Barry Altman and Commodore USA

[mongo]

Barry's business practices seem to be less than honest.

For example :

http://www.commodoreusa.citymax.com/f/PHOENIXGUIDE__copy.doc.pdf

http://ftp://209.35.190.68/ZPC9100%20V%201.02%20DRIVERS/ZPC9100_Manual.pdf

You can clearly see "ZPC9100" on the motherboard picture in the instructions for installing the memory in the Commodore USA Phoenix manual.

[mongo]

From section 6.2 of the Commodore USA Phoenix manual :

Commodore USA, LLC has consistently won recognition for excellence in the
design and manufacturing of high quality products. Please visit our website at:
http://www.commodoreusa.net to see the very latest information on all of our exciting,
new products.

Uh.. What?

[mongo]

Yes, I probably should  have mentioned that in my posting, since he brought that up. The Phoenix is essentially the same as the Cybernet computer.

So, I'd have to say, not only are you right but that the pictures in both manuals appear to be exactly the same.

It is not essentially the same, it is exactly the same.

I don't think he'd deny that. Especially since you can compare the two documents and see where the Commodore document uses the same photos as the Cybernet document.

Well, the photo of the heatsink has the Cybernet name poorly photoshopped off.

Since both are copyrighted, unless Cybernet has a problem with this its not really an issue.

Uh... Both are copyrighted by different companies. I can't just take something written by someone else and change a few names and claim it as my own.

[mongo]

Yup, when did branding and rebranding become something ugly? What's so different from slapping on an Amiga sticker on a Teron? Oh wait, the Teron never had Amiga stickers...

Seriously, he is obviously running a pure trading company, and there is nothing wrong with this. He has now obtained the right to sell some stuff under the Amiga marks. Great! AFAIK he has never claimed to have been developing anything. He is putting together components from various sources, like hardware, OS and fun trademarks, in order to create something that can be perceived as something slightly more valuable than the components separately. I think people should just give him a break...

Really?

http://www.commodoreusa.net/press.html

In response to an overwhelming demand from former Commodore users worldwide, Commodore USA’s CTO Leo Nigro announced today that their new Commodore PC64 will be available for purchase this holiday season. Featuring an exact replica of the original beige chassis Commodore C64, this new addition to our lineup will include an Intel Atom 525 CPU with NVIDIA Ion2 graphics, 4GB DDR3 memory, 1TB Hdd, HDMI, DVD/CD optical drive (Blu-ray optional), dual-link DVI, six USB ports, integrated 802.11n WiFi, bluetooth and a 6-in-1 media card reader.

About Commodore USA, LLC:

Commodore USA, LLC designs, produces and markets a series of all-in-one Commodore branded keyboard computers, and other unique form factor computers and consumer electronics.

Kind of makes it sound like they design, produce and market a series of all-in-one Commodore branded keyboard computers, and other unique form factor computers and consumer electronics, doesn't it?

[mongo]

Yet they are still not "Amiga"s, nor could they be legally or ethically called an "Amiga".   No special chipset, just a SoC that anyone can buy and breadboard their own system with.

Yeah. Give that a try sometime and let me know how it works out for you.

[mongo]

Speaking of difference between PPC and x86, more news from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9182103/Update_Mozilla_mulls_end_of_support_for_PowerPC_Macs and http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/08/30/tea to see where PPC is headed.

Two web browsers dropping support for 5+ year old Macs is supposed to tell me about the future of PPC how exactly?

[mongo]

Iggy, did you ask him anything about:

1) How many employees C= USA has?
2) Does he plan to do any SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT for AROS? Or in any other way to support and promote it?

I can answer those.

1) 2
2) No.

He's bought the C= name, the Amiga name rights, and plans to sell x86 boxes in old C= style cases and throw on bundled OS's.   Not very exciting and not interesting if he doesn't plan to support and augment AROS development.

He didn't buy the C= name. He got a license to use it, same with the Amiga name.

[mongo]

Hoping to have pictures this weekend.

Two months after the official launch and you're hoping to have pictures?

[mongo]

That's fair enough about the VIC Slim, personal taste and all that, but not aesthetically related to a VIC20 but clearly the c64x is and they're the same design. Why didn't they just do a white c64x case for VIC20x and a black one for c16x?

This also makes me wonder about their Amiga case designs chosen.

Only mildly curious, will not purchase anything.

If they do a white c64x case for a VIC20x,then what is the difference between the two besides colour?

The VIC-Slim is a $180 Seewor KPC210 with a sticker on it that they sell for $499.