ARM based Amiga?

[amigadave]

Wouldn't it be great if the hardware obstacles to going back to (or remaining with) 680x0 based code were eliminated?  I mean if FPGA's, or something similar, but not yet invented were to come along that could run a 680x0 core at speeds where it did not matter anymore, speeds that could rival, or surpass current and future x86 designs at lower power consumption and could also provide access to modern peripherals, like USB, Firewire, SATA devices, PCI-e slots, or what ever comes to replace these standards.

What if, in the future, a movement backward to simpler programming techniques like coding for the 680x0 was claimed to be by many programmers, were to become more popular if the hardware was available to make it competitive with other designs?

You must admit that there were many more "Bedroom Programmers" back in the heyday of the 680x0 Amigas than there are today.

Then again, perhaps ARM is already moving in that direction and will make such a comeback of 680x0 coding remain with only the retro crowd.

[amigadave]

@billt: My basic point was that Hyperion seems barely able to make minor changes themselves with their resources.  Another platform change doesn't seem within their capability, so having AOS4 support for Arm seems extremely unlikely.

MorphOS seems able to get things accomplished much faster, but they also seem to have their priorities exactly where they want them already.

FPGA tech is getting better every year, I can foresee FPGA 68k's that could reach PPC speeds within the next few years.  I'd buy that in a heart beat.

I agree with the above, but I wonder what else might be available "in a few years" that might dissuade you, or distract you from buying a FPGA 68k that can reach PPC speeds?

Still, I think that AROS and the Natami projects have better long term prospects than OS4, or MorphOS, if both of those systems remain on PPC too much longer.

[amigadave]

Never happen, but a table Amiga would be awesome.

Probably a "typo", but I agree that an Amiga computer built into a glass topped table would be much more interesting than an "Amiga tablet" computer.

Tablets are so over-hyped!

[amigadave]

To be honest I don't consider the "Amiga is dead so it needs to bring out something amazing in 12 months" approach at all valid. I've noticed this comment on this thread and others before. It's rubbish! The Amiga is no more or less dead in general terms (ie. to the masses) if it takes 5 years more for a new machine. Sooooo...

...maybe the best approach would be to get in early with future techs like Silicon Integrated Nanophotonics, Coriolis fans, MRAM etc... and build something truly astounding. Lets face it any new Amiga should have Thunderbolt as standard at least.

If your not familiar with the above techs just google them.

Sadly any approach is limited by cash first and foremost and without big investment the chances are Amiga will never catch up again. It breaks my heart to say it but I think one of us needs a big lottery win to throw at the problem. :/

Sadly, throwing money at the problem without great ideas and vision behind it is a waste of money.  Look at the amount of money claimed to have been spent by CUSA on marketing and developing a "knock-off" retro case and then look at the end product and what most people around here think about their chances for success.  Only time will tell if the majority here will be correct about the long term success of CUSA, or if they will be proved wrong and Barry & company will still be in business and making a profit 3 years from now.  It is going to take a lot more than money to ever bring the Amiga back into anything close to the mainstream of computing.