The day shops begin to ditch physical format for the games, i will begin to not buy them. I like to have the box and manual. Would anyone pay 60 eur for a game that only exists in virtual form?. I of course not.
Well, while there won't be an Amiga again... there is something else starting to take hold. Yes, Linux has not won the desktop - but the desktop is slowing becoming less of a factor. Most people I know now put more money into their Cell Phone/PDA - like iPhone or other Smartphones - than they do their pc. I am still using the same PC I built 3 years ago - but I just got an iPhone and over the next 2 years will put more money into it than I have spent on PC hardware over the last 3 years.
The next generation of users will not care about powerful boxes at home - it will be mobile with digital distribution. If you own stock in Gamestop - sell it now - the day of buying anything in a store that is digital content is coming to an end very soon. Who buys CDs, DVDs, etc? People who want to waste money. Music is cheaper on iTunes. Netflix makes movies way cheaper to rent/stream and most TV content can be found legally free to view on the net (So who even needs cable TV?)
Microsoft has just released a new Xbox Elite with 250GB drive- why? Because they realize there is more profit to be made with digital distribution. Download Content (DLC) is where the real profit is for Microsoft and game developers. It cuts out the cost of physical media creation/distribution, it cuts out dealing with companies like Wal-mart... and it kills the hated (and non royalty paying) used game market. I remember an article by the people who made Left 4 Dead - there where upset that there where over 2x the number of unique Xbox Live accounts played their game than bought it new - used sells was huge for this game and it hurt there market potential cause people like me always wait for a used copy.
If I can get it cheaper used, I always do, but under Digital distribution that is not even an option so I will have to buy it new or skip it - and most games won't skip sequels to their favorite titles. Plus, its harder to pirate cause they have to hack the distribution source - not just the install program.
If there is to be another Amiga - it will be a media intense, gaming, mobile device that has great connectivity to web based applications. Microsoft has been reporting working on a web-based office - they see the writing on the wall - so they can sell service - not media/install/support headaches.
The war for the desktop is moot since the real money will be in other places. Don't believe me, get an iPhone and see how much you really need your desktop. You could argue the iPhone is the spirit of the Amiga. It went against conventional wisdom and showed much larger phone makers like Nokia and Motorola that there was more to a phone than talking and text.
Amiga showed me there was more to computing than a command line and poorly written dos programs. If you want to see another Amiga - get the guys trying to make a desktop OS - like AROS - make an OS for a smartphone. Then the Amiga could be truly reborn.
