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Author Topic: Amiga - What If It Were Today....  (Read 12539 times)

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Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« on: December 23, 2010, 12:36:47 AM »
It wouldn't and it couldn't. Computers and computing today are hardly anything more than sum_generic_persons tool for getting on the internet, typing an e-mail, looking at porn, editing their photos (because now, any idiot is a DIY "professional" photographer) and *maybe* editing their home videos. At work, they're still content using horrible technology with shoddy overpriced software written to maintain their books and inventory - all completely flawed, non-user friendly and prone to millions of dollars worth of mistakes and inaccuracies. Hardly any company is safe from that typical business-related scenario either despite the fact superior computers, OS's and software have come and gone.

The Mac and its spinoffs are the closest thing we have to anything "exciting" computing wise and frankly - they're going to be holding that reign for quite a while.

Now that the Democruds have gotten their way once again, the Grubment (FCC and its tangled throngs) will dumb the internet down even further - making that aspect of computing even less compelling than it's been, year after year, since the early 2000's. ALL of the mainstream social sites are proving this right now in fact. Look at MySpace and Facebook. Horseshit Twitter-like content is what it's quickly becoming. Pics of peoples pets and kids. Asinine status updates too, as if anyone really cares about most peoples petty lives and lifestyles. "Hey, look what I just bought from Wal-Mart". "The Cowboys are better than 'insert some other stupid team here'". Yep - there's your future of computing ;)  Blech.

It's all over buddy. The mainstream has ruined yet another aspect of electronica. I don't see anything coming out in the near future computing wise that either hasn't already been done, much less worth get excited about. If any platform or truly unique or superior system came about (again), it'd be squashed for all the reasons stated above or not gain enough of the mainstreams acceptance for it to be relevant and profitable for anyone, for very long anyway. We should all know by now that anything "cool" doesn't last for long. Especially in America. It's almost always replaced by the un-friendly or otherwise inferior ware. It's just the way it is unfortunately. In just about every aspect of industry too. I can't think of a single thing that's made better today than yesteryear. This stuff is designed to break so you have to repurchase it AND/OR the genital pubic is too slow to realize that they've been made guinea pigs by these consumer electronics companies or at the very least, have become individual R&D "departments" w/ the privilege of paying for said status.  

Totally free forming holographic displays that were worked on and put to use in 80's arcades (not this glasses wearing "3D" crap) would have or would be nice if perfected, but you can forget about that. Looks like the trend is going toward that multi-screen Nintendo DS technology for 3D instead. At least you don't have to wear silly overpriced glasses for it though.

Damn, that outlook sure is bleak! But it really does reflect what's going on by and large. And naturally, this is just my $.02. Not even worth that much outside of the choir, which frankly, I don't give a damn about. :laughing:
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 02:14:37 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2010, 01:21:10 AM »
Quote from: dwaldrop;600902
The Amiga was so advanced, it sold itself.
Wish it did in large numbers. I sold Amiga's from about '89 to '91 in one of the more affluent areas in the Midwest (Chicago burbs). Can't tell you how many people I'd demonstrate the machine to (full Amiga 500 system w/ memory, spare drive and monitor for less than a grand) that would end up purchasing a $3000-$6000 IBM clone anyway. There was hardly any margin in selling Amiga stuff, but those overpriced PeeCee's brought in a cool 6%-8% commission off the top! As an Amiga user and believer since '87, it was REALLY difficult selling both platforms - let me tell you. The few I did sell, most of them ended up coming right straight back to us weeks later. Of course, the customers always knew when you wouldn't be around, despite your 50+ hour work week, so they'd return the Amiga (which I would then lose the already paltry commission on) and purchase a "multi-media" 8088 or 286 for thousands more from someone else. ARRGGHH!   lol

Just about ALL of the best years of my life were wasted working retail. Trying to appease the least common denominator no less. Why is there no support group for us?   :(    :lol:

@Belial6:

I know what you're saying - but damn... history keeps repeating itself. Over and over and over again.

Beta vs. VCR
Sega Dreamcast vs. Sony PS2
3DO vs. Sony PS1 and Nintendo SNES
16/32-bit Atari Lynx vs. an 8-bit black/white Nintendo Gameboy
Sega Saturn vs. Sony PS1
SACD/DVD-Audio/HDCD vs. mp3's and regular CD's - still!
Sony 8mm camcorder vs. VHS-C
64-bit Atari Jaguar vs. anything (lol)
NEC TG-16 vs. NES
Toshiba's HDCD vs. Sony's Blu-ray
S-VHS vs. everything (funny how the input standard survived though)
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 02:03:00 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2010, 02:57:06 AM »
@Tone:

Evolution and progression... are you sure you're not confusing the two?  :lol:

From a societal perspective, I'm not seeing a single positive benefit to all of this modern technology at all. And the more portable it is, the more abused it gets. Especially by younger people. All it's doing is making them dumb and dumberer (that's a movie reference, not a grammatical error). Only people this technology is benefiting are big pharma, big government, cell phone providers and China. And worse yet, lets not forget how much of all this "wonderful" crap is going to end up in landfills. Sooner than later. I guarantee that  ;)
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 02:59:09 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2010, 04:32:33 AM »
Quote from: Retro_71;600987
Twitter, Facebook, friendster All those useless websites for people who have no life.

Never heard of "friendster" dot com until just now.  LMAO!  That name is almost as stupid as "twitter". Twat. Twit.  People are just soooooo stupid these days. This the same mentality as naming your kid Bob Roberts or Bill Williams. I just don't get it and hope I never do  ;-)
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2010, 05:01:44 AM »
Quote from: the_leander;600993
So twitter has a silly name you completely dismiss it as a tool?

It's the fact that soooo many people do not understand and comprehend root words anymore. Twit(ter). Knowing what a twit is, works out perfectly as most on it are exactly that. There *IS* a consortium of people that are bent on hiding/destroying history on many different levels and primarily for one agenda: the less you know about the past, the more moldable you are. And that's why I have a problem with a name like "Twitter". Even if you know nothing else, the word just sounds stupid as it "rolls" off your tongue. Like you know it's a silly word that you shouldn't be saying.

And yes, I am aware of the en masse bandwidth waste of space that Twitter is, even though none of my browsers on any of my computers have ever pointed to it. That is to say, I have never, ever - not even once, "tweeted" in my life. Never will either.  :lol:
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2010, 05:30:39 AM »
Quote from: the_leander;600998


Ladies and gentlemen, are your tinfoil hats too tight? Are you finding it harder to get good quality tinfoil? Well worry no more!

Introducing Zapato Productions intradimensional! For all your tinfoil needs!

I've read 1984 too.

Your loss.

LOL! Glad you can read, but comprehending is an entirely different matter. And screw paying for a tinfoil beanie. I fashion my own  ;)  My loss for not tweeting? Are you serious? Too funny. I do participate in Facebook... so it's kind of like "tweeting", you know?

Watch the B-52's Funplex video sometime. See if you identify.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 05:39:14 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2010, 05:59:01 AM »
Quote from: the_leander;601011
Just watched it, realised that it's yet another indictment of consumer culture that doesn't offer an alternative or way forward.
Exactly - just as almost all of our choices today. Thanks to whom?

And how is Facebook different than Twitter? The hundreds of drones that are my "friends" on Facebook... when they update their status... how is that not tweeting? I get e-mails forwarded, letting me know when they added a new pic of their puppy or if they "liked" my status or comment w/ a one liner (often filled with horrible grammar and misspellings). It's all garbage. BS and junk. Wasted bandwidth. And yet I know for a fact, many of these puds no longer like to communicate any other way. Their relatives even tell me so. Writing a letter or picking up the phone is no longer fashionable or tolerated. They want you to communicate THEIR way or no way. Pretty selfish. As is this current ME generation and mindset. It all fits perfectly and was quite predictable as the mainstream moved in on all this mindless and senseless crap. BTW: how is the weather out by you? And how about them Bears?

@Belial6:

Who's making stuff up about Twitter? Is it not just an RSS feed on steroids (as previously mentioned) about your friends' status? Or am I missing something here??
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 06:02:39 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2010, 06:26:52 AM »
Quote from: the_leander;601017
The Victorians, specifically industrialisation.
Please tell me you get the irony of this statement given the context.
Ah! I do and I appreciate that - although contextually, we're still talking about two entirely different things. Reading between your lines, I have surmised you can "suck" in different RSS feeds from varying places and sites of your choosing. Forgive my ignorance. I had thought Twitter was another tweeny-bopper social site of sorts. You'll have to forgive me. I am programmed to think anything popular today must be incredibly stupid and unworthy. Not sure exactly where I picked that up, but it is what it is.  lol

Still... I am perfectly capable of picking up the paper, watching TV, reading the various news sites or simply looking up at my favorite restaurant (Big Brother and Big Sister now too is everywhere in every corner today as every pub/restaurant/bathroom or any public place period) as they are inundated with monitors if I want to scan their brand of "important" information scrolling across the screen. Stephen Kent and Jack of Fry - could care less who these people are. Kardashians - whatever. Yay for todays newsfeeds. So glad I heard about all the nutjobs too across the world doing horrible things to each other. Helps me a lot in life and solidifies what I already know. Time to go clean my guns now...  :lol:
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 06:32:56 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #8 on: December 23, 2010, 06:44:46 AM »
Quote from: the_leander;601025
And that's why I like Twitter. It is quite literally what you make of it.
Like most things in life, eh? Okay - thanks Leander. You've given me ample reason to check it out 'someday'. But for now, I'm quite content living without it. I appreciate you taking the time to explain it the way you did. Might be fundamental to some, but I've only been exposed to the tweeny/negative aspects of it. From what I've seen, read and heard: Twitter seems to be the laughing stock of the interwebs. Whatever. I still think it's a stupid name. lol

Great thread btw and sorry to all for the off-topic aspects  :(
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 06:49:49 AM by save2600 »
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2010, 07:10:58 AM »
Quote from: Belial6;601034
I'm pretty sure that you over heard it from those kids on your lawn.

LOL!  And yeah, the Twit in Twitter is a pun, but pretty damned close in reference to the silly status updates. Useful, relevant data that is absorbed by sentient beings who know what to do with said info - not ripping on that aspect of it. The_Leander is absolutely correct when he said it's all in how you use it. That's true of just about anything really, isn't it? Anywho, there's no denying MOST people are talking a lot, but saying very little in these "wondrous" times. Between texting, status updating, Facebooking, MySpacing, Twittering and yapping on their cell phones that is. Communication is at an all time high, but where is the content? Hardly on these mediums. Unless you have the patience and search filters in place of a saint.  :lol:
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2010, 02:37:19 PM »
Quote from: motorollin;601091
The irony of your statement about people not understand the root of words is fantastic, due to your failure to account for the fact that "twitter" and "twit" do not share a root :lol:
moto
Huh? Definition of a root word is a word from which others grow. Twit was a word first. The 'ter' in Twitter could be considered its suffix in these modern times.  :lol:

Yeah, yeah, yeah - we all know that grammatically, the two words have nothing in common ('cept that some twits and twats like to tweet), but I digress. Besides, it's all in jest buddy! A pun really. Sorry, you took offense. Was just my strange American humor at work. haha

Can anyone else see those two people facing each other on The Electric Company coming up with a little ditty for this word?

Twit

Ter

Twitter!   lmao
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Amiga - What If It Were Today....
« Reply #11 on: December 23, 2010, 02:59:52 PM »
Quote from: motorollin;601214
@save2600
I wasn't offended at all, I was just pulling your leg ;) though in all seriousness, the etymology of "twit" and "twitter" are completely separate :razz:

Ah... the the old pullin' of the leg trick, eh? Right, gotcha! Today they're separate, but who knows tomorrow!
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 03:05:33 PM by save2600 »