Amiga users and Commodore's demise

[Ilwrath]

I think the average Amigan today knows far more about the internal workings of the platform than the average Amigan from 1994, even if it is the same person. So much more information has been made publicly available by now.

Hmm....  Maybe.  I think that was the case early on.  (Say, maybe the average user in 1997 knew more than the average user in 1992.)  But I think a lot of the real Amiga knowledge-holders have moved on to newer machines at this stage, either leaving the community, or dropping into the first of the three groups listed below...  

Personally, I think all the remaining Amigans fall into one or more of the following three groups....

1) Reminiscers - People who used and loved the Amiga back in the day, and still have an interest in the community, if not the daily soap opera of Amiga Inc.  These are your fans of hardware, and/or unique emulation solutions, like the Amithlon/Umilator.  These users are the most knowlegable, but have probably forgotten half of it, by now.

2) Classic Gamers - people into retro gaming.  Don't necessarily know much about Amiga, don't really care to, beyond booting the old games.  May or may not have an A500, and probably looking for "ROMs", yet are confused when "Kickstart" versions are mentioned.

3) Trolls / Zealots - Need I say more? ;-)  (Slips into asbestos suit)

[Ilwrath]

While I agree that your 3 groups do exist, where do active users fall?

Same catagory as the sasquatch?  Mostly mythical, I believe.  Really, even in the video production world, it's been a few years since I last serviced or even saw an Amiga in the wild.  There are still a couple small shops that use them for a few lone jobs, but mostly they either sit unused or have been sold off long ago.  I honestly can't imagine using one as a day-to-day computer anymore.  Just the lack of a serious browser alone makes it difficult to use.  Heck, I don't even use my 4000 to come here!... and I'm the only one left out of the group of people I knew from the local C= group who still has an Amiga set-up, instead of boxed and in storage.

[Ilwrath]

In my flat I have an Amiga 4000, an Amiga 1500, an Archimedes 4000, and 3 C64s. Thats it. No PC, no Mac.

Gah!  Figures!  You really can find all kinds on the internet.  ;-)

We do exist, you know

Hmm... Well, at least one exists that read this thread.  ;-)

I mean, what about all those Mediators sold? Do you really think people tower up their Amigas, add Voodoo's, soundcards, tv cards, USB etc., and spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds, and then not actually use it? Come on, that doesn't make any sense!

I'm not saying Amigas aren't used anymore.  My 4000 still logs a few hours a month... Just that it is a very rare case for it to be someone's primary computer.  It's like any other functional hobby someone might have.  Take cars, for example...  Lots of people collect, restore, tinker, and show old cars.  But rarely is that hobby car the vehicle chosen to drive up to the mega-mart on a rainy day.