Atari ST versus Commodore Amiga in pictures

[monami]

what was the atari amiga connection? i know little of the history...

i personnaly felt it was atari who did all the ground work and the amiga came out later and tried to userp them by adding later just slightly better hardware? anyway when they didn't have atari to compete with the amiga dwindled. but i can see my user experience causing the flames of hell down the telephone lines!!! better get me some marshmallows! :crazy:

was that video uploaded by an amiga user? on the other hand of user experience i never met a nice atari st user... and even got sold a dodgy modem by an atari user group. :roll:

[monami]

@tomas

according to the history the amiga... i am concerned with the mainstream machine the amiga 500 not the others. the direction was to follow atari's lead and get computers in the home market and compete on that playing feild not with mac or pc which didn't seem successful as the cost was too high. the history says atari st was out in 1985. the a500 was out in 1987. a deliberate attemp to usurp the success of the st. and basically seemed to copy it's format. even the all in one style. unlike the a1000 or a2000. and add just a touch more to it. ie. the 800k floppy etc.

"1987: "We sell to the masses, not the classes"

This year saw the first major system upgrade with the release of the high-end Amiga 2000 and the low-end Amiga 500."

it was the a500 that is compaired to the st... like i say the hardware is 2 years later. it doesn't seem a fair playing feild for comparison. thats the way i remember it. :-)

[monami]

from the history:

"The Atari continued to beat the Amiga in the market for several years, in part, due to Commodore's focus upon the high-end market. It is only when the Amiga 500 was launched that Commodore were able to beat Atari in the home computer market." mmm...

also from the history:

"The Commodore Amiga was officially launched in September 1985 for £1,500. The world's first Amiga magazine - Amiga World - was launched soon after. At the time this price was a major detractor that placed it in the high-end region occupied by the Apple Macintosh. In comparison, the Atari ST was selling for less than half the price. It was later recognized that this was Commodores' first mistake. Rather than promoting the Amiga as a professional machine, they sought to replicate the success of the Atari ST. However, the Atari ST had built a steady market since its launch that made it a difficult adversary, with the Amiga playing second fiddle to the ST regarding game releases."

you say the amiga 500 is comparable to the st as the 1000 is basically an a500 and it was released at the same time... i take that point. but what about any other bits of hardware added. ie. any kind of custom chips to the a500 in that 2 years?

[monami]

well some of it comes to personal preference. ie. i liked the look of the st over the amiga 500. grey over beige. those diamond style keys were at least unique and stylish to my eye where the a500 was just a keyboard. and of course built in midi. although i do like the a500. but on paper at least I have to say the computer came out 2 years later. are you sure nothing was added to it? i must be the only one out there that liked gem...

as far as who went bankrupt first is no argument. i would offer who was more successful in terms of product. or financial gain. i'm sure they must have generated more profit in their time. i don't know the figures but atari vs amiga not commadore is atari hands down? they had a longevity in the market well exceeding the amiga. founded in 1972. and in terms of product... well how many products can you name? from pong up to neverwinter nights. i remember those arcade machines with the name atari on fondly.

and without atari amiga couldn't have happened? from the history it seems the experience at atari was the springboard for the amiga. and most of the employees have had past dealings with the company one way or another... it seems to me amiga va atari was their best publicity vehicle using their name. very much like the sega takes ages one?

[monami]

i can't name a cbm product from 1954 can you? i'd have to look it up. i felt we were talking brands and home computing. if you are going to chain companies together you may as well say amiga is atari as their employees and funding for the amiga came from atari and without them it would have not happened. i am only following the history as written: from the year 1984.

"Only Atari Inc. (managed by Warner at the time) made a serious offer for the Amiga custom chips, loaning $500,000 to keep the company alive while a license agreement was constructed. In a 1992 interview, Miner indicated the deal was a last ditch attempt:

    "Atari gave us $500,000 with the stipulation that we had one month to come to a deal with them about the future of the Amiga chipset or pay them back, or they got the rights. This was a dumb thing to agree to but there was no choice.""


hasbro bought out atari and they are still selling?

[monami]

would it have happened without jay miner?

atari and amiga are strange bedfellows indeed!

[monami]

from amiga history: 1991.

"1991: Standing still

The deep cracks in Commodore turn to huge tidal waves as many people loose faith in the market. Commodore launch a low-end upgrade to the A500 - the Amiga 500 plus - without informing anyone that they were shipping the product and the CDTV was canceled."

[monami]

beat st? they had 2 years in the market before the a500 if thats what we are discussing was released. then came their best ever the falcon. alot of amigas were sold on word of mouth that was just hype in my opinion. i remember asking people after being critised for having an st. "i bought my st for music it has an interface and good music support. why should i buy an amiga, i don't think i had much of a reply."

[monami]

did you have any sales figures to go with it?

[monami]

it was. the amiga was a late comer as far as i was concerned. and was a gamble. atari had established itself very well.

in 1993 atari gave up supporting the falcon and moved on to the jaguar console. they got beat out by all the others. as we know. it happened to amiga too? but at least they were in the right direction...

i mentioned atari history as you see from what i read first computer game/ console. handheld, employees and half a million clams! i don't know how much commadore did for amiga seems to me atari was always somewhere in their history. even if it was only influence. they were a force to be reckoned with. and thats why i see their a500 as a direct assult on what was established and successful. usurping if it is such a word. i always felt it was clever marketing did get kids saying oh do you know how many colours you get on the screen? at the time amiga users were very annoying!if the atari wasn't such an authority why was it always compaired to the amiga?

[monami]

and even so was made by ex atari employees. and backed by atari at one point...

[monami]

why didn't they stick with their original design of the a1000?  atari were the competition and as far as i can see they did everything to become what atari was and did...

[monami]

well i can only say reguardless while i do like the a500 my thoughts about it remain unchanged. i would still by an st over an amiga if the time had come back. even with all the bells and whistles. and it was right for my purpose and i had my st in 1985 not 1987... i didn't like the nature of amiga owners at the time. very in yer face "i've got namiga. i've got n800k floppy."

while the platform had it's dissapointments for me. i still have some fond memories of atari who did nothing but innovate since conception and succeed as far as i'm concerned and all they touched turned to gold for a while. good luck big old atari in the sky! shame it had to be marred by those wanting a foot up just to get the recognition. i have my amigas yes and am fond of them but i always carried that in my heart...

[monami]

i'm a fan of many platforms...
what sence have you to talk? talk it.

[monami]

@hammer

those are not my words they are from the online amiga history!