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Author Topic: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]  (Read 10732 times)

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Offline SysAdminTopic starter

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Pre-order Now, Book gets Released on April 27, 2012

http://www.amazon.com/Future-Was-Here-Commodore-Platform/dp/0262017202


Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2012 | Series: Platform Studies

Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products); and the boring, beige adult box used for business (exemplified by products from IBM). The game machines became fascinating technical and artistic platforms that were of limited real-world utility. The IBM products were all utility, with little emphasis on aesthetics and no emphasis on fun. Into this bifurcated computing environment came the Commodore Amiga 1000. This personal computer featured a palette of 4,096 colors, unprecedented animation capabilities, four-channel stereo sound, the capacity to run multiple applications simultaneously, a graphical user interface, and powerful processing potential.

It was, Jimmy Maher writes in The Future Was Here, the world's first true multimedia personal computer. Maher argues that the Amiga's capacity to store and display color photographs, manipulate video (giving amateurs access to professional tools), and use recordings of real-world sound were the seeds of the digital media future: digital cameras, Photoshop, MP3 players, and even YouTube, Flickr, and the blogosphere. He examines different facets of the platform--from Deluxe Paint to AmigaOS to Cinemaware--in each chapter, creating a portrait of the platform and the communities of practice that surrounded it.

Of course, Maher acknowledges, the Amiga was not perfect: the DOS component of the operating systems was clunky and ill-matched, for example, and crashes often accompanied multitasking attempts. And Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. But for a few years, the Amiga's technical qualities were harnessed by engineers, programmers, artists, and others to push back boundaries and transform the culture of computing.
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Offline Matt_H

Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2012, 05:47:04 PM »
I had pre-ordered from Amazon a while ago. It was due to be released earlier, then got pushed back. Hopefully this date sticks!
 

Offline XDelusion

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Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2012, 07:32:27 PM »
Ordered! Thanks for the heads up!
Earth has a lot of things other folks might want... like the whole planet. And maybe these folks would like a few changes made, like more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life. - William S. Burroughs
 

Offline Pentad

Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2012, 07:38:18 PM »
Does anybody know anything about this author?  I am thinking about purchasing the book but I'm not sure about this author.  I've been burned before when a book like this is mostly pictures or fluff.

-P
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Offline arttu80

Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2012, 08:30:56 PM »
Preordered one, thanks a lot!  Hope it will be as eye popping as the book I so much enjoyed reading "Commodore a Company on The Edge" ,which I ordered also while reading comments at amiga.org.

http://www.amazon.com/Commodore-Company-Edge-Brian-Bagnall/dp/0973864966

I would strongly recomend this one for anyone who feel interest in computing history and legendary C= company! Can't wait for sequel "The Amiga Years" -book by this author.
 

Offline orb85750

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Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2012, 08:33:04 PM »
It has to be decent -- it's published by MIT Press.
 

Offline RobertB

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Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2012, 09:00:04 PM »
Quote from: Transition;680857
Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products)...
There it is again... :(  If the description is referring to Commodore 8-bit computers, many were used by business and in education... e.g., the San Francisco Unified School District and the University of California, Berkeley.  Commodore 64s - used in educational institutions, like the Fresno Adult School (between 100 and 200 set-ups), Tulare Union School District, Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, and more.  Also C64s were used in places like the Lawrence Livermore Lab and by the military, like at the Fort Benning Army Base in Georgia.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
« Last Edit: February 18, 2012, 09:11:21 PM by RobertB »
 

Offline odin

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Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2012, 12:18:29 AM »
FWIW, I've bought and read the first book in the Platform Studies series, Racing the beam (Atari 2600), and found it a very enjoyable read (if a bit incoherent at times). This book is from a different author though.

Offline Duce

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Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2012, 12:49:50 AM »
Hope it comes in electronic form soon after the hardcopy version arrives, I enjoy reading but most print books I'm unable to read due to vision problems.
Ipad/Kindle versions at least I can have the massive text effect, heh.

Sounds like an interesting read, looking forward to it.

If anyone knows of an e version of the previous Commodore book, help a brother out - have been unable to find it on iTunes or elsewhere (including Variant Press) thus far in digital form.  I see some chapters in pdf form from various shady web dumpsites, but logically I'd prefer to support the cause and buy it in ebook form and support the author.
 

Offline Pentad

Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2012, 02:12:18 AM »
After thinking about it I ordered it as well.  Not many books about the history of Amiga come our way so what the hell!  :-)

-P
Linux User (Arch & OpenSUSE TW) - WinUAE via WINE
 

Offline hishamk

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Offline mbrantley

Re: The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) [Hardcover]
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2012, 05:38:24 PM »
Quote from: Duce;680948
If anyone knows of an e version of the previous Commodore book, help a brother out - have been unable to find it on iTunes or elsewhere (including Variant Press) thus far in digital form.


This is peculiar... I purchased Commodore: A Company of the Edge for my Kindles from Amazon a few weeks ago. But I just checked the Amazon site and I cannot find it listed for Kindle. As a matter of fact, all I see is wording advising me to let the publisher know if I would like to it released for Kindle.

Wonder what gives.
 

Offline danwood

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Received my copy on Friday and read the whole thing cover-to-cover this weekend.  Some very indepth technical examination of the Amiga chipsets and some very nice historical uses and software reviews.

Really enjoyed the book, it does have a few errors though, such as claiming MorphOS is an open-source x86 operating system like AROS.
 

Offline persia

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Does anyone know when the eBook will be available?  I've given up print books...
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Offline motrucker

Quote from: RobertB;680921
There it is again... :(  If the description is referring to Commodore 8-bit computers, many were used by business and in education... e.g., the San Francisco Unified School District and the University of California, Berkeley.  Commodore 64s - used in educational institutions, like the Fresno Adult School (between 100 and 200 set-ups), Tulare Union School District, Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, and more.  Also C64s were used in places like the Lawrence Livermore Lab and by the military, like at the Fort Benning Army Base in Georgia.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug


Not at all uncommon. This area, (Central Maryland, Washington D.C.) used the C-64 in most of their schools. High Schools in this same area used Amigas, later on and many Video Toaster systems!
A2000 GVP 40MHz \'030, 21Mb RAM SD/FF, 2 floppies, internal CD-ROM drive, micromys v3 w/laser mouse
A1000 Microbotics Starboard II w/2Mb 1080, & external floppy (AIRdrive)
C-128 w/1571, 1750, & Final Cartridge III+