CommodoreUSA Partners with Disney

[EDanaII]

Ya know... I really am not one to be negative, I usually just let this stuff go, but I really am finding it hard to care about an announcement that doesn't affect me or my interests in any way. Good for C=USA and Disney, but for me it means nothing. Meh...

[EDanaII]

I am not interested in any of C=USA's proposed products, unless they happen to produce a nice looking Amiga branded case that I would consider putting an FPGAArcade Replay board into, which I highly doubt.  But, I have nothing against C=USA either and do not care if they succeed or fail, but the only hope I have from their endeavors is that it generates more interest in the Amiga community and brings more people (and hopefully developers) to using and buying the other Amiga related products that I DO have an interest in, like MorphOS, or AROS and Classic AmigaOS3.x.

I agree with you, Dave, but they want to do more than create an Amiga branded case. They want to create Windows/Linux based computers and call them Amiga. This is only going to hurt them. The Amiga brand comes with two primary expectations: cutting-edge graphics and a smartly-designed OS.

The age of cutting-edge graphics is over, so they'll never meet that expectation. The smartly designed OS? That's not Windows and it's not Linux, so they'll never meet that.

Sadly, the majority of people who care about the Amiga brand are the ones who remember those things, so all C=USA are going to do is generate disappointment. Not a good strategy for any startup. Not at all.

So, if I'm arguing that this choice will hurt them, do I bear them any ill will? Hardly. I think it's in their best interest to leave the name alone until they can create something that does bare the Amiga legacy.

[EDanaII]

Well said, CommodoreJohn, well said.

[EDanaII]

To tell you the truth, I personally do not know what OS is going to be the base for COS.  You can make a stab at it, but I'd hold off betting the family farm on it.

And there in lays the rub... given their current business model, what they are going to give us is a Linux (or Android) box with the Amiga label on it. Nothing "Amiga-like" is ever going to happen unless they switch to a more profitable model, and the more profitable model is, sadly, something that is non Amiga-like. Catch 22.

Better just to leave the name alone...

[EDanaII]

Again, I wouldn't be too fast in saying it's Linux.  Might be, might not be.  I don't know.  What is going to be on the C64x is going to be Linux, that is a given.  What is in store for the Commodore Amiga series, OTOH, is unknown right now.

A business model based on nostalgia that might sell 10k units of the C64x, if it's lucky, is not enough to kickstart new OS development. Nor can such a model guarantee a sufficiently large enough ROI to justify investment in new OS development. They are left with two options if it is not to be Windows: Linux or Android. Android, I'm assuming will incur licensing fees if they use it and since I doubt there business model is lucrative enough for that... Linux it is.

Now, I could be wrong on all that, but it is perfectly sound reasoning.  Otherwise, your just asking an agnostic to "have faith." Sorry, but I prefer facts, not hope and dreams.

[EDanaII]

Strange since Hyperion seems to be managing that with a lot smaller resources. OK, maybe I haven't shown the best example in favor of that strategy

Don't mistake me for a Hyperion supporter, their strategy is just as baffling as C=USA's... Where we have C=USA delivering a product few Amigan's can call an Amiga, we have Hyperion producing a product few Amigans can afford. Net affect: an Amiga-like platform goes nowhere.