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Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => General Internet News => Topic started by: Pyromania on October 22, 2006, 12:27:03 PM

Title: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the next 12 months
Post by: Pyromania on October 22, 2006, 12:27:03 PM
October 19th, 2006 - Members of DiscreetFX sent a formal proposal to Amiga Inc. requesting formal validation of the company's value. We are hard at work finishing up our Super Size Me like movie about Trans Fat but the plan is to secure funding to purchase Amiga Inc. and all of it’s IP in the next year. That is our next project after completing the film. It has been on the To-Do list for some time. This of course depends on if Amiga Inc. wants to sell themselves in the next year and if an agreed upon price can be negotiated.

DiscreetFX believes there is tremulous value in the Amiga brand and Amiga OS 4.0.  The CEO of DiscreetFX stated “Even though we primarly develop our visual effects software on NewTek video editing solutions for Windows and solutions on Mac OS X the Amiga has always held a speical place in my heart since I developed my first product on it. I want to help bring the Amiga back to it’s formal glory in new IT markets”. If an agreement can be reached between Amiga Inc. and DiscreetFX the return of Amiga will be amazing.

Best regards

DiscreetFX Team
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: dammy on October 22, 2006, 12:43:17 PM
Wrong choice, IMO. AROS would be a FAR better value and have access to top of the line hardware.

Dammy
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Legerdemain on October 22, 2006, 12:51:39 PM
I am not going to say that this is either good news or bad news... though, some things that springs to mind is:

1. While I do know who DiscreetFX are, I didn't realise they were such a big company that they would afford what price I do think Amiga Inc. ever would consider selling for. And, as they claim themselves, they have had this on their 'to-do' list for over a year, almost like if they just haven't had the time to set things up to go through with the purchase... it seems a bit unrealistic to me, especially since they don't even seem to have been in contact with Amiga Inc. concerning this before this proposal was sent out to them, but then again... is it?

2. Why announce this even before they have gotten a response from Amiga Inc.? Now, why, really?

3. Considering Amiga Inc. activity, as of lately, I am having a hard time believing that they would be insterested in selling themselves. Why would they be?

4. "If an agreement can be reached between Amiga Inc. and DiscreetFX the return of Amiga will be amazing." - why would it be amazing? Could it possibly be more diffuse than this?

Now... I am not going to say either this or that concerning the good or bad about this very proposal... but I have no understanding whatsoever for this press release. Seriouly.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Argo on October 22, 2006, 12:56:58 PM
But you can't buyout AROS. Though they could fund development.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: wajdy on October 22, 2006, 01:22:45 PM
Interesting news...
What's your plan -IF you acquire it?
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Lemmink on October 22, 2006, 01:23:19 PM
Come on guy. This is just a joke. The guys from DiscreteFX only wanted to point out how unimportend AmigaInc. is that someone could just walk in and say "Well I like it. I buy it. I leave the details to my legal department..."
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: AmigaPete on October 22, 2006, 01:25:34 PM
Quote
tremulous value


Huh? This doesn't make any sense. Did they mean to say tremendous?


Quote
speical place


I never put much faith in anything this important that contains spelling mistakes. Kind of like resumes with spelling mistakes - not worth the paper on which they are written.

Pete
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Legerdemain on October 22, 2006, 01:30:37 PM
Quote
Come on guy. This is just a joke. The guys from DiscreteFX only wanted to point out how unimportend AmigaInc. is that someone could just walk in and say "Well I like it. I buy it. I leave the details to my legal department..."


I, too, think this is nothing but a joke... but, since previous things that have sounded even more like a joke have proven true I just don't want to go all the way out claiming it to be a joke. Rather, I just point out the unseriousness and non apparent logic I find in the proposal...   though, I have to add... if it is a joke, I am not laughing.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: JimS on October 22, 2006, 01:32:36 PM
What? Is it April again already? :-)
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: humppa on October 22, 2006, 01:34:08 PM
:roflmao:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: dammy on October 22, 2006, 01:42:44 PM
Quote
But you can't buyout AROS. Though they could fund development.


There is no need to buy a OS, ever.  Hell, Bill could use AROS code and call it DiscreetFXOS.  What AROS could do with couple of full time coders would be massive.

Dammy
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Pyromania on October 22, 2006, 01:51:05 PM
And what would the price be for two full time AROS coders dammy?
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: dammy on October 22, 2006, 02:15:03 PM
Quote
And what would the price be for two full time AROS coders dammy


That would depend on where the coders are living, I suppose.  Cost of living in their area is going to be the major deciding factor on coder's salary.  Rough guess based on US factors, I'm guessing mid $30K to lower $40K per coder.  West vs East Europe, I really don't know what Euro value would be fair.  Russian or Brazilian coders would probaby work cheaper.

IMO, couple of core full time coders (say one kernel/hardware and one GUI) and throw some money into bounties would be the best bang for the buck for DiscreetFX.  I do agree, they do need fairly tight control over an OS if they are going to offer a unique package. I just think what they are going to out put for Amiga Inc assets, as deluted and questionable IP it is, would be better spent else where.  Hell, if they need name recognition that badly, I would have gone and talked to C= about licensing.

Dammy
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: TheMagicM on October 22, 2006, 02:37:51 PM
I bet AI comes back with...


One meeeelliooon dollars.


 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Pyromania on October 22, 2006, 02:46:49 PM
@dammy

I'll let the investors know about this Dammy.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: System on October 22, 2006, 02:57:57 PM
I guess I just can't get by the whole "why in the hell was this posted before it's even known if Amiga Inc *wants* to sell" thing...  

It just doesn't make sense, and if it's really from Bill P (oh great, yet another Bill), then I'm even more mystified as to the motives behind such an announcement.

If I had been awake when this was posted, I probably would have deleted it then suggested that he be a little more "discreet".

Wayne
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Bezzen on October 22, 2006, 03:16:09 PM
This is just plain weird.  :crazy:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: humppa on October 22, 2006, 03:20:53 PM
Quote
It just doesn't make sense, and if it's really from Bill P (oh great, yet another Bill), then I'm even more mystified as to the motives behind such an announcement.


Free publicity? Getting naive Amigans to jump on the "our new saviour" bandwagon?
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: dillinger on October 22, 2006, 03:31:52 PM
Guys, common, there's a place for stuff like this and it's called AW.net. Let's not get ourselves caught-up in their little fantasy world of illusions .
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: tomazkid on October 22, 2006, 04:20:16 PM
""Huh? This doesn't make any sense. Did they mean to say tremendous?""

Yes, that's a typo.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: tomazkid on October 22, 2006, 04:25:02 PM
@Wayne
""and if it's really from Bill P ""

The news item at aw.net was submitted by Bill Panagouleas, so it's genuin.
What comes to the motives behind this press release, only Bill P himself knows  ;-)

""(oh great, yet another Bill),""

 :lol:
Makes you wonder if there is some secret bond between Amiga and the name Bill  :-P
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: redrumloa on October 22, 2006, 04:50:43 PM
:popcorn:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Pyromania on October 22, 2006, 05:35:51 PM
The news just hit the DiscreetFX website.


http://www.discreetfx.com/News.html
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Legerdemain on October 22, 2006, 05:47:03 PM
Ok, then it is official (even though it was so even when posted on AW, but anyways).

:popcorn:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Magic-Merl on October 22, 2006, 05:48:22 PM
Very strange.  The press release does appear to be genuine.

Time will tell.  But does it really matter these days!
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: sdyates on October 22, 2006, 07:12:04 PM
Wow - amazing!

What will be the surprise presss release of Christmas; and then next year; and the year after...

I am looking collecting all these press releases and annoucements and putting them into a special programme I have been working on. The programme is in beta mode, but once done, the programme will be able process all these announcements and press releases and spit out a fully functioning OS4 to support any hardware.

While not ready, stay tuned.

Regards,
Simon
Vapourware Industries
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: sdyates on October 22, 2006, 07:13:45 PM
I am sorry, was the last post a little too sarcastic?
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: humppa on October 22, 2006, 07:52:47 PM
Quote
I am sorry, was the last post a little too sarcastic?


Not at all, please go on.  :lol:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Manu on October 22, 2006, 07:53:10 PM
Anyone wanna make a bet?
What will happen first.

-DiscreetFX buys Amiga Inc.
-AmigaOS4 is released along with hardware.
-Hell freezes over.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: sdyates on October 22, 2006, 08:11:23 PM
I feel a cold front approching Hell.

But then again, its is october....
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Belial6 on October 22, 2006, 09:00:14 PM
It's the alien connection. In Kalt'al, the word Bill translates to 'Crusher of dreams'.  Or something roughly along those lines.  You know how translations don't always cross languages easily.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: TheMagicM on October 22, 2006, 09:06:07 PM
:popcorn:  In for the drama.  :popcorn:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: magnetic on October 22, 2006, 09:35:26 PM
I'm sure this is no hoax. Bill Panagoleous (sp) is a reputable business person and Discreet FX would not make an announcement like this unless sincere. I'm afraid Ainc wont play ball though .. :-(

magnetic
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Piru on October 22, 2006, 09:36:58 PM
@Manu

- Finland wins eurovision song contest.




Oh sh*t wait, that already happened!
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Trev on October 22, 2006, 10:01:14 PM
@Dammy

Quote
Rough guess based on US factors, I'm guessing mid $30K to lower $40K per coder.


On the coasts--Calfiornia, New York, etc.--I'd expet to pay low six figures, probably around $120,000 per year. In California, the minimum salary for an exempt--no overtime--employee is $28,080. In other words, $30,000 per year is a joke. ;-)
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Plaz on October 22, 2006, 11:47:59 PM
Quote
Wrong choice, IMO. AROS would be a FAR better value and have access to top of the line hardware.


Buy Amiga Inc., merge with AROS..... [color=FF3300]Winner!!![/color][/i]

Plaz
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: recidivist on October 23, 2006, 01:30:55 AM
Was it a typo or a Freudian slip?

I'd say tremelous is as good as any description of Amiga situation.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: TheMagicM on October 23, 2006, 03:24:19 AM
I deleted Amidelf's and others posts.  Cant you children get along?
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: monty on October 23, 2006, 09:05:45 AM
Pyromania's post is sarcastic.
He wanted to depict the whole amiga situation.

NOW, seriously, we better support the few software houses who are still active
in the shrienked amiga scene, instead of giving away our money to insatiable speculators who haven't a clue what an amiga is all about
(read: amiga inc., hyperion )!
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Crumb on October 23, 2006, 09:32:33 AM
@pyromania & dammy

Quote
Wrong choice, IMO. AROS would be a FAR better value and have access to top of the line hardware.


I have to agree with dammy. I can't see what value could Amiga Inc have when you could invest those million dollars Amiga Inc will ask you in AROS and you wouldn't need to invest so much.

If you think binary compatibility is important you could pay some coder to add a 68k emulator or MOS compatibility to the big endian ports.

If you prefer to use x86 you may even do a big-endian-x86 version that was 68k compatible.

Markus Weiss (and probably other members of the team) are maintainig the PPC port and now if you go to the download section of aros.org you'll notice that PPC-nightly build is there.

IMHO it would be a better deal to invest on AROS.

Amiga Inc has no value.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Colani1200 on October 23, 2006, 10:48:17 AM
Whatever is going to happen, things can only get better.  :roll:
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: leirbag28 on October 23, 2006, 11:21:29 AM
Assuming this isnt something sarcastic. This is Definitely a Good thing.........Bill Panagoleous is someone who I would totally trust with Amiga Inc.....the man has done nothing but prove his love for the Amiga since I have known him.

This doesnt have to even be a buy out......but both companies can work together with Amiga.

@Bill Panagoleous

I was just in the process of leaving the Amiga.....You my friend will be the sole reason I would stay if this goes through and be of complete service to you and Bill McEwen. I will even move near your location.


Lets Pray for good here........both Bill's want the best for Amiga Inc.

Hurray!
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: pixie on October 23, 2006, 11:55:42 AM
Quote
It just doesn't make sense, and if it's really from Bill P (oh great, yet another Bill), then I'm even more mystified as to the motives behind such an announcement.

The Bill curse strikes again! :-D
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: uncleted on October 23, 2006, 04:35:30 PM
Quote
On the coasts--Calfiornia, New York, etc.--I'd expet to pay low six figures, probably around $120,000 per year. In California, the minimum salary for an exempt--no overtime--employee is $28,080. In other words, $30,000 per year is a joke.


Also bear in mind that these are not your ordinary run of the mill C/VB application coders, but OS/hardware coders that'll cost a fair bit more.  They'll probably need some 68k knowledge or even an Amiga background (since Aros is a re-implementation of OS3.1) which limits the pool a little further.  If you had good enough docs though, plain X86 coders would be fine.

I wouldn't do the dev in a place like California or New York, you'll get much better value for money in a place like North Carolina, or heaven forbid Canada, where US$35k-45k is probably OK for someone fairly junior doing .NET Applications.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: TheMagicM on October 23, 2006, 05:09:11 PM
@monty:

Dont put Hyperion in that same boat like AI.  At least Hyperion has done something for the Amiga.  AI is on a deserted island all by themselves.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: stone on October 23, 2006, 08:57:24 PM
Quote
:popcorn:

in this case i think redrumloa said it best. quoted for agreement.

/stone
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Dr_Righteous on October 24, 2006, 05:14:28 AM
@Pyromania

I with you guys the best of luck in this venture... If this happens, you'll be the first company with roots in the community to touch the Amiga IP since Commodore died.

@redrumloa

Amen brotha... Could not have said it better.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: shillard on October 24, 2006, 06:20:54 AM
Reminds me of the time a mate of mine faxed an offer to Sony after they declared a major loss.

He wanted to take the company over for $1, and would assume all debt.  Funny, he didn't hear back from them.

The Australian term for this sort of thing is "taking the piss", not sure what you yanks would call it.....

But if Amiga Inc don't want to sell, I've got a few acres on Io that Bill might be interested in....
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: CodeSmith on October 25, 2006, 04:48:50 AM
Well yeah, everyone knows that AU$ are pretty worthless.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: Pyromania on October 26, 2006, 01:29:29 AM
@leirbag28

Thanx for your kind comments, Amiga's will be in the Oil Change Movie by the way. We will have a few in various shots.
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: pjhutch on October 26, 2006, 12:26:41 PM
If Amiga Inc does become sold, then I would like to see the company become a Hardware company again and if they employ some good engineers we can finally get a good secure source for some OS4 machines at last!

Amiga Inc at present seems to be just a holding company that doesn't produce anything. It just licenses other companies to do the work, that list is -pretty- small...
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: shillard on October 27, 2006, 11:44:56 AM
Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the  
Poster: CodeSmith  Posted: 2006/10/25 14:48:50

"Well yeah, everyone knows that AU$ are pretty worthless."


Yup, which makes them just the currency to use in an Amiga Inc acquisition, eh?
Title: Re: DiscreetFX submits proposal to acquire Amiga Inc. in the
Post by: weirdami on October 28, 2006, 03:47:50 AM
Does Amiga have any legal duty to respond to the request for valuation?