I really have to wonder if people are reading the same interview I was reading.
Commodore USA is currently a small company, with limited resources, and with limits to Amiga IP usage. We are doing the best, with the IP we have available to us, as we possibly can.
It's all fine to sit there and say, oh, I woulda done this I woulda done that.
We have to be rational about our business right now so as to avoid potential money pits. We're in it for the long haul.
We would love to do all the various things the community want, but we quite simply can't at the moment for various reasons both legal and financial.
But be assured that it isn't because we have no interest in doing so.
If we had the kind of money that would allow us to take such risks, and tackle such projects, then of course we would.
But, I do see that only as a matter of time...and a great many of our fans realise this even if the people on this particular forum do not, or for some kind of vested interest don't want it to be so.
All we can do right now is make a go of it with our current strategy of using commodity hardware and a custom branded OS.
There are pros and cons to this of course, but right now, the pros far outnumber the cons. Our strategy has been enough to enable us to establish ourselves.
Granted, things aren't perfect right now, in terms of products and pricing, but it is better to refine our product strategy than never to launch at all, and we still haven't even played our best cards.
We had the good fortune to be able to acquire usage of the trademarks, and there's no point sitting on them and doing nothing with them just because it isn't 100% what we wanted from day one. That gets you nowhere and Rome was not built in a day. Sitting still does not open up possibilities.
There is no other possible choice available to us than what we are doing right now, as much as everyone here might jump up and down about it.
I am sure we can all agree, money makes all things possible.
Unless you have selective reading it was stated a few times in the interview that we were willing to do what the next gen AmigaOS community wanted if we were able to.
We actually WANT to do all the cool things the community want us to do because we also believe it to be quite interesting, and in many ways align with our ultimate strategy.
We wanted to do AROS, for instance, but can't, and really, it isn't worth going into a protracted court battle over. We are open to the possibility of classic hardware recreation, but that requires money, and is quite a risk as well, with all the lead time and product development that would need to take place before a finished product.
We would love to include AmigaOS in our line up, especially for x86....but none of these things seem possible right now. There's no point blaming us for that.
Do you really think we have not looked into and considered every conceivable option?
That's just the way it is, and if you want that to change, then there is no point lobbying us, because we are in agreement.
I quite honestly believe you should pray for our success, not our failure, because we want to be the catalyst that re-unites all facets of the Amiga IP, and ultimately create the kind of high tech computer and environment all Amiga fans would like to use and see further developed.
We have stated many times that we are open to such cooperation.
I guess what is most infuriating for Barry and I, reading all these comments, is that we forget that you aren't aware of our future plans or our ultimate goals, and seem to believe what you see now is all there will ever be. We're so not against your ideas and sensibilities. We are trying to get to the point where we can make all your (and ours, because they are the same) Amiga dreams come true, and this requires money. Unfortunately, to obtain the money to reach a state where we can do this currently requires a detour (which both you and I, as AmigaOS fans, find annoying) in order to get there. Our plans and products will evolve. We aren't your enemy as much as you would all like to think us so. We aren't doing what we are doing because we refuse to cooperate, but because we have no other choice right now. You feel a sting right now, I know, but I believe it will all work out for the best in the end.
That that is why we always close with....The best is yet to come....because we honestly believe that.
