Amiga.org
Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga.org site announcements => Topic started by: System on September 08, 2006, 06:53:16 AM
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With all the questions of whether "Is Amiga Inc alive?" or not, I thought to write to Bill McEwen himself to see whether the lights were still on. Within an hour, I got a long, well-written reply and an offer to directly answer 25 questions from the Amiga community...
In short, Bill wants everyone to know that they are still, very much alive despite the many popular rumors to the contrary. His standing offer is to take questions from Amiga.org users and they will answer the top 25 (as determined by the Amiga.org staff) as completely as possible.
That being said, a few words of [color=ffa500]caution[/color].
What this is...
This is a chance for the Amiga community to ask questions and have them directly answered by Bill McEwen in an open exchange. You can ask anything you want, as long as it's a legitimate question regarding Amiga Incorporated, it's products, plans, and future.
What this is [color=cc0000]NOT[/color]
- This is not a chance for politics and agendas
- This is not an excuse to act like children and hurl insults
- This is not an excuse for personal attacks and delving into the personal lives of Amiga Inc staff members.
Post your questions in comment form below.
On the 8th of September, I will collect the questions and the moderators and I will correlate them and select the top 25 questions. Once selected, all of the questions will be passed directly to Amiga Inc.
Mr. McEwen has stated that he will answer 25 questions.
If there are more legitimate questions than that, we will select the best 25 and put them at the top of the list. It's up to them if they want to answer more. If there are fewer than 25 legitimate questions, all will be passed to Amiga Inc for their response.
Amiga.org Disclaimer :
Because of the potential for abuse, this thread and comments contained therein will, by necessity, be moderated to the fullest extent of our posting guidelines (see link on left)
Out of necessity, we (the Amiga.org staff) reserve the right to edit the questions presented if they appear incomplete, unintelligible, or have a language barrier issue).
Sincerely,
Wayne Hunt
Amiga.org
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I do not have any questions at the moment, but i think this is a very wise step as there has been very little communications and info from their side and i definitely look forward to the answers.
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Is Eyetech still the only license holder for OS4 HW?
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What is Amiga Inc's current plans with the Amiga IP?
ie;
Looking at the current products offered on your site, there's only mobile content - will you continue with solely that, or are there plans to broaden and extend into other areas aswell?
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@Wayne,
Any idea when Bill will mail the answers back ?
(Reflect kinda asked my question allready..)
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my question is
what do amiga.inc have planned for the future of the amiga platform ?
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@seer
I would presume as quickly as they can get them all answered. 25 questions in essay form is quite a bit to take in I would believe. A week perhaps? I'm hoping to have a returned set of answers by the 15th.
Oh... snap... I forgot.. Isn't next weekend an American Holiday? Memorial day or somesuch? Well, it'll either delay things a bit, or it'll give him more time to work on the answers...
Either way, this is a helluva big olive branch they just tossed out to the community. I say let's grab it and see if we can sink em..
:laughing:
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My question to Amiga. Inc is:
Are you willing to give out licenses to companies like Genesi for ports of Amiga OS4 to the pegasos platform?
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Amiga Inc. have identified themselves at long last and soon we'll know exactly where they stand. Then we can crush them!
(I'm kidding...! I kid!)
My question is: Are they aware of the Mini-'mig and the possibilities it opens up, and if so are they willing to allow such a "retro device" to co-exist with the A1 and on?
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Oh... snap... I forgot.. Isn't next weekend an American Holiday? Memorial day or somesuch?
Eh.. I thought you were the american here ? :lol:
At any rate, let's see what questions the people come up with. I'm off to bed, way past bedtime...
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1. Do you know why Eyetech isnt making AmigaOne boards anymore? If so, can you tell us why? I have my own theories, but I'd like to hear words straight from the horses mouth.
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There have been comments for some time describing the lack of Amiga Inc. response to a number of OS4 license inquiries sent to the prescribed technologylicensing@amiga.com email address. Is OS4 licensing available to those interested in developing new hardware, especially since Eyetech's AmigaOne product line has gone AWOL? Are licensing details available for discussion/negotiation even if an interested party does not yet have a workign sellable new design, but they are investigating licensing costs to better balance final total system package price to performance/features?
Note that I'm not asking if ACK or Troika have a license. I'm asking about this from a more generic point of view about any possible interested parties.
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Whats your stance on granting OS4 licenses? It seems to me that you're willing to grant for anyone except Genesi, due to bad blood in the past. People seem to be assuming that because the AHT deal went bad at the end, and because theres no Peg2 port of OS4, that you dont want to grant licenses for ANYONE at all. It might be a good idea to clear this up.
-EDIT- billt, you beat me by 1 minute! I cant decide wether your question is worded better than mine or not. :)
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-EDIT- billt, you beat me by 1 minute! I cant decide wether your question is worded better than mine or not. :)
Let the moderators decide. :)
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@McEwen
Some time ago, I read something where Newtek was interested in how the Amiga was coming along (they being old Amigans and all). Have you been in contact with them at all lately and what can you tell us about your conversations with them?
@McEwen
What can you tell us about any video editing software being ported to or created for AOS4/AmigaOne?
@McEwen
Believe it or not, I still didn't get my Club Amiga T-shirt. Do yo have any extras laying around I could have? I did pay for it after all.
@McEwen
Did Garry Hare really leave Amiga, Inc.?
@McEwen
What is your current position at Amiga, Inc., considering the recent buyout by KMOS?
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As I posted on AW...
What are Amiga Inc's views on an x86 port?
To whom would they grant a license for x86 and under what circumstances?
What could (sympathetic) members of the community do to make this a reality?
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Hmmm... so I guess they've just been hibernating?
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Would Amiga Inc. consider being sold? If there is interest, what would be the rough requirements of sale?
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Apple is moving/ has moved from PowerPC processors to Intel. Apple were, I am assuming, the primary consumer of PPC processors. How do you think Apple's decision will affect the future of the PPC architecture?
Has Apple's decision affected the future plans for the Amiga on PPC? Has moving to a different processor architecture (or the ability to run on multiple architectures) been considered?
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My two questions...
1) How many paid employees does Amiga Inc. have at this time?
2) What is their current top priority? (Securing a hardware vendor for AmigaOne? Establishing a niche for AmigaDE? Licensing IP? Something else, entirely?)
Thanks,
Tom (Ilwrath)
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Is Amiga Inc continuing as a going concern?
Meaning.. Your company has and will have enough resources to continue to operate indefinitely, and will not go out of business and liquidate its assets?
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The only possible question I have: Has Tronman been paid what the courts said he was legally entitle to in a judgement against Amiga Inc. If not, why not after all these years?
YEEHAW!
Dammy
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Is there a plan for OS Platforms? Will Amiga Inc. either recruit established vendors, help kickstart new manufactures or bolster current hardware platform efforts like Powervixen, Troika or even Elbox.
Plaz
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Is the reason for the relative lack of new product from Amiga Inc. because you have been fervently working on the new cross platform version of AmigaOS??
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1 What will happen to amigaOS4 if no new hardware license is granted in 2006?
2 Can Hyperion and other programmers involved in AmigaOS4 decide to take their code back scrap any reference to the Amiga brand, call it let's say DancingBananaOS1.0, and port it to the harware platform they want ? (PPC or X86 or anything else)
3 Since Amiga Inc doesn't make the OS, doesn't make the hardware either, doesn't promote amigaOS and doesn't grant licences, inherently blocking amigaOS4 sales, what is exactly the value added by Amiga Inc for the amigaOS desktop user?
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1. What was/is it like being the focus of an army of devoted/fanatical Amiga users? Specifically, having so many (unrealistic) hopes pinned on you and your Co, then, as time has moved on, becomming more a focus of negativity?
Mod: This is a serious question, not an insult.
Its an observation of the userbase's sentiment over the last 5+ years and how that has affected Ainc's managereal drive, direction and resolve.
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- Why have you not complied with the court order and paid Bolton Peck the money you owe him?
- Why have you not complied the the court order to port AmigaDE / AmigaAnywhere to Genesi's Pegasos platform, as ordered by Judge Lasnik some years ago?
- The security certificate on Amiga.com expired at the end of 2005 and has not been renewed. A large number (the majority) of potential customers will not enter their credit card details onto a site without a valid security certifcate, resulting in lost sales. Why did you not renew the security certificate when it expired last year?
- Garry Hare told AmigaWorld.net in October 2005 that he was no longer affiliated with Amiga Inc in any capacity. Yet Amiga Inc's current contact details are at Garry's home address. Were you aware of this?
- Why did you shut down Amiga.org's Cafe Press web store?
- Do you get fed up with people sending you emails and asking you questions regarding Amiga OS4 when you have made it clear time and again that you have nothing whatsoever to do with Hyperion's project other than lending the name?
- In your recent promotion in conjunction with the Brazilian site 'mobilezone.com.br', the editorial text referred to AmigaOS evolving and changing into AmigaAnywhere, and made no mention of the existence of Amiga OS 4. Do you know where mobilezone could have gotten such incorrect information from, and why did you not correct them after you read the article?
- Amiga Inc's lawyers recently complained to an ISP over a video showing a 1985 Amiga 1000 computer booting Amiga OS 3.9 with a custom ROM. Do you intend to take legal action against the designer of the 'Minimig' (A re-implementation of the original Amiga hardware using FPGA's) and if not, does this mean that people are free to produce their own Amiga clones without fear of litigation?
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Do you honestly believe the {bleep} you guys put in the "About Amiga" section of your press releases?
Amiga, Inc. is the world’s premier provider of multimedia enabling technologies. For almost two decades its award-winning software has been a mainstay for motion picture studios, multimedia creators, and digital entertainment enthusiasts around the world. Today Amiga builds on this legacy leading the way in multimedia development by providing developers with hardware-independent technologies for writing and porting applications to new platforms and interactive devices. AmigaAnywhere™ enables applications to run on a broad range of processors including ARM, StrongARM, Intel X-Scale, OMAP, MIPS, x86, and Hitachi SH series and to run hosted on a wide variety of operating systems including Linux, Windows CE .NET, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. AmigaAnywhere™ applications are available online at www.shopamiga.com. For more information visit www.amiga.com.
Follow up... Really? Come on now... :lol:
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@Wayne,
Brilliant!
@ McEwen
What if anything can the AMIGA community do to help bolster the AMIGA brand and the communities wish for AMIGA OS to continue to develop / move forward either by contributions monitory ($) or coding wise and or HW devleopment, porting if needed???
@ McEwen
Is AMIGA/Partners on track for a AMIGA OS / Hardware release timeframe and will it be soon? i.e soon as in not another 2 years.
@Moderators
Please feel free to edit if you can word my questions better and they make the list.
Oh and thank Bill for this oppertunity!
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1. Any interest in working with the new Commodore? (for "old times sake")
2. What Amiga patents does Gateway still own and dow does it affect Amiga Inc.?
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What is Amiga Anywhere current status? Will you release an OS4 AA player?
Where is Fleecy?
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Is there a roadmap ?
Meaning, what is the business strategy for the future ? (if there is any)
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hum...
- Why did you ask for a shutdown about the A1000 kick3.9 video ? There is nothing illegal in that, even US, French, EEC laws allow that kind of personal research test.
- What would be your road map for the next 5 years ?
- Where come from the income of your society, since no more software and hardware are produce, even the games for cellphone on your site aren't buyable due to the expirate certificate since half a year... but some seems to be sold by some other cellphone services.
- As Alan Redhouse, do you think the "historic Amiga Market" is too small to get suficient income and so no interest at all to produce something new ? (See his June 2005 interview)
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Apple were, I am assuming, the primary consumer of PPC processors.
Actually Apple used only a small fraction of PPC processors manufactured. Most PPC processors are still used in cars, trains and all sort of embedded systems (as can be guessed, amount of them can easily exceed not only amount of PPC based computers, but computers in general)
but then again, when talking about fast PowerPPC's (G4 and faster), then Apples share of them might have been significant. This might mean that they will focus more on processors aimed at embedded usage (less MHz, less power usage)
My question: Is Amiga inc. going to use the "buy back" option to buy OS4 back from hyperion once it's completed? If yes, have you planned any further in-house development?
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@Wayne
Wow! What a scoop!
Most of my questions have already been asked (another vote for the OS4 hardware licensing situation)
@Bill McEwen
1. Are there any plans to work with Hyperion and AmigaOS4? If not, is it possible to hand the OS over to Hyperion and give them a free reign on what they can do with it, perhaps just taking a small licence fee per unit for the use of the "AmigaOS" name?
2. Why won't you let Fleecy attend and speak at Amiga events in the UK?
3. Can you confirm or deny rumours of legal proceedings against Eyetech relating to the MicroA1?
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Who,in your opinion, holds a valid and complete license to produce hardware for OS4?
When OS4 is released, do you plan to enforce the "Buy-back" clauses and acquire the OS4 developers' work with or without offering additional payment, considering that the feature list of OS4 is far above that originally planned for a 4.0 release?
You will no doubt be aware that the remaining Amiga community is more interested in the "Classic" Amiga OS and AmigaOS4 than it is in your AmigaAnywhere products. How much do you consider the Classic->OS4 ip to be worth and would you be open to serious negotiations (eg from Hyperion or others) to buy this for future and separate development, if necessary under a separate name (eg Workbench) to avoid name-clashes with your own products.
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Sorry but i think that he wants questions about amigaanywhere, probably he respond to all AOS4 questions with something like : "that has to respond it the Amigaone partners"
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Since it appears there are more people who know about Amigas from back in the 80s/90s than from more recent events, what does modern-day Amiga Inc offer to the "retro scene". Are there plans to capitalise on the remaining goodwill from that era and service that particular market in anyway?
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Question;
Would AInc allow the community to sell Classic amiga like devices fully equipped with Kernel ROMS?
For instance a Minimig with an OS 3.1 Roms in original form or modified to support the hardware.
Maybe someone can formulate this in a better way?
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This is not a chance for politics
Would it be possible to apply similar rule also to his answers. Ie. for each answer which
- just says that he does not know
- just says that it is for others ("AmigaOne partners") to answer
- in politician style looks like an answer but does not answer anything
- in politician style is answering something completely different which was not asked at all
- in politician style is "answered" through a counter question
he need to answer one additional question. Until at least 25 real answers are available.
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#1 What is your future strategy regarding AmigaAnywhere and how you will compete against Java and .Net?
#2 Why does the AmigaAnywhere SDK is so hard to get?
#3 Have you considered a public and free AmigaAnywhere SDK?
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Wow, great stuff!
Now most of the questions I have have been asked already but Im going to paste them here.. first my questions. :-)
Q: What do you think is the current value of Amiga Inc as an entity, would the current Amiga community be able to buy Amiga in an effort to assist development?
Q: You seem to just be reselling other peoples games for mobile phones/PDA's, is this all that Amiga is now?
Q: What would be the chances of someone buying a licence for either OS4 or 3.9 (Or any down to 3.1 to be honest) for a port to another hardware platform? (X86, Coldfire, or a OS3.9 Kickstart)
Great questions other people asked:
Q: How many paid employees does Amiga Inc. have at this time?
Q: The security certificate on Amiga.com expired at the end of 2005 and has not been renewed. Why did you not renew the security certificate when it expired last year?
Q: Why did you shut down Amiga.org's Cafe Press web store?
Q: Garry Hare told AmigaWorld.net in October 2005 that he was no longer affiliated with Amiga Inc in any capacity. Yet Amiga Inc's current contact details are at Garry's home address. Were you aware of this?
Q: Do you honestly believe the stuff you guys put in the "About Amiga" section of your press releases?
Q: Is there a roadmap for what Amiga intend to do in the next 5 years?
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Any progress on "Mystery Device"?
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Q: Every public figure involved in the Amiga community has suffered vitreolic and personal attacks from a small but vocal minority. The attacks on you went way beyond vitreolic and personal and anyone could understand your disengagement from public view.
However will Amiga Inc now engage more fully with the AmigaOne/OS4 community and userbase?
Q: When will the AmigaDE SDK be available on OS4?
Q: Does Amiga Inc plan to be represented at any future Amiga events/shows?
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@Oli_hd
Why would people embarrass Wayne by expecting him to ask Company Confidential stuff from Bill.M.
Bty - what a coup Wayne! :lol:
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Why would people embarrass Wayne by expecting him to ask Company Confidential stuff from Bill.M.
Well they are interesting questions, Amiga inc dont make anything and just point you to the company thats making that item so you are rather stuck on what you can ask, its all "can you give a licence for this" "can you give a licence for that"
So we are left with "how many people are on the pay roll" and "why has your SSL cert not been renewed" and other rather personal questions.
Although I am thinking we are going to get a lot of "no comment" or "we are working on something big but cant tell you" replys... heres hoping not though.
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@Wayne
First of all, thanks for your initiative.
My questions to Mr. McEwen:
1. Does Amiga Inc. any plans for AmigaOS for desktop platform or will you focus only in AmigaAnywhere for portable devices? Do you still have any real interest in AmigaOS?
2. In your web page you say "Amiga, Inc. does not distribute or support AmigaOS 4.0.". Unfortunatelly, this seems to include AmigaOS 4.0 promotion... We have only seen news regarding AmigaAnywhere, but none regarding AmigaOS 4.0. Why Amiga Inc. has remained so silent regarding AmigaOS 4.0 promotion?
3. Will there be a future convergence between current AmigaOS and AA as one product or will they remain as separated products?
4. Do you plan to support in any way current AmigaOS user base and developers?
5. It was said any further AmigaOS version was going to be developed in-house by Amiga Inc. Is this still true? If yes, developing the OS in-house means a delay: new developers have to take and understand a work made by others -Hyperion-, so why not simply allow Hyperion to continue their good work? They are doing quite well, they have even done more than initially expected.
6. If Amiga Inc. takes finally back AmigaOS development, you will have to provide support for it and the means for its promotion and distribution. Any plans on this?
7. Hyperion has stated that they will not release a final OS4 version until there's real hardware to run it on, and that depends right now on licensed HW, so how many companies/individuals have asked for an Amiga license for its HW? How many of them finally got it? How many are currently active? If possible, coud you please give its names?
8. Will Amiga Inc. keep the made-by-others, licensed HW scheme or will you make any new HW?
Saluditos,
Ferrán.
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Do any of AmigaIncs licensing holders have plans to build a notebook that will run OS4?This also includes licensing that are in the works as of Sept.06.
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Is there a plan to have Amiga OS run on x86?
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@Oli_hd
Well they are interesting questions
That's true!
@Wayne
Maybe you could submit the questions to Bill and then respectfully ask that if they warrant a reply along the lines of "See answer to Q5" or "Unfortunately this matter is Company Confidential" - that Bill replies with this list and asks you to submit some more.
This way we will get full answers to all 25 questions! Boy! We need these answers!
You can always append the 'failed' questions with Bills' response at the end.
@BillM
Oh and I forgot earlier - Thanks for doing this q&A session. It is very much appreciated and eagerly anticipated!
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Poster: weirdami Posted: 2006/8/30 19:14:02
@McEwen
Believe it or not, I still didn't get my Club Amiga T-shirt. Do yo have any extras laying around I could have? I did pay for it after all.
I gave up on that shirt a long time ago. No one every responded to emails about it either.
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My Question would be: (In a popular vein)
Amiga Inc (as any well run business) must be profit focussed and customer driven. Are they aware of the recent resurgeance in 'retro gaming', particularly in the big ecomonies of the US and Europe and therefore big dollar bills associated with this genre.
As an example; Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo together with all the major software houses are falling over themselves to re-write 80/90's games or produce retro collections (just look at the PSP's line up!)
Essentially, since you guys have one of the most sought after intangibles assets around, namely a HUGE brand, is it time to cash in, either by selling the Amiga brand to say, Commodore or partnering with another forward thinking organisation or individual, like the MiniMig creator; in a hardware sense.
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@ Wayne great work fellar... Its brought me back to amiga.org too ;-)
Here We Go
Is Amiga willing to go public and become a PLC so that community members have the opportunity to become shareholders and have a say in the company direction ?
Is Amiga willing to have a community elected member sit on its board in an unpaid role to be the face of the community ?
Is Amiga willing to have an open day so that press staff from the likes of Amiga.org and Amigaworld.net could visit its offices meet the staff and view some developments ?
Does Amiga still plan to take AmigaOS4 back in house after Hyperion's final release ?
Without breaking NDA's can Amiga comment on how many licences have been issued for OS4 compatible hardware ?
Does Amiga own any AmigaOnes and is there any OS4 development going on in house ?
Are the $50 coupons ever going to be refunded ?
Its now six years since Amino bought the Amiga assets from Gateway. From an Amiga Inc point of view not a lot has been done to raise the profile of the platform. As a once quoted "Amiga Evangalist" surely you are saddened by Amiga's place in the market. Are there any initatives planned for raising the profile of the platform beyond the retro hobby niche market ?
Would Amiga Inc be willing to fund the development of much need applications to the plaftorm, EG: a browser and office suite ?
What is Amiga Inc's plans for OS4 and OS5 ?
Recently we at 3CAG contacted Amiga regarding attending a UK Amiga show (Big Bash 4). However, all correspondence has gone unanswered. Even if using the offical method laid out on the Amiga Inc website. Would you be willing to send a representative ? (www.amigabigbash.net)
Are Amiga trying to distance themselves from the legacy platform and OS ?
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I can see some questions that wont make it to AInc.. but I myself would have liked to see them answered.
Good job Wayne.. looking forward to the final list.
I myself dont have any..you guys covered them all.
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1. in what way are you supporting the os4.0 (and os4.x) development and/or team?
2. do you still have plans to do an "amiga os 5" as announced long time ago?
if yes, are you already/still working on it and what is it status and what does it feature?
if no, why have these plans been canceled?
thank you very much!
byebye...
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Comment: I would like to see OS4 developed for Intel based HW. In fact, I would like to help in the development of software for the platform in some way.
Question: Would it possible for Ainc to allow open development on the platform (in a model like Apple has)?
Strategic suggestion: Please develop a port of OS4 beta for Intel and make it available for us to begin developing on as soon as possible :-)
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@McEwens's
1/ There is an IDE called RealBasic that does cross platform compilation (window/mac/linux from ppc to x86 hardware). Is there any plans to make RealBasic allow us to create code for the OS4 platform? My idea here is that this would help a lot new software to come on OS4 platforms.
@McEwens's
2/ What is Amiga Inc doing nowadays?
@McEwen's
3/ What efforts are done by Amiga Inc to help manufacturers coming out with new PPC Hardware?
@McEwens's
4/ Is there any real plan to bring Os4 to x86 platform (since PPC one is too exenpensive, and will disapear in years to come).
@McEwen's
/5 Why an AmigaDE game bought for ie windows platform must be bought again (along with a new player) to play it ie on my brand new ipaq? Is that a way to create Anywhere content? Does that mean buying things twice...or more?
@McEwen's
/6 How many Cell phones are currently supported by the AmigaAnywhere player?
@McEwen's
/7 Can you explain us Amiga Inc strategy for the three years to come?
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I'm stuck with Verizon wireless, due to signal/tower availability in some areas I find myself. (ironic though, as it gets a very very poor signal at home so I still require a landline phone there) Their CDMA phones seem to lack a lot of features available for GSM phones. Is AmigaAmywhere available for Verizon phones, or are Verizon customers compelely removed from your market? I have an LG VX9800 (AKA "The V") phone.
OT:
I'd love to dump Verizon, but I'm stuck... I don't like my phone, but I'm stuck... I envy the cool things my friends' GSM phones can do, but I can't have them. Why oh why do the phone makers not do exactly the same thing with a CDMA connection, why do the phones have to feel so limited and primitive compared to GSM stuff? Doesn't it sound shady that Verizon cashed the cable TV check (written payable to Comcast, not to Verizon, I have the carbon copy to prove it) I accidentally put in the wrong envelope and sent to them? I really wish I wasn't stuck...
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Are the $50 coupons ever going to be refunded ?
For that matter, what about the discounts for those buying the Party Packs? I bought both a Windows and a Linux party pack in addition to my $50 coupon...
@all:
Wasn't the Party Pack discount for AmigaOne or OS4 about US$100 each? I may not remember this exactly right, someone please correct me if needed...
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@Missing t-shirt people
HMetal (Amiga Inc's webmaster) came on IRC (#amigaworld) last night and said if you are still missing your t-shirt to please email him at webmaster@amiga.com to resolve the issue.
@Wayne and staff
Don't bother asking Bill about t-shirts please. It's been done to death and back again. There are far more important questions.
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What is Amiga Inc's view on all the different websites offering free download of Kickroms and AmigaOS 3.x and below?
Are you protecting your IP, or is it up to Cloanto in this matter?
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@Bill Mc Ewen :
How many full-time workers at Amiga Inc. and where are they working (home, Amiga offices...) ?
@Bill Mc Ewen :
What is the sales volume of the AA titles ?
Best regards,
Thank you !!!
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1) Since .NET's CLR has gone shared source and consequently been partially ported to other platforms as MONO, and since Apple is similarly backing an open source intermediate code format called LLVM, is there any plans to follow a similar path with AmigaDE for Amiga?
2) If not, is there a plan to export to the other intermediate code formats as a means of expanding cross-platform support?
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Is there any chance for OS4 to be released commercially and work on existing PPC hardware (such as PPC Macs) rather than being restricted to hardware with specific licenses? If not, is there a specific reason (eg. would it violate some form of contract/license?)
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Simple - From the perspective of Amiga Inc - What DOES the future hold for Amiga computers. Not AA or DE or whatever because thats software.
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Computer operating systems have usually been written to allow the use of a hardware platform - whether IBM, Apple or Commodore etc., and not hardware developed to run an OS.
Does Amiga Inc believe that there is a place for an OS which is not open source, and not tied to a hardware platform?
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Great opportunity. Hope this session will shed some light on the Amiga situation.
My few cents:
1) When Gateway bought 'The Amiga' they initially had great plans with it. Rumours had it that Mircrosoft threatned them with a Windows-ban if / when they materialized these plans, leading to a canceling of those plans. If those rumours are true, are they part of the reason why AmigaOS isn't ported to other platforms? [hmmm... moderators, I'm not too sure if this is a legitimate question, it's NOT intended as abuse, it's a question that's keeping me busy for quite some time now]
2) The year 2007 would be 25 years after development on the Amiga started. Wouldn't that be a nice oportunity to sell a celebration version of the Amiga? Right now I guess everything ranging frome a one-off production run of the A1000 to a licensed production run of something Minimig-like would be apeciated by the remaining Amiga fans.
Okay... I'll go back dreaming about an Amiga resurrection...
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@wayne, thanks.
I have no questions for Amiga Inc.
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Simply - what Amiga Inc does today?
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My questions are:
Do you plan new products other than AmigaDE/AmigaAnywhere?
What do you plan on the audio area on your products?
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How big do you think the potential market for AmigaOS 4 is? And, based on that figure, how much money does Amiga Inc have to make from each person that wants to use AmigaOS 4?
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1) Do you have any plans to port AmigaOS x to AmigaAnywhere? It would let people run AmigaOS x on both PPC and x86 computers in hosted mode, and if they have any need to run more powerful programs, they can by an amigaone/clone and run AmigaOS in native mode.
2) Are you willing to releace the Clasic Amiga Hardware specs and AmigaOS 1.0-3.1 source code to the public? This would also help grow the platform, and if they need to run a more powerful program that would not run on AmigaOS 1.0-3.1 they would have to buy an amigaone/clone with AmigaOS 4.0 or above.
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Do you have any plans to port AmigaOS x to AmigaAnywhere? It would let people run AmigaOS x on both PPC and x86 computers in hosted mode, and if they have any need to run more powerful programs, they can by an amigaone/clone and run AmigaOS in native mode.
So, you want to run OS4 inside of AmigaAnywhere, which itself requires a host OS such as Windows? Hosting Anywhere makes sense to the point that JVMs do, basically hosting a particular application that can run on any host platform. I'm not sure it makes sense to run an OS like AmigaOS4 inside a hosted VM. Why? For that to be useful, then OS4 apps/games must work in that environment, currently they only work in PPC environment. If you need to port your apps to work in the double-hosted OS4, why not just port it to the VM hosting OS4 instead? That effectively gives you the same market, since AmigaOne-native OS4 cannot provide the VM environment, these apps/games would only be usable under the VM hosted OS4 port.They wouldn't gain any potential market for existing OS4 binaries, and developers would have to make at least two binaries for their OS4 stuff, one binary for AmigaOne/PPC, the other for double-hosted VM OS4.
It makes more sense to port AmigaAnywhere to OS4. That way they slightly increase their potential market, as now anywhere apps can be used on everything they already do plus on OS4. Granted, the current Amiga market adding into their existing possible anywhere market would be hard to notice.
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Does Amiga Inc have any future plans regarding desktop Amigas? OS5?
Will AmigaAnywhere/Amiga DE be ported to Amiga OS4?
How many licensed OS4 hardware builders are there? What is involved in getting a license?
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Mine are multipart as well, but can probably be merged with previous concepts:
-Has the NHL deal borne any sort of fruit? [Is any of same publically available, and if so, where is it present/available for purchase?]
-Is what's left of Amiga Inc. now tightly focused on the publishing role, similar to what became of the Atari brand, or do other business relationships/'technology partnerships' continue? [Albeit still with the DE/intent connection, sure.]
-Will a shrinkwrapped development environment ever be available again? ['Shrinkwrapped' used in the sense of 'generally available without requiring contractual obligations above and beyond a conventional software license.' Or 'without direct negotiation required,' at least.]
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Thanks to Wayne and Bill.
Q What has changed?
Q Will OS4 be available for more PPC hardware?
---
redfox
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Since it's owned by Hyperion, the AmigaOS has nothing to do with Amiga Inc anymore, so what's the role/relevance of Amiga Inc in the computing/mobile world?
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Well they like to think they are, but curiously, when we ask (me or my attorneys) there just isn't any money around but of course they'll settle with us for stock in the (if McE told me right) the company that Hare founded and has since left but whose stock quadrupled in value, I refer to KMOS, or 'the shell game Amiga played to hide its assets from creditors'.
Of course, Bill says it isn't a shell game, yet all the assets of Amiga are now owned by KMOS who can use them, but isn't responsible for Amiga's bills, but Amiga apparently didn't get any money for this stuff.. It's a mess.
Anyway, I'm not gonna bother asking this question, I am in no mood to hear the hype/PR {bleep}. The bottom line is I don't have my money. It's been four years now. I've no illusions of getting it anytime soon. I'd be happy to be surprised of course, but not holding my breath..
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Some years ago, I ordered an AmigaOne XE computer from Software Hut. I got my AmigaOne XE, but never did get my copy of AmigaOS 4.0. Now I no longer have my AmigaOne XE, so AmigaOS 4.0 will not do me any good until I get a new AmigaOne. So anyways, is it posible to trade in my rights to use 1 copy of AmigaOS 4.0 on one AmigaOne Computer for the rights to develop Hardware to emulate clasic amigas?
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On March 15, 2004, Amiga, Inc.(a state of Washington company) announced that on April 23, 2003 it had transferred its rights over past and future versions of the Amiga OS (but not over other intellectual property) to Itec,LLC, later acquired by KMOS, Inc. (a state of Delaware company).
The statement has since then been removed from amiga.com, but it is archived at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.amiga.com/corporate/150304-amigaos_sale.shtml
The March 15, 2004 statement reads in part:
On April 23, 2003 Amiga entered into an Agreement with Itec LLC, later acquired by KMOS, Inc. for the transfer and sale of all of Amiga's right, title, source code, and all versions, from the "Classic Amiga Operating System" through AmigaOS 4.0 and all subsequent versions to KMOS, Inc. ... "I [Garry Hare] should point out, that except as they relate to the Amiga OS family of products, KMOS did not acquire the Amiga name, intellectual property or its DE line of products. These assets remain the property of Amiga Inc."
On March 16, 2005, KMOS, Inc. announced that it had completed all registrations with the State of Delaware to change its corporate name to Amiga, Inc.
So it would appear that Amiga, Inc. (Delaware, formerly KMOS) owns the Amiga OS, and Amiga, Inc. (Washington) owns the trademarks,etc. Is this correct? If this changed, at what exact date(s) were the remaining assets transferred from Amiga, Inc. (Washington) to Amiga, Inc. (Delaware)? We know that it is claimed that in April 2003 the OS changed hands, but the Amiga community is still missing an announcement about this other important change of ownership of the rest of the Amiga IP.
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Some questions :
- A port of the AmigaAnywhere player on MacOS X, AmigaOS, MorphOS or others platforms is it planned ?
- The market of digital music is growing (look at iTunes music store...). Are you intersted in this market ?
- Is it possible to release source code of the classic AmigaOS ?
- Do you own money with licence/IP of the AmigaOS ?
(and if it's possible, I would like to translate the interview in French for French-speaking Amiga people. Wayne, can I ?)
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My first and only question is literally:
WHY BOTHER?
To explain: Amigas are, as far as any market standard is concerned, dead.
The hardware of the old designs is deteriorating; that of the new ones overpriced and outdated. It is difficult to obtain a new Amiga too. I concede that the new design is sufficiently compatible to what is available to warrant some possibilities in upgrading, though.
The user base is very small, and will never reach the size the Amiga had at the end of the 1980's anymore. You will never make much money out of this group.
AOS4 seems to be locked in permanent beta and will, when going gold, never become more than a toy OS for nostalgic purposes. ('s Cool though, people like toys.)
The porting of any big program on the Amiga is a lottery these days. Progress is, despite brave efforts from individuals with bigger courage than myself, depressingly haphazard and slow. The Amiga will therefore have to make do with its own native software.
Any development tying in the OS or hardware to any other form of content (mobile, TV, audio, ...) faces competition so stern that the initiative is dead in the water before it begins.
Licensing the IP is also dead in the water as all of the IP has been surpassed by different and more powerful technology. (Can anyone show me an application where having a Copper is absolutely necessary?)
To put it in a single word: dead. So WHY BOTHER? That extends to this questionaire: WHY BOTHER?
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With regards to "OS5" and the plan to take OS4 back in house.
Will we see AmigaDE (AA) ported to OS4 to become OS5 and remain tied to PPC architechture of the current crop of licencees.
or
Will we see OS4 ported to VP to sit ontop of AmigaDE (AA) to become OS5 and become hardware independent ?
If this is the case are Amiga willing to support the current motherboards from it board licencees or will customers have to change there hardware to what Amiga specify for OS5 ?
It was recently reported that Amiga Inc have been in talks with the new Commodore brand owners. Can you discuss any of these plans ? It would be good to see a reunion of the 2 brands.
How commercially viable does Amiga think a new Low cost PPC based Commodore Amiga running OS4 is ?
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What does the next two years hold for Amiga.Inc as a business?
How has the KMOS/A.inc changeover affected your ability to attract outside investment into the Amiga platform?
Are there any plans within the next two years to support/release/develop any desktop environment?
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The Amiga brand is mentioned in major (Australian) newspapers about once every month or two, usually in reference to game ports to new portable media. Does Amiga Inc. intend to use such continued mention to push their image in the near future for the mobile telecommunications market?
The speculation of Amiga Inc.'s legal entanglements/dramas is not short of epic in proportion. Is Amiga Inc., in its current form, being held up by these same functions of business, or has unentangling the mess become the focus of spending for any (all?) incoming revenue?
Is Amiga.inc in anyway restricted by the actions of investors, current and past, or their benefactors and how has this affected the morale of the team?
Do you have any new office furniture, yet? :-P
Well, maybe not the last one, eh?
@Wayne:
Love your work!
benJamin
"Bad news, nobody!" - Professor Farnsworth
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why should I care about "amiga inc"??? how does this "company" affect my life? are "you" actually making anything I should care about or can use?
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Now I no longer have my AmigaOne XE, so AmigaOS 4.0 will not do me any good until I get a new AmigaOne. So anyways, is it posible to trade in my rights to use 1 copy of AmigaOS 4.0
What happened to the AmigaOne you once had? Did the right to one copy of OS4 not follow the hardware to whatever fate it had?
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why should I care about "amiga inc"??? how does this "company" affect my life? are "you" actually making anything I should care about or can use?
I care about them not becasue of what they make, but because of their role in enabling or preventing others from making certain things which I do care about.
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My question is simple :-)
Why don't you (Amiga Inc.) develop an AmigaOS4 version of AmigaDE/Amiga Anyware ?
Thanks
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It's great that Bill is willing to take questions, however at this point I feel more like TELLING Bill a few things. These are not meant as insults but I am frustrated with amiga Inc, let there be no doubt!
-very few people (or businesses) care about amigaDE or amiga anywhere, the amiga name has no place on this "product". What on earth casued you to put amiga in it's name?
-amiga inc has missed every oppertunity to help the amiga survive, infact it would appear the opposit happend. Is there an agenda to keep the amiga out of the mainstream market? (don't wan't to sound paranoid, but I know how business/microsoft works)
-amiga inc is in the way of progress, if amiga inc is not interested in the classic amiga, why mess it up for those that are interested.... Would you consider giveing the amiga to the open source community, given you apperent lack of interest?
-amiga inc has NOTHING to do with actual Amigas, please change your name!
-PPC and propriatry hardware are a very bad idea in the current world (for PC's), IF you are going to do some new amiga harware have the common sense to use standard hardware
-amiga inc has brought much shame to the amiga community, negative press, law suits and failure, how do you feel about this. How do you get up every day on continue with this fiasco? (please leave god out of the answer)
--mods feel free to adjust this or delete it... I just feel like it's important to call it as it is, why beat around the bush?
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> why beat around the bush?
A more important thing here is that we all feel this way to a certain extent, and we're all frustrated with things that have -- or haven't -- been done. Hopefully this Q&A will serve to answer the major concerns of the community.
Otherwise, the question is really "why get upset now?"
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My question is simple
Why don't you (Amiga Inc.) develop an AmigaOS4 version of AmigaDE/Amiga Anyware ?
Thanks
I know the answer.Because A inc are only rebranding the TAO intent as AmigaAnywhere and probably they don´t have access to the source code.Probabbly if they want a new port Ainc must pay TAO group to make the job.So Ainc are only rebranding the current ports of tao intent and probably A inc has not the money/intention/power of persuasion to convince them
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why should I care about "amiga inc"??? how does this "company" affect my life? are "you" actually making anything I should care about or can use?
I care about them not becasue of what they make, but because of their role in enabling or preventing others from making certain things which I do care about.
but that wasn't my question. believe it or not my question is alot more subtle.
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I have many classic Amigas, and although I recognize that the old hardware will eventually fail and it is not economical to expect anyone to ever start up a company to replace/repair the old stuff, I also am aware that the Amiga is still to be found in many or most of the TV stations around the world if only for titling and such. I even caught an Amiga logo one early morning on the screen of my PBS station. Couldn't some of the unique features of the Amiga hardware/software be valuable for small niche type application in the relatively new world of digital cable television? Seems to me that it is ideal for independent producers of specialized programming. The world is a big place and the market for video hardware might very well be open to such a use for our beloved Amiga.
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- Yo Bill (too many Bills around here btw). So, what's the score?
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Well, I pulled the battery of the motherboard thinking I could reset the BIOS like I normaly do on a PC motherboard.
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@Wayne - Thanks for the diplomatic gesture, opportunities like this are the glue which keeps the Amiga platform together.
@Bill - Thanks for responding - it would be nice to hear from Amiga.Inc more often, regardless of whether public opinion approves or not of your chosen direction.
@Both :cheers:
Over the coming 12 months - What milestones & deliverables has Amiga.inc set itself, what criteria can we use to measure the success or otherwise of Amiga.Inc's business path, and what products do you intend for release?
As a potential employer, what career path would you advise someone leaving University with an engineering degree to follow to support the Amiga platform?
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with many x86 user interested in AmigaOS by WinUAE and Amithlon..
Amiga Inc. could be intersted to gain many other users with amithlon support?
So with Warp3D for amithlon till now denied by
Hyperion.
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This thread is strictly for questions for Amiga Inc. Let's not chat here if you please.
Wayne
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Exactly what does Amiga Inc offer to the desktop or laptop user?
Why not port/license Amiga OS 3.9 at least for x86 and Mac PPC computers?
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How much would Amiga Inc. lose if a Windows ban went into effect?
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@Amiga Inc.
You know that if you go public, you would not have tp worry about a windows ban as their is enough Amiga supporters to keep the stock from being harmed by Bll and his army of lemmings. ;-)
Is Amiga Inc. willing to go public?
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Is Amiga Inc. willing to open the classic Amiga platform the same way IBM did the PC?
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Delete reply....
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does amiga DE come to amiga os 4.0 ????
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My questions:
- How many developers are working on AMIGA DE/AA?
- How many employees Amiga Inc have?
- Is Fleecy Moss still working on the company?
- Are new versions of AMIGA DE/AA planned?
- Amiga Inc was sold to KMOS few years ago and KMOS renamed themselves to Amiga Inc. Who owns KMOS/Amiga Inc now?
- Who is CEO of Amiga Inc?
- Do you (Bill McEwen) have jobs on other companies than at Amiga Inc?
- Are Amiga Inc employees full time or part time contracted?
- Do you use Amiga Inc products at home? If yes, what are they?
- What is your favorite AMIGA DE/AA game? What is your highscore on it?
- AMIGA DE/AA has been great success lately (Handago, new games and so on) and Amiga Inc is doing better than ever. Any chances to have AMIGA DE/AA SDK released for free for interested developers?
- We (the AMIGA community) would like to thank you for your continued efforts. We love Amiga Inc! Anything to say to the community?
:-D
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I'd like to know what Amiga Inc. thinks of SavaJe (http://www.savaje.com/) (pronounced "Savage"). I saw a demo, and for a pure Java platform, it blew me away, save for memory consumption.
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[color=cc00ff][Lurking Device De-activated][/color]
I want to make something abundantly clear. I AM AN EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED AMIGA USER!!!.
The questions I've asked come from a sincere desire to find answers. If they appear insulting, that really wasn't my intent (no pun intended). If they appear political... Well, they are! At this stage of the game, I don't think very many substantive questions directed at Amiga Inc. can be asked with out some politics. Believe me; I really want the Amiga platform to has a future beyond being just another retro-platform. But it looks like that's precisely what the future holds for the Amiga platform...
I fear it is already the Amiga's present?
Anyway, here are my questions/concerns.
Is Amiga Inc.’s goal to either hold hostage or cripple itself and its partners??? I'm serious and sincere here. I honestly believe this is a valid question given Amiga Inc.'s track record. While I don’t expect an answer, I do feel that Mr. McEwen should know this. I was once an Amiga Inc. supporter and had great hopes for Amiga Inc. Now I wonder if killing “The Amiga” wasn’t what Amino Inc., Amiga Corp., Itech LLC, KMOS Inc. and now Amiga Inc. intended from the start.
What has happened to AmigaDE??? And no, I don't mean the toy that is AmigaAnywhere. No, I'm not being insulting. I'm stating a fact. AmigaAnywhere is a toy for playing games on cell phones, PDAs, and/or Microsoft Windows. Which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. What I want to know is what happened to the concept of the "Amiga Digital Environment" or "Amiga Operating Environment"?
Relating to the above, if all that's left of AmigaDE is AmigaAnywhere, of what value is AmigaAnywhere anyway? After all, Java and .Net/Mono are far more wide spread and accessible for both users and developers at this point.
No AmigaAnywhere player for the AmigaOS certainly intimates that Amiga Inc. has little or no confidence in the AmigaOS. This is further born out by Amiga Inc.'s statement on the AmigaOS 4 page on the Amiga Inc. web site statig, "Amiga, Inc. does not distribute or support AmigaOS 4.0.". Is it actually the case that Amiga Inc. has little or no confidence in Amiga OS 4?
This further begs the question, if Amiga Inc. has little or no confidence in the AmigaOS (4 or greater), why haven’t they simply divested or quashed the AmigaOS?
If "Amiga, Inc. does not distribute or support AmigaOS 4.0.", then how come Amiga Inc. gets to determine who can obtain a hardware license? Why is it not up to Hyperion Entertainment VOF? After all, Hyperion Entertainment VOF seems to be the last active member in the AmigaONE partnership.
Are Amiga Inc. and Hyperion Entertainment VOF still friends and partners? Or are you both merely antagonists, bound by a contract that either would like to see the other breech?
What role (if any) does Eyetech Group Ltd currently play in the AmigaONE partnership?
What role does Amiga Inc. currently play (other than granting hardware licenses) in the AmigaONE partnership?
If Amiga Inc. has little or no confidence in the AmigaOS, could Hyperion Entertainment VOF renegotiate their license/contract to obtain the full rights to the AmigaOS?
If Amiga Inc. does actually have confidence in the AmigaOS, what part will it play in Amiga Inc.’s future?
If Amiga Inc. does actually have confidence in the AmigaOS, do you/they see the AmigaOS as a viable embedded OS?
If Amiga Inc. does actually have confidence in the AmigaOS, do you/they see the AmigaOS evolving beyond the desktop at all (i.e. NOS, Cluster OS)?
I'm sure there are a couple I'm forgetting. But I already have thirteen listed (whoops, make that fourteen). I guess that's enough.
Anyway... Time to return to the shadows.
[color=cc00ff][Lurking Device Re-activated][/color]
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Few questions more:
- What is the secret behind success of AMIGA DE/AA?
- When AMIGA DE/AA was released it got overhelmingly positive response from the AMIGA community and AMIGA magazines. How important was getting success from the AMIGA users in road to successful launch of new AMIGA DE/AA product line?
- I'd like to work at Amiga Inc. What are my chances to get a job there?
Thank you Bill McEwen. May the god bless you. We salute you :-)
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Oh and few more:
- Is Amiga Inc planning to expand their mobile phone business? I.e. to ring tones? Or something like Crazy Frog?
- Jamba has been marketing their products aggressively here in Europe. Is Amiga Inc going to defend their stance? Maybe by launching a tv advert campaign in MTV Europe?
- Is Amiga Inc planning to buy other companies?
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Amiga Inc planning to porting AmigaOS4 on x86 system?
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Bill McEwen ?? I thought he was dead...
So, my question :
Bill, what is - exactely - your role in Amiga Inc ?
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Would Amiga Inc. support/encourage Hyperion to port AOS4 to the PS3? Given Eyetech's apparent withdrawal from the Amiga hardware market, and the prohibitive cost of producing adequate PowerPC-based hardware in sufficient numbers, surely a port to Sony's CELL-based system is now the only realistic chance for the platform to return to the mass-market.
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Why don't Amiga Inc. follow the historic steps of Apple and shift to Intel/AMD so that PC users have the chance to evaluate AOS ?
And why don't you update your website? well, other than gambling games Ads :-D
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@ Bill M.
Did you read the proposed questions on amiga.org before the final 25 were selected and wish you hadn't offered ?
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Did you read the proposed questions on amiga.org before the final 25 were selected and wish you hadn't offered ?
:lol:
Good One :-)
Are their any WebPages in witch we can download and/or view the Classic Amiga Hardware and/or bus protocol schematics? If not, is Amiga Inc. willing to setup such a Website?
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[Question 1]: The previous question regarding the flotation of Amiga Inc. on the stock market is a fantastic one. What would be the criteria for Amiga Inc's entry onto Wall Street and would approaching venture capitalists for funding get the 'wheels of commerce' moving smoother?
[Question 2]: Nintendo is now the world's largest video games publisher (above even EA) and has survived in a software AND hardware market that most have perished in. Do you admire such companies for their business strategies and vision?
[Question 3]: How do Amiga community members get in touch in order to submit ideas and conduct business. I'm sure many companies would also like to make offers with regards to licensing and submitting patent designs for R&D purposes.
...
I would like to wish everyone the very best at Amiga Inc. The community's support will never truly die because it is a way of thought... however the time is ripe, as has been mentioned, to cash in on the online sale of retro games and music and to ride public enthusiasm for new and innovative hardware/software.
Grab the bull by the horns!
:-D
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As we know Sony is willing to implement an operation system to Playstation platform. They tried to sell a linux package for Playstation 2. But they failed.
Now with PS3 they will again try it. Why don't u offer them to bundle OS4? OS4 has a great change of success with PS3.
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In regards to AmigaDE, I thought the plan was "write once run anywhere", yet when I visit the Amiga site the offerings are for various flavours of MS products, little Linux or otherwise. Why even the difference in Windows products?
Why should Amigaanywhere not now be considered an MS product only?
ace
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I was a long time Amiga user, since the A500 to the A4000T. I'm a software developer. I like and use and develop for MacOS X. I develop cross-platform Java software at work. I love Linux, but don't think it will become a mainstream OS any time soon. I believe the AmigaOS could be a great OS to join Windows, MacOS X and Linux in the big league. I would love to support a new crop of Amigas with AmigaOS 4.
But I don't believe in a dedicated hardware platform. That would be just to expensive to put out on the market and would act as a barrier to the platform. We have probably seen this already with the AmigaONE.
My question:
Is there ever going to be an AmigaOS running on a generally available and easy to purchase hardware platform (be it x86, the PlayStation3, Apple Macs or anything else)? What I'm really asking is if Amiga Inc. will allow this to ever happen legally?
Thanks!
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Which future plans of Amiga, Inc. do you believe will be of interest to Amiga enthusiasts and members of Amiga forums such as this one?
What is your current marketing strategy and at whom is it aimed?
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@ McEwen:
;-) Consider the archtypal garage band: a handful of high school musicians who have talent. Since they're still in school and live at home, their ongoing expenses are almost nothing. They practice dilligently on the weekends, and spend their free time posting handmade 4"×6" cards on the public bulletin boards of their local grocery stores. They bide their time, waiting for their first big break.
:-( Over the years, Amiga, inc. and Hyperion Entertainment have struck me that way. They've got the chops, but that first big contract, the one that will propell the Amiga name into the public's consciousness again, always eludes them.
:-? My question, then, to justify all the preface: how close is Amiga, inc. to that really big contract?
Now, granted, NDA's can limit the details that can be revealed, but usually not the flavor. For example, I work in the silicon industry. Were I to drop names from our customer list, there would be a certain "wow" factor, but I'd also be revealing confidential details. On the other hand, I can say that our client list includes many of the biggest chip makers in the industry. This gets that same "wow" factor, without compromising any confidences.
With that strategy in mind, what can you tell us about upcoming deals?
Thanks.
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I would also like to know if it would be possible for Amiga Inc to ok the sale of OS4 to upgraded PowerPC classic amigas? Doing so would at least garner some well deserved money for everyone involved in OS4.
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Hello !
Since Amiga users are waiting OS4 for a couple of years, is this OS will be up to date or better through the évolution of others platform like windows ?
Regards
Norm7
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Dear Bill McEwen,
Can you give us a status update on the date of release for the BoXeR?
Your Pal,
A3K
P.S.
How is the partnership with Merlancia progressing? Is the new Walker ready for release?
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I guess it's far too late to make any difference now. It's Dead. But anyway, just to see if the showstoppers are finally gone, now when the show is over...
------------------------
Q1: Have you abandoned the compulsory hardware licensing and OS+hardware bundling scheme?
Q2: Are Eyetech in any way still involved in deciding on hardware and in choosing who is to be allowed to sell hardware that AmigaOS 4 is to be developed and sold for?
----------------------
And then a bonus question, just for curiosity's sake:
Why did Eyetech quit reselling hardware under the "AmigaOne" trademark? The last hardware "for AmigaOS" sold by Eyetech was the Teron Mini, and that was sold as "µ-A1", not once was it officially referred to as anything containing the word "Amiga".
Didn't Eyetech want to pay for the trademark anymore, did you disallow them (if so, was it because they hadn't fulfilled any of the licensing obligations which were publicly presented as consumer advantages of the licensing scheme), or what?
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The years from 1988 to 1995 are remembered fondly due to the many hours spent tinkering with my Amiga 500, then my 1200 with a 40 MB HD! The years between 1995 and now are better remembered for my slow acceptance of using Intel PCs running Windows, and the bitter separation/divorce from the person I considered the love of my life at the time. I held out hope for the return of my mate for several months, but grew to accept the finality of the END of that relationship. Not so with Amiga. Every so often some sliver of hope for the resurrection of the platform I loved so well would arise, only to never truly bear fruit.
Forward six years to 2001. I bought the Amiga software development kit, not because I'm a programmer, but because of the free offer of either a copy of OS4 or $100 off the cost of a new Amiga One. I also thought that this would be a modest way to help out Amiga, Inc financially (I bought a t-shirt too). I still have my login and password, but wouldn't know where to use it since there have been so many changes in the intervening FIVE years.
Now my question, albeit a rather selfish and personal one: Does the offer still stand?
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There's a thread (http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=20247&forum=2) over at amigaworld.net with this cut'n'pasted, all caps question ---> "IS JAMES JACOBS HELPING THE AMIGA COMMUNITY BY ILLEGALY DISTRIBUTING AMIGAOS3.9, BOINGBAGS AND AMIGA ROM FILES ON HIS SITE?"
I'd say that's a pretty good question for Bill McEwen if there ever was one.
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Is there still an Amithlon situation? How was it resolved? Was it? Are you working on anything new with its author? A new, authorized Amithlon? What's the deal with that whole hubbub anyway?
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My question is,
Has commodore been in talks with you about a possible buyout?
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My answers are:
Do you think that, in future, we can buy a "full" Amiga System (with its sound card, video card,...)?
Do you think that a new Commodore collaboration is possible?
Are you going to use PPC CPU in the next systems?
Thanks! :-D
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Are posts disappearing?
Wayne
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My answers are:
Hey Bill, you were supposed to answer 25 questions, not just 3 of them. :lol:
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Do you think that, in future, we can buy a "full" Amiga System (with its sound card, video card,...)?
I'd wger that if any motherboard comes out again, that dealers will sell it alone as well as in a complete system package, just like was done with the AmigaOnes.
Do you think that a new Commodore collaboration is possible?
For what purpose? A number of people keep asking about this, but they've gone in seperate directions, and I haven't been able to think up any benefits to either party today... Why would Bill M be interested in this? After we know why, it'll make more sense to ask about it happening or not.
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Why would Bill M be interested in this?
To get rid of Amiga Inc.
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I have a question for Mr. McEwen.
Amiga Inc. is being blamed by the community for preventing AmigaOS 4.0 from shipping and moving to hardware platforms beyond those manufactured by Eyetech. As you are probably aware, key portions of the original contract were leaked which indicated Amiga Inc. has a buy back option at a cost which is likely significantly lower than what Hyperion has now invested in OS4. The community has since concluded it is in Hyperion's best interest to never ship OS4 final lest Amiga Inc. invoke the buy back clause. It has also been made clear Amiga Inc. still controls what platforms OS4 may or may not be ported to. Therefore, the community has lept to the conclusion Amiga Inc. is the bad guy preventing everything OS4 related from moving forward. How do you plan to address this naive perception of the situation and make Amiga Inc. a good guy?
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I have a question for Mr. McEwen.
Why don't you write him an email? You always said that you were in close contact with him and never had problems of reaching him. :-?
How do you plan to address this naive perception of the situation and make Amiga Inc. a good guy?
Ah, so you know already the answer. :lol:
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Will Hyperion add support for Linux device drivers to AmigaOS? This will help becouse there are alot of good hardware companies like NVIDIA that have driver(s) for Linux, but for one reason or another are unwilling to port their driver(s) over to the AmigaOS.
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@fatman2012
Just a hint: Amiga Inc. can't "add support for Linux device drivers" because they simply don't develop AmigaOS. You should direct your question at Hyperion instead.
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Just checking to see if people are paying attention...;-)
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Just another episode of desperate housewives...
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Hello ,Carl Sassenrath told me you are in touch on common project,giving no details and i am not a betrayer.But Rebol has achieved your goals,amiga os inspired Rebol is everywhere.Intent is based on java,why not using real amiga technology and replacing intent by Rebol vm?
So RebolDe anywhere?His language,your toolkit.
An example,Arcadia a Rebol game engine:a simple script interpreted by Rebol.
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question for Mr. McEwen:
Is Amiga Inc. for sale, and for how much money?
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Hi Mr. McEwen,
You know almost everything about everything that has gone on.
So, considering you're still taking part in this, haven't walked away, would you do this again, even if you know it would play out indentically?
(I hate to add this because it might affect his answer, but I ask because if he would do this again, and since he is still here, I think that that shows that we ALL should still be optimistic that something IS BIG going to happen. :-D)
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I have a question:
Why now? Amiga Inc pretty much divorced itself from Classics and OS4 over a year ago, exemplified by the simple indication on your website that for anything OS4 related, interested parties need to contact Hyperion. Several parties have tried to contact you for licensing reasons and reported a total lack of response (not a "no" response, just no response at all). Now, out of the blue, you show interest again. What has changed, and if you are planning on supporting something other than the AmigaDE again, how can we know you're not going to just shut the door once more?
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@Wayne
no idea if easy feasible but ... it would be possible to split the thread on multiple pages?
It takes too long on Amiga Classic systems.
Thanks
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Pencils down everyone!
No more questions can be entertained at this time as the list has been correlated and sent to McEwen for his input.
You can see the list, exactly as I sent it to him at http://www.amiga.org/AIQuestions.php
Here's hoping for solid answers.
Wayne