Amiga users, Are we the only hardcore followers?

[darksun9210]

yeah, i ended up giving my PC to my dad (ultimate PC death! giving it to your parents!) as all i used it for is games.

when i think of the money i spent on it, and what i've gotten out of it, kinda an £1800 time wasting device. i don't really have the time to get involved in games anymore. so the odd hour or so here and there during the week tinkering with my amiga i find much more productive.

i agree with HellCoder,

For some unknown reason sitting behind the Amiga adds something hard to explain, but pleasure surrounds it.

just like when i get hardware through for it now - its still exciting... unlike PC hardware which is just another comodity "thing" with more this and faster that... nothing actually interesting lets be honest...

[srg86]

One big difference I have noticed is that they seem quite ready to admit their machines are not going to have a 'comeback' but are happy to keep using them, upgrading them, and developing for them simply because they enjoy it and they like the computers / OS.

This is why I have an amiga these days after years only in the PC space (I was amigaless from 1997-2004). I enjoy tinkering with old hardware (amiga and PC) and have a special place for the amiga. It also helps me as I have an example of a 68k processor to tinker with programming.

Even running OS4, I still can't concider the NG amigas (AmigaOne for example) as an amiga. It is basically a PC motherboard with a PPC, a PPC chipset and a custom rom to me. An amiga isn't an amiga without the custom hardware IMHO. It just feels like a bit of an imposter IMHO.

Anyway, I wonder how strong the Atari ST following is these days?

[Waccoon]

InTheSand:  linux started out with one guy linus and grew to a very respectable alternitive os it isnt very useful for home use since it is unix.

UNIX isn't the problem.  It's XWindows and KDE/Gnome running on top of UNIX that determines how useful it is for the home.  As much as I respect Linux as a kernel, GNU doesn't really make things easy at the shell level, and the GUIs available for Linux aren't very impressive at all.

What I liked most about the Amiga was Workbench, though the CLI was pretty straightforward.  I don't care what kernel or OS is underneath.  I care about the desktop, the tools, and how it "feels."  Linux (or really, each distro of it) is a completely destandardized mess by comparrison.

[InTheSand]

@Waccoon: I agree to a point - Linux could probably do with more standardisation, and more compatibility between distros could also help...

But the point I was trying to make is that the likes of Ubuntu / Gnome / Firefox / Thunderbird / OpenOffice is more than adequate for the average Joe Windows User who is into non-demanding tasks, and to (respectfully!) disagree with the "it isn't very useful for home use" comment.

 - Ali

[x56h34]

AmigaMance wrote:

 But you do sound negative, way too negative and you are exaggerating.
You are saying that a classic Amiga can only be used as a pure, retro game-machine, which is simply not true. You remind me of those pc users back in the Amiga-glory days. They were saying exactly the same thing and they still do..
 I'm not suggesting that Amigas are up to date computers/OSes but there are plenty of serious things that you can do with them.

There is simply not enough useful software available for AmigaOS. Sure, I can surf the net (kind of) in Ibrowse and send e-mails with YAM, and customise my OS look until the cows come home, but what else is there?

I own tons of Amiga computers, and most are PPC or 060 expanded, and I basically only use one of them for an occasional game or two, and that's it. I only own one PC. Guess which one gets used more? The PC. Why? Simply because it's got software support, unlike Amiga.

Once again, it's very fun to play around with an Amiga, but...

[Erwin-K]

Waccoon wrote:
UNIX isn't the problem. It's XWindows and KDE/Gnome running on top of UNIX that determines how useful it is for the home. As much as I respect Linux as a kernel, GNU doesn't really make things easy at the shell level, and the GUIs available for Linux aren't very impressive at all.
------------------------------

I can't remember the name right now, but there is a window manager for Linux that is designed to have the look and feel of Workbench.

Much to my wife's disgust our home is a Micro$oft free zone. She's much happier now that I've switched from SuSe to Linspire (Lindows) Linux. After all the distribution is designed from the ground up to comfort Windows Lemmings.

I have never been a gamer. Since 1991 I've earned part of my living doing Amiga based computer graphics. These days I usually create just parts of a project on the Amiga, but assemble the thing on a PC. At home I finally got a Toaster/Flyer system last year. With it I created the photo-montage used in my daughter's wedding. If I never turn the system on again, it will still be worth the $$$ spent.

At work, or at home, when I boot up an Amiga system I get the same sort of feeling that others mentioned. This is a computer that I know and understand. If I need to create something there are many tools that even now can let me bring what is in my mind to the screen or printed page.

I'd love to have a new Amiga, but the ones I use today serve me well.

Bob

[mr_a500]

There is simply not enough useful software available for AmigaOS. Sure, I can surf the net (kind of) in Ibrowse and send e-mails with YAM, and customise my OS look until the cows come home, but what else is there?

I guess it depends on what you consider "useful software". I personally have WAY more useful Amiga software than I ever had when I had a Windows computer. Probably the main reason for this is that almost all Amiga software is neatly arranged on Aminet and Windows software is scattered over millions of sites and you have to sift through the crap (and get infected with spyware). And if you want professional Windows software, it's damn expensive.

Besides the IBrowse and YAM and customizing until the cows (..and sheep) come home, I do lots of other stuff. (graphics, music, fax, create PDFs, spreadsheets, databases, slideshows, astronomy)


Edit: x56h34 - I reread your original post and saw that when you said there was not enough useful software you were referring to AOS4/MOS. In that case, I totally agree with you.

[dillinger]

you can all use your Amigas, PCs, Macs - whatever - for what YOU personally want and feel comfortable with. :-) Guys, there doesn't have to be an international conscensus on what we choose to use our computers for. There is *NO* debate here, it's about personal preference...not about trying to convince others what they should or shouldn't use a computer for.

I can see this thread deteriorating into "fanboy" fever, which would be sad considering most Amiga users today are over the age of 25 ;-)

[Doppie1200]

tonyvdb wrote:
Ok I was just wondering?

Are there other user groups like us from the 80's that still hang on to our trusty old computers (not people that are colecting them but still using them), or are there lots of others out there like us?
Examples are:
Atari
Apple II, IIe etc.
C64
any others?

Do you think that the Amiga is on a comeback?

There are plenty of people who like to tinker with things that are simple and lean. Even old 286 PC's are being hacked to work as webservers and such. I think this kind of hobbyism will always exist.
Although the new generations of people coming will have nothing with the old computers. It doesn't speak to their imagination. In the future they will tinker with other things that are relatively modern now. Like an Ipod for instance.

As for Amiga comeback; I already said it. The marked has been taken over by others. The name is not known to the new generation of people. It would be the same as introducing a brand new platform. And besides, where is that killer application? People can work hard on it all they want but to conquer you need a killer application.
The Amiga had just that in the eightees. Now it has nothing that makes it stand out. Short answer; no, for obvious reasons.

BTW; other groups are still active too. They are not computer related. I still drive my '85 Volkswagen beetle. So do ~7000 members of the VW beetle club here in holland. There are even some that have one from the 1950's. Talking about retro....

[mr_a500]

There is *NO* debate here, it's about personal preference...not about trying to convince others what they should or shouldn't use a computer for.

I can see this thread deteriorating into "fanboy" fever, which would be sad considering most Amiga users today are over the age of 25

You're overreacting a bit. This thread so far is just a calm, logical discussion. I don't see anybody trying to convince others to use this or that computer. They ARE just stating their personal preferences.

It doesn't matter to me if someone uses an Amiga or a modified loaf of banana bread as their main computer, as long as they have fun. :-)

[InTheSand]

Hehe! My girlfriend said she's making a banana loaf at the weekend (we have loads of frozen bananas in the freezer) so any tips on making it a PC-beater?!  :-D

 - Ali

[humppa]

(we have loads of frozen bananas in the freezer)

Frozen bananas? *yuk*
Never seen anybody putting bananas in the freezer.  

I'll have some good ole
:pancake:
instead. :-)

[drewz21]

Banana pancakes anyone???

 :pancake:  :banana:

[tonyvdb]

 :laughing: Frozen bannanas work great in Bannana bread I do it often.

Seriously I was just qurious about what people thought about there Amiga hobby. I dont want this to become a shouting match or a debate as to what is better.

I truly dont think that the Amiga is an a comback but its intresting to see several new users on A.O. that were not even around when the Amiga first came around.

[Troika]

>>Frozen bananas? *yuk*
Never seen anybody putting bananas in the freezer.<<

You forgot to dip them in Chocolate first...yumm.

[InTheSand]

tonyvdb wrote:
Frozen bannanas work great in Bannana bread I do it often.

Yay! A fellow banana enthusiast!  :-)

 - Ali