AmigaOne clones?

[neofree]

I know the Amiga's of the past have had patented hardware preventing the possibility of cloning.  Is this the case of the AmigaOne?

I think that if the hardware of the AmigaOne was clonable it would benefit the Amiga community.  The success of the PC was probably mostly to this fact alone.  Also VHS beat Beta because there was no licensing on the technology.

Anyone know the answer to this?  I don't think that the AmigaOne *has* to be this way to succeed, but it would help.  If it is proprietary, then I would hope the specs would well exceed that of the competition, and stay on top.  Right now it seems that the new A1 is "modern" but still slightly behind the Mac, for example (as far as hardware specs).  I think it would be realistic to take some of Mac's market if the A1 was actually spec'd better.  Or, priced lower.  Or if it was possible to make clones, then there is a very good chance of success...

Comments?

Neofree

[neofree]

What do you mean by "dongelise OS4"?

This being said, I think the AmigaOne then sounds like it is simular to the way Beta was.  Although this is better then before, it is still going to have a very hard time beating the PC - not that it is expected to.  

Sounds like it's left to bang vs. buck and it's real chance is competing with the Mac.

I hope Amiga does make a comeback, and stays around...  I personally won't be able to afford anything new until the prices come way down though.  If I could get an Amiga motherboard for say $100-$200 USD, and the rest of the components are just standard PC stuff, then I would be able to do it.

Neofree

[neofree]

Compaq (now HP), Dell, Gateway, etc are some of the larger examples of successful clones.  IBM today is still the leader, but I don't think they always were in the time of their own PC.

The clone may not be as good as the original, but the fact that it is possible opens up the marketing possibilities.   Besides, do you actually care if you have an IBM PC instead of any other box? (If you use PC stuff too.)

Neofree

[neofree]

Hey I signed the petition!  Agree the hardware should just be POP like it says!  

[neofree]

Well I guess it is really going to come down to bank vs. buck.   I hope someday to be able to afford one.

I am sick of Unstable Windows, I'll never go the Mac (one button mouse?? COME ON)...  The A1  is the only viable alternative to me.  Except maybe Linux on any platform.  But family and friends wont accept linux, plus it's great for servers but still needs work for end users.  

But again, it's going to have to be a lot cheaper for it to be reachable to me.  I can't beleive I just paid $150 USD for an A1200 with A1230 and SCSI.   Sure this is an awesome deal compared to all of the others, but for as old as this machine is, it is high.

Neofree

[neofree]

Tigger:

This may be true, but I work for HP, and they told us themselves that they are #2 to IBM.  IBM isn't just sales of computers.  They do a lot of service and software related things too.  It may be true that Dell and HP sell more units, but overall company value IBM is at #1 currently.

[neofree]

Well, I've started a big topic...

After reading everyone's arguments I really do think that Amiga should rethink the proprietary move.  Amiga has said themselves that they are a software company now, and they would benefit by their software being easier to run on various platforms.  I don't mind paying $50-$100 for an OS.  But I do mind paying too much for hardware.

That all being said, I am studying computer electronics and plan to design a small computer in the next few years...  To those out there with a litle bit more of hardware knowledge...  How hard is design of motherboards for the PowerPC vs. Intel/AMD?  I've read enough about the PC that I think it would be a very hard task to design a PC clone.  (Plus hard to market.)  Is it comparibly difficult for a PPC motherboard?  And is PPC truely better then Intel/AMD?  If so, can someone explain why?

Thanks,

Neofree

[neofree]

I think company value is (or atleast was recently) more important then you think.  HP and Compaq were both hurting really badly.  There was a good chance of at least one of the companies getting close to bankrupcy.  IBM had a lot less trouble during this time.  "The New HP" has recovered, but it's value today is only what one of the two were seperately before the downfall that happened before the merger.  IBM is very strong in enterprise solutions.  They take on huge contracts.  And the service industry (such as taking on the responsibility of an entire IT department of another company) is growing a lot and is keeping these companies where they are.  Last I knew, IBM was aproximately 2 times the value of the "New HP".  I think it was HP's own Carly who recognized this and wanted to make a strong effort in making HP mean as much as IBM.  I don't know if they'll do it but hey they can try.  

Neofree

[neofree]

About the computer, I was only planning on making an 8 or 16 bit machine with very inexpensive components.  It is mostly for a sense of accomplishment, but there is a special market it will actually have a chance to make some money in.

Neofree

[neofree]

Minion:

Well, I never said I liked IBM.    But then again I really don't like HP all that much either.  I worked for Compaq before the merger.  They were very nice to their employees.

Neofree