Good old videos os AMIGA and Commodore 64!

[KILOCO_U2]

Yo!!

Some old and great videos about Amiga e Commodore 64:

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=amiga%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies

Good fun!!!

[srg86]

Conmputer chronicles is a great source of history.

BTW I wonder what ever happened to the First Amiga Users Group, in Palo Alto.

srg

[TheMagicM]

repost  :-P

[DavidF215]

You know, there are a lot of good points in the C64 video. The most important combination of points, I think, is that the C64 was an inexpensive computer that was easy to use. Also, Commodore flooded the market emphasizing the ease of use and the low cost.

There is still no product that addresses this market today in 2005. A grandma and grandpa that could use the C64 to create a program to help her knit; I haven't heard of something like that on a Windows or MacOS computer.

AmigaOS is still the perfect candiate for this, but the A1 is still way too expensive. Workbench is simple to use. Put AmigaOS and Workbench on a modern day PDA chip, stick it in a small box with a keyboard. Provide a few program goodies, and sell it for less than $200 or even $100. Or create a PDA with AmigaOS and Workbench that can be connected to a keyboard and monitor for normal computer use.

[B00tDisk]

DavidF215 wrote:
You know, there are a lot of good points in the C64 video. The most important combination of points, I think, is that the C64 was an inexpensive computer that was easy to use. Also, Commodore flooded the market emphasizing the ease of use and the low cost.

This statement is specious at best.  The C64 was no easier - or harder - to use than comparable PCs of the time.  All had the same requirement that at the very least you had to load a program first before they could do anything, and the ease of use depended on the program itself.

In fact, given that unlike the Atari or Apple or IBM the C64 had no disk autoloader, the user had to load a program manually thus putting it one step behind the others.  Additionally, the user had to wait and wait and wait for programs to load on the '64.  The advent of Fast Load -type cardridges came along later in the C64's life.  Other turbo programs you either had to load by hand or type in (I'm thinking of a few I saw in Ahoy! and Compute's! Gazette).

The '64s popularity came from it's ubiquity and C='s willingness to dump palletloads of the things at Montgomery Wards, K-Mart, and so on.  If, say, Exidy had been as initially successful at marketing things would be no different regarding the Sorcerer and Sorcerer II.  

The C64 was a typical computer of it's day, it just had a large user base thanks to cutthroat business tactics on the part of C=, tactics which were (bafflingly) dropped when they bought the Lorraine/Hi-Toro and turned it in to the Amiga.

Don't get me wrong; I had a C64 and I loved it, but I've understood over the years what made it so popular.  Apple computers had better overall hardware, Atari computers had a superior disk/file management system, IBMs were more expandable...C= just had the price point.

[CRL]

Ooooh, I just gotta say something.
The C64 was equipped with BASIC, as were the others, but the 64 had more colors and big sprites to play with, not to mention sound.  Not really easy, but more to show for your work.  The C128 on the other hand is oft forgot but was a real whiz-bang.  BASIC 7.0 gave easy control of the sprites and sound, enabling you to make the computer dance and sing to your desires with only modest work.  I bought an Amiga because Ben ?? the editor of Info mag. said I should, but I have never come even close to getting the functionality out of it that the C128 provided.  Visual Basic for Windows comes close but is still way more difficult. Of course, my wish to write simple programs for my work is just me, "your mileage may vary."

I have a room in my house (the museum of obsolete technology) with C64s, a C128, a Mac, a hopped up A500, an old Wintell machine, and a speeded up A4000.  If the comet hit tomorrow, and I could save only one thing for posterity, I think it would be the C128.

2 cents worth-
CRL

[CRL]

Ooooh, I just gotta say something.
The C64 was equipped with BASIC, as were the others, but the 64 had more colors and big sprites to play with, not to mention sound.  Not really easy, but more to show for your work.  The C128 on the other hand is oft forgot but was a real whiz-bang.  BASIC 7.0 gave easy control of the sprites and sound, enabling you to make the computer dance and sign to your desires with only modest work.  I bought an Amiga because Ben ?? the editor of Info mag. said I should, but I have never come even close to getting the functionality out of it that the C128 provided.  Visual Basic for Windows comes close but is still way more difficult. Of course, my wish to write simple programs for my work is just me, "your mileage may vary."

I have a room in my house (the museum of obsolete technology) with C64s, a C128, a Mac, a hopped up A500, an old Wintell machine, and a speeded up A4000.  If the comet hit tomorrow, and I could save only one thing for posterity, I think it would be the C128.

2 cents worth-
CRL

[CRL]

Ooooh, I just gotta say something.
The C64 was equipped with BASIC, as were the others, but the 64 had more colors and big sprites to play with, not to mention sound.  Not really easy, but more to show for your work.  The C128 on the other hand is oft forgot but was a real whiz-bang.  BASIC 7.0 gave easy control of the sprites and sound, enabling you to make the computer dance and sign to your desires with only modest work.  I bought an Amiga because Ben ?? the editor of Info mag. said I should, but I have never come even close to getting the functionality out of it that the C128 provided.  Visual Basic for Windows comes close but is still way more difficult. Of course, my wish to write simple programs for my work is just me, "your mileage may vary."

I have a room in my house (the museum of obsolete technology) with C64s, a C128, a Mac, a hopped up A500, an old Wintell machine, and a speeded up A4000.  If the comet hit tomorrow, and I could save only one thing for posterity, I think it would be the C128.

2 cents worth-
CRL

[CRL]

Oops, sorry- must have hit the wrong key to make three posts-
Beginner indeed-
CRL

[DavidF215]

B00tDisk wrote:

DavidF215 wrote:
You know, there are a lot of good points in the C64 video. The most important combination of points, I think, is that the C64 was an inexpensive computer that was easy to use. Also, Commodore flooded the market emphasizing the ease of use and the low cost.

This statement is specious at best.  The C64 was no easier - or harder - to use than comparable PCs of the time.  All had the same requirement that at the very least you had to load a program first before they could do anything, and the ease of use depended on the program itself.

Yeah, that is true somewhat. Most programs loaded the same, so that helped to make it easier: Load "*",8,1

In fact, given that unlike the Atari or Apple or IBM the C64 had no disk autoloader, the user had to load a program manually thus putting it one step behind the others.  Additionally, the user had to wait and wait and wait for programs to load on the '64.  The advent of Fast Load -type cardridges came along later in the C64's life.  Other turbo programs you either had to load by hand or type in (I'm thinking of a few I saw in Ahoy! and Compute's! Gazette).

The loading speed was an issue. Never liked it, but hey at least there were 16 colors compared to the IBM B&W.

The '64s popularity came from it's ubiquity and C='s willingness to dump palletloads of the things at Montgomery Wards, K-Mart, and so on.  If, say, Exidy had been as initially successful at marketing things would be no different regarding the Sorcerer and Sorcerer II.  

I always did wonder about that. C= made a massive effort with the C64, but did nothing similar with the Amiga.

The C64 was a typical computer of it's day, it just had a large user base thanks to cutthroat business tactics on the part of C=, tactics which were (bafflingly) dropped when they bought the Lorraine/Hi-Toro and turned it in to the Amiga.

Don't get me wrong; I had a C64 and I loved it, but I've understood over the years what made it so popular.  Apple computers had better overall hardware, Atari computers had a superior disk/file management system, IBMs were more expandable...C= just had the price point.

KMOS may need to use similar cut throat techniques to get a foot hold in a market for AmigaOS again. And unfortunately, there is no Amiga solution that could be manufactured with a low enough price to dump pallet loads of Amiga computers off at similar places, too.

[leirbag28]

@KILOCO_U2

Wow...........nice Link dude!  where can I download those actual DPaint Animations?....these guys should release their original work to the public

[bloodmoney]

Yes, I posted a link to that site here some time ago, but nice for people who havn't seen it :-D

Original Thread

[B00tDisk]

KMOS may need to use similar cut throat techniques to get a foot hold in a market for AmigaOS again. And unfortunately, there is no Amiga solution that could be manufactured with a low enough price to dump pallet loads of Amiga computers off at similar places, too.

The Amiga at this point consists of two parts: old, slowly breaking-down machines, the last of which were manufactured over a decade ago.  While the "amiga community" (some 1000-5000 users, probably) may swap them around, no one other than a nostalgia enthusiast would consider buying one.  The other part are the folks who've plunked down their cash for the Amiga-1 systems, and they're rather like the folks who've bought the C=1 boards.  At this point it's a hobby niche, and there's never going to be some revolution where I can go into CompUSA (or even hit compusa.com) and buy A1 hardware or software (although given that the A1 "runs on" commodity PC parts you might make the argument that I already can).

If the Amiga ever had a chance it was in the late 80's, early 90's.  Commodore so thoroughly {bleep}ed up the company that by 1994 nobody would touch them.  If there was going to have been a miraculous comeback, that's when it should've been.  It kills me that people say "Yeah, back in '98 or 2000 we still had a chance!"  Heh.  

[jon0x0]

Here's the 'Original' thread...

Nostalgia: Amiga Computer Chronicles Episodes Online

glad to see they updated the archive with mpeg-4 videos.

[pockets]

Whoah!  I've never seen this archive before.  This is great!

I watched Computer Chronicles religiously in high school.  I was always watching for any mention of the Amiga and remember several of these episodes.

There are some great old videos that will most likely be lost forever.  I used to work at an Amiga dealer and remember things like the Aegis (remember them?) demo reel with entries to their animation contest ("Apocalypse Real Soon Now"), screens from 20,000 Leagues, etc.  Then there's stuff like the first Amiga World computer animation video.  There were promotional videos with Kara Bloom and other Amiga artists of the day.

Man, I wish I hadn't lost track of these over the years.