are his "yes men and women" have just blindly followed the project like Lemmings off a cliff.

[Chucky]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

What puzzles me the most, is why nobody of his friends, that actually know how things works, and live in 2023... why they just didn't say to DP: "Look bro. This won't work. There's google.. there's plenty of sites... people are not that dumb to pay you something they already have for free... better do some crowdfunding in try and purchase some copyrighted Amuga stuff, and make it open source.. or some idea like that".

MAYBE.. and this is just a thought.. but maybe they simply does not have the heart to tell him "ehh. sorry but no"

being quiet is not the same as thinking "this is fine" it can also be dissaproval.

[dreamkatcha]

RJ Mical is amongst the people who pointed out DP's Muppetry prior to it going live. Even he was ignored.

[Paulee_Alex_Bow]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

On a serious note from my part.

I love listening interviews of DP.
I think he is charismatic, and it's interesting for me to watch him.
There's 2 main reasons that I think is cause of heavy fail of this projects:
1) His complete ignorance of the Amiga scene (Or even on the Internet overall (like Google search)).
2) He heavily underestimated intelligence of the Amigan's. Looks like he thought we are a bunch of middle age guys, ready to spend vast amount of money for anything Amiga related, not even asking for the reason.

What puzzles me the most, is why nobody of his friends, that actually know how things works, and live in 2023... why they just didn't say to DP: "Look bro. This won't work. There's google.. there's plenty of sites... people are not that dumb to pay you something they already have for free... better do some crowdfunding in try and purchase some copyrighted Amuga stuff, and make it open source.. or some idea like that".

My own perspective, was that I heard the idea, and thought “ok, that’s kind of odd, definitely not for me, I wouldn’t need any of those things as I’m quite well-connected.” But importantly, I didn’t say too much on it because:

1. I have limited time due to being a recent parent ¯\_(?)_/¯
2. I assumed he knew what he was doing, and that other people *must have* worked with him to ascertain that this was a good idea.
3. The behaviour of other people generally confuses me anyway, so I’m
always second guessing myself or self-gaslighting. Autism can be fun

I wonder if I’d strongly advised against it, would it have made a difference ¯\_(?)_/¯

[crabfists]

I noticed there was no mention of the AGA Kickstarter on the Retro Hour podcast this week. However, they did feature the Immortal joysticks kickstarter which launched after it.