Whats the magic in amiga?

[haywirepc]

I was wondering what everyone thinks is the magic that keeps them so interested in the amiga, even after all this time.
 
For me, its the mouth wide open watching amiga demos on a friends machine with ridiculous sound and graphics when my lowly main pc, a 286, was a text based slop mess with no sound, no graphics, and nothing like what I saw that magical machine do that day... That has kept me so interested. Wow that was a long sentence, sorry.
 
So started my interest in this beast. What started yours and why has it continued to fascinate you over the years?
 
What is it about this magical machine that keeps so many of us coming back to it, talking about it, using it, keeping it in good order to show our friends or family, Trying to advocate it, keep it relevant and remembered,
and why has it survived this long?
 
I have some ideas, but what do you think?

Steven

[save2600]

I'd say that magic is a combination of how we felt first time laying eyes/ears on an Amiga coupled with the superiority of its technology and software. That the custom chips had "names" instead of just part numbers. How intuitive and easy it was to create eye popping graphics and animation, not to mention all the sound samples, effects and music of Paula. There really wasn't anything like it back then. C64 maybe, if you were into the 8-bits hardcore. Apple's Mac was a friggin' joke. We had a 9" black and white TV growing up in the kitchen and ONE color TV in the living room. At 14/15yo, I remember laughing my ass off when the original Mac came out.

Ahem... Today though, it's fun to see how far we can push the Amiga. Especially now that *some* of the peripherals we might not have been able to afford back in the day are affordable now, is in a way, like revisiting an old friend. Getting to know the idiosyncrasies like never before is compelling on the Amiga. This might sound strange, but I'm more of a "hardware" guy than software. I keep telling myself I'll get "better" at using my Amiga someday and well, there's another reason why the machine is compelling. It keeps drawing you back as you yearn to learn more. Having large collections of software is really nice in this endeavor and the old mags such as AmigaWorld and Amazing Computing (all ALL of the minor mags too) really help round out the classic Amiga experience. I love collecting boxed software too. Having something physical to hold in your hand, read the back of the box and take in the artwork. Boxed Amiga software, like Atari 2600 boxes, just look so cool. Really made you want to purchase. Relatively speaking, kids are missing out on so much today. What they have for marketing is a joke and much of today's products suck anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter. Amiga represents and takes me back to a higher quality time. Some would call this nostalgia. Most all of my friends are in their 50's (I'm 38), so they totally get most of the fascination I have with older technologies et al and enjoy seeing my wares. Takes them back too as many had C=, TI or TRS-80 products back then. They're never really compelled to sit and play them, but they can sure hold a conversation about 'em for as long as you'd let them talk.  lol   I do have a buddy that used to fly commercial planes. I was thinking about plopping him down in front of SubLogic's Flight Simulator one of these days and see what he thinks.

There's still plenty to be impressed about the robust AmigaOS in all its "simplicity". I'm enjoying OS1.3 and 3.1 again after all these years. The computer: the way it looks, the way it feels (tactilely and OS wise) can't be beat. Helps being older too, having literally grown up with ALL types of computers, starting in the late 70's. So having a more rounded and centered understanding of the evolution of personal computing than someone much younger, is what I would attribute my seemingly undying "love" for all things Amiga  

-edit- I also love the font of the Amiga, the rainbow checkmark, the word Commodore and the C= logo  :lol:

[koshman]

I think about this very often. I understand your reasons, but with me it's different. I wasn't there when it all began (I'm 27...), I wasn't awed by the HW, I got my first A in 1996 when my father was rocking his P150 with 32MB RAM. It was a lowly A600, but it was the first computer that was truly my own and that means something, I guess. Also the whole sense of community, the scene - I didn't have a clue what a demo was when I was starting with Amiga and I wouldn't know it today if I only stuck with PC. Amiga just got style - like when I first saw Ocean Machine sometime in 2005 - I was playing Doom 3 with its incredible graphics on my PC the same day, but when I saw the demo with its rotating buildings in the air and the dancer section with the awesome background music at that moment I couldn't care less about truecolor 3D accelerated nonsense, it was just so cool. It still is.

[takemehomegrandma]

I was wondering what everyone thinks is the magic that keeps them so interested in the amiga, even after all this time.
 
For me, its the mouth wide open watching amiga demos on a friends machine with ridiculous sound and graphics when my lowly main pc, a 286, was a text based slop mess with no sound, no graphics, and nothing like what I saw that magical machine do that day... That has kept me so interested. Wow that was a long sentence, sorry.
 
So started my interest in this beast. What started yours

My first computer was a Vic20. "Wow! Computers"!

Then came the C64, and that did really rock my world. I still love the C64!

The Amiga was Commodore's logical path forward, and I went that way, and my world was rocked again (but somewhat in a different way). Back then, things were all about hardware, the OS wasn't that mature, and neither were the apps. Plenty of games though!

Then the OS started evolving, and you started enjoying the way the OS worked and handled stuff, especially in comparison to Windows 3.x. I hanged on till OS3.1. Then Windows (and Mac, but that wasn't my path) started to catch up, and surpass, and go way beyond, in terms of capabilities of the OS and its apps. I needed Windows professionally, and I needed its applications (and I still do), but I never forgot the Amiga ways, and I always kept a close eye on the various evolutions in the Amiga world.

MorphOS caught my eye in a very early stage, and when the Pegasos was first released (yes, I requested and got the Pegasos betatester NDA forms, but never returned them, I waited for the April1 release instead), I saw that as a chance to revive the Amiga experience on modern hardware (yes, the Pegasos was kind of modern back then). I still have MorphOS 1.0 on a CD here. MorphOS was new an immature back then, but it quickly evolved. And it became my major hobby!

Today, running on *Mainstream Mac Hardware*, with performance never before experienced by Amiga, I can actually do a lots of the online stuff I usually do on Windows, but in the environment I like!

MorphOS 2.5 is imminent, and so is OWB 1.8:

http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=31335&forum=28

A normal Windows user wouldn't raise their eyebrows over this video, he/she would say "what's so special about this?", and finally we Amigans can agree; "yeah, nothing in particular..."

*YEAH!*

and why has it continued to fascinate you over the years?

I have never forgotten the Amiga HW. That was cool!

I follow the NatAmi project closely. Very cool! Maybe we can have A NEW AMIGA!

(It's something different than MorphOS though, but extremely cool in its own ways! When it comes to MorphOS I hope it will proceed on x86 HW in a close future...

[coldfish]

I came to the Amiga from the C64, it was a natural progression from 8bit to 16bit.  The C64 was the first computer that blew my socks off, it seemed every month there was some new game that made us rethink what the machine could do.  Also, the computer was simple enough that you could "learn the system" and become very familiar with the software and hardware, and do stuff easily.  

For me the Amiga 500 was the next step up, and more and better, but I remember thinking at the time that a lot of C64 games had more playability eventhough they lacked the graphical magic of the Amiga.  I only got into using the OS much later when I got a used A1200 with a HD and while good, it had its annoying aspects and was less useful for day to day computery stuff than my humble ole' 350Mhz PC.

I think a lot of people who became the diehard Amiga nuts of today are people who owned Amigas other than vanilla A500's back in the day and so got to use the OS more deeply than someone stuck with a floppy based system, sadly those people are relatively few.

[takemehomegrandma]

I think a lot of people who became the diehard Amiga nuts of today are people who owned Amigas other than vanilla A500's back in the day and so got to use the OS more deeply than someone stuck with a floppy based system, sadly those people are relatively few.

I think you really have a point there! The majority of "vanilla" A500 users bought it exclusively for the games...

[scuzzb494]

Simply the greatest line of computers ever made. Nothing really compares.

scuzz

[save2600]

I think you really have a point there! The majority of "vanilla" A500 users bought it exclusively for the games...

Balderdash! lol  Okay, I knew one or two that only used their Miggy's for games, but not the majority of 'em. First few things I used my A1000 for was sound sampling, music creation, word processing, database storing and later... when I bought an A1300, titling for home movies. When I got an A500, I used it for almost all of the same things, but yes... gaming was a "bigger" part of the equation by then somehow. Might have been the fact my wife wanted to work outside the house, even though we had a 1 year old son. So... as part of that compromise, I sent her to work at Software Etc., where we were allowed to take programs home that we could "test out" at our leisure. Good 'ol shrinkwrap machines  :lol:  :lol:

[som99]

For me the magic is the feeling I got the first time I saw an Amiga, the way it blew my socks of and when I started to use my first Amiga and realy understood it's power I was hooked for life, Just how fantastic the operating system was and the custom chips was a joy for my ears and eyes. I did alot of great things back then on my Amigas and have keept a few of my old machines and code trough the years!

Nowdays I must say it's much about the nostalgica and living those years again, it makes me feel young! Still the Amiga for me is a great machine and it's fun to push as much out of the old hardware as possible, also nowdays I can afford the expansions I could not back then

The Amiga will allways have a special place in my heart and will live forever!

Edit: I might also add that the first "video game" I owned was a  Videomaster Olympic from 1975 http://www.pong-story.com/vmolympic.htm
tho I bought it in 1978 then in 1980ish I bought a VIC20 then in 1983 I bought my first VIC64 (commodore 64) then I use my C64 untill 1989 when I bought my first Amiga 500, Oh the joy, some of my friends had Atari ST and we kept trying to outdo eachother on what machine that was the best one (mostly my Amiga won!) then from there a line of amigas was bought trough the years and here I am today

Here and there inbetween my Amigas I bought a few other systems, but nothing could compare with my Amigas I think my first 80286 cost me about 3000€ or something in todays currency and I was second user on it (not sure about the price but I think it was about that.

[Amiduffer]

I was wondering what everyone thinks is the magic that keeps them so interested in the amiga, even after all this time.

Deluxe Paint is still a damn good animating tool. One of my YouTube contacts is having me make the intro for his train videos using DPaint since he loved the last one I made for him and it got some nice comments.

As far as why we still use these old things, it might just be that its because we grew up with them. That seems to be the case with folks that still bother with old Macs, Atari's, Acorns, etc.

[takemehomegrandma]

Balderdash! lol  Okay, I knew one or two that only used their Miggy's for games, but not the majority of 'em.

Boulder Dash you mean? C64...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwM1cDu6zew

[save2600]

No, Balderdash... the dictionary definition:     :lol:

bal·der·dash   [bawl-der-dash]  –noun

1. senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; nonsense.
2. Obsolete. a muddled mixture of liquors.

[cpfuture]

Back in 1988 or so my cousin got an A500. It was the first time I layed eyes upon an Amiga and I was completely blown away by the graphics and audio of its games. When I finally got one of my own in 1991 I was in heaven. A wonderul A500 all of my own! Fantastic games, magazines like CU Amiga and Amiga Format with coverdisks chockfull of goodies, Deluxepaint, ProTracker, AMOS. The possibilities seemed endless and there was this great sense of adventure and achievement. I learned so much on my A500 that helped me professionally later (I'm in IT).

Today, the Amiga is primarily a nostalgia trip for me. I still love the feel of an A500 and the responsiveness of Workbench. Something I sorely miss from modern computers! I love collecting (boxed) Amiga hardware and software and reading the old magazines, checking out the coverdisks. Great fun and a getaway from hectic 21st century life

[takemehomegrandma]

No, Balderdash... the dictionary definition:     :lol:

bal·der·dash   [bawl-der-dash]  –noun

1. senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; nonsense.
2. Obsolete. a muddled mixture of liquors.

OK, LOL!

Or:

Bald, er... DASH!



(Edit: Sorry, no more Off Topic from me here... )

[rvo_nl]

the amiga magic is ofcourse different for each of us. but because of that I guess its the perfect mix between gaming, productivity (at least in the beginning) and creativity.
 
I bought my first a500 only for the games (lotus 1 did it for me) but soon I was playing around with protracker, dpaint, even some basic programming stuff. soon enough I saw my first demo's and was convinced about the amiga way of doing things. when I got online the aminet and active community and creative ways of keeping up with the pc and mac is what kept me going.
 
nowadays its nostalgia coupled with that same community and the fun of doing things different and more efficient than other platforms. just see what you can do with only 1,2 or 8mb, its incredible! also, the fact my current amiga could still be housed in its original 'keyboard shell' while being just as powerful is a kind of magic, too. same goes for the c64!