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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: trekiej on April 28, 2018, 08:54:18 PM
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Hello.
I am taking English 1301 online and want to do a research paper on the Amiga.
I am having trouble coming up with a Thesis.
The thesis I want to write is, "The Commodore Amiga revolutionized the multimedia industry".
I think the teacher assistant will say this is too broad. I believe I have an idea on how to research the thesis I stated.
Any help would be appreciated.
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Maybe you can refine the focus of the paper. For example focus on how Amiga launched the "digital convergence" age with the CDTV.
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Nice to hear you picked Amiga as a research topic.
The thesis I want to write is, "The Commodore Amiga revolutionized the multimedia industry".
Your thesis title already frames the outcome of your research by claiming that Amiga revolutionised media. Your research has actually to show to what extent Amiga revolutionised media.
"Impact of Commodore Amiga on multimedia industry" or similar sounds better to me.
Perhaps you can start with a specific research question(s) rather than thesis title. What are you interested in?
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Nice to hear you picked Amiga as a research topic.
Your thesis title already frames the outcome of your research by claiming that Amiga revolutionised media. Your research has actually to show to what extent Amiga revolutionised media.
"Impact of Commodore Amiga on multimedia industry" or similar sounds better to me.
Perhaps you can start with a specific research question(s) rather than thesis title. What are you interested in?
+1, not an English major but this makes sense to me
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It's about research. You are heading into your project with the conclusion in mind. Jagoche is absolutely correct. Saying "The Amiga revolutionized multimedia" is a marketing position, but documenting Amiga's impact is a research approach. If you want, you can also include information on other platforms at the time and make a conclusion from there.
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Cool, thanks. What I did write, " The Amiga computer paved the for a new generation of computer artists. This is evident by the current level of artistry we have today."
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Cool, thanks. What I did write, " The Amiga computer paved the for a new generation of computer artists. This is evident by the current level of artistry we have today."
Sorry, but this isn't how research works. You don't start from what you want to support, and then work backwards to the claims. You start with a topic, and then consider all the facts you can get, and from that arive at a particular conclusion.
For example, you would start with "Establishment of Multimedia Comuting" or the like, then would have a look at all the factors that contributed to that. There is more here than just the Amiga. First, what is "multimedia"? Then, we have early developments, Ralph Baer in the beginning, Xerox research and Doug Engelbart, Apple, the Atari ST, the Amiga, and finally the PC.
However, given that you post here, you may be already pre-occupied, which puts you into a bad position for performing an objective research. Don't try to establish a particular conclusion. Try to be objective.
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Then, we have early developments, Ralph Baer in the beginning, Xerox research and Doug Engelbart, Apple, the Atari ST, the Amiga, and finally the PC.
And don't forget to look at SGI (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics) when doing research on multimedia.
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Maybe you can refine the focus of the paper. For example focus on how Amiga launched the "digital convergence" age with the CDTV.
LOL..that thing was a flop...for real?
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Hello.
I am taking English 1301 online and want to do a research paper on the Amiga.
I am having trouble coming up with a Thesis.
The thesis I want to write is, "The Commodore Amiga revolutionized the multimedia industry".
I think the teacher assistant will say this is too broad. I believe I have an idea on how to research the thesis I stated.
Any help would be appreciated.
I would focus on how the Amiga along with the Video Toaster then the Flyer changed and revolutionized video editing and computer animation. And the impact it made on the movie industry. :)
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The Video Toaster and the Amiga come to mind when I think of the Revolution in multimedia.
I feel like I am suppose to make an argument and then try to make it.
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So, I have a conclusion that needs an initial statement.
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I would focus on how the Amiga along with the Video Toaster then the Flyer changed and revolutionized video editing and computer animation. And the impact it made on the movie industry. :)
I think that sounds like a great idea.
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As a university professor for seven years teaching CS (among other subjects), my advice is to narrow your focus. While multimedia computing is a good idea it does seem awfully broad. If you want to include the Amiga I would focus on the desktop video revolution which the Amiga played a good part in during the 90's. The topic is interesting, easy to research with lots of references and easy to frame for a paper:
-Rise of computers and their graphics: terminal characters to vector/bitmap graphics
-8 Bit era offered basic video titling for consumer based video and static backgrounds
-16/32 bit (Amiga, Mac) era brought 8/24bit color images/backgrounds, broadcast quality graphics, the humble beginnings of movies (ANIM/Quicktime), the Video Toaster revolution (computers take on the broadcast booth), rendered storyboards for film (Jurassic Park Amiga story would be nice here)
-32/64 bit brings costs down, cameras on every device, easy to use tools, the outlet everyone is looking for: the Internet / YouTube.
Issues:
-Speech: Fake News / Conspiracy Videos / Flat Earthers Everyone can now make a video. How does that effect society?
-Software: Adobe's latest software allows you to add/remove people, places, things from any video. Imagine how much harm can be done here. Can you trust what you see?
-Privacy: Where do people's privacy fit into this new DTV world?
-Education: Imagine growing up in a world with so much information thrown at you and you don't know if you can trust any of it. What kind of generation will emerge from it?
Conclusion:
Where does that put the future? What do the futurists say about these issues?
This is me off the top of my head with stream of thought advice. :-)
Good Luck!
-P