Deep philosophical question: What makes an Amiga an Amiga?

[persia]

A P4 rescued from the dumpster by using AROS...

[persia]

WHen I first bought an Amiga it was state of the art equipment on state of the art hardware that had a unique bond between hard and software.  It took me places in video and images that no other computer could.   That Amiga will not come again.

In terms of what now is an amiga, I'd say pretty much anything now that runs an amiga-like OS is an amiga, virtual or physical.

[persia]

One man's philosopher is another man's troll.  

We've changed, the world has changed, computing has changed in the years since the death of Commodore.  I bought a shiny new plaything that was bleeding edge, with a sense that we could change our world.  It's that feeling that I've always associated with the Amiga, not whether there was a snapshot menu selection or a particular set of custom chips.  But the feeling has passed us by and all we are left with are the machines that remained in the wake of Commodore's death.  It's most nostalgia now.  More bittersweet memories of lost youth.

It goes without saying that some people (actually, most) are not philosophical in nature.  They just do stuff and use stuff.  (That's OK -- this thread is not for you.)  Others like to dig deeper.