Old topic, but good topic!
freqmax wrote:
So what's missing in the current breed of computing is a setup that is edge technology and is inviting to create things that exploit the technology to the limit ..?
I think you had the best answer/reply as to the X-factor: the Amiga was an enabler of creativity in multiple domains and a proliferator of high-end technology (the WOW factor, and I mean both hardware and software) to the masses at affordable prices.
The Cell and DDR3 and all that is nice and all, but I just don't think it's enough of a technological jump at this point. And that may be because "we" haven't figured out how to program the Cell easily and properly yet, or because even if we did from day one, it's still not enough.
I believe it wouldn't have been enough, even if we had the ability to get the most out of the Cell from day one. I believe what is needed for "a new Amiga", is a huge technological jump. A computer that does something that computers today are trying to do, but not just much better, but in a whole different way. A lame example (and NOT what I'm talking about, but just to give you a flavor) is if all of a sudden graphic card manufacturers dumped polygons as the basic building block for GPUs and moved to say ovals (anyone remember that game with the oval rendered? E something?). Like I said, I don't think ovals are the future, but what I mean is, such a radical paradigm shift is what's necessary to garner that WOW factor. That's what the Amiga did. And note, that technology (blitters for example) was already out there (Apple guys and Jef Raskin talk about blitters in their writings, and I'm sure Evan & Sutherland invented the damn things), but the point is that the Amiga brought it to the desktop at an affordable price. So perhaps if we get GPUs the can do real-time radiosity and raytracing, and I'm talking about thousands if not tens of thousands of complex objects, not just 3 spheres, and it costs like $200-300 each, then perhaps within a year that WOW factor will re-appear.
Note: I know you can do realtime raytracing with the Cell. I've been doing the same with a Pentium for years, except it was not even 10 objects! I'm talking about thousands of COMPLEX objects, so that we can model realistic environments, not produce pretty SIGGRAPH photos.
A few more comments on the very interesting comments in this interesting discussion:
@persia:
Your first post and the part about going retro, that was just hillarious! :-D
@mingle:
I always have this funny feeling, that I may "hate" Britney Spears, but there MUST be a bunch of kids who are going to be writing about her in forums like these in 20 years. I *REALLY* hope I'm wrong, and for 2 reasons: 1) it's just plain wrong :-) and 2) then we're special, because others won't be feeling nostalgia as we do.
Most of the times I feel that we're special in a way, in the sense that most people who were into some other things (I dunno, bicycles let's say, not motorcycles) won't ever lament about those in the future. Then again many would (or do) call us maniacal fanatics and zealots :-) But seriously, what I mean is, certain OBJECTS don't ellicit a feeling of nostalgia or lamentation like certain other objects. For example, we all (?) had pencil cases when we were younger. I remember they were quite the fad. And we spent a lot of time with them, especially the ones with extra pockets and drawers and abilities (mirrors, sharpeners, secret compartments, etc). However, I've not spent more than these last few moments thinking about those cases for the last 20 years! They just don't ellicit that kind of nostalgia. Therefore I think the Amiga is one of those special objects.
One more reason for the Amiga being such an attractor of feelings is that it's a computer, and a computer is a "do many things" machine, therefore it plays a much more wide role in one's life, therefore more memories are associated with it.
Then again, it also had a name and a personality, unlike my old PCs, which I just could never feel a connection to.
And to connect to the above, I DO strongly believe and feel that the character and personalities of the creators (of anything, not just the Amiga) are expressed through their works. The Amiga EXUDES the characters of those who made it, and I LIKE those characters and who and what they stood for (in rough terms, because I don't REALLY know them), but through their work and craft, I know SOMETHING, something important about them.
OK, enough analysis.
@ChuckT:
I'm sorry to be so forward, but through your comments it seems to me that you've not been exposed enough to anything other than an Amiga (and a C64?), and that can be a bad thing as well as a good thing (Microsoft..). Perhaps you're right about the "conspiracy" theories, although I don't buy it, but you're certainly wrong about the hobbyist-ability of modern computers (see examples of what BloodLine said about Macs), and especially about writing software (you'd use C and ASM during the Amiga days, just like today), and even more especially wrong about WHAT PEOPLE WANT from a computer today. Sorry, most people aren't geeks and programmers like you and me. They DON'T EVEN WANT to be! An Amiga, as you describe it, is their worse nightmare. They want something that does what they want with minimal fuss. If they're to program it, I think they're rather have a gun to shoot themselves. Think about this for a moment.
Which leads me to Persia's 2nd post:
Wow, what clarity of vision! It's exactly how things are, at least from my observations.
Now having that insight, the question is, what should a "NeXT-gen" computer be/have/do, in order to be useful to this "old crowd" but also the "new crowd"?? (I know for me today's Mac is the closest thing, but I'm talking beyond even today's Mac)
@Fester:
:laughing:
I BELIEVE!
Amiga! WOW! I want it NOW! Those were my first thoughts after seeing it and learning about it! It definitely had and has the X-factor! :-)
