Given x1000 news is everywhere.....but nonchalance prevails

[Amiga_Nut]

Because not many people seem impressed regardless of price. So what is it people would really want from a new machine bearing the Amiga logo on it?

1 Do you wan't the equivalent of the A1000 ie pricey but technically light years ahead of everything else for the price of a top end Mac/PC octa-core CPUd desktop? A machine so powerful that you could write games in BASIC/C that exceed PS3/360 games technically but will cost a lot.

or

2 would you just like something that fills the role the A500 did, ie play the same sort of games due to similar technical abilities as the most advanced consoles on sale at the time?



So what is it that people want? Many of us here are pretty nonchalant about x1000 for various reasons, and that's probably because it is neither in category 1 or 2 I guess but priced for the worst of both worlds, and prospects to match.

(Remember running high end games are one of the most intensive tasks you can ask of a PC, 99% of laptops sold today can't even execute/startup 2005's Battlefield 2 due to missing hardware that was standard in 2006 on most laptops whatever the price).

[TheBilgeRat]

Honestly?  For games I would want a console that was silent yet outperformed any desktop gaming machine in the graphics department and was hardware upgradeable.  dual axis analog joystics are really the pinnacle, so stick with it.  For word processing, who cares?  Final Writer and my A2000, or any free comp with linux on it.  Everything else my phone can do.

[Manu]

I continue my own route, thanks. When AmigaOS is ready for the masses not the classes I'll be there.

I can't find a reasonable answer to your question, sorry. Good luck to all Amigans !

[trekiej]

I like what they are doing, I wish the price/performance was better.
I hope there is more powerful hardware coming.
It seems like some want an X86 Amiga OS 4.
If it gets converted to X86, I am fine with it.

[desiv]

Because not many people seem impressed regardless of price. So what is it people would really want from a new machine bearing the Amiga logo on it?

Ah!  That's the question, isn't it....

1 Do you wan't the equivalent of the A1000 ie pricey but technically light years ahead of everything else for the price of a top end Mac/PC octa-core CPUd desktop? A machine so powerful that you could write games in BASIC/C that exceed PS3/360 games technically but will cost a lot.

Actually, the Amiga 1000 was pricey compared to the C64's and other 8-bits out there, and a bit more expensive than the first ST, but...
Compared to the Mac 512k, it was about $1000 less.  About $1700 (with a monitor and some memory) compared to about $2700 for the Mac..

2 would you just like something that fills the role the A500 did, ie play the same sort of games due to similar technical abilities as the most advanced consoles on sale at the time?

With the success of the consoles today, I don't see how an Amiga could compete there at all...

For me, the Amiga was affordable (just able to swing an Amiga 500 with RAM, 2nd floppy and monitor), but it felt like it was cutting edge...

To do that now, it's not about 3D or better multitasking.  They all do that, it would have to be something new...

Perhaps a machine with a gesture based OS that actually works pretty well.  However, even MS's new Natal (Kinex or whatever it's called) is moving into that field, so it might be too late there..

But it would have to be something cutting edge and bringing it to the masses.
I mean, there were great graphics, GUIs and multitasking before the Amiga.  It just put it together and made it affordable...

I'm not sure what you'd need to do nowadays to fill that niche..
As much as I love to hate Apple, perhaps the iPad is this generations version of that paradigm??  Yes, the iPad isn't perfect, but neither was the Amiga 1000.. :-)

desiv

[redrumloa]

It is priced way, way far out of range for my hobby budget. 2010 has been a challenging year for much of the US, EU and elsewhere. I think it will be tough selling such a high priced novelty item in such an environment.

Before you jump on me for saying novelty, I think MorphOS and AROS are also novelties for hobbyists.

[TheBilgeRat]

As much as I love to hate Apple, perhaps the iPad is this generations version of that paradigm??  Yes, the iPad isn't perfect, but neither was the Amiga 1000.. :-)

desiv

This is what I think as well.  Heck- I even liked System 7 back in the day.  Most people don't need anything more than a Web interface with a few games to tide them over on the bus, plane, toilet, etc.  With Google Docs you can do easily 80-90 percent of your word processing needs, and then take them to kinkos to print or send them to internet capable printer.  All it has to do is stream A/V content, play A/V content locally stored, and update twitter/faceyspace/etc and its a win.

[x303]

I go for option no. 3. The prize is so high, because it has to last 25 years (like the A1000) !!! So, if you look at the prize per year, it's not so expensive.

:laughing:

[runequester]

It has to be fun.

[Iggy]

It is priced way, way far out of range for my hobby budget. 2010 has been a challenging year for much of the US, EU and elsewhere. I think it will be tough selling such a high priced novelty item in such an environment.

Before you jump on me for saying novelty, I think MorphOS and AROS are also novelties for hobbyists.

Red's right,
But a computer that can run MorphOS starts at around $100 (for a used Apple Emac).

The X1000 is probably overpriced because of the limited production and the high cost of PPC processors.

Hopefully, Aeon will sell enough to remain profitable.

[scuzzb494]

The last new computer I bought was an Amiga 1200 in 2003. There is enough old junk around PC wise to last out my lifetime for surfing and the like so I can`t see me buying a new computer for.. er well.. ever. You could get a machine for a couple of hundred quid that'll probably do most of what you need these days. Just need PCi express, Sata and possibly 64 Bit to take you to the next level.  So spending £1500 is really a bit steep unless you are keen to just having a new Amiga. So in terms of what I want... I don`t actually need anything and I wouldn`t use an Amiga as my first machine as I need Photoshop, Ejay and WoW and all my web pages are structured around about 2 terabyte of external USB hard drives. I have no reason to change that. So why would I. I like my Amigas to muck around with as Amigas.

Sadly the old Amiga ship has sailed. I stayed loyal as my main till about 1996 and then I could wait no longer. And thats been 14 years ago. Every time there is talk of a new Amiga it takes so long to get off the ground its about five years behind the times when released. And nobody even talks about patching, maintenance, warranty, etc. Life is complicated enough without me struggling to keep an old BSA on the road.

Sad I know. But the Amiga is a speciality market so those that do will carry on doing. It just aint mainstream technology and never will be so wishfull thinking is about all your ever going to get. Unless your dead keen.

Don`t get me wrong I love my Amigas. Always will. And still a great joy and pleasure. Horses for .....

scuzz

[orb85750]

It is priced way, way far out of range for my hobby budget...

Agreed.  I'll have to wait for the X1000CR.

[Tomas]

It is priced way, way far out of range for my hobby budget. 2010 has been a challenging year for much of the US, EU and elsewhere. I think it will be tough selling such a high priced novelty item in such an environment.

Before you jump on me for saying novelty, I think MorphOS and AROS are also novelties for hobbyists.

It is definitely out of my price range as well.
But i think it is clearly meets the budget of some amigans considering the prices classic systems go for at ebay.

[the_leander]

It is definitely out of my price range as well.
But i think it is clearly meets the budget of some amigans considering the prices classic systems go for at ebay.

The difference there is that the classic systems have the benefit of being antiques (or about as close to that as a computer can be). They represented at one stage the pinnacle of computer engineering as well as a first taste of things to come. They are our childhood, our past and fondly remembered.

The X1000 by contrast... Yes, it has OS4 (just about - that was the first time they've ever got it to boot). Yes it's more powerful and potentially of better build quality than the A1's it looks to replace as the top of the line "nextgen amiga". Being new kit it offers very little in terms of nostalgia.

But for my tastes it puts me in mind of the 68060. It's one step too many on an EOL (as far as desktop usage goes) cpu arch. Apple saw the writing on the wall both with the 68k and the PPC, but it seems on both occasions the Amiga has stayed that little bit longer and has been left behind with overpriced and under-performing processors.

I can't help but feel that the Minimig AGA/Clone A/Natami all represent a far more reasonable way of looking at what is essentially a hobby. The X1000 would have made sense ten years ago if you were planning on making AmigaOS a player in the mainstream computer market again. Today however it is hopelessly out-gunned as a serious system (the price of a full X1000 setup puts you firmly into gaming laptop and serious workstation territory) and incredibly hard to justify as a hobby machine, even if we were in good times.

But that's my opinion only.

[Thorham]

what is it people would really want from a new machine bearing the Amiga logo on it?

That the machine is actually something like an Amiga, and not just a bunch of off the shelf parts :madashell: