Our Amiga Office (Photos)

[slaapliedje]

I've got App Game Kit on my Mac so once PortablE is ported to that, I could probably handle several ports.  The catch is:  Is Cammy willing that I port it?

I'm guessing that's also available for Linux and Windows?  Looking forward to new games for the Amiga.

Hosting may be an issue but I'll let Cammy talk to you about that.

OKay, I currently have a 20mbps upload, so it should be okay for some forums, and lightweight web hosting.  

slaapliedje

[persia]

Yeah, if it were possible to cross develop for iOS it would make the whole venture worthwhile.  Why not leverage the immense size of the iOS audience to develop for our small community?

[hbarcellos]

I must say that nowadays I hate Google more than Microsoft and Apple. I bet that in two years Microsoft will be back ahead. Jobs will die before OSX is unified with iOS and they can't keep up the innovation pace without him. Google after Eric Schmidt is completely LOST. Larry Page is just too small for the CEO position.
Windows 8 and the integration between tablet and a regular PC is the way to go. "Tablets are PCs" and "Phones are phones". (even Apple is now moving to that)

Cross Developing for both a mainstream platform and a hobbyist platform is probably the BEST (not the only) way to keep you motivated.

[dreamcast270mhz]

Micro$haft will never be ahead, hopefully ever again. I'm hoping after Jobs dies Wozniak will return, he is the real genius.

[SamuraiCrow]

@hbarcellos and dreamcast270mhz

Let's try to keep this on-topic here.  Take your MS vs. Google vs. Apple flamefests to a different thread.

[commodorejohn]

I must say that nowadays I hate Google more than Microsoft and Apple. ... Google after Eric Schmidt is completely LOST. Larry Page is just too small for the CEO position.

I don't hate them, yet, but I do agree they've lost their way. Many of the tools like GMail are great, but the way they're trying to push integration between them whether you like it or not so that they can become all things to all people does not speak well for their future.

(And they're getting increasingly more sinister with this whole collecting-information deal...come on, guys, I don't think "minor cartoon supervillain" is the image you were going for.)

(And quit frickin' changing things around and not giving me the option to switch back! I'm having to use the mobile search page because they decided they really, really wanted to be Bing! and abandoned the simple, unadorned results-list interface that served them well for a freaking decade, and GMail is perma-toggled into simple HTML mode because they wouldn't stop shuffling crap around...)

Windows 8 and the integration between tablet and a regular PC is the way to go. "Tablets are PCs" and "Phones are phones". (even Apple is now moving to that)

No. Tablets are a dead end; they don't have the ultra-portability of smartphones and they don't have the capability or the keyboard of a netbook or laptop. The whole "tablets will replace PCs" thing is a Wired pipe-dream and a marketing scam, and won't last when the initial infatuation is over.

Micro$haft will never be ahead, hopefully ever again. I'm hoping after Jobs dies Wozniak will return, he is the real genius.

Oh, I wish. Woz is one of those people who' so cool you can't believe he's actually a real person and not some larger-than-life nerd archetype...

[hbarcellos]

@hbarcellos and dreamcast270mhz

Let's try to keep this on-topic here.  Take your MS vs. Google vs. Apple flamefests to a different thread.

Well, the real point is: How to sustain development for a platform with just a few users.
We're all very excited to see Cammy's efforts on that, but, I think we all know that those projects rarely last more than a few months of excitement.

[martin.demsky]

great, never saw so many Amigas for a looong time.

[hbarcellos]

No. Tablets are a dead end; they don't have the ultra-portability of smartphones and they don't have the capability or the keyboard of a netbook or laptop. The whole "tablets will replace PCs" thing is a Wired pipe-dream and a marketing scam, and won't last when the initial infatuation is over.

You just said exactly Microsoft's point on that.
Tablets are just fine to read e-mail on the couch or watch videos. But if your boss send you a spreadsheet with your company's P&L asking for an adjustment you'll not do it on the tablet. It's simple not quick and accurate enough.
M$ says that, you'll drag the "classic" windows environment from the left (see video), put your Windows 8 tablet on the stand and start using it with your wireless keyboard and mouse as a regular PC.
Check the Windows 8 video...

Maybe we should start a thread on that...

[commodorejohn]

M$ says that, you'll drag the "classic" windows environment from the left (see video), put your Windows 8 tablet on the stand and start using it with your wireless keyboard and mouse as a regular PC.

Or, you know, you could either not start work on the tablet to begin with, or use a laptop or netbook (my Eee is every bit as portable and couch-friendly as anybody's slab.) The Windows 8 video is another example of how Microsoft's marketing division has no connection to the way real people think, speak, or act, like that nightmarish "Windows 7 launch party" video where a bunch of actors try to be cheery but come off like they're being forced to play-act The Brady Bunch while being held at gunpoint by unfathomable space-beings from the beyond.

[hbarcellos]

Or, you know, you could either not start work on the tablet to begin with, or use a laptop or netbook (my Eee is every bit as portable and couch-friendly as anybody's slab.)

Focusing only on the "couch-friendly" experience: The world disagrees with your opinion. Right or Wrong is subjective here and pretty much 99% of regular people prefer tablets for the couch experience. They don't want to run WinUAE or start Directory Opus, they just want to browse the web, read e-mails, pinch to zoom on photos and play angry birds.
For the rest of us (me and you included) a regular notebook is just perfect!
M$ wants (and will) create an unique device that acts like a tablet on the couch and instantly transforms into a desktop simple by putting it into a stand. Plus: runs any Windows software, WinUAE included.

The Windows 8 video is another example of how Microsoft's marketing division has no connection to the way real people think, speak, or act, like that nightmarish "Windows 7 launch party" video where a bunch of actors try to be cheery but come off like they're being forced to play-act The Brady Bunch while being held at gunpoint by unfathomable space-beings from the beyond.

They're like WOZ. Only Apple has Steve Jobs. No HYPE/Religion included.

Going back to

[persia]

Time for the AmiPad!

[slaapliedje]

Time for the AmiPad!

That would be an EXCELLENT idea, Amiga and it's lightweight OS, would be snappy as anything else out there.  The only problem is interface design isn't exactly meant for touch screens.  Basically most touch screen based OSs are basically just launchers for applications, and then once in the application, there really isn't a good UI to switch to other applications.  One exception is Maemo 5 on my Nokia N900, I love the multitasking on it.  If only I could screen drag...

Actually that's kind of what I was thinking when I saw the whole 'Swipe' interface on the Nokia N9, that it reminded me of the screens and dragging them on the Amiga.

Anyone know if an 060 can be small enough to fit inside a phone and use little power to have a decent battery life?  Well maybe at least a 7" size (which I think is perfect, I personally feel the real use of a tablet is in reading books, or annotating simple things, maybe note taking, but usually too much of an annoyance as far as actually browsing the web, good for quick look ups, but that's it.)

An Amiga tablet would kick ass.  Though I'm thinking AmiTab would be a cooler name.

By the way, I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE for derailing this; though I'm not the one who first proposed multi-platform.  

Hearing about a new Amiga game is getting everyone excited, and wanting to see it on platform X is  part of that, but who cares if it's Amiga Only and maybe just packaged with Amiga Forever, or WinUAE or whatever emulator hits your fancy.  

slaapliedje

[yssing]

Wait for the FPGA version of the 68k cpu. I bet there is a small enough fpga to house the 68k core.
Not sure though

[commodorejohn]

Focusing only on the "couch-friendly" experience: The world disagrees with your opinion. Right or Wrong is subjective here and pretty much 99% of regular people prefer tablets for the couch experience.

I'd like to see some numbers on that "99%." The surveys I found show both netbooks and full-sized laptops holding fairly steady while tablets increase and desktops take a bigger hit, (they go on to predict tablet dominance, but we'll see how that plays out,) which suggests less that tablets are eating into netbook sales and more that people are moving away from desktops for general-purpose computing and checking out the new slabby thing everybody's talking about. It's possible I'm mistaken, but I think once the nerd infatuation with having the Next Generation data pads wears off, we'll see things shifting back towards machines with real keyboards and decent-sized hard drives.

M$ wants (and will) create an unique device that acts like a tablet on the couch and instantly transforms into a desktop simple by putting it into a stand. Plus: runs any Windows software, WinUAE included.

"Unique?" Docking stations are nothing new, they've been around almost as long as laptops have. It's just that people generally don't bother with them because they're more trouble than they're worth, especially now that laptop keyboards and screens are of a usable size.

(Also, for those keeping score, my Eee also runs any Windows software...)

[Kremlar]

I love my tablet (iPad), and now that I have one don't want to live without it.
 
My notebook makes me a bit more productive, but it's kind of an evil necessity. All the complexity of a desktop, but not as useable with it's sub-par keyboard and pointing device. I whip it out when I need to, but at home it stays mostly on the shelf.
 
My desktop with nice big dual screens and full keyboard and mouse is where I'm most productive, and where I go if I need to do some real work.
 
So, at home when I'm using some kind of device, I'm on my tablet say 47.5% of the time (nights and just hanging around the house), my desktop 47.5% of the time (when I'm working), and my notebook 5% of the time (when I don't want to be in my office but need to do something my tablet can't handle.
 
When I travel the tablet is nice, but I don't dare leave my notebook at home.
 
I don't think the tablet will replace the notebook, but for me it ALMOST replaces it at home. 50/50 when travelling. Neither will ever replace my desktop.
 
As for docking stations, they're nice if you want to use your notebook as your main PC (I don't), but you need to get a REAL docking station. In my opinion USB docks are crap and barely worth it. Dedicated docks are great, but you have to buy a higher-end notebook in order to have a docking station connector. Also, they typically overcharge for most docks. It's nice, but expensive in the end.