Will there every be another computer like the amiga?

[ElPolloDiabl]

Custom chips sound great and you could at least make it easy to put the OS on an small SSD drive or ROM. The problem is  the cost of development, you could build a cheaper computer with off the shelf parts and getting volume discounts.

We do have some custom built hobbyist computers like the Natami, they seem to have pretty grandiose plans for it. Could be a new Amiga, wait and see.

[ElPolloDiabl]

In the 90's computer users were still enthusiasts and wanted to learn about computers. Now every Joe on the street has a computer or console. They can blurb out enough lines to communicate to sales guy what they want and they assume the computer will have Windows installed.
I imagine the enthusiasts have tinkered with Linux, but it doesn't have enough features to wow their friends.
You probably could build a better Mac-ish system, but you'd need to have something special that can turn heads. Have you seen the Asus EEpc keyboard?

[ElPolloDiabl]

@Dreamcast
I run MacOS 9 on an emulator. Amiga on an Emulator and Windows 95 on virtual PC. All on a Windows XP 2.8Ghz Athlon X2 System. If the emulator is good it doesn't matter what 'engine' is under the hood. If PowerPCs were dirt cheap I would use that.
Once you get a taste of some serious horsepower and as long as bloatware doesn't swallow half of it, you won't look back.
You still need a two pronged attack from hardware and software... if one is lacking people will get fed up.

[ElPolloDiabl]

Re: iPhone and spirit of Amiga

This is an example of how people can look at the same thing and see something completely different. I could pick apart the hardware and the software, but I won't.

[ElPolloDiabl]

Here's the latest kludge from Microsoft expert programmers:

http://lifehacker.com/5451159/solid+color-backgrounds-cause-30+second-login-delay-in-windows-7

[ElPolloDiabl]

This thread is going on and on about Windows vs Mac. Check the title, I believe it mentions Amiga.


Also, I would have a software solution first, let people try out your new Amiga system before they invest in hardware.

[ElPolloDiabl]

For another machine to be "like the Amiga", do we have a working definition of what being "like an Amiga" is? What are the essential elements of Amiganess?

1. Ease of use and and easy learning curve to more advanced operations
2. Top notch sound and graphics
3. Low footprint and low resource usage. (I don't want an office app installing half of its functions in memory when I only want to boot up and play games).
4. Compatibility with old software. (Going from 1.3 to 2.04 then 3.1 only broke a few things. Mac kept its backwards compatibility we should do likewise.)
5. Wow factor. If you put in a disk and the thing just installs and works. Presently I have to search around for utilities or drivers or patches.