Amiga.org
Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Topic started by: SysAdmin on April 02, 2012, 05:41:44 PM
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Amiga.org exclusive interview with the CEO of CommodoreUSA is currently in process. Of course we would not do this without the participation of our great members. Please post your questions in this very thread for Barry and we will send them along with our questions. Please do this in the next 2-3 days. Below is an e-mail Barry sent us this morning. Thanks Middleman for helping set this interview up.
***Please post questions to Barry that are professionally worded, be simple/concise with your questions and try not to repeated questions already made by other posters. Comments that are slanderous/vulgar, are not constructive, contain personal attacks etc. ie. off-topic are not accepted and will be removed***
On Apr 2, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Barry Altman wrote:
Good morning Tedd,
Please send over the questions. Include every possible topic you want. I will answer EVERY question submitted, no exceptions, and absolutely nothing is off the table. In fact, if you happen to leave off a few that you think might be too controversial, I'll throw in a few that will finally address every possible issue that has been discussed and dissected ad nauseum over the past two years.
I only ask that you post my entire reply intact, and unedited. I look forward to this opportunity to finally explain the entire big picture. There's a lot to tell,,,,fasten your seatbelt; I imagine this may be the biggest story you've run in quite a long time.
Feel free to post this email wherever you wish so the forum members can start getting their questions together.
Warmest regards,
Barry
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"I imagine this may be the biggest story you've run in quite a long time"
modesty is certainly not his strongest side :)
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yawn..i thought the Amiga community was of no concern to the mighty CUSA with 30 million advertising budget ?
sure here's a question: How much has CUSA contributed to any AmigaOS, AROS or MOS bounties ?
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.
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Yes, the CUSA Amiga branded PC will be using x86 CPU's so what efforts are being made to help AROS development and to ensure it's compatability with your hardware?
Do you intend to contribute to any Amiga related bounties such as the Magellan one?
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How about this (off the top of my head):
What does a CommodoreUSA Amiga offer that a PC made from the exact same parts doesn't, apart from the name, and a doubled price-tag?
I'm sure I can think of MANY others. :)
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Here is my question :
Given the on-going development of OS4 as well as AROS, etc. What plans does C-USA have to incorporate support of any of these Amiga-ish operating systems in to their Amiga branded machines.
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How about this (off the top of my head):
What does a CommodoreUSA Amiga offer that a PC made from the exact same parts doesn't, apart from the name, and a doubled price-tag?
That's what I've been wondering.... Seems to me that just making and selling an Amiga branded & styled case at a good price to the home builder would be enough.
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Does Dammy's misrepresentations and incorrect expectations about company policy and expectations represent corporate policy?
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- Do you feel you made any errors in talking with the Amiga community ? Will there be changes in the future ?
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@digitex
Hi Barry.
Given the expressed desire to progress from being a licensee to an owner of both Commodore and Amiga IP, is there any progress on either of those fronts?
More specifically, do your plans change depending on the outcome of the C=Holdings B.V. v. Asiarim Corporation et al lawsuit? If so, in what way?
#6
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What does a CommodoreUSA Amiga offer that a PC made from the exact same parts doesn't, apart from the name, and a doubled price-tag?
You could ask the same of Alienware and several other "name" branded computers..
I'd be more interested in why they feel "Amiga" should be applied to their new line...
Something like:
The C64x, although it was nothing like a C64 internally, resembled the original C64.
The Vic Slim looked nothing like the Vic-20. IMHO
The new Amiga "slim" looks more like a Mac-mini than any Amiga model produced...
Why do you feel it appropriate to use the Amiga (or Vic) name on these machines?
desiv
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Your specifications of the Amiga Mini show a possible Intel Core i7 2700K configuration but only a 120 Watt PSU. This quad core, desktop CPU has a considerable power draw, and when added with the nVidia card, it surpasses 120 Watts. See my question here:
http://www.commodore-amiga.org/en/forum/33-hardware-support/13746-amiga-mini-power-supply-gpu#13746
Is your Amiga Mini product UL and CSA certified? Likewise, were you issued an FCC ID for your product?
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You could ask the same of Alienware and several other "name" branded computers..
The difference is that other name brand computers actually have an answer. Dell (and therefore Alienware) and others almost all have help and support lines, along with after-sales service. Some of them also offer bespoke software installed on the OS (I don't count a blue skin for Linux as being bespoke software).
Hence my question: other companies can answer it, but can C=USA?
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It's ad nauseam not ad nauseum.
Please get your latin right before trying to look clever.
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To each his own, but Im not sure droning on the current "amiga" options is worthwhile. To my knowledge theyre not legally allowed to offer an amiga style os.
Anyway, that said, 2 questions I'd be interested in finding out the answers to are:
1. Is there *anything* interesting/unique in regads C-USA products, or will they always just be using other peoples work? (ie. any plans for custom apis, drivers, technologies,etc.)
2. Is Dammy allowed to sleep inside when it rains, does he have his own kennel, or does he sleep in the laundry?
Question 1 Im genuinely interested in. While Im a big fan of how amiga os and derivitives work, and always will be I do belive there's room for an alternative to Win/Mac/Lin on the desktop. A new OS written from scratch assuming modern technology and disregarding legacy stuff could be interesting, especially now seeing as all 3 big players are getting more and more unnecessarily bloated and driven by fads
Question 2 just couldnt be helped :P
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If a single fan can arrange the design and mass production of a custom PowerPC system (capable of running at least one directly Amiga-compatible OS) over more than one production run, with his own money, why can a company like Commodore USA not do more than produce equally expensive machines made out of commodity PC hardware?
Addendum: I'm not speaking of bundling OS4, MorphOS, or AROS with such a system - you may very well be legally prevented from doing so. However, I don't see any reason you couldn't give the respective teams the information needed for compatibility and bundle the machine with "Commodore OS" Linux.
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Dear Mr. Altman:
1. Could you please explain your thought processes when you decided to found what you wanted to be seen as a legitimate successor to Commodore Business Machines? Please be honest.
2. I realise that you fell for Hyperion's legal bluff regarding Amiga-Alike OS's hook, line, and sinker, but why didn't you research other approaches to enter the computer market with a product that, if it didn't have anything directly to do with existing Amiga intellectual property (Motorola/Freescale 680X0 or PowerPC), at least fit in with the original Amiga philosophy of Hardware and Operating System tightly coupled together?
3. Could you please explain why your retail model places all the supply, financial, and legal risk on your retailers to the point of having them assemble your Amiga models for end users for you? This seems to be unprecedented in the computer world. Even small Gaming PC operations like Alienware, Cyber Power, IBuyPower, Falcon Northwest, Digital Storm, and AVA Direct do not opperate in anything like this fashion.
4. What is the unique value proposition and/or intended market niche for an Amiga Mini with parts that have been priced (Minus the Amiga Logo) at a total of ca. $550 when you have set the prices set starting at $1,700, and one can get something with slightly higher specification from Alienware for $850?
5. What do you (or any of your employees with computer hardware/systems backgrounds) think of this (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=60096) computer/OS architecture?
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Ok, I'll bite.
Question 1
What happened during the discussions I would assume you had with Ben Hermans and maybe Trevor about the attempt to license the AmigaOS for your Licensed Amiga hardware that you could build based on perhaps a Sam or X1000 motherboard in an official Amiga case.
Question 2
How are the discussions going with the Natami team to support them and if you can resolve a licensing issue with Ben Hermans then build into an official Amiga system.
A branded case is good for people like myself who will build my own Aros powered computer in a nice case but not those who are not able too.
Bottom line, as much as I like your version of COS Linux, it is fun and novel, however it is not Amiga in any shape or form.
Steve
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Who cares? Give it a rest. This CUSA will blow away soon.
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Do you or any of your team still use or own classic Amiga systems? if not why not? and, if so what do you enjoy about them?
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1.) In your first year of operation there was I feel a few mistakes, promoting Aros, promising support for aros, promptly dropping support and attacking aros, using copyrighted images on the web site, threaten legal action towards members of the community and respected web sites, using the workbench trademark before legally having right to it, calling your Amiga range 1000x, very similar to another product if you asked me, photo of your operations not being quite right, and announcing products and systems before you seem ready to announcing them, so basically how would you personally rate your performance? And would you care to comment on any of the above.
2.) What relationship (if any) do you have with Amiga Inc?
3.) Again same question but with regards to Hyperion, A-eon or any other amiga company?
4.) How did you feel about iContain and what sets your Amiga apart from their computers?
5.) Do you have any plans to attend any Amiga shows to demo your products?
6.) Do you have any plans to support any area of the current Amiga scene? Viva Amiga film? Advertising on amiga web site?
7.) The Amiga Fantasy case or similar all in one keyboard computer will it happen?
8.) Do you plan to support Linux mint developers and Linux community?
9.) Why should an Amiga user get one of your Amiga's?
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The philosophy around the Amiga was "a computer for the masses".
Will we ever see that philosophy in practice again?
And, will a "new" computer carrying a heavy name like that be as revolutionary as its ancestors were?
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1) What is your opinion of the Natami project?Would you be interested in making Classic a500/a1200 style cases(similar to the amiga fantasy case) for natami and for sale to users that want to build their own systems.
2)Have you any plans to create a more classic amiga or such or peripherals etc.
3)What's your opinion of Aros?
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Why did You wasted so cool brand, just to sell shoddy PC in the MacMini-like case with sticker ...for triple price? :/
Honestly, as motrucker said - waste of time.
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I didn't see this post going over well.
In other forums and on Facebook I hear people talking about how they are starting to hate this site because of all the CUSA related posts.
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First batch of questions from PPA (Polish Amiga News Portal) readers:
1. Is there any chance for any kind of cooperation between CUSA and Team AROS?
2. Is it planned to have AROS supported by your system? Is it going to support all the build-in hardware?
3. Do you plan to begin some sort of a cooperation with the Amiga community that has nurtured the legend for so many years? What I mean is to convince (in a financial way) three Amiga teams (AmigaOS, MorphOS, AROS) to work on one operational system dedicated to one machine created by CUSA.
4. Do you plan to use the potential of Natami to create chip or card that could work with your motherboard under a new, common operational system?
5. Do you plan to create something like AppleStore and after coming to agreement with the publishers and owners of old classic Amiga games make them available to buy as ADF images or to create remakes of the most popular titles?
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considering previous questions....
Please tell us the winning lottery numbers for next week ?
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aside of which - I like the Mac Mini Amiga case :) (sell it for £60, and I buy one)
ta
Tom UK
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Mr. Barry,
Thank you for doing work for the Commodore community. I am sure there are folks out there who bought your C64x and are happy with your product. Those people could be folks who grew up with the Commodore 64 and thought it would be cool to replace their PC with another PC that cosmetically looks like a C64. Me, I wouldn't buy it because the C64 is perfect as it is and I felt it was too much money for me right now to put in a machine just to have it look like a C64. Yet your work has been appreciated by me.
I feel that people just want to put you on the spot. You have no interest in AROS, you made that clear a long time ago. I doubt you want to incorporate anything into your systems other than your own stuff. That will take years and I also doubt you can pull it off.
You are working on an Amiga line that is supposed to do more than it would ever be able to do. That I am not going to buy either. I just don't see it being a success. It is going to take so much more to really amaze the crowd. Maybe I am wrong, I would like to be wrong, I just don't see it happen.
My advice to you would be to do custom cases. Make them out of metal.
Make Vic20, C64 and Amiga 500, 600, 1000, 1200, 3000 and 4000, plus a 4000T tower out of metal and a simple powder coat. Make it look exactly like the original. I would also love to see an Amiga 600 case made out of metal prepared for a small PC motherboard with hot air exhaust in the back like you did with the C64. Perhaps prepare the A600 case for a MiniMIG?
Install a custom keyboard like you did with the C64. Remember how the Amiga 500 caps lock button has the light built in. Stuff like, details matters!
People can put their own hardware inside, most of us know how to do that.
I do have a question: When you acquired the Commodore "thing" did you get any papers containing "secrets", items like unknown future designs? Stuff like that we would all appreciate to hear about, if such exists.
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Hi, It would be interesting to know your opinion about the FPGA projects that are recreating the old 8-bit and 16-bit machines on hardware FPGA emulation.
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#1: Why is it taking you so long to bring to market range of computers made from pre-existing cases with a pre-existing motherboards running a pre-existing OS?
#2: Who does your photoshop work and why haven't you fired him.
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How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
(So the world may know......)
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(So the world may know......)
So, you learned your lesson about making business proposals to "them"? Heh.
#6
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So, you learned your lesson about making business proposals to "them"? Heh.
#6
:lol:
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Having acquired a license to use the Commodore name to sell common x86 hardware what made you decide to buy a license for the Amiga name to do exactly the same thing?
Do you think the Amiga license represents value for money in terms of additional media coverage and custom over the attention that the Commodore name has brought to your business.
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I didn't see this post going over well.
In other forums and on Facebook I hear people talking about how they are starting to hate this site because of all the CUSA related posts.
Facebook already?... hopefully not Twitter too, then TMZ then finally locally to Deco Drive
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For those people who are not excited by a linux pc, will you genuinely have something of interest for them?
If so, what and when?
Thanks
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1) Would you consider some non-x86 HW, like the upcoming Efika i.MX6 from Genesi?
2) Do you feel at liberty to sell products with AROS bundled, in products branded Amiga? 2b) Or sell products to re-distributors who bundles the HW with AROS?
3) If I understood things right, You have put up an idea of third party system builders can buy a branded case (of your selection) from you and build whatever custom combination of HW inside it, for their local marke? Is that correct? 3b) Can this be "turned around", i.e. say that I already have a product using a cool custom case I have had designed, can you allow branding on those for a fee?
4) Could you describe exactly how the legal situation stands regarding the brand names (Commodore, Amiga, with associated marks like "Boing Ball" etc), and licenses and ownership's thereof?
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The rainbow coloured ticker has huge appeal in the gay communities, I know this first... hand... after visiting bars and nightclubs in Amsterdam and San Francisco, wearing nothing but a... wearing a dark purple T-shirt with huge Amiga ticker on the chest. Are you considering the market appeal for "Amiga" and rainbow ticker in the LGBT communities?
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To each his own, but Im not sure droning on the current "amiga" options is worthwhile. To my knowledge theyre not legally allowed to offer an amiga style os.
In fact they are not allowed to do so under current Amiga Inc licence but can extend their rights in new contracts with Hyperion, MorphOS team etc.
Since they have claimed they have tried to do so, question is what plans and offers CUSA had when (unsucessfully?) approached Hyperion, AROS and/or MorphOS team
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Here are my questions:-
1. How much did you pay Amiga Inc. for the rights to use the Amiga name on your computers?
2. Do you pay Amiga Inc. a licensing fee for each machine sold, or was it a single lump sum payment, or a combination of both?
3. Do you think the fee (whatever that may have been) you paid Amiga Inc. for the name was worth it financially?
4. Why do you think there is so much animosity towards CUSA from people in the Amiga community, and does it bother you?
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Dear Mr. Altman,
What is your company doing to support the Commodore and Amiga scene? For example, on March 7, I received an e-mail from Leo Nigro, Chief Technology Officer of Commodore USA, who sent an inquiry of your company's involvement in the Commodore Vegas Expo. I immediately sent a reply, saying that we are open to what you have to offer. To this date, I have not had any further response from your company.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
organizer - Commodore Vegas Expo v8
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
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Dear Mr. Altman,
What is your company doing to support the Commodore and Amiga scene? For example, on March 7, I received an e-mail from Leo Nigro, Chief Technology Officer of Commodore USA, who sent an inquiry of your company's involvement in the Commodore Vegas Expo. I immediately sent a reply, saying that we are open to what you have to offer. To this date, I have not had any further response from your company.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
organizer - Commodore Vegas Expo v8
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
I think you misunderstood Leo's email. He was actually sending you a bill for using the word "Commodore" without permission. You're waiting for a reply, Barry is waiting for a cheque. ;)
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Questions I don't think have been asked yet (although I'm probably wrong);
Classic Amiga systems such as A2000, A3000 and A4000 all came with keyboards and mice. Is there a line of Commodore / Amiga mice and keyboards being designed/produced which will complement the current range of Mini computers?
The current choice of OS bundled with CUSA systems is COS, a modified version of Linux Mint. Many Amiga purists are wanting a more traditional style OS more aligned with the classic Amiga OS. If the choice is to continue to use Linux as the platform, have you considered adopting the Amiga styled Window Manager amiWM which although is quite limited in its current form, would at least give users a traditional look and feel of Workbench?
If not, are there plans to bring out a customized (Workbench style) GUI like what Apple have done with BSD and custom GUI?
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It's ad nauseam not ad nauseum.
Please get your latin right before trying to look clever.
Hey be nice! Even though he is a "ceo" or a company with a 30 million dollar advertising budget... he couldn't afford word or a spellchecker because he's spending millions on product development!
I have questions that you will most likely dodge, He claims he will answer all questions, but trust me, he will dodge many of them.
But hey, I'll ask them anyway.
1) What happened to the hundreds or thousands of c64x's you claimed you were shipping to big box retails stores that never happened. Why?
2) Why did you illegally steal footage from a disney movie (TRON) to make ads for your company?
3) Why did you claim that ads would be on television, when they never made it anywhere but on youtube?
4) What happened to those 25,000$ workstation amigas you once bragged about? More vaporware?
5) You continually posture like your a "company" and have resources you have commited to this. Why do you make mistakes my 12 year old nephew who just started building his own pcs would not make? Like not putting a proper fan in the c64x or giving this amiga mini too small a power supply?
6) Why do you delete posts that are critical or your products on your "forum"?
7) Why did you steal text from apples website on one of your earlier websites?
8) Why do you have a "chief technical officer" if no actually technology is being developed? My 12 year old nephew can replace that guy if all your going to do is build pc's and slap commodore or amiga stickers/engravings on the cases. Why don't you get someone who knows what they are doing instead of that clown?
9) Why don't you grow a set of balls and support AROS?
10) If someone really wants a commodore or amiga branded pc, why should someone pay 3x as much as the parts cost to get it from you instead of making their own stickers?
11) Why do you maintain so many shill accounts on a.org and elsewhere to defend your company? Why don't you just grow set of balls and post yourself and stop hiding behind fake users?
12) Do your parents know your running a computer empire out of their basement?
13) Are you ever going to do anything more than the least possible work you can? It takes balls, heart, money and devotion to actually develop an OS, or develop NEW computer tech. Any monkey can slap a sticker over an existing product. In my view this is all you have done is what 2.5 years now? When are you going to do something more than the least possible work you can possible do? When will you actually contribute something to the legacy your attempting to live off of?
14) Why don't you give me an amiga mini to give an honest review on. I will cover its use with windows, COS, AROS,linux, mint, amithlon and more.
Why NOT have someone give real reviews on these machines instead of just getting fluff stories that are largely just mocking this thing?
15) Why don't you grow some balls and defend your use of linux instead of acting like it was the second prize choice? Why don't you tell us what steps are being taken to make it a more customized and amiga like experience?
16) What happened to your 30 million dollar advertising budget. Does it cost 30 million dollars now to self edit a few videos to cheesy production music that costs 20$ per track and upload the view to youtube? You claimed you had a 30 million dollar advertising budget. All we've seen is a mention on a dvd and some youtube videos that were made at home.
Now remember, You said you'd answer every question, so I challenge you to honestly answer these.
Get out the popcorn, this out to be good...
Steven
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Cake or Pie.
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Yea, whatever happened to "Commodore USA's Final Challenge to the Community (http://Commodore USA's Final Challenge to the Community)?"
Oh, and... when ya gonna put your money where your mouth is?
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question, what will it take to make you go away?
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Amiga.org exclusive interview with the CEO of CommodoreUSA is currently in process. Of course we would not do this without the participation of our great members. Please post your questions in this very thread for Barry and we will send them along with our questions. Please do this in the next 2-3 days. Below is an e-mail Barry sent us this morning. Thanks Middleman for helping set this interview up.
You're welcome Tedd! And I'm excited to read about the interview myself too...I think there's a great future ahead for us Amiga users if we can work out the differences between us.
For those who believe I only like modern machines, well I like the classic ones too. My personal opinion about the future of Amiga is that I actually I believe if the brand can be rebooted, it can exist as two formats - one as a Classic platform ie. PPC/Power7/Natami, and one as a Future platform ie. x86. Why does people always have to insist a modern Amiga CANNOT be an x86? x86 is the platform which has everything a new Amiga needs ie. Ivy Bridge, Thunderbolt, 3D etc. If implemented properly with the right customization of system and OS, it CAN be the machine we've always wanted and more. This is why I have, as an independent IT user of over 30 years computing experience, been following and supporting CUSA for the past year....because I believe they will come up with the goods. But my view is, the community has to be realistic with what can be approached from a production perspective. They have to consider whatever designs/options will be made into new gear, that it can be recreated and sustained by modern manufacturing methods AND somehow is able to supported by a strong software development community. Unfortunately at the moment the Amiga community is no Apple community. But with genuine support from all perhaps we will eventually get there…wherever 'there' might be….
Anyways just to remind you all here, the CommodoreUSA competition has just ended and two winners have been announced - CUSA members Scryer316 and Bruno - congrats to you both! If anyone here knows them, please let them know, thanks!
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Pretty much everyone is a "independent IT user"
Please stop using this term to just sound more official.. Im a Independent Icecream eater as well for 30 years :)
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Second batch of questions from PPA readers:
1. Do you plan some sort of a help for UAE project in order to add support for PowerPC to this application?
2. Do you plan to initiate a new open project similar to Wine which is strictly dedicated for Amiga operational system?
3. Do you plan to add numbering system to computer models (like in case A500, A1200 etc.)?
4. Do you consider extending the offer for much cheaper models, models which will be custom made upon the user requests, desktop models, mobile models, etc.?
5. Do you plan to create your own BIOS in Amiga style?
6. Apart from the "Commodore" name, does CommodoreUSA have anything more in common with the old classic line of Commodore systems? (logos, stickers, labels, retro keyboards are not an answer here)
7. What is the purpose of 16 GB of Ram in your system?
8. Do you intend to introduce UEFI technology instead of BIOS (of course in Amiga way)?
9. Why should we ask any questions to a producer/assembler of a regular PC computer when the only connection between this system and Amiga is by UAE?
10. Why did you use name AMIGA for a PC computer that neither its operational system, architecture nor a case even in the smallest way has any connection with Amiga?
11. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to support a project like Natami or Minimig AGA than releasing a PC with Linux and the Amiga sticker?
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My mother always told me that if you have nothing nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all.
Therefore, I have no questions for CUSA.
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Just buy SkyOS and put it in your C= PC
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First of all i wish for you the best luck!
- Why did you call your new machines amiga?
- Do you think there's a linking between the original ones and the new ones, apart from the names and brands?
- What could be this linking?
- Will come one day when you will become an operating system developer?
Thank you!
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Pretty much everyone is a "independent IT user"
Yes I agree to a certain extent....but have you ever used/owned more than 3 OSes/systems extensively in your lifetime, excluding Amigas (in a non-biased fashion)? Have you tried/used ALL the IT technologies that have been out the last 30 years to give a fair overall assessment of their effectiveness for computing needs? Including Bernoulli, Jaz/Zip/Syquest & Magneto-Optical drives, micro drives, daisy-wheel/plotters/colour laser printers, SCSI/Wide/UltraSCSI/Firewire connects, HD/Bluray/Thunderbolt etc? For example, I can count up to owning at least 4 different types of computing systems well before I even touched my first vintage Amiga - and none of those were DOS, Windows or Apple-based systems lol. Sadly that also tells you how far back I go, and how old I am. I just hope using the words 'independent IT user' will help others appreciate users like me for who we are (for our insight).....there's nothing fancy about it. :lol:
Please stop using this term to just sound more official.. Im a Independent Icecream eater as well for 30 years :)
Well Independent Icecream Eaters are also welcome in this discussion! We welcome the discussion of how ice-cream has developed over the last 30 years. My question for you is…..which do you prefer, Haagen Daz or 99 Flake? Personally I prefer 99 Flakes :roflmao:
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Next batch:
1. Do you plan to resume the production of Amiga 600/1200/4000/CD32 in the classic form known from 1993?
2. Do you consider cooperation with Hyperion Entertainment to port AmigaOS 4 on PPC Amiga which you are planning to create in the future?
3. Do you consider cooperation with Hyperion Entertainment to port AmigaOS 4 on Amiga x86?
4. Is Amiga x86 going to have fully licensed Amiga ROM in order to legally emulate previous systems?
5. Are you going to conquer computer market of graphics station based on 4 core CPU and graphic boards with powerful GPUs?
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been following and supporting CUSA for the past year....because I believe they will come up with the goods. But my view is, the community has to be realistic with what can be approached from a production perspective.
Off course x86 and ARM are viable targets offering best price/performance ratio and wide userbase. However, as independent IT pro (meaning not employed or paid by C=USA) how do you rate "goods" and "innovation": only new thing is the C64x case. Rest is available at much lower prices from any OEM rebrander, Linux of your choice and Amiga Forever.
There is little hope in bright Amigan future with current no development high profit C=USA policy - they don`t really develop anything new.
The question for Leo is:
Does C=USA have plan to DEVELOP any new hardware or software or to licence (outsource) any h/w or s/w development and if yes, what?
Next batch:
4. Is Amiga x86 going to have fully licensed Amiga ROM in order to legally emulate previous systems?
Yes, if you buy C=USA 64x or C=USA "Amiga" Mini, you get COS with legal Kickstarts and UAE (essentially Amiga Forever licence). If you download free version you get none. In that way COS is free and not free "new" OS.
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Next batch:
1. What is the target group for your product?
2. How are you going to convince your future customers to purchase your product?
3. What companies do you plan to start cooperation with? (not only Hyperion or Amigakit but also other suppliers and distibutors).
4. When will Amiga PPC from CommodoreUSA see the daylight?
5. Is Amiga PPC from Commodore USA going to work under AmigaOS 4 or some other operational system?
6. Is Commodore USA in possession of schematics or HDL codes for Amiga chipsets? If yes, do you have rights to use them?
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Is there any truth to the rumor that CUSA is buying out Hyperion?
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Q1 Why are you putting Amiga logo on HTPC cases, where are the Amiga look-a-like cases?
Q2 Why are you not doing the only sensible option of funding PowerPC 604 CPU emulation core for WinUAE option so Amiga OS4 could be run on your generic cobbled together medium power PC compatible?
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Wow Steven, thats just too funny.
So, Mr. Altman, I have a few q's for you good chap:
1. Whats the point of using the Amiga nameplate on something not even resembling an Amiga product? We aren't naive enough to take such bait, and frankly, it is very insulting
2. What percentage of markup do you apply to your off the shelf components, it seems dreadfully high?
3. Why did you back out of your deal with AROS? Even though I myself dislike AROS it seems like a shoot-yourself-in-the-arse move for you.
Final one is a piece of advice I would like to suggest to you. First off, apologize to all the developers of OS4, MOS etc. who you accuse of illegal activity, as you yourself do not have the legal basis to enforce this. Second of all, you should come up with some solution to make your products distinctive/competitive. One thing to try would be to use off the shelf ARM, X86 or PowerPC components and manufacture an ATX or Mini-ITX formfactor board which you then stuff into a case reminiscent of some Amiga product (I'd suggest the A500 or A3000, for its looks.) One idea would be to go out on a further limb and make a system that uses a simple off the shelf CPU, a GPU, a DMA controller chip, a DSP chip, a sound chip and some extra logic chips, and then market it as a Media Center system. There are ways to skin existing OSes into easier to use interfaces.
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Off course x86 and ARM are viable targets offering best price/performance ratio and wide userbase. However, as independent IT pro (meaning not employed or paid by C=USA) how do you rate "goods" and "innovation": only new thing is the C64x case. Rest is available at much lower prices from any OEM rebrander, Linux of your choice and Amiga Forever.
Yes indeed....x86 and ARM is strong contenders. Leo has I believe mentioned before about possibly using ARM chips for a future Amiga (and AmigaOS can be easily ported to ARM) - so yes personally I think all kinds of things are possible if the right parties are contacted. But this depends obviously on CUSA's decision about what they plan to do.
As to the value of their current machines, yes I think they are pretty good value for money especially the C64x, barebones and the lower end AIO systems like the Vic Slim. The new Amiga Mini - while has good spec for the size (it uses more powerful Intel Desktop quadcore chip instead of mobile chip in the Mac Mini) original pricing @ $2495 I felt for sure at first was a bit steep. It is now better at $1495 with the base Intel Core i3 configuration, and $1995 for the top i7 with 16GB) after the public outcry - but historically speaking as a brand it always has been (expensive)! According to Oldcomputers.net the original A1000 when it first came out cost $1295 without a monitor which at todays prices work out roughly as $2590. The new machine costs far less than that, is far smaller and is packed to the brim with tech, to cater to a generation now used to doing things in HD. I can't imagine a better and nicer way to revive the brand. Ok it looks a lot like a Mac Mini I admit (love or loath), but its a compact & cute design and a great way to re-envision the brand as it were. This is just the start I've been told...there are more things to come like the new desktop series....
About their product quality, well in my early days there were some niggles I had had experienced with my C64x Ultimate like the keyboard finish, heat from the CPU and so forth. I have mentioned these on the CUSA forum before (you can go and read them) - but those issues have been solved now for me - my machine is now working fine. The newer machines are cooler/have more fans for ventilation, are better specced than mine now (with USB 3.0 standard on the C64x Supreme). They are generally good computers to use, especially if you love using the clicky Cherry Blue keyboards. I can't imagine a more novel (and memorable) way of running Linux, Windows or C64 Basic.
Which brings me to the future hardware and software...
There is little hope in bright Amigan future with current no development high profit C=USA policy - they don`t really develop anything new.
Well I wouldn't say it like that...there is more hope for the future than you think.
Both Barry & Leo have mentioned before that they have seriously considered (and are still considering) creating an all-new custom or replica AIO Amiga keyboard casing. The question whether they are planning to go ahead with it is mostly to do with the mould quality, or specifically the yields they are getting from the production run. There are a lot of issues to consider in making the moulds because it has to be absolutely perfect as it is a costly process as moulds cannot be used after a run of so many thousands (their experience of making the C64x moulds has taught them this). I have to remind you that CUSA is not the CBM of old with tonnes of money to spend. Like any other small-medium sized profit-based company they have to carefully consider their investment options as to whether it is worthwhile to make certain products, and balance this with a cost and price point that is fair and acceptable to us, the public. If it is too costly they have a right not to consider it. And they shouldn't if it is...
The question for Leo is:
Does C=USA have plan to DEVELOP any new hardware or software or to licence (outsource) any h/w or s/w development and if yes, what?
As far as I know, CUSA is planning some work on software (AFAIK). Leo & Dammy has stated that they plan to bring an online store soon for Commodore OS that will allow users to purchase/download classic Commodore apps and games online (as D64/ADF files perhaps?) sometime in the future - so expect it to be Commodore-themed for the retro geek.
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Next batch
1. What is the capital of your company? What does the ownership structure look like? What are company's incomes and costs? Does the company have any loans taken?
2. What are the company's expectations from the market? What sales number do you expect?
3. Do you have plans for selling the system in Africa? If no, why?
4. How many employees does the company plan to hire this year? Where is a real registration place for your main company (mother company)?
5. Who is supposed to be strategic investor? Where does the production take place? What part of the production will be made/is made outside of Asia (percentage of the final product)?
6. Why did you choose that kind of Amiga vision? Don't you afraid that you may end up like airline companies that were trying to make use of the well-known brand "Panam"?
7. Why don't you cooperate with Yoz Montana in the matter of Amiga cases which are modern, original and have some retro feeling?
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As far as I know, CUSA is planning some work on software (AFAIK). Leo & Dammy has stated that they plan to bring an online store soon for Commodore OS that will allow users to purchase/download classic Commodore apps and games online (as D64/ADF files perhaps?) sometime in the future - so expect it to be Commodore-themed for the retro geek.
A lot was promised, but what is to be believed is just what was delivered: C64x case. And as you have experienced, a lot of unprofessionalism was displayed not only on the community communication side, but even in the hardware choices itself. Licence for Amiga computer was also for All In One computer, but yet it will not be it in despite of Mac Mini factor.
Calling C=USA products good price/performance x86 ratio you should really check what you can build on your own, higher quality components, better performance and money for some pro apps is guaranteed.
If above anything else, C=USA products are to survive in x86 competative world Barry and Leo should do some estimation
of how many e.g. i7 boards they can sell as C64x ultimate, VIC Pro, Amiga Mini, whatever they decide and buy them
from manufacturers, making profit out of difference to retail sale, not such extreme. They dig their own grave with pricing
trying to present their products as different, while they are not (excluding C64x in outside look)
Online store is website, not really a new software in classic sense of it, just another easy source of profit since Amiga games are quite abandonware by now. Lots of them can be legally downloaded already for no price. Again, its repeating the same policy of as less possible investment, illusion of CBM, maximazing the profit while developing nothing new.
Back on topic, question is:
Why the price of C=USA branded hardware is not lowered by contracting manufacturers? This kind of prices looks like
reselling small end user priced quantities + C=USA costs and idea of profit = extreme low price/performance ratio
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Hi Barry,
1. Do you regret starting this thread now?
2. Have you figured out yet that most of the community have worked out the BOM of your products and hence your profit margins?
3. When are you finally going to stop trying to sell smoke and mirrors to a community that is sick to the back teeth of broken promises?
4. Will you accept 10p, a marble and some pocket lint for your company when it inevitably crashes? (Remember this offer, it's a solid and fair one...)
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As to the value of their current machines, yes I think they are pretty good value for money especially the C64x, barebones and the lower end AIO systems like the Vic Slim. The new Amiga Mini - while has good spec for the size (it uses more powerful Intel Desktop quadcore chip instead of mobile chip in the Mac Mini) original pricing @ $2495 I felt for sure at first was a bit steep. It is now better at $1495 with the base Intel Core i3 configuration, and $1995 for the top i7 with 16GB) after the public outcry - but historically speaking as a brand it always has been (expensive)! According to Oldcomputers.net the original A1000 when it first came out cost $1295 without a monitor which at todays prices work out roughly as $2590. The new machine costs far less than that, is far smaller and is packed to the brim with tech, to cater to a generation now used to doing things in HD.
This debate should probably be split into another thread, but so long as it's here: that is completely ridiculous and utterly false. Various members here have assembled complete systems equivalent to the "Amiga Mini" $1995 configuration (a.k.a. the one that was originally $2495) for roughly $900-1100 - anywhere from 81% to 177% markup! With the $1495 base configuration? You can buy a Mac Mini with an i5 and an equal amount of RAM for half that, and that's at Apple prices.
Comparing the Amiga 1000 to modern computers is ridiculous on the face of it, but let's take that assumption and run with it, just for fun. The A1000 came with a reasonable amount of RAM and a very capable CPU for its time, and featured a chipset that was not simply top-of-the-line for a personal computer in 1985, it redefined the top of the line. $1295 was also not that expensive by the standards of the day, especially for what it provided - the roughly-contemporary IBM 5170 went for multiple times that and offered only a 6MHz 286 (deliberately gimped by the addition of a wait-state to the memory so it wouldn't impact sales of their high-end business machines,) a similar amount of RAM, a Hercules monochrome card, and only the PC speaker for sound. (The only obvious advantage it had was a 20MB hard drive.) The high-end configuration cost an astonishing $5795 - and that's in 1986 dollars! (And like the A1000, it did not include a monitor.)
So if we want to look at it like that, the Amiga 1000 blew away machines costing three to four times as much, had an infinitely better operating system, and set the standard for personal computer A/V capabilities for years to come. The "Amiga Mini?" In its high-end configuration it has a capable CPU, a large amount of RAM, and a sizeable hard drive. It's also yoked to an entry-level GPU from two years ago and has a PSU that can't possibly power the whole thing, and it costs something close to twice what an equally-specced system can be had for. The operating system is a lightly-customized version of a free commodity operating system that brings absolutely nothing new to the table, and the primary achievement of which is making a 1970s mainframe OS into a usable desktop OS. The "budget" $1495 configuration is a middling laptop in an HTPC case - again, probably more than twice the typical cost of such a system.
"Value for money," my ass.
For those who believe I only like modern machines, well I like the classic ones too. My personal opinion about the future of Amiga is that I actually I believe if the brand can be rebooted, it can exist as two formats - one as a Classic platform ie. PPC/Power7/Natami, and one as a Future platform ie. x86. Why does people always have to insist a modern Amiga CANNOT be an x86? x86 is the platform which has everything a new Amiga needs ie. Ivy Bridge, Thunderbolt, 3D etc. If implemented properly with the right customization of system and OS, it CAN be the machine we've always wanted and more. This is why I have, as an independent IT user of over 30 years computing experience, been following and supporting CUSA for the past year....because I believe they will come up with the goods. But my view is, the community has to be realistic with what can be approached from a production perspective. They have to consider whatever designs/options will be made into new gear, that it can be recreated and sustained by modern manufacturing methods AND somehow is able to supported by a strong software development community. Unfortunately at the moment the Amiga community is no Apple community. But with genuine support from all perhaps we will eventually get there…wherever 'there' might be….
This is utter pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. CUSA has revealed no plans to do anything like this at any point in the future; their only concession to people who aren't happy with commodity PC hardware being labeled as "Amiga" is to send Leo out to make soothing noises and say "we'll see what happens as things develop." You talk and talk about "eventually getting there" if we all just button our lips and pitch in without question, but you admit yourself that you have no idea where "there" is. People aren't going to throw money at a company that has revealed no plans they'd be at all interested in on the off chance that it might change its mind.
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What is your vision for next few years, in relation to the use of Amiga apps or AmigaOS 3/4 in you products.
Do you think not using AmigaOS as default in your own systems, as your doing is conflicting to having Amiga only sales goal ?
Do you see your company as an Amiga retailer ?
What discussions, agreements have been made with Amiga Inc / Bill M ? Any involvement with them ?
What discussions, agreements have been made with Hyperion ? Any involvement with them ?
What discussions, agreements have been made with Genesi / BB ? Any involvement with them ?
How does what you doing improve the Amiga platform ?
How should the Amiga community welcome you and your company, giving past relations / history ?
What sweeteners do you have for people with bitter taste in their mouths - so to speak ?
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Offtopic removed
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I apologize if what I say below sounds negative. But after literally years of asking questions and getting no answers, it needs to be said. Some of us have asked polite questions on C-USA forums and elsewhere, in true interest in wanting more info on their products as buyers. We either were insulted for it, or we had our threads removed entirely. A blogger criticized them, he was slandered and called a homosexual, among other things, so you'll have to forgive me for being doubting on this go around. I'd love to submit some questions, but I've been asking them politely for a few years now and they have never been answered, so I'm not about to waste my time with it again. My recent questions regarding a 120 watt PSU in a machine that will draw triple that went entirely ignored everywhere I posted it.
Mark my words - this "interview" is either simply not going to happen, or if it does it will be so convoluted and scripted feeling it won't be worth reading/listening to. You are asking for a sheet of questions in advance, but stating that nothing is off the table. Do it live. No advanced questions.
This is pretty much a given that it'll be a sham, a glad handing speech of quasi PR antics. There is absolutely nothing compatible with the conflicting statement of the below:
"Please send over the questions. Include every possible topic you want. I will answer EVERY question submitted, no exceptions, and absolutely nothing is off the table. In fact, if you happen to leave off a few that you think might be too controversial, I'll throw in a few that will finally address every possible issue that has been discussed and dissected ad nauseum over the past two years."
Having questions given in advance, allowing for retorts to be crafted in lieu of actually answering the questions of the top of ones head.
If "nothing was off the table", go on Amiga Round Table. Live. Live as live gets. No questions in advance. Get Rich to host/stream it all live, even if it means doing it as a G+ meetup or chatroom interview. You answer the questions live, as they come in, not with an advanced list of what said questions will be. No advance questions lists - you shouldn't need that if every question is fair game, no?
C-USA, you don't owe us any answers. Really. Even if you answered everyone's questions 110% to their individual liking, there are still some people that simply can't forget your previous actions and your treatment of the community. Me? Your products aren't for me. I'm fine with that, and nothing you could say or do interests me about a PC running Linux in a etched case that is priced at 2x what I could build it for, cost wise. However, I'm not your target market. I'm sure we're both fine with that.
This is not high theater, or a political debate where you have to win us over. For the most part no one here gives a darn about anyone addressing topics in which some seem to feel our worlds rotate around - see the "In fact, if you happen to leave off a few that you think might be too controversial, I'll throw in a few that will finally address every possible issue that has been discussed and dissected ad nauseum over the past two years."" comment.
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I have to remind you that CUSA is not the CBM of old with tonnes of money to spend. Like any other small-medium sized profit-based company they have to carefully consider their investment options as to whether it is worthwhile to make certain products, and balance this with a cost and price point that is fair and acceptable to us, the public. If it is too costly they have a right not to consider it. And they shouldn't if it is...
Surely, small to medium business with big representation. Hower A1200 look a like was promoted from very first ("scatchy") website and mentioned in licence purchase. Playing on MacMini is just lucky opportunity that it needs laser touch.
They should keep better relations with Loriano to have nice A500 like cases, and next thing the community project might be some existing PowerPC board (that runs AmigaOS,AROS,Linux or MorphOS, AROS and Linux) + such case + laser engravement. Not much more effort would be expected if 500 people prepaid it. But the name would be Commodore Amiga 1200X.
Triple boot was promised from first BigAussies videos with earlybird Phoenix.
Surely small company can`t do much, but they could outsource job to someone. Like Linux Mint boys to maintain their distro up to date, and support various "Amiga" boards worldwide any time soon :-)
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Mark my words - this "interview" is either simply not going to happen, or if it does it will be so convoluted and scripted feeling it won't be worth reading/listening to. You are asking for a sheet of questions in advance, but stating that nothing is off the table. Do it live. No advanced questions.
It won't happen, he's going to weasel out of it. But better that he publically weasel out of answering a thread full of honest, hard questions posed by the whole community than get to fulfill his claim by handling a thread with a half-dozen softballs and leading questions by CUSA's few True Believers who only want to give him a platform to blare more self-aggrandizing Five-Year Plans from.
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Double Duce`s post and add a bit of British style humor:
SinclairUK news
Introducing the new Sinclair QL mini
Real image, not photoshopped
SinclairUK are proud to announce the immediate availability of the first Sinclair QL computer in about a billion years or something, the QL mini. We did intend to launch yesterday but feared that it may be seen as an april fool joke and not an actual real product so delayed for 24 hours.
The new Sinclair QL mini is the only computer with comparable specs in it's price range, no other computer comes close and no other computer at any price allows you to do so much with an official Sinclair sticker on the front.
The new QL mini is only available in traditional Sinclair kit form as it reduces the cost to the consumer and to save you even more money we have decided that you would be better off sourcing the parts yourself as it means we don't need to pay for a huge warehouse to store everything, therefore passing the savings on to you.
To obtain your new Sinclair QL mini please follow these instructions.
1, Purchase these parts from your favourite vendor.
* ZOTAC Z68ITX-B-E
* intel core i7 2600K 3.5GHz
* 1TB SATA hard drive
* 2 x 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs
* intel mini-PCIe wireless card
* wesena HTPC ITX2 case
*Sinclair Badge for the front of the case (only available from SinclairUK for just £1000+VAT)
2, Assemble all the parts, training courses should be available in your area if you don't know where to start.
3, Send the receipts for the parts you purchased to SinclairUK so we can verify that your new computer meets the QL standards.
Once all these steps are completed, you have affixed the Sinclair sticker to your case (this is the most important part) and installed Sinclair OS you will now be the proud owner of a brand new Sinclair QL mini, the greatest mini desktop computer with a Sinclair badge available today.
You will receive a Sinclair UK welcome pack containing warranty information (only covers sticker peeling) and a CD-R disc containing a couple of emulators we downloaded.
Why buy a bog standard PC that doesn't say Sinclair on it when you can have a Sinclair QL mini that does.
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Please keep your questions professional and not slanderous. Off topic or trolling questions will be removed. Barry is taking time out of his valuable day to do this interview so don't waste his time on substandard questions.
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" Barry is taking time out of his valuable day"
Well now that he's moved on from vinyl stickers to engraving cases, he should have lots of free time, if they hired an engraver like they say. Hundreds of hours he used to spend printing stickers are now free.
He said he would answer any and all questions...
He better start typing up excuses, half truths and embellishments of the truth right away, there is an awful lot of questions already... When is he supposed to start answering them?
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I was not trolling, nor spreading slander, Transition. The claims of abuse, the instances of dodged questions, etc. can all be confirmed by anyone that's read these forums even once.
Anything I said, any claims I made against C-USA are well known. Not a word of a lie, and any concerns I made about such an "interview" actually being anything more than a dog and pony show are something a number of people are also concerned about in this little scripted affair.
I don't think it was too much to suggest that if all questions are fair game that he consider going on ART in a live fashion, assuming Rich is up for that. I suggested that because I love ART mainly, not to mention there's a hell of a lot of credibility involved in doing a "no holds barred" interview when there's not actually a script being provided.
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I have withheld my responses in this thread until now. CUSA simply holds NO INTEREST for me. I won't be reading Barry Altman's responses so there's no point in my asking any questions at all.
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Please keep your questions professional and not slanderous. Off topic or trolling questions will be removed. Barry is taking time out of his valuable day to do this interview so don't waste his time on substandard questions.
I take it that's sarcasm?
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Barry is taking time out of his valuable day to do this interview so don't waste his time on substandard questions.
Barry has taken our valuable time for way too long already by being substandard - what did you expect? This interview is pointless, as is CUSA.
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Question: If I decide to waste some of my hard earned cash on your stickers, what percentage through royalties gets paid back to Amiga, Inc?
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It is not a sin to release amiga branded pcs.Its your money so you have the right.But if that's what your gonna do then say so.Don't make promises you can't keep.The core amiga community is small and thus a very niche market and i suppose there's not much profit in it.Do your thing make a profit but in doing so you can still appease the amiga community and perhaps release small runs of products or software to support it.What about a dual strategy?For example perhaps make a classic amiga style case.Put whatever components you want in there and sell it but make the case available seperately to classic or core amigans.If you promise to do something then do it.Don't make promises you cannot keep as this just pisses people off.I think it's possible to make money and connect with the amiga community.Granted you can't please everyone so don't expect to.
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Another question:
Do you have plans similar to Gateway in the past, to sell socks and boxershorts with Amiga logo? Or maybe there are some plans of selling also other products with Amiga logo (vacuum cleaners, fridges and so on)?
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Another question:
Do you have plans similar to Gateway in the past, to sell socks and boxershorts with Amiga logo? Or maybe there are some plans of selling also other products with Amiga logo (vacuum cleaners, fridges and so on)?
"Nuke the fridge!" but keep the socks ;)
to stay -on topic- No questions from me to this sillyness...
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Hi all,
As a CUSA forum regular, I will try to answer some of the questions that I know the answer to.
First batch of questions from PPA (Polish Amiga News Portal) readers:
1. Is there any chance for any kind of cooperation between CUSA and Team AROS?
2. Is it planned to have AROS supported by your system? Is it going to support all the build-in hardware?
3. Do you plan to begin some sort of a cooperation with the Amiga community that has nurtured the legend for so many years? What I mean is to convince (in a financial way) three Amiga teams (AmigaOS, MorphOS, AROS) to work on one operational system dedicated to one machine created by CUSA.
4. Do you plan to use the potential of Natami to create chip or card that could work with your motherboard under a new, common operational system?
5. Do you plan to create something like AppleStore and after coming to agreement with the publishers and owners of old classic Amiga games make them available to buy as ADF images or to create remakes of the most popular titles?
1) This has been discussed in the past. It was CUSA's original intention to have the new Intel Amigas bundled with AROS, only it was scuppered at the last minute by Hyperion's threat of a lawsuit if they did go ahead with this plan (because it was violating their IP and clause as AmigaOS property holders). This is why Commodore OS is currently Linux-based, and why emulation of the older systems was chosen instead. Also their current agreement with Amiga Inc. says they cannot have an 'Amiga OS' like system on their machines as their base OS if it has not been endorsed by Amiga Inc. (which says it all really).
2) Leo the CTO of CUSA has said before they will try to make all new Amiga hardware 'as compatible as can be for AROS', despite not bundling it with the system. The reason it is currently not bundled is all explained in the above answer.
3) That is a possible goal yes, if the current licensing issues are/can be cleared up between the various groups (which is rather complex).
4) I don't know to be honest
5) Yes they will be, as answered here by Leo > http://www.commodore-amiga.org/en/forum/9-commodore-os-gaming/13993-publishing-software-under-the-commodore-os-banner#14007
Second batch of questions from PPA readers:
1. Do you plan some sort of a help for UAE project in order to add support for PowerPC to this application?
2. Do you plan to initiate a new open project similar to Wine which is strictly dedicated for Amiga operational system?
3. Do you plan to add numbering system to computer models (like in case A500, A1200 etc.)?
4. Do you consider extending the offer for much cheaper models, models which will be custom made upon the user requests, desktop models, mobile models, etc.?
5. Do you plan to create your own BIOS in Amiga style?
6. Apart from the "Commodore" name, does CommodoreUSA have anything more in common with the old classic line of Commodore systems? (logos, stickers, labels, retro keyboards are not an answer here)
7. What is the purpose of 16 GB of Ram in your system?
8. Do you intend to introduce UEFI technology instead of BIOS (of course in Amiga way)?
9. Why should we ask any questions to a producer/assembler of a regular PC computer when the only connection between this system and Amiga is by UAE?
10. Why did you use name AMIGA for a PC computer that neither its operational system, architecture nor a case even in the smallest way has any connection with Amiga?
11. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to support a project like Natami or Minimig AGA than releasing a PC with Linux and the Amiga sticker?
1) I don't know
2) I don't know
3) Yes I think they will be.
4) I don't know yet but there may be such plans.
5) Probably I think. CUSA's Vic Slims already boot up with their own BIOS so yes I think it might happen.
6) CBM as a company has been defunct for almost 18 years, and CUSA is a new company that while has no connections to them directly, it has legally and rightfully obtained the use of the name from its rightful holders, namely Commodore Holdings B.V.. How they decide or plan to use the name is their choice and at their discretion. I can say there have been talks of more Commodore branded products and peripherals, including replica peripherals made by CUSA with modern equipment fitted, which may appeal to existing Commodore users with legacy equipment. Obviously this depends on the market reception. If it is good I can't see why CUSA wouldn't want to produce it for the market.
7) More memory lol? No seriously why would YOU want to put more memory into a system? To make it quicker yes? So there's your answer :)
8) See answer 5.
9 & 10) The current AMIGA from CUSA is a Linux-based system because it fits with most people's requirements and idea of a performance computer for today - the current Commodore OS fulfills its requirements to provide a stable and exciting platform for all things fun and creative as a Commodore should be. Having the UAE interface in an AMIGA-branded case on a modern platform is just the icing on the cake. It is your choice whether you want to buy it (or not) for your needs, nobody is forcing you here.
That said, the real issue of using the Commodore and AMIGA brand-names (I am told) also has been to offer a refreshing alternative in the computing marketplace (i.e.. fun and creative machines vs boring corporate workhorses), AND to look at the historical issues/revival of the Commodore brand in a new light. Being x86/Linux based allows the future Commodore and AMIGA systems the best software and systems compatibility with what is on the market today (something the old systems can't do) - thus giving gamers and graphic artists something to think about again. :) And it also provides a proper basis for the various Commodore and AMIGA groups over the years to come together under one umbrella/platform as it were, so as to allow software/hardware development for Commodore/AMIGA to take place (if need be).
11) The AMIGA you are referring to is a legacy system with a very small existing software base. It would make no sense to make a system for the general public today based on out-dated technologies save for building them for a small group of hobby users. It would be better from a financial perspective to generate the necessary capital first by producing systems suitable to the general public, THEN work on specialized projects later on for the dedicated hobbyist (because they require lots of capital). It's just common-sense really...
Surely, small to medium business with big representation. Hower A1200 look a like was promoted from very first ("scatchy") website and mentioned in licence purchase. Playing on MacMini is just lucky opportunity that it needs laser touch.
They should keep better relations with Loriano to have nice A500 like cases, and next thing the community project might be some existing PowerPC board (that runs AmigaOS,AROS,Linux or MorphOS, AROS and Linux) + such case + laser engravement. Not much more effort would be expected if 500 people prepaid it. But the name would be Commodore Amiga 1200X.
While they have spoken about and are legally allowed to make proper Amiga-branded AIO keyboards I'm not involved or aware of what are their current plans for the AIO. In any case it is their choice to decide/choose the direction they see fit (for Amiga) including the naming scheme. I believe if the AIO does appear it will be something along the lines of A500X as this was the most popular unit.
Triple boot was promised from first BigAussies videos with earlybird Phoenix.
To answer your question this is a video of my C64x running tripleboot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYLJwSVI5o
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Hi all,
To answer your question this is a video of my C64x running tripleboot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYLJwSVI5o
Nice GRUB customization. But that is Ubuntu, Mint and Win.
What was ment was Win, Linux and AROS. But you answered the famous "blame Hyperion thing".
Hyperion did threatened publicly, but only to expose "no bundling" clause of court case settlement.
C=USA could still aid AROS coming out of Alpha stange and having it as optional download and install.
Commodore Phoenix Triple OS Boot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzsmiuEYUQY
Serious Q:
"Were AROS Team and Hyperion approached for further negotiations of bundling and development of AROS
Broadway or IcarOS (now AEROS too) or is there any plan to do so?"
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Please keep your questions professional and not slanderous. Off topic or trolling questions will be removed. Barry is taking time out of his valuable day to do this interview so don't waste his time on substandard questions.
Please define 'sub standard questions', in order that us members can define what constitutes 'sub standard answers' in return. We don't like our time being wasted either.
That's a double-edged sword you are waving around and your actions smack of pre-censorship, even though Barry said 'no holds barred'.
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@Middleman
Just out of curiosity, why did you feel compelled to answer questions posed to Barry?
Isn't the whole point of this thread to pose questions to Barry and then have Barry answer them?
:confused::confused:
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@Middleman
Just out of curiosity, why did you feel compelled to answer questions posed to Barry?
Isn't the whole point of this thread to pose questions to Barry and then have Barry answer them?
:confused::confused:
Good point, well made.
Perhaps the 'Defenders of the CUSA Faith' can stand back and actually let Barry answer these questions.
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@Middleman
Just out of curiosity, why did you feel compelled to answer questions posed to Barry?
Isn't the whole point of this thread to pose questions to Barry and then have Barry answer them?
:confused::confused:
That is what ya get when people are asking long answered questions. IMO, it should have been up to the staff to select a number of questions to be submitted to Barry and allow Barry to answer a portion.
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6) CBM as a company has been defunct for almost 18 years, and CUSA is a new company that while has no connections to them directly, it has legally and rightfully obtained the use of the name from its rightful holders, namely Commodore Holdings B.V.. How they decide or plan to use the name is their choice and at their discretion.
As you must surely know, Commodore Holdings B.V., the licensing arm of Asiarim, has been declared bankrupt.
It's a stretch, imo, to dismiss the issue of who can do what long term until the lawsuit over the IP is resolved.
#6
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That is what ya get when people are asking long answered questions. IMO, it should have been up to the staff to select a number of questions to be submitted to Barry and allow Barry to answer a portion.
From post #1 stating the purpose, I don't see where anyone dismissed that idea.
"Please send over the questions. Include every possible topic you want."
To me this means staff would send to Barry what "they want".
That notion does not negate what Barry stated either.
"I will answer EVERY question submitted, no exceptions, and absolutely nothing is off the table."
This means all questions "sent by staff" will be answered.
#6
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From post #1 stating the purpose, I don't see where anyone dismissed that idea.
"Please send over the questions. Include every possible topic you want."
To me this means staff would send to Barry what "they want".
That notion does not negate what Barry stated either.
"I will answer EVERY question submitted, no exceptions, and absolutely nothing is off the table."
This means all questions "sent by staff" will be answered.
#6
To me it sounds like a free for all.
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As you must surely know, Commodore Holdings B.V., the licensing arm of Asiarim, has been declared bankrupt.
It's a stretch, imo, to dismiss the issue of who can do what long term until the lawsuit over the IP is resolved.
#6
IP ownership was determined last December in La Hague. Current lawsuit is a mop up operation that should be over by next Thursday, IIRC.
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To me it sounds like a free for all.
I agree. I'm just re-stating the relevant part of post #1. I'm not saying this will go well. Heh.
#6
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From post #1 stating the purpose, I don't see where anyone dismissed that idea.
"Please send over the questions. Include every possible topic you want."
To me this means staff would send to Barry what "they want".
That notion does not negate what Barry stated either.
"I will answer EVERY question submitted, no exceptions, and absolutely nothing is off the table."
This means all questions "sent by staff" will be answered.
#6
To me, it seems like a complete rip-off of AW.net's glory days, just past the exodus/split, when Mike Bouma, Mikey C et al held court, and would offer regular "question sessions" with their holiness Barry "Fleecy" Moss and McBill of Amiga Inc... :lol:
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IP ownership was determined last December in La Hague. Current lawsuit is a mop up operation that should be over by next Thursday, IIRC.
I prefer to keep discussion of that in the forum staff created for such talk. I have links there to the documentation. Each individual is free to draw his own conclusion when reading legal documentation.
#6
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Each individual is free to draw his own conclusion when reading legal documentation.
My personal rule of thumb is to always assume the opposite of what dammy claims to be true. I've been doing good so far.
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Only the best questions will be submitted to Barry.
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question, what will it take to make you go away?
That's a question that should be addressed at Transition. he's the one constantly pushing CUSA topics on here (always bypassing the sub forum created for CUSA topics, to make sure the drivel ends up on the front page), and he's the one initiating this 'interview' (LOL).
He probably realised that CUSA topics always end up in flamefests, and that flamefests increase the site traffic. What he doesn't realise is that beyond the short term gains, he's doing a lot of damage to the site and its community. Last time Wayne let things slip here (by giving Buck and his minions a free run, in exchange for a job at Genesi) it took the site years to recover.
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Only the best questions will be submitted to Barry.
Please let us know of the list of questions (incl. mentioned all and off the table ones) that has made it, as well as method of selection (quality analysis?).
Probably a numb answer (another way to say "C=USA has its own way") exists no matter what is the question, as well as many PR override to tricky questions, so there is a little hope interview would reveal anything new, stunning or honest.
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My personal rule of thumb is to always assume the opposite of what dammy claims to be true. I've been doing good so far.
Such wit! Such intelligence! I stand before an intellectual giant among his peers. Shall I continue heaping praise on you?
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Only the best questions will be submitted to Barry.
Would you be so kind as to post the questions that are selected when they are sent, please?
This would let the A-org family know that the questions were sent as well as which ones were selected.
Thank you for your time and attention to this topic.
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This whole thing here is such a farce. But a funny read anyway!
[edit] @cgutjahr: Wenn es dieser Blödsinn nicht auf die Titelseite von amiga-news.de schafft, dann weiß ich auch nicht! ;-)
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This is my first post here so firstly i say hello to everyone.
Now lets get to the thing.
I understand that CUSA is profit-orienetd company, not charity etc. and as such needs to earn money.
That's absolutely fine and understandable. What i do not understand is CUSA's 'min effort - max profit' actions.
I would like to hear YES or NO answers to my questions only - to avoid hazy and evasive replies.
here we go:
1. Did Cusa try to talk to companies behind AmigaOS 4.1 and its hardware before starting
with its own a'la macmini - 'Amiga', with wallpapers a'la AmigaOS 4.1 to fool potential customers?
IF answered NO to above:
2. Does CUSA plan to cooperate with mentioned companies in order to develop 'old/new' system
as an alternative to presently existing ones (windows, linux, macosx etc)?
If answered YES to the above:
3. Does CUSA realise how painful, long and hard will be
this task - and in case of success - satisfactory?
I understand that our community is too small to keep few companies alive just from sales to it and therefore
CUSA needs to protect its incomes somewhere else.
4. Does CUSA have plans how to finance itself and possible AmigaOS4.+ development until it'll became profitable?
That's all what comes to my mind at the moment.
Thanks for you attention.
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Only the best questions will be submitted to Barry.
There you go again, with this pre-emptive censorship.
I fully expect that after your determination of the 'best' questions, Barry won't have anything challenging to answer at all, certainly nothing more challenging than "What day is it today?".
How are you going to determing 'best' - what criteria will determine a 'best question'; one that suits you and Barry, or one that actually addresses the issues raised in this thread?
Barry stated that 'all questions will be answered'; he set the ground rules for this, not you....if you change the rules to sanitise the questions, you are no better than politicians....
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To me, it seems like a complete rip-off of AW.net's glory days, just past the exodus/split, when Mike Bouma, Mikey C et al held court, and would offer regular "question sessions" with their holiness Barry "Fleecy" Moss and McBill of Amiga Inc... :lol:
Oh but those "Ask Fleecy" sessions were absolutely priceless. For comedy value alone. They were made even more funny by the fact that some of the more ridiculous and incomprehensible answers were taken absolutely seriously by the faithful and discussed at length in the accompanying thread.
Bring back "Ask Fleecy" to amiga.org as a weekly "Ask Barry" that's what I say.
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The last batch (I think)
1. Is the board of Commodore USA aware that making a PC in a case with Amiga logo is rather batting on people's lack of knowledge and questions "Amigans" intelligence?
2. Is CUSA aware that the only moral act that would have a positive sound on true Amigans who have been staying with Amiga for so many years is to make a system that will be realisticly connected to the legendary computers which should be hardware compatible (at least in some parts)?
3. Do you plan to release an inside keyboard system based on eg. A1200 but inside, instead of A1200 motherboard, there would be eg. Sam460ex or some other system based on AmigaOS 4?
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I told you all in my original post in this thread Barry wouldn't answer all questions. I knew he would weasel out of it. He's a coward. Hiding behind shill accounts here because he has no balls.
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Oh I should mentioned that all my posts here on this thread, in their entirety have all been deleted.
Am I suddenly on CUSA's forum?
I asked real hardball questions. Someone did not like that, so they deleted all my posts in their entirety.
The censorship around here is getting ridiculous.
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Does CUSA pay part of amiga.org's maintenance cost?
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Something must be changing for the mods to be suddenly deleting entire posts or questions that are not PRO CUSA. For the record, I'm not anti cusa, I had valid real hardball questions though. I said he would not answer them when I posted them. Looks like I was right.
Steven
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Does CUSA pay part of amiga.org's maintenance cost?
CUSA has never given even $1 to Amiga.org
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Why all of a sudden are the questions and conditions of this "no holds barred" interview being changed, with posts being removed and the conditions of the interview being altered?
Please don't tell me the wonky, erratic nonsense is to drive pageviews. Whether it is this thread, or any other seemingly only controversial topics coming from certain people, it's getting old.
Do the interview under the original terms, or don't do it. Quit jerking people around - it's unfair to the people that support this site with contributions to be used as numbers for ad revenue. I can't think of any other reason for this wacky nonsense, and it WILL bite you in the behind in due time.
It's now being said to "not waste Barry's time with dumb questions". The original terms were nothing was off limits. Many people took THEIR valuable time to construct valid, polite questions for your little dog and pony show. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less about Lord Barry's time being wasted, he agreed to an interview under clear conditions - but man, don't waste other peoples time when all they did was what was asked of them, only to have the terms flipped ass over teakettle, now seemingly under censorship.
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CUSA has never given even $1 to Amiga.org
I guess that's the price of trying to stay objective and independent at the same time? Definitely values to be admired.... :biglaugh:
But while there's no donations given so far, I can't see why not there can be cross-collaborations between A.org and Commodore USA for the future...
I'll have a word with Barry on this and see what he can do for you guys (if you want). After the interview finishes perhaps he may be open to the idea of some form of donation/sponsorship/monthly competitions and so forth...
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Originally Posted by runequester
Does CUSA pay part of amiga.org's maintenance cost?
CUSA has never given even $1 to Amiga.org
Then why were all my questions and posts on this thread deleted?
I asked valid questions concerning their past actions. And these questions were MY questions. There is no liability on the part of a.org for anything I asked or said, because they were posted by me and solely my own.
Why censor some people's questions?
I suppose it dosn't matter anyway, since Barry is now weaseling out of this "no holds barred" interview and only answering softball questions he likes.
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And for the record, I agree with DUCE. You said no topic was off limits and that you'd answer any and all questions. Now your weaseling out of that like a coward? Are you kidding me? Here's just another example of why people have no respect for you and your so called "company."
I guess saying you'd answer any and all questions was just another lie in a long list of lies, half truths, and embellishments.
The perfect way to handle this like you've been handling this whole thing.
BOAST then retreat.
Coward.
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Doesn't he have millions of fans on his own site, where he can post properly filtered and censored information?
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The day C-USA starts funding A.org on the sly is the day a good majority of people will leave. They have been using the place for free advertising for 2 years, why would they start actually paying for banner ads now? Hell, I've (and others) been asking they do exactly that since the day they stopped by. How any user could contribute financially to this place while it's a spam dumping ground for advertising by a handful of companies for free is beyond me - I'd feel better about flushing money down the toilet, tbh. Especially when some mods seem hell bent on essentially posting free press for some companies, press that will just start a firestorm. It boggles my mind how this place is getting. 30 million bucks, you would think they could have shelled some out on banner ads, lol.
Sorry, Middleman. Do your homework, and for God's sakes either disclose if you have an official relationship business wise with C-USA, or quit speaking for them. We already have one Dammy, we don't need another. For 2 years we were told here on A.org we are not part of their target market and we were insulted repeatedly. People not donating to the site while using it for free advertising is not in the least bit admirable - it's a scumbag move.
The whole situation with this "interview" has gone from half assed at best to being shameful when it comes to the terms suddenly changing, and things like this will have an effect around here. Might not be today, may not be tomorrow, but it will come.
I was often critical of Wayne. I don't regret doing that, tbh. But man, he must just facepalm when he sees what sort of grade school, pandering gongshow this joint has turned into.
A.org is to Amiga sites as TMZ or the National Enquirer is to credible news sources lately.
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*Checks date of first post again*
No, it wasn't posted on April 1st. I just had to be sure....
You know what? This whole thing has descended into farce. I suppose that we are the idiots in all of this, by thinking that Barry and Tedd would alllow a 'no holds barred' question session. It's going to end up more like Faux News....
You want to establish credibility for CUSA? Well sorry Tedd (and maybe Barry), that credibility went straight down the toilet when Tedd started to mention only asking the 'best' questions in here. Only answering fawning fanboy questions about how 'fab' your overpriced garbage is won't win the rest of us over. You have a tough crowd to please and I doubt that you both are up to it.
I'm out of here......I have better things to do...
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I'm sending the wife out to get me some popcorn.
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@thread:
:lol:
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CUSA has never given even $1 to Amiga.org
Has CUSA ever invested in anything? COS is distributed via torrents, not FTP, it took years to have decent web site, most of purchases were kind of pre orders?
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I'm sending the wife out to get me some popcorn.
With quality of this thread in mind, don't forget to ask her for a six pack of beer.
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Yes they have, they invested in one Coke Zero.
:)
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CUSA has never given even $1 to Amiga.org
They've given $30...
"Middleman - Lifetime member"
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They've given $30...
"Middleman - Lifetime member"
Except Middleman is not from C=USA, he is a customer of theirs.
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Has CUSA ever invested in anything? COS is distributed via torrents, not FTP, it took years to have decent web site, most of purchases were kind of pre orders?
In fairness it would have cost quite a sum of money to get the C64 replica case into production.
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I have been out of the Amiga scene for a decade now, but I still lurk in the shadows and watch... I think that I can simplify all of this crap.
Hello Barry. Here is my question.
What Amiga users want is a system built around modern hardware that is marketed and priced for the masses, running a completed and updated version of AmigaOS - or the equivalent, produced by a reputable company and sold at many retail outlets. Hyperion made a suicidal decision to port AmigaOS to PPC instead of x86, however the work they did allegedly simplified the process of porting the OS to x86 in the future. While many Amiga users and fans have fond memories of 68k & PPC hardware, most people are realistic enough to understand that intel / AMD processors are the only future for a home/desktop computer. Does CUSA have plans to deliver what Amiga users want and do you have a plan/timeline?
If the answer is no, no, and no... please go away. We don't want your widget...countless others already produce one that does more for less money. You are another Walker, Gateway MCC, BoXeR, Blizzard G3, AmiJoe, iWin, Amiga Inc. Merlancia wanna-be.
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Except Middleman is not from C=USA, he is a customer of theirs.
Sure... it's just a coincidence his name is "middleman" and he speaks of making negotiations between Barry and a.org.
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I have been out of the Amiga scene for a decade now, but I still lurk in the shadows and watch... I think that I can simplify all of this crap.
Hello Barry. Here is my question.
What Amiga users want is a system built around modern hardware that is marketed and priced for the masses, running a completed and updated version of AmigaOS - or the equivalent, produced by a reputable company and sold at many retail outlets. Hyperion made a suicidal decision to port AmigaOS to PPC instead of x86, however the work they did allegedly simplified the process of porting the OS to x86 in the future. While many Amiga users and fans have fond memories of 68k & PPC hardware, most people are realistic enough to understand that intel / AMD processors are the only future for a home/desktop computer. Does CUSA have plans to deliver what Amiga users want and do you have a plan/timeline?
If the answer is no, no, and no... please go away. We don't want your widget...countless others already produce one that does more for less money. You are another Walker, Gateway MCC, BoXeR, Blizzard G3, AmiJoe, iWin, Amiga Inc. Merlancia wanna-be.
Why does people think PPC processors are bad? I mean, I just don't get it. I think PPC is just fine, and I disagree with you that intel and AMD processors are the way to go. I think that PPC is just as good as intel's cheap, generic crap.
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IP ownership was determined last December in La Hague.
No, it was not.
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In fairness it would have cost quite a sum of money to get the C64 replica case into production.
One must agree it is the only innovation so far. Presumably will return by the C64x barebone price, or maybe not since all other AIO projects seems to be cancelled or delayed.
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Edits by me have been undone.
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Edits by me have been undone.
Good.
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@Middleman
Just out of curiosity, why did you feel compelled to answer questions posed to Barry?
Isn't the whole point of this thread to pose questions to Barry and then have Barry answer them?
:confused::confused:
Yeah I thought that was suss as well.. haha maybe he is Barry's evil twin :)
Actually I think he defends CUSA a little too much to be a simple customer... hmmm..
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Last year when you threaten OSNews with that cut, copy and paste letter you included your postal address in the original email which OSNews posted in its entirety. Did you ever receive that free brochure about erectile dysfunction?
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Except Middleman is not from C=USA, he is a customer of theirs.
lol
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He's definitely a middleman for something :)
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Why does people think PPC processors are bad? I mean, I just don't get it. I think PPC is just fine, and I disagree with you that intel and AMD processors are the way to go. I think that PPC is just as good as intel's cheap, generic crap.
The Earth is flat. 16K is all you will ever need. There is no global warming. Normal people don't need color graphics. Sound is bad for business computers, and smoking is good for you. If the King James Bible was good enough for Paul, it should be good enough for you.
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Question:
Have you considered working with any company other than (Amiga, Inc.) to promote new Amiga products that might be more acceptable to the Amiga community?
How about new expansions for the classic Amiga line?
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The Earth is flat. 16K is all you will ever need. There is no global warming. Normal people don't need color graphics. Sound is bad for business computers, and smoking is good for you. If the King James Bible was good enough for Paul, it should be good enough for you.
Um, no, global warming isn't happening, and sorry if I offended you with the comment of Intel and AMD's processors being generic, but if you didn't like it, you should move on. And quit insulting my intelligence. :quickdraw:
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Yeah I thought that was suss as well.. haha maybe he is Barry's evil twin :)
Actually I think he defends CUSA a little too much to be a simple customer... hmmm..
Middleman is currently located in Hong Kong, IIRC.
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Middleman is currently located in Hong Kong, IIRC.
He must be the one putting together deals with the suppliers...
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Um, no, global warming isn't happening, and sorry if I offended you with the comment of Intel and AMD's processors being generic, but if you didn't like it, you should move on. And quit insulting my intelligence. :quickdraw:
You don't need me to insult your intelligence.
The price to performance ratio of Intel / AMD is lightyears beyond PPC, an overpriced piece of hardware who's time of desktop usefulness has long since passed. Embedded applications or console gaming where the chips are purchased in the bazillions and the hardware sold at a loss is one thing...an Amiga computer in 2012 is another.
Amiga users want hardware to be available for purchase at a reasonable price. Neither of those can be delivered with PPC. That argument has long since been decided. Give me AmigaOS ported to x64 running on an AMD kit with a few gigs of DDR3 and a Radeon HD 6770, and I am happy. Wrap it up in a nice custom Amiga branded case without a giant price increase, and I am happier. X86 was the only upgrade path where Amiga could have survived as a viable platform for the everyday user. It is probably way too late to revive the brand with X86 - but it is the ONLY chance.
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It's a bit presumptuous for one person to claim to speak for "Amiga users" as a whole. I'm an Amiga user, and x86 has no interest for me...
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until someone designs and produces an AGA++/AAA system (hardware) that talks modern processor (and people are willing to learn how to program it in assembly), there will be no advancement in Amiga Computing as you believe it should be. Anything else is pure hobbyist stuff. AROS/MorphOS - fun, but fakeass.
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silly company, silly product. no need for an "interview". You want to make a new amiga? Design and produce new custom chips and find hackers to make them hum. Amiga operating system is not a slick GUI - it's making the most out of the least. It's what basic linux/unix is but with some sound and vision...
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It's a bit presumptuous for one person to claim to speak for "Amiga users" as a whole. I'm an Amiga user, and x86 has no interest for me...
+1
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Um, no, global warming isn't happening, and sorry if I offended you with the comment of Intel and AMD's processors being generic, but if you didn't like it, you should move on. And quit insulting my intelligence. :quickdraw:
The way you act 68k processors were individually hand crafted by unicorns.
Wait. No they weren't.
Motorola produced them in the millions so they are about as generic as can be.
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Middleman is currently located in Hong Kong, IIRC.
Is that Hong Kong in Germany, like your factory?
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Sure... it's just a coincidence his name is "middleman" and he speaks of making negotiations between Barry and a.org.
He must be the one putting together deals with the suppliers...
Erm, a question for you folks….why's the TOPIC suddenly turned all onto ME? Especially when I have stated clearly I have no affiliation with CUSA other than just being their customer? :confused:
Middleman is currently located in Hong Kong, IIRC.
Thanks Dammy…….yes you did remember correct. I am an expat from the UK currently enjoying the life here in Hong Kong. In a place where the food is good, the people is great and the tech is even greater…for instance, I was just looking at the latest WD Thunderbolt Duo drives which has just come onto the market the other day. It's a 6TB drive available right now for around $5500 HK dollars…..not bad if you ask me for a drive that also has a removable casing (so you can replace the drives inside). When Ivy Bridge arrives soon I might get it for a new system....
Generally speaking there's a really big IT community and market here right now, especially with the Android tablets, smartphones, 3D Bluray drives/players etc. out now and the arrival of Apple's Store which opened here last year at the IFC. There's a lot of choice here in terms of tech gear right now….so much so, it'll take me a good half a day just to list out what's available out there at the moment…. :)
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Thanks Dammy…….yes you did remember correct. I am an expat from the UK currently enjoying the life here in Hong Kong. In a place where the food is good, the people is great and the tech is even greater…for instance
Only dim sum is good in HK! I prefer mainland food! If you haven't done so, you should visit the SEG electronics market in Shenzhen! Im addicted to that place! :)
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I think its about time this thread is wrapped up, questions finalised and sent to Barry for answering etc..
Its kind of getting more and more off topic and theres already a bucket load of questions... :)
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I've been interested in this from the start. Looking forward to the replies.
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Doesn't he have millions of fans on his own site, where he can post properly filtered and censored information?
It does amuse and disturb me somewhat that he keeps bothering the Amiga community after basically telling us "you're all a bunch of sad nerds, stuck in the past, i don't need you, business and real consumers are my market" (to paraphrase).
He's a bit like that creepy ex who dumps you, claiming they never loved you anyway and your face looks like an arse, and they're got a new partner who is 10x better looking than you. Only to text you every few days and come knocking on your door again every weekend.
Very odd.
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@DanWood. But you really do have a face like an arse. I've seen it! :p
Back on topic. My one and only question is: I want to know if Barry can explain to me the difference between an entrepreneur and a capitalist. Also which one he thinks he is.
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I would suggest an Amiga, which looks and feels like an Amiga but an evolution over the classic Amiga in both looks and feel.
The hardware should be generic legacy pc including an Intel CPU but with a special custom bios which will have an Amiga look & feel to it instead of a generic PC feel.
It should come bundled with a x86 specially written version of OS4 and the BIOS can also serve as a sort of protection so that OS4 can ONLY run on x86 machines with this BIOS.
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Only dim sum is good in HK! I prefer mainland food! If you haven't done so, you should visit the SEG electronics market in Shenzhen! Im addicted to that place! :)
I'm in beijing maybe we should look at setting up a commodore Amiga group in china :)
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I'm in beijing maybe we should look at setting up a commodore Amiga group in china :)
Haha! that would be good, but Im only part time in Shenzhen (Guangdong) and Hunan.. Was thinking on my next trip leaving a a500 at my wifes family house so I dont get too bored :)
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Haha! that would be good, but Im only part time in Shenzhen (Guangdong) and Hunan.. Was thinking on my next trip leaving a a500 at my wifes family house so I dont get too bored :)
Good idea!
I left my Wii with my wife's parents in Henan. They loved it!
Our apartment is tiny so it is WINUAE for me now,
I don't know if it is different in the south but the lack of console gaming here takes some getting used to. It is all ipads and pc gaming.
Things seem to be changing slightly with a few places selling xbox and ps3 consoles but even if you go an official sony store there are no psp's or ps3's for sale.
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With quality of this thread in mind, don't forget to ask her for a six pack of beer.
Maybe even more for C=USA announcements.
Qestions:
a) When will the policy of "product first" "pictures and announcents later" be adopted by CUSA? Just for example, "Amiga comeback" was promoted at least year or two before AmigaMini launch.
b) What is the meaning of phrases like "There are all manner of estimations out there that we neither confirm or deny."?
c) Do you consider a PCI PowerPC card like Varisys VS145 with AmigaOS 4.x could be interesting expansion for your "Amigas" and could it hold interest for contemporary wider market if it could have AmigaOS 4 / MorphOS support?
Would you be willing to participate and negotiate such project that would be "Amiga card for all"?
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Please submit any final questions. This thread will close in 24 hours and questions will be sent to Barry.
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Finally the end of this thread coming soon!! :)
Cant wait to see the responses..
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Question:
Does CUSA's contract with Amiga, Inc. forbid CUSA from working directly with Hyperion?
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@Barry
How many accounts do you hold on Amiga.org and other Amiga Sites?
What are those account nicks?
Who else is authroised to speak on your behalf?
How many accounts do they hold on Amiga.org and other Amiga Sites?
What are those account nicks?
Who else knows you current and future plans?
How many accounts do they hold on Amiga.org and other Amiga Sites?
What are those account nicks?
I ask these questions because there are a fair amount of posters who talk as though they know what is coming next for CUSA.
I'd like to know who actually knows something and those who are just stating an opinion, fantasy idea, wishful thinking etc.
Cheers
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The end.
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I have two questions:
What are his plans to support Amiga community aside of selling PC clones?
What does he want from Commodore Amiga community ( :sealed: other then stop bashing CUSA) ?
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I don't think he's really going to answer all these questions as promised, but it will be funny to see him weasel out of the hard questions. It will be interesting to see him ignore the questions about their past failures and complete lack of ethics, fake computers hyped but never released, lies, fake factory pictures, stolen website text from apple, slapping stickers on existing products, half truths, and embellishments.
I can't wait to hear where their 30 million dollar advertising budget went. Or why no tv ads ever happened, only ****ty home made youtube videos.
Steven
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I can't wait to hear where their 30 million dollar advertising budget went. Or why no tv ads ever happened, only ****ty home made youtube videos.
Steven
Even answers to such questions are that hard if one is honest e.g.
"we used 30 million dollars advert campaign as promotional purpose only,
but failed to fundrise any. So we had to rely on cheap and accessible adverts such as YouTube and hardware review websites that don`t ask for actual machine but copy/paste our announcements. Thanks for the Internet, it saved our ass and is perfect for viral mambo jumbo. Only problem is that hype on net is shortlived"
But that is not a business PR
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OK folks, just to update you on the progress....
Transition has sent Barry the list of final questions, and I've been authorised to post them. These are the first round of questions that Barry will be answering soon, the majority of which should hopefully be completed by next week. So here goes....
How much has CUSA contributed to any AmigaOS, AROS or MOS bounties ?
Do you intend to contribute to any Amiga related bounties such as the Magellan one?
What does a CommodoreUSA Amiga offer that a PC made from the exact same parts doesn't, apart from the name, and a doubled price-tag?
Given the on-going development of OS4 as well as AROS, etc. What plans does C-USA have to incorporate support of any of these Amiga-ish operating systems in to their Amiga branded machines?
Does Dammy's misrepresentations and incorrect expectations about company policy and expectations represent corporate policy?
Do you feel you made any errors in talking with the Amiga community ? Will there be changes in the future ?
Given the expressed desire to progress from being a licensee to an owner of both Commodore and Amiga IP, is there any progress on either of those fronts?
More specifically, do your plans change depending on the outcome of the C=Holdings B.V. v. Asiarim Corporation et al lawsuit? If so, in what way?
Why do you feel it appropriate to use the Amiga (or Vic) name on these machines?
Is your Amiga Mini product UL and CSA certified? Likewise, were you issued an FCC ID for your product?
Is there *anything* interesting/unique in regads C-USA products, or will they always just be using other peoples work? (ie. any plans for custom apis, drivers, technologies,etc.)
Could you please explain your thought processes when you decided to fund what you wanted to be seen as a legitimate successor to Commodore Business Machines?
I realise that you fell for Hyperion's legal bluff regarding Amiga-Alike OS's hook, line, and sinker, but why didn't you research other approaches to enter the computer market with a product that, if it didn't have anything directly to do with existing Amiga intellectual property (Motorola/Freescale 680X0 or PowerPC), at least fit in with the original Amiga philosophy of Hardware and Operating System tightly coupled together?
Could you please explain why your retail model places all the supply, financial, and legal risk on your retailers to the point of having them assemble your Amiga models for end users for you? This seems to be unprecedented in the computer world. Even small Gaming PC operations like Alienware, Cyber Power, IBuyPower, Falcon Northwest, Digital Storm, and AVA Direct do not opperate in anything like this fashion.
What is the unique value proposition and/or intended market niche for an Amiga Mini with parts that have been priced (Minus the Amiga Logo) at a total of ca. $550 when you have set the prices set starting at $1,700, and one can get something with slightly higher specification from Alienware for $850?
What do you (or any of your employees with computer hardware/systems backgrounds) think of this computer/OS architecture?
What happened during the discussions I would assume you had with Ben Hermans and maybe Trevor about the attempt to license the AmigaOS for your Licensed Amiga hardware that you could build based on perhaps a Sam or X1000 motherboard in an official Amiga case.
How are the discussions going with the Natami team to support them and if you can resolve a licensing issue with Ben Hermans then build into an official Amiga system.
Do you or any of your team still use or own classic Amiga systems? if not why not? and, if so what do you enjoy about them?
In your first year of operation there was I feel a few mistakes, promoting Aros, promising support for aros, promptly dropping support and attacking aros, using copyrighted images on the web site, threaten legal action towards members of the community and respected web sites, using the workbench trademark before legally having right to it, calling your Amiga range 1000x, very similar to another product if you asked me, photo of your operations not being quite right, and announcing products and systems before you seem ready to announcing them, so basically how would you personally rate your performance? And would you care to comment on any of the above.
What relationship (if any) do you have with Amiga Inc?
Again same question but with regards to Hyperion, A-eon or any other amiga company?
How did you feel about iContain and what sets your Amiga apart from their computers?
Do you have any plans to attend any Amiga shows to demo your products?
Do you have any plans to support any area of the current Amiga scene? Viva Amiga film? Advertising on amiga web site?
The Amiga Fantasy case or similar all in one keyboard computer will it happen?
Do you plan to support Linux mint developers and Linux community?
Why should an Amiga user get one of your Amiga's?
The philosophy around the Amiga was "a computer for the masses".
Will we ever see that philosophy in practice again? And, will a "new" computer carrying a heavy name like that be as revolutionary as its ancestors were?
What is your opinion of the Natami project?Would you be interested in making Classic a500/a1200 style cases(similar to the amiga fantasy case) for natami and for sale to users that want to build their own systems.
Have you any plans to create a more classic amiga or such or peripherals etc.
What's your opinion of Aros?
Is there any chance for any kind of cooperation between CUSA and Team AROS?
Is it planned to have AROS supported by your system? Is it going to support all the build-in hardware?
Do you plan to begin some sort of a cooperation with the Amiga community that has nurtured the legend for so many years? What I mean is to convince (in a financial way) three Amiga teams (AmigaOS, MorphOS, AROS) to work on one operational system dedicated to one machine created by CUSA.
Do you plan to use the potential of Natami to create chip or card that could work with your motherboard under a new, common operational system?
Do you plan to create something like AppleStore and after coming to agreement with the publishers and owners of old classic Amiga games make them available to buy as ADF images or to create remakes of the most popular titles?
When you acquired the Commodore "thing" did you get any papers containing "secrets", items like unknown future designs? Stuff like that we would all appreciate to hear about, if such exists.
What is your opinion about the FPGA projects that are recreating the old 8-bit and 16-bit machines on hardware FPGA emulation?
Why is it taking you so long to bring to market range of computers made from pre-existing cases with a pre-existing motherboards running a pre-existing OS?
Having acquired a license to use the Commodore name to sell common x86 hardware what made you decide to buy a license for the Amiga name to do exactly the same thing?
Do you think the Amiga license represents value for money in terms of additional media coverage and custom over the attention that the Commodore name has brought to your business.
For those people who are not excited by a linux pc, will you genuinely have something of interest for them?
Would you consider some non-x86 HW, like the upcoming Efika i.MX6 from Genesi?
Do you feel at liberty to sell products with AROS bundled, in products branded Amiga? 2b) Or sell products to re-distributors who bundles the HW with AROS?
If I understood things right, You have put up an idea of third party system builders can buy a branded case (of your selection) from you and build whatever custom combination of HW inside it, for their local marke? Is that correct? 3b) Can this be "turned around", i.e. say that I already have a product using a cool custom case I have had designed, can you allow branding on those for a fee?
Could you describe exactly how the legal situation stands regarding the brand names (Commodore, Amiga, with associated marks like "Boing Ball" etc), and licenses and ownership's thereof?
The rainbow coloured ticker has huge appeal in the gay communities, I know this first... hand... after visiting bars and nightclubs in Amsterdam and San Francisco, wearing nothing but a... wearing a dark purple T-shirt with huge Amiga ticker on the chest. Are you considering the market appeal for "Amiga" and rainbow ticker in the LGBT communities?
How much did you pay Amiga Inc. for the rights to use the Amiga name on your computers?
Do you pay Amiga Inc. a licensing fee for each machine sold, or was it a single lump sum payment, or a combination of both?
Do you think the fee (whatever that may have been) you paid Amiga Inc. for the name was worth it financially?
Why do you think there is so much animosity towards CUSA from people in the Amiga community, and does it bother you?
What is your company doing to support the Commodore and Amiga scene?
Is there a line of Commodore / Amiga mice and keyboards being designed/produced which will complement the current range of Mini computers?
Have you considered adopting the Amiga styled Window Manager amiWM which although is quite limited in its current form, would at least give users a traditional look and feel of Workbench?
Are there plans to bring out a customized (Workbench style) GUI like what Apple have done with BSD and custom GUI?
What happened to the hundreds or thousands of c64x's you claimed you were shipping to big box retails stores that never happened. Why?
Why did you illegally steal footage from a disney movie (TRON) to make ads for your company?
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(cont.)
Why did you claim that ads would be on television, when they never made it anywhere but on youtube?
What happened to those 25,000$ workstation amigas you once bragged about?
Why do you make mistakes like not putting a proper fan in the c64x or giving this amiga mini too small a power supply?
Why do you delete posts that are critical or your products on your "forum"?
Why did you steal text from apples website on one of your earlier websites?
If someone really wants a commodore or amiga branded pc, why should someone pay 3x as much as the parts cost to get it from you instead of making their own stickers?
Why do you maintain so many shill accounts on a.org and elsewhere to defend your company? Why don't you just grow set of balls and post yourself and stop hiding behind fake users?
Do your parents know your running a computer empire out of their basement?
What happened to your 30 million dollar advertising budget. Does it cost 30 million dollars now to self edit a few videos to cheesy production music that costs 20$ per track and upload the view to youtube? You claimed you had a 30 million dollar advertising budget. All we've seen is a mention on a dvd and some youtube videos that were made at home.
Whatever happened to "Commodore USA's Final Challenge to the Community?"
Do you plan some sort of a help for UAE project in order to add support for PowerPC to this application?
Do you plan to initiate a new open project similar to Wine which is strictly dedicated for Amiga operational system?
Do you plan to add numbering system to computer models (like in case A500, A1200 etc.)?
Do you consider extending the offer for much cheaper models, models which will be custom made upon the user requests, desktop models, mobile models, etc.?
Do you plan to create your own BIOS in Amiga style?
Apart from the "Commodore" name, does CommodoreUSA have anything more in common with the old classic line of Commodore systems? (logos, stickers, labels, retro keyboards are not an answer here)
What is the purpose of 16 GB of Ram in your system?
Do you intend to introduce UEFI technology instead of BIOS (of course in Amiga way)?
Why should we ask any questions to a producer/assembler of a regular PC computer when the only connection between this system and Amiga is by UAE?
Why did you use name AMIGA for a PC computer that neither its operational system, architecture nor a case even in the smallest way has any connection with Amiga?
Wouldn't it be more reasonable to support a project like Natami or Minimig AGA than releasing a PC with Linux and the Amiga sticker?
Do you plan to resume the production of Amiga 600/1200/4000/CD32 in the classic form known from 1993?
Do you consider cooperation with Hyperion Entertainment to port AmigaOS 4 on PPC Amiga which you are planning to create in the future?
Do you consider cooperation with Hyperion Entertainment to port AmigaOS 4 on Amiga x86?
Is Amiga x86 going to have fully licensed Amiga ROM in order to legally emulate previous systems?
Are you going to conquer computer market of graphics station based on 4 core CPU and graphic boards with powerful GPUs?
Does C=USA have plan to DEVELOP any new hardware or software or to licence (outsource) any h/w or s/w development and if yes, what?
What is the target group for your product?
What companies do you plan to start cooperation with? (not only Hyperion or Amigakit but also other suppliers and distibutors).
When will Amiga PPC from CommodoreUSA see the daylight?
Is Amiga PPC from Commodore USA going to work under AmigaOS 4 or some other operational system?
Is Commodore USA in possession of schematics or HDL codes for Amiga chipsets? If yes, do you have rights to use them?
Is there any truth to the rumor that CUSA is buying out Hyperion?
Why are you putting Amiga logo on HTPC cases, where are the Amiga look-a-like cases?
Why are you not doing the only sensible option of funding PowerPC 604 CPU emulation core for WinUAE option so Amiga OS4 could be run on your generic cobbled together medium power PC compatible?
Whats the point of using the Amiga nameplate on something not even resembling an Amiga product? We aren't naive enough to take such bait, and frankly, it is very insulting.
What percentage of markup do you apply to your off the shelf components, it seems dreadfully high?
Why did you back out of your deal with AROS?
What is the capital of your company? What does the ownership structure look like? What are company's incomes and costs? Does the company have any loans taken?
Do you have plans for selling the system in Africa? If no, why?
How many employees does the company plan to hire this year? Where is a real registration place for your main company (mother company)?
Who is supposed to be strategic investor? Where does the production take place? What part of the production will be made/is made outside of Asia (percentage of the final product)?
Why don't you cooperate with Yoz Montana in the matter of Amiga cases which are modern, original and have some retro feeling?
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My question, why CUSA can't develop its own systems when Trevor can, is conspicuously absent...
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Is it too late to ask why all official communications are carried out through random forum dwellers that totally know what's going on but totally don't work for the company?
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Is it too late to ask why all official communications are carried out through random forum dwellers that totally know what's going on but totally don't work for the company?
LOL.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. ;)
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WTF!
I asked "Cake or Pie". Why is that not on the list?
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LOL.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. ;)
Why not? One user here, one for AW.net, at least two YT promoters ... and Italian blog about c=usa success story and X1000 failure (not the article).
In october 2011 SinclairUK has made a "fanboy call"
http://sinclair-uk.weebly.com/forum.html#/20111021/fanboys-wanted-to-spread-the-word-948247/
Fanboys Wanted to spread the word
posted Oct 21, 2011 by thedukeofawesome
SinclairUK is looking for fanboys to help spread the word about our new computer systems and do their best to troll on other Sinclair enthusiast forums all over the internet.
Any interested parties should reply in this thread stating why they are suitable for the position.
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WTF!
I asked "Cake or Pie". Why is that not on the list?
Yeah, I want to know why my question of "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop!?"
People have been trying to figure that out, since at least, the 70's.....
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LOL.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. ;)
The Great and Powerful Oz? :lol: He works for another retro hardware company ;)
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Yeah, I want to know why my question of "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop!?"
People have been trying to figure that out, since at least, the 70's.....
Shenanigans I tell ya! :pissed:
Because Pie :uzi: Cake :D
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I have only two questions for the CommodoreUSA CEO
How long will it be before the IRS or similar government agency closes you down for fraud?
How much is the Commodore and Amiga trademarks worth? Many of us would be happy to buy them off you so you can stop rubbishing our beloved brand/s.
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Is it too late to ask why all official communications are carried out through random forum dwellers that totally know what's going on but totally don't work for the company?
The Great and Powerful Oz? :lol: He works for another retro hardware company ;)
Which reminds me isn't Leo from OZ, what happened him anyway? I thoungt over enthusiastic PR stunts here was his specialist department.
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Im starting to think if Barry is living in Middlemans spare room. Great PR management thou in a way..
Looking forward to the answers!
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I'll be closing this thread in the next two hours. Ifyou have any final questions please get them in now.
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Why did you illegally steal footage from a disney movie (TRON) to make ads for your company?
Ads for Commodore were included in Disney DVD releases of Tron Legacy. Please drop this last question off the list.
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@whomever is compiling and sending the questions
If you haven't done so already...
It might be wise to group the questions by general topic, which should make the q/a both easier to address (without having to duplicate similar answers to similar questions) and easier to follow for the audience once completed.
#6
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Ads for Commodore were included in Disney DVD releases of Tron Legacy. Please drop this last question off the list.
Buying an advert does not give you the rights to replicate the product. If I take out a half page advert in a newspaper, it doesn't mean I can then re-print the paper on-line. Buying an advert is not buying a licence to reproduce the product.
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Buying an advert does not give you the rights to replicate the product. If I take out a half page advert in a newspaper, it doesn't mean I can then re-print the paper on-line. Buying an advert is not buying a licence to reproduce the product.
Have you seen the contract between C=USA and Disney? No? I didn't think so.
Back on topic:
My question is what the long term vision for the new Commodore Amiga and a OS to go with it.
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Have you seen the contract between C=USA and Disney? No? I didn't think so.
Back on topic:
My question is what the long term vision for the new Commodore Amiga and a OS to go with it.
What was publicly presented was licence to ship Tron DVD with C=USA products, merely an sales integration which any company would accept.
So far, there have been many "visions" (including c=OS titled "Vision") bust mostly has proven to be "no vision"
Question is what does C=USA think of the "image in the mirror" website SinclairUK? Is it fan to read similar themed humor and what C=USA could learn from it?
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Have you seen the contract between C=USA and Disney? No? I didn't think so.
Back on topic:
My question is what the long term vision for the new Commodore Amiga and a OS to go with it.
The fact that the videos were removed by Youtube would suggest they had no permission to use footage from the movie.
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The fact that the videos were removed by Youtube would suggest they had no permission to use footage from the movie.
Or the contract was for a set time period. I realize that hate and rage against C=USA blinds people, but Disney legal dept approved that video which was C=USA's second submission. First submission, Disney's legal dept rejected. I was asked to consult on the submission and Disney's rejection notice so I clearly have a good picture on what was legal and what wasn't by Disney's standards.
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My question is what the long term vision for the new Commodore Amiga and a OS to go with it.
Aren't you part of his inner circle, don't you know?
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Aren't you part of his inner circle, don't you know?
Why would the invalidate my question?
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Thread closed, thank you everyone for your questions for Barry.