Twas the summer of 1993
I'd been down into Bournemouth as ever and struggling with getting a computer. The PCW9512 had gone pop and with it all my written work including a couple of longer stories which technically I guess could have become novels. The prob with the 9512 was the disk drive, and I had spent the last night trying to get disks read... Anyway it was a quiet afternoon and so I bought Amiga Format Issue 48 for July in the sum of £3.95. I knew the Amiga well. My sister had a 500 and a 600, my dad had two 500s, and my other sister also had a 500. I had contemplated getting one, but work dictated a word processor and the 9512 had fit the bill. Anyway I thumbed the pages of this magazine and cus of what I saw I determined to get one. So why... ?
Was it the very attractive young lady on the front of the mag announcing the Sound and Vision Spectacular with the 16 page step-by-step tutorial. Was it the oodles of Amiga games and software plus images of sexy joysticks on pages two and three..Was it Marcus Dyson welcoming me to Amiga Format telling us of the joys of writing PD disks...Was it the two page mind blowing advert for Syndicate and the even better tempting cover disk with it on...Maybe it was the informative section on Adorage and the equally useful cover disk...Or maybe it was the animation tutorial.. Or possibly the review of Amiga Format Live 93... I struggle to recall exactly what captured my imagination that day, but certainly by the afternoon I had decided to start saving my pennies.
I look back at the magazine now and realise that life on the computer has never been quite the same... A truly magical time. And I guess Amiga Format for that period represented for me a wonderful world of fun and yet serious computing. A world where I was invited in to join the magical world of the Amiga. Everyone in this magazine had a smile on their face. And they were filled with enthusiasm and passion. This magazine represented for me a new unexplored world, and one which I discovered never, but never disappointed.
Back to today... Well computing has just got really really boring in modern speak. The PC World nightmare... of suits and spam. It is a far cry from those misty almost forgotten images of 1993 and the Amiga... And yet I guess I can still live the dream through retro, and joy at the fact that at least one wonderful element of that period still lives on some 15 years later... My Amiga. My beloved A1200. Still clicking away, still as friendly and trustworthy as ever. Me and my Amiga have lived the adventure... Like Indiana Jones we travelled to the furthest corners in search of our Holy Grail and I for one certainly touched the moon... I am still as happy today with my Amiga as I ever was. I cannot think of a time when I would be without her.
Happy days....1993 to now and beyond. The Amiga lives.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever....
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz73.htmscuzz
Amiga1200 WB3 Blizzard 1230 IV 32MB RAM Miami YAM
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