Whats the magic in amiga?

[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!

[Fester]

It may have a lot to do with first impressions. For me, it was a 2000 around 1987. So it boils down to a bit of nostalgia in that respect. I did not have the same attraction to the Pet I used in high school, or the Tandy my friend had, or for that matter, my first PC, a 486. I got a lot of mileage out of the 486, but it was more a tool for college than the discovery of a fun machine.

I came back looking for Amiga around 2004. Now I am interested in it as hobby, a curiosity. It's different from the work PCs I used daily.

[persia]

The closest analogy I can think of is QRP in Amateur Radio.  Talking long distances on a maximum of 5 watts.

[ferrellsl]

It was the "wow" factor that captured everyone's attention and made them want to buy an Amiga.  The technology was way ahead of its time and was affordable.  Other home and office computer systems of the day cost 2-3 times more and didn't have a tenth of the capabilities.  I remember some of my colleagues talking about how great it was to have an IBM PC with its 4-color CGA graphics, single tasking DOS, and no sound whatsoever.

These days, no one is impressed with technology anymore.  We've grown spoiled and we actually expect high tech innovation at a low cost on a daily basis.  Back in the Amiga's hey days, you'd have to shell out $20k for a Sun workstation to even get close to what an Amiga could do for a measly $1000.  It was inspiring.  The only way to ever recapture such days would be if a company such as Dell sold a laptop with a 3 Ghz processor and ATI 5970 graphics for $100.....oh, and had it loaded with a decent OS.

[rockape]

Hi,

The Amiga is easy to learn, but hard to master, so it's always a learning experiance and a challenge.

Regards, Michael

aka rockape

[hardlink]

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

You do realize that this exact same thread was hashed out on usenet comp.sys.amiga a decade ago? I have it archived on 3.5" OFS floppies somewhere.

[Buzzfuzz]

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

Quite simple, just the retro feel these days.
 
Modern games are all about ultra fast moving graphics, while it cost a fortune to uphold the pace.
Big gaming rigs cost a fortune and consoles aren't cheap either.
Sure anything can be copied and downloaded, but for those who don't know and have kids shopping with your credit card buying 10 games is maybe enough food and supplies for a whole month or even more while you go :furious:
 
The thing I like the most about Amiga's is that they startup quick and they are simple to use.
The other thing I like is that you can modify it with just about anything, buy an adapter for it, search for a turbo card, and put some memory of an old pc in it.
I like to see that happen on a pc, but it will probably never work that way I guess.
 
Sure, Amiga's are even pricey today, but once you have one and figured out what TOSEC is and you mastered the pcmcia-cf bridge between a pc and Amiga, then you’re off.
And if you manage to play all 20000 games or so, you'll be 90 years old and it's most likely your Amiga will have died before you.
The downside is of course getting the hardware you like/want, a Cyberstorm MKIII or a Blizzard PPC will need you to have deep pockets with boatloads of money in them.
Prices I have seen are almost insane for hardware that is 10 to 20 years old or even more.
And I think, why must we suffer under these insane prices?
Why doesn't a company like DCE start to produce and sell them for reasonable prices ?!

[vidarh]

The things I miss from my Amigas today (I'm slowly getting things set up again - got a Minimig, and have an AROS install on my laptop, planning on getting a SAM or X1000) are mostly about hackability and elegance.

The platform as a whole, including the OS was so open / well documented, while still being a "proper" OS.

The things I regularly whine about missing on Linux (and OS X/ Windows) to anyone that cares to listen includes:

 * Responsiveness.. I've never once used an OS since I gave up my last Amiga that's been remotely as responsive to user input.
 * Modularity. The simplicity of writing device drivers, file systems, replacing system functionality.
 * Arexx ports. I detest Arexx the language, but having ports for every major app is such a major thing.
 * Ability for apps to open screens.
 * No per-application window menus.
 * Tight GUI integration. On Linux and everywhere else I'm a devoted shell / cli user. AmigaOS is the only OS I've used where I feel comfortable using the GUI most of the time.
 * Datatypes (yeah, they need an upgrade / face lift, but anyway)
 * Draggable screens (not entirely true - Enlightenment window manager supports it on Linux, and my current Ubuntu install is "close enough" with very smooth desktop switching... finally)
 
That's where most of the magic is for me today. Lots of nostalgia too. But the above are things I *still* want and that I'm not getting in other OS's.

[Nostalgiac]

I didn't choose my username here for nothing: nostalgia... over the last 6? years rebuild my A2000 with all those things I could not afford 15-20 years ago.

And at the time... after the inevitable c64, got my A2000 while friends madly choose an 8088 based XT... oh how I laughed at their green text screens (and I still payed less then half of what they spend on a basic model).

Later work allowed me to use Macs ... till a change of work more or less forced me to get a PC.. a Pentium90 by then... all in all, the Amiga allowed me to skip the entire x88-486 generations

Tom UK

PS: last week a stupid accident destroyed some 5 keys on my A2000 keyb ... anyone has a UK one for sale ? pm me :/

[halvliter'n]

Unique hardware and software, it is not Apple Mac or Microsoft Windows PC.

[ElPolloDiabl]

It's the weee leprechaun at the end of the rainbow tick!

[persia]

Yep, nostalgia is the biggie, it takes me back to a time when I didn't have children, big job responsibilities, etc.  Just me and my little toy.  The best quality is that it is impossible to do serious work on an Amiga, so everything I do is for fun!

[don27dog]

I unwrapped my 1st Commodore Vic 20 from under the x-mas tree in 1981. The following year I had a c64 under the tree. Next came the c128. Then around the start of the school year in 1985 my father bought an Amiga 1000. By x-mas 1986 he bought himself an Amiga 2000 and me MY OWN (not shared with him or my brother) Amiga 500. Now I had MY OWN Computer in my room I started calling local bbs. I worked the entire summer of 87 to save for a US Robotics 9600 HST modem (something like $800 bucks). Needless to say there were not many local boards with HST capability so next came the long distance calls. After a few months of these I figured it was time to put up my own BBS. The board ran on the 500 for about a year. At that point my father agreed to split the cost with me for my own 2000. I only had about 1/4 of the money but promised I would pay him back the rest. (never happened) At this point life was great. I had a high speed modem so the board quickly grew and I had an endless supply of games for the 500. In 1991 I mail ordered (and paid for myself) my final Amiga a 3000T. I used it happily until 97 when I finally shut the board down and gave in and bought a PC. Somewhere along the line I gave away the 500 and sold the 2000 for pennies but the 3000T sat in my parents attic until a few years ago. I was home and saw her sitting there and with the help of everyone here she and the board are back up and running.

[JimS]

I first got started in home computers by building one from magazine plans back in the late 70's. Didn't feel up to writing an OS for it, so I bought an Atari 800. The Atari was really the ancestor of the Amiga. It was mainly the graphics that moved me to Amiga.

I especially like the productivity software. You could produce some amazing stuff without having to be an expert in some cryptic pc program. Deluxe Paint, Deluxe Music, Videoscape...  We even made a TV commercial with Videoscape.

I guess I'm still around because the machine was so important to me in those days... gotta see how the story unfolds. ;-)

[arttu80]

Yep, nostalgia is the biggie, it takes me back to a time when I didn't have children, big job responsibilities, etc.  Just me and my little toy.

Amen to that brother! Couldn't agree more.  And oh my, I remember having my 12th birthday and my parents gave me brand spanking new A500 Plus (1992)! Man I couldn't hate more that pesky ECS/KS2.04 at that moment, because they prevented me of playing such cool games as Stormy Swiv, Take 'em Out, and many other oldies...Well not oldies at that time! But then I traded my 500Plus for basic A500, sure I noticed difference, but really didn't like that old KS1.3! I must confess, I wasn't big on buying games, so yes it was "magic" to take new empty floppies and go to a friend who happened to have X-Copy and df1: (well you guess the rest)..Later realized how copying games killed Amiga game industry, so bought few originals, wonderful Beneath a Steel Sky, Simon the Sorcerer and few Sierra Online adventures to mention..

And oh those wonderful Deluxe Paint, ProTracker and other similar progs, didn't see anything like these on PC in early 90's...Not to mention demo scene!

Now I'm waiting that big magic to happen again with, let's hope so, NATAMI AMIGA.

For now I'm feeling that Amiga magic with help of my A1200/030/Indivision stuff. Occasionally A500 startup just for kicks and yea, it's working. Life is good!

In addition, Amiga magic is also very evident when you check some of hardware prices these days, c'mon where's the R-E-P-R-O-D-U-C-T-I-O-N industry for us?!?! If I can buy, let's say brand new Chevelle, Camaro, Mustang body and all the related parts for these machines made some 40 years ago, makes me wonder why there isn't such a thing as PPC/060 repop accelerator for that old trusty A1200???

[whiteb]

For now I'm feeling that Amiga magic with help of my A1200/030/Indivision stuff. Occasionally A500 startup just for kicks and yea, it's working. Life is good!

In addition, Amiga magic is also very evident when you check some of hardware prices these days, c'mon where's the R-E-P-R-O-D-U-C-T-I-O-N industry for us?!?! If I can buy, let's say brand new Chevelle, Camaro, Mustang body and all the related parts for these machines made some 40 years ago, makes me wonder why there isn't such a thing as PPC/060 repop accelerator for that old trusty A1200???

The reason that there is no PPC/060 Repop is because the SOURCE for the logic (FPGA) is probably long lost now, you could probably export out the bitfile but that does not get you the VHDL source.  Not to mention, the 060 at least is no longer made (is it ?).

I started with a humble A500 from Dixons after seeing Shadow of the Beast demo in store (Yes, the Psygnosis demo disk).  I saved up, and got one.  Then I emigrated from UK to Australia with my Parents, and Qantas misdirected the A500 (in its box), I was waiting for it in Perth, and it flew on to Sydney.  It turned up a few days later.

Now I live in Melbourne, and i have 2x A500 (One of which is the A500 with more frequent flyer miles than me), A1000, A1200, A4000, Minimig.

I got a dual core PC, with a 4870 that has WinBlows 7, and plays Just Cause 2 ("GET IN SCORPION!!!"), so it can safely run Winuae, or my Xbox that can run Winuaex, but I STILL get the urge to hit the Amiga's power button to "ON".