Amiga - What If It Were Today....

[motorollin]

It's the fact that soooo many people do not understand and comprehend root words anymore. Twit(ter). Knowing what a twit is, works out perfectly as most on it are exactly that.

The irony of your statement about people not understand the root of words is fantastic, due to your failure to account for the fact that "twitter" and "twit" do not share a root :lol:

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moto

[Digiman]

It wouldn't and it couldn't. Computers and computing today are hardly anything more than sum_generic_persons tool for getting on the internet, typing an e-mail, looking at porn, editing their photos (because now, any idiot is a DIY "professional" photographer) and *maybe* editing their home videos. At work, they're still content using horrible technology with shoddy overpriced software written to maintain their books and inventory - all completely flawed, non-user friendly and prone to millions of dollars worth of mistakes and inaccuracies. Hardly any company is safe from that typical business-related scenario either despite the fact superior computers, OS's and software have come and gone.

The Mac and its spinoffs are the closest thing we have to anything "exciting" computing wise and frankly - they're going to be holding that reign for quite a while.

Now that the Democruds have gotten their way once again, the Grubment (FCC and its tangled throngs) will dumb the internet down even further - making that aspect of computing even less compelling than it's been, year after year, since the early 2000's. ALL of the mainstream social sites are proving this right now in fact. Look at MySpace and Facebook. Horseshit Twitter-like content is what it's quickly becoming. Pics of peoples pets and kids. Asinine status updates too, as if anyone really cares about most peoples petty lives and lifestyles. "Hey, look what I just bought from Wal-Mart". "The Cowboys are better than 'insert some other stupid team here'". Yep - there's your future of computing  Blech.

It's all over buddy. The mainstream has ruined yet another aspect of electronica. I don't see anything coming out in the near future computing wise that either hasn't already been done, much less worth get excited about. If any platform or truly unique or superior system came about (again), it'd be squashed for all the reasons stated above or not gain enough of the mainstreams acceptance for it to be relevant and profitable for anyone, for very long anyway. We should all know by now that anything "cool" doesn't last for long. Especially in America. It's almost always replaced by the un-friendly or otherwise inferior ware. It's just the way it is unfortunately. In just about every aspect of industry too. I can't think of a single thing that's made better today than yesteryear. This stuff is designed to break so you have to repurchase it AND/OR the genital pubic is too slow to realize that they've been made guinea pigs by these consumer electronics companies or at the very least, have become individual R&D "departments" w/ the privilege of paying for said status.  

Totally free forming holographic displays that were worked on and put to use in 80's arcades (not this glasses wearing "3D" crap) would have or would be nice if perfected, but you can forget about that. Looks like the trend is going toward that multi-screen Nintendo DS technology for 3D instead. At least you don't have to wear silly overpriced glasses for it though.

Damn, that outlook sure is bleak! But it really does reflect what's going on by and large. And naturally, this is just my $.02. Not even worth that much outside of the choir, which frankly, I don't give a damn about. :laughing:

I very much agree with you here, and this is pretty much the reason why I can't get excited about either Wintel or Mac computers....been there, done it. Do I really care about tiny little improvements to OS from massive hikes in computer power from new CPUs/GPUs? Nope less is more and Amiga KS/Wb 1.1/1.2 on A1000 proves just how little progress we have made in the last quarter of a century thanks to people like Apple and Microsoft 'winning'*

The only mild interest I have is the technology inside the PS2/Gamecube at the time and Xbox360/PS3 today because of how they use non PC architecture to achieved greater price/performance on launch day than a £1500 'gaming PC'.

IF, and this is 99% unlikely, Amiga ever came back it would have to do what Microsoft did when designing the Xbox 360 motherboard to a pittance of a price. Ironic that Microsoft are the company that have shown it IS possible even today to use an off the shelf GPU from ATI and combine it with a weird and wonderful CPU and motherboard architecture to slamdunk gaming PC's price/performance on launch day by a factor of 3:1 isn't it? However even consoles have now hit the wall with their photorealistic A/V and yet the future apparently is standing infront of a camera being a dick or using some low-tech motion sensing bollox with childish graphics as per the Wii. The future is here and they can shove it :madashell:

But we will never see this kind of intelligently alternatively designed product labelled as 'Amiga' and that is a fact, technology has nothing to do with it, just that sort of vision and intelligence required is missing from all existing Amiga hardware manufacturers, who are merely producing OS4 compatible motherboards in my book NOT Amigas...or even worse Wintel rubbish from CommodoreUSA

*wakes up to sound of alarm clock ringing*

[AmigaNG]

You use the right tool for the right job. And there are certain jobs  that are simply going to be beyond the scope of a 4 inch screen.

Have you looked at http://justiphoneart.com/

Now I'm not saying everyone can produce high quality work on iphones or other smart phones I'm just amazed that these tiny devices let you do all this and more. Plus lets not forget kids are growing up with these device from the age of 3, I'm amazed by how fast some can txt messages, these pepole are growing up with these devices and know how to use them so I think as apps become more clever with the way they work on tiny screens and the users are more use to working with them, your be surprised by what people can do.

[adz]

Oh god, not another one of these threads...

[Digiman]

I think its interesting how MacOSX with its imminent release of Lion adopting the application phenomenon is a sign of where everything is heading and google looking to release ChromeOS i think this will be the war that will be waged.

Google Chrome OS....an OS using a web browser for the basis of its GUI...this is the worst idea I have ever seen (and yes I have seen it and used it thanks)

So still going to be Apple and Microsoft for the foreseeable future then.....

*makes fake nonchalant 'hooray' near silent chear*

As for those praising the iPad...the 'internet pad' well....something costing half a grand and not being able to go on flash based websites of any kind is dumb in the extreme and something Medhi Ali would sign off on....so yeah it is kind of Amiga-ish sure...in the worst possible tradition

[whabang]

I kind of doubt iPhones will.  They are designed to stop working eventually, and their reliance on a subscriptions for one of it's primary functions makes it unlikely.

Which is why I mentioned the iPad and other tablets.

Also, notebook sales, of which netbooks have been a sizable portion of, are on the decline.

[Digiman]

Have you looked at http://justiphoneart.com/

Now I'm not saying everyone can produce high quality work on iphones or other smart phones I'm just amazed that these tiny devices let you do all this and more. Plus lets not forget kids are growing up with these device from the age of 3, I'm amazed by how fast some can txt messages, these pepole are growing up with these devices and know how to use them so I think as apps become more clever with the way they work on tiny screens and the users are more use to working with them, your be surprised by what people can do.

I look at it from the point of view of amazing scientific creations. The 1900s had all manner of technological revolutions...the 2000s so far have produced facepuke and younoob and an internet phone that doesn't go on flash based websites as our gadgets for the decade (as awarded by survey results of 1000s of people). Today cars are no different technically spark/bang/smoke tech, space travel is still pathetic 80 years after rocket tech was born, planes still use the same rubbish technology, the genome project has not cured bugger all cancers or anything else. As Save2600 says we talk more but the it is all unproductive talk going on these days and outside the computer industry there is sod all innovation and revolution.

And even CPU speed is going to hit the wall soon with everyone going multicore....which is no substitute for raw gigahertz at all.

[Digiman]

Which is why I mentioned the iPad and other tablets.

Also, notebook sales, of which netbooks have been a sizable portion of, are on the decline.

All laptop sales will decline, in the last 10 years laptops have gone from getting closer to a desktop machine in capability and back to the bare minimum to run the OS. And after people realised Netbooks were just a fad and you can't do any real work on them so are not actual replacements for a 12" laptop the sales naturally will tail off.

Go into any shop today and see if you can find a new laptop for sale that can run the 2002 game Battlefield 1942....didn't think so All you get today are Facebook/youtube capable dual core multi gigabyte bollox really, and this sours it for people who believe laptops are ONLY capable of this level of performance.

Which is funny because due to such lame programming by most games coders towards the end of the Amiga's life joe public assumed Amiga 1200s were barely superior to mid 80 Nintendo NES consoles technically and light years behind your average £1000 386SX PC from Amstrad. It would seam everything gets dumbed down to the lowest common denominator they can get away with these days *sigh*

[psxphill]

Cobblers... they're toys/gimmicks that sad gits buy just to be trendy, how do you do D.T.P. on an I phone ? where to you plug in the printer ?, where's the video output to connect up to a monitor ? etc.. etc..
 
As I say nothing but toys/gimmicks that mugs buy just to try and look cool, sad really...

There are smart phones with video output (composite or HDMI depending on the phone) & USB On The Go (which allows USB printers to be plugged in ). Eventually they will be cheap enough to be standard on all phones, but at the moment people don't want to pay money for something they will never use.
 
Most phones come with either bluetooth or wifi, which can be used for printing.
 
The software isn't necessarily there, that would be where you could make a difference. However you'd be better off hacking Android around.
 
DTP? really? when was the last time anyone actually did DTP?
 
 

And after people realised Netbooks were just a fad and you can't do any real work on them so are not actual replacements for a 12" laptop the sales naturally will tail off.
 
Go into any shop today and see if you can find a new laptop for sale that can run the 2002 game Battlefield 1942....didn't think so All you get today are Facebook/youtube capable dual core multi gigabyte bollox really, and this sours it for people who believe laptops are ONLY capable of this level of performance.

The Asus 1016P is a good netbook for homework/web/social etc. It's not for gamers, but you shouldn't expect it for the price. There is an nvidia ion based version that is more expensive and will do better for games, but if you're in the minority of people that play PC games then yes don't buy a netbook.
 
However, you need to visit different shops. There are very capable systems out there, you'll pay more than that the price of a desktop (like you always did) and you won't get as good a performance as a desktop (like you always did) but you should at least be able to get a reasonable experience with games from 2008.
 
My laptop is nearly three years old and it can run crysis & I'm looking to upgrade because it's slow compared to what is available now.

[the_leander]

Have you looked at http://justiphoneart.com/

Now I'm not saying everyone can produce high quality work on iphones or other smart phones I'm just amazed that these tiny devices let you do all this and more. Plus lets not forget kids are growing up with these device from the age of 3, I'm amazed by how fast some can txt messages, these pepole are growing up with these devices and know how to use them so I think as apps become more clever with the way they work on tiny screens and the users are more use to working with them, your be surprised by what people can do.

Yes, very good, that still doesn't change the fact that a 4ins screen simply isn't up to some jobs. Yes, you can do truly astonishing things with smart phones. But for some tasks, a larger screen is always going to be needed.

That is all, the processing power is there, ram, OS and software is pretty much bob on. But the form factor simply cannot lend itself to some tasks, now plug it into a bigger screen and you're good to go however.

[Franko]

There are smart phones with video output (composite or HDMI depending on the phone) & USB On The Go (which allows USB printers to be plugged in ).  Eventually they will be cheap enough to be standard on all phones, but at the moment people don't want to pay money for something they will never use.
 
Most phones come with either bluetooth or wifi, which can be used for printing.
 
The software isn't necessarily there, that would be where you could make a difference. However you'd be better off hacking Android around.

Look, stop telling me porky pies here and trying to shatter my illusion than all mobile phones are evil...

Mobile phone with video output... PAH... next thing you'll be trying to tell me you can actually make phone calls with them... :lol:

I'm off back to the dark ages for now (pre 1990) where I can live safe and sound in me own little world...

[psxphill]

Mobile phone with video output... PAH... next thing you'll be trying to tell me you can actually make phone calls with them... :lol:

http://androidcommunity.com/acer-stream-gets-official-amoled-1ghz-and-hdmi-20100527/
 
Making phone calls is pretty standard, some phones manage it better than others. Although it is an optional extra for apple (iphone vs ipod touch).

[Karlos]

Yes, very good, that still doesn't change the fact that a 4ins screen simply isn't up to some jobs. Yes, you can do truly astonishing things with smart phones. But for some tasks, a larger screen is always going to be needed.

That is all, the processing power is there, ram, OS and software is pretty much bob on. But the form factor simply cannot lend itself to some tasks, now plug it into a bigger screen and you're good to go however.

How very dare you! Watching HD content on a 640x480 class screen in glorious monophonic sound (1kHz-8kHz speaker response) is the pinnacle of of home cinema!

No, you're right. It's all horses for courses.

[whabang]

All laptop sales will decline, in the last 10 years laptops have gone from getting closer to a desktop machine in capability and back to the bare minimum to run the OS. And after people realised Netbooks were just a fad and you can't do any real work on them so are not actual replacements for a 12" laptop the sales naturally will tail off.

Go into any shop today and see if you can find a new laptop for sale that can run the 2002 game Battlefield 1942....didn't think so All you get today are Facebook/youtube capable dual core multi gigabyte bollox really, and this sours it for people who believe laptops are ONLY capable of this level of performance.

Which is funny because due to such lame programming by most games coders towards the end of the Amiga's life joe public assumed Amiga 1200s were barely superior to mid 80 Nintendo NES consoles technically and light years behind your average £1000 386SX PC from Amstrad. It would seam everything gets dumbed down to the lowest common denominator they can get away with these days *sigh*

That's my point! The role which those crappy "multi-gigabyte bollox" are designed to fill are being taken over by tablets and smartphones. At the same time, PC gaming is on a rapid decline and console sales are still going strong.

We are heading for a more specialized computing culture, where small cheap devices like tablets and crappy notebooks and netbooks constitutes the bulk of private computing needs. Heavy hardware-intensive gaming will be done on consoles, and the only uses for real computers will be in the corporate world and the enthusiast market.

I miss the days when playing with Amos was cool.

[motorollin]

How very dare you! Watching HD content on a 640x480 class screen in glorious monophonic sound (1kHz-8kHz speaker response) is the pinnacle of of home cinema!

No, you're right. It's all horses for courses.

Simple solution: stereo headphones, and hold the screen closer to your face to simulate a 50" screen. Sorted.

--
moto

[Karlos]

Simple solution: stereo headphones, and hold the screen closer to your face to simulate a 50" screen. Sorted.

--
moto