Check
this out.
Using it, I found this old post I wrote some years ago (April, 2000) in an Amiga forum.
(DISCLAIMER: Since this posting is a 'bit' long, and dated, "it does not necessarily STILL represent the opinions of me, or the other guy mentioned in its pages.")
The Next Phase:
Amiga Rebirth, Resurrection, and Development Into the next Millennium
The Amiga's hardware and architecture are what made it
different, and hence, vastly superior to the PCs of its day. Back when
PCs could only ‘beep' and ‘boop', with hardware best be described as
‘clunky', the Amiga (and even its ideological and technological
predecessor, the Commodore 64) could already do the most amazing
things in graphics and sound. One product of this amazing
technological leap forward was the Video Toaster, which was, at one
time, (with the vast powers of the Amiga at its core) the industry
standard for producing much of the video broadcast content of many
small and large, in-house studio graphics departments.
Because of its corporate woes, managerial ineptitudes, and
just plain "ball-fumbling," Commodore, shortly after snapping up the
‘Lorraine', (and with precious few years of development under its
belt), was unable to bring this machine to the full fruition of its
latent powers. And sadly, during its struggles in the limbo of that
unrealized potential, the lowly PC, (once easily considered with some
contempt by Amiga owners as the lobotomized love-child of low-tech
‘first cousins') had evolved to what it is today, something somewhere
between a technological wonder and logistical nightmare.
So where would (or should) the Amiga be now, if, it too, had
had the chance to grow and evolve with the technological advances in
board and chip design? Well, a couple of friends got together for a
long weekend of driving (from Chicago, Illinois to Centsible Software
in Berrien Springs, Michigan) and palaver, and came up with the
following scenario:
The Processor Core: The Amiga would have stayed with its
parallel processor core design. We always knew that one of the things
that made this such a versatile and powerful machine was the fact
that, even though main processor speed was relatively slow, much of
the burdensome work of processing graphics and sound was done by not
one, but two other chips, which when combined, made a very powerful
factory for multimedia apps. So, the Amiga today would sport not one,
but, actually three equally powerful, equally advanced, state of the
art Motorola chips, each designed specifically for jobs in sound, and
graphics. Also, each of these powerful processors should have direct
control and access to the system resources they require, including
proprietary and system-wide RAM and transport buses. In other words,
no cards!
The OS: Currently, each of us is a PC user, having one by one
(and out of sad necessity) given up on the platform that at first
seemed a gift from the god of technology, and eventually ended up its
orphaned stepchild. But one thing we all remember is this: the Amiga
was always ‘ready to go'. Boot-up time was inconsequential, as most of
the Operating System seemed to be hard-wired into the machine! (This
is amazing, in light of today's boot-up times, which can take five
minutes, or more, depending on the configuration of the hardware and
software.) Today's Amiga would have most of its OS on a PCMCIA card
(or an array of such cards). It would still be completely upgradeable,
by ‘flashing' either patches, or entire rewrites, and many, many times
more accessible at system start. We think that a Linux OS would be
very well suited to this type of adaptation. So much for the GUI
aspect of the OS. For programmers and developers, we also envisioned a
return to the command line interface, with a fully realized DOS-like
(or UNIX like) command structure.
System Configuration: Also, the OS would be completely
configurable at start up. What does the user specialize in? Sound
apps? Graphics? Multimedia? Games? Weather pattern predictions, or
other ‘super-computer' sims? The user would be able to choose, from
the Boot Up Menu, the most optimum configuration for the job at hand,
with the operating system then customized for that work, and reserving
all system resources for what's being done and used at the time, and
nothing else. This would not only bring more sys resources to bear on
the job; it should ideally result in more stability, and less downtime
from crashes and hang-ups. One of the ways we discussed this might be
achieved was the use of a ‘partitioned' operating system, one that
could easily and readily step between different modes, each for a
different job, like re-booting with a new configuration, but ‘on the
fly', without any loss of data, and no down time. (Sort of like the
way programs pass parameters to subroutines in a chained program, or
an overlay.)
Open Source: One of the great ideas of today would certainly
not only work on this new Amiga, it actually may have had its start in
those early days of computing, when more likely than not, a user was
also a programmer. After all, back then, when there were no ‘Windows',
and no vast software support, many users became (out of either
interest, necessity or both), programmers. Those who didn't go that
far were at least able to ‘type in' programs from magazines. This, in
turn, led to not only an intuitively better understanding of the way
computers and their components worked, but also gave some insight as
to how to ‘tweak' them. Therefore, in the spirit of those early days,
‘open source code accessibility' is something that should definitely
be a part of this newly evolved machine. The Amiga, at its best, was
not only a user's platform, but a developer's and programmer's, as
well. (By contrast, many Windows users today are just that, ‘users',
who have no knowledge of how their machines work. How many people
drive cars, and yet have no knowledge of how a car works, or how to
maintain one? This aptly describes the typical Windows user.).
Storage Capacity: Back to hardware. As multimedia machines of
the first order (and the first generation) the new Amigas would have
to have vast storage capacity, on an order of two to three times that
of today's PCs. This could be achieved several ways, one of the most
logical and accessible being that of the RAID array, with some
modifications. Hard drives should be fully hot swappable, and arrayed
in multiples. The Amiga hardware could include a bare-bones (or empty)
drive array rack, which the user could then build upon to meet storage
needs. Today's prices in storage solutions easily support such a
system. Eventual capacities of 50 to 100 GIG are conceivable with
moderate comparable cost.
RAM: As far as RAM is concerned, more is always better. But
how much does one invest in RAM, until it becomes unwise insofar as
cost/projected time of use? One would hesitate to put one GIG of RAM
into a machine, when cost and the time until the next machine upgrade
is taken into consideration. This is one of the problems plaguing PC
users today is that, at some point, RAM evolves beyond a point where
it can be used by motherboards of a certain age (make, and
manufacture). Most would balk at spending top dollar for lots and lots
of RAM, and then not being able to use it in the next machine.
Therefore, RAM for the new Amiga should be of a new type, upgradeable
by ‘motherboard flashing', or a ‘governor chip', which would act as a
RAM controller, and, ideally, extending the life of these chips
considerably, by making them as variable and upgradeable by software,
and firmware, as other elements of the computer. For that matter,
since the new Amiga's sound and graphics would both be handled by
proprietary processors, they, too, should be, to some extent,
upgradeable in this manner.
Secondary storage: There are, and will be many, many options
for this type of storage. Floppies of varying speeds and capacities,
ZIP disks, backup storage devices (tape), all clamor for support and
space in today's machines. The new Amiga would be no different.
However, it could be different in how it approaches the matters.
Instead of being designed for one type (or a couple) of these
secondary storage devices, the Amiga would sport a new, proprietary
specification. A controller device (a secondary backup ‘manager')
which could be configured by software, and a multiple-array docking
station, fully user upgradeable outside the case, (or, at least easily
accessible), to handle each of not only these devices, but also, any
which may come along. This, added to the ‘hot swappable' (see System
Configuration, above) OS could give the Amiga much more flexibility
over today's typical PC machines. (As far as CDs and DVDs go, it goes
without saying that the Amiga would definitely support these devices,
(and other optical media) with the same type of infrastructure, if so
desired by the manufacturer or user.)
The Motherboard: A few words. The motherboard for the newly
evolved Amiga would actually be somewhat less capable than
motherboards currently in use in today's PCs. Why? By off-loading much
of the stifling specifications from the mainboard to the
processor-chips, (which would be removable and hence, fully
upgradeable) its use would be extended beyond that of today's systems.
Therefore, increases in bus speed, AGP specs, and over-clocking
tolerances could conceivably be lessened, if not completely dismissed,
since it would be the chips that need upgrading and replacing, and not
the entire motherboard.
Multimedia Apps & Closing: Bring back the Video Toaster, and
make it an integral part of the Amiga's standard hardware. As with
other add-ons, it could come in different configurations, or none at
all, according to what the user would need, and be willing to pay for.
But it should definitely become a basic part of the machine, like the
sound chip, and the video chip.
Well, that's about it. That was a long day of driving, and
many, many other ideas were discussed, brain stormed, and tossed
about. As with all such sessions, we did not limit ourselves by such
pesky concerns as to what is ‘possible' or ‘feasible' or ‘cost'. Such
thoughts only kill good ideas, and oftentimes, create a negative
atmosphere in which such ruminations may never see the light of day.
Sometimes, ‘not possible' really only means no one has thought of a
way of making a thing work. Having said all that, we hereby present
the core of our talk. If anyone's taken the time to read this, we are
grateful, for it is more than we could ask or hope for.
Curtis M. Harrell, Jr. & Sterling Hankins.
8-)
