IndieGO have rights for walker case

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

http://justinvaughan4.wix.com/justinsamigastuff#!Amiga-Walker-case-design-rights/c2011/559eb3600cf286eab01ece1c

Great link, thanks!

You know, the Walker's grown on me over the years.  I think it would look pretty neat sitting on my desk.  I like the gloss-black of the one in that link.  Totally impractical still, and probably more of a b**ch to work on than even an A3000 case, but still.  It'd be a conversation piece.  ;-)

[Duce]

Under 15 seconds of an almost 7 minute video pushing this Walker case, the rest of the video is demos of other things and pushing other ailing Kickstarters.

Where can we see pics of the actual Walker case, finished product?  15 seconds of flipping through poor res 3D models isn't going to get you end goal on the project.

We don't even know what they are made of, how they are made, etc.

Little more info, please?

[eliyahu]

@Duce

pascal doesn't post here anymore. he ragequit sometime last year.

-- eliyahu

[Iggy]

It's a Walker case.  It, by definition, is totally hideous.

Bingo! Hideous, impractical, badly laid out. Only something an Amiga fanatic would want or recognize.

[Wolfe]

The case could be a Raspberry Pi's dream home with lots of add-on's stacked on it . . .  Or maybe not. . .

[B00tDisk]

Bingo! Hideous, impractical, badly laid out. Only something an Amiga fanatic would want or recognize.

The design makes me think that it is trying to burrow into the ground to escape the stares of horrified people.

[Lurch]

Great link, thanks!

You know, the Walker's grown on me over the years.  I think it would look pretty neat sitting on my desk.  I like the gloss-black of the one in that link.  Totally impractical still, and probably more of a b**ch to work on than even an A3000 case, but still.  It'd be a conversation piece.  ;-)

Seem to be getting 404, what was there? :-/

[olsen]

This... just this! It's freaking hideous, probably one of the ugliest cases ever made.

I agree with you, but this was a product of its time.

Without giving anything away, I was present when the case was first unveiled at Amiga Technologies GmbH by Stefan Domeyer. The reasons given for going with this case design was to (1) make it stand out next to other computer models, and (2) increase focus on a different kind of market, in which design aspects drove sales. Turn the clock forward a couple of years and you'd see how this could have played out: set top boxes!

One aspect of the case design is not exactly obvious: it was intended to be used not just as a housing for an A1200 type of computer, but also for A4000T type of machines. The casing would not enclose the entire machine (A1200 type), but the upper and lower parts of the casing would sandwich the "middle part" in which plugin-cards and drive slots would sit. At least, that was how the design was presented. My best guess is that to work as a tower casing design, more work would have been needed.

As things turned out to be, the only case design which housed working hardware was shown at the same CeBIT fair during which Amiga Technologies GmbH parent ESCOM AG was announced to be in financial difficulties.

So we're sort of stuck with an historic artefact which leans towards "styling" rather than functionality. Personally, I would have much preferred Hans Ruedi Giger's take on the Amiga case design, but he probably did not get the job because he would have been too expensive

[Calimeiro]

@Duce

pascal doesn't post here anymore. he ragequit sometime last year.

-- eliyahu

Thank God! So we are save from crappy computer cases like this and his idea to sell a raspi for 190 bucks to amigans to convert videos at lousy bitrates, while same rpi can play them in best quality. There might be users adoring him for boxing their ears, but for me, i'm grateful for his absence.

The case is ugly, useless junk. Any Amiga(n) deserves better than this.

[Trev]

So, so ugly. Produced at a time when competing with Apple was inexplicably believed to be possible.

If development of the Amiga platform had continued along its original path, I imagine a modern Amiga would resemble a Nintendo Wii U with a novel input device.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Seem to be getting 404, what was there? :-/

Still working fine here.  Maybe a temporary DNS error or something on your end?  It's a blog post with pictures from the original Walker designers, clearing a few things up.  

[Andre.Siegel]

So, so ugly. Produced at a time when competing with Apple was inexplicably believed to be possible.

In key European markets such as Germany, Amiga print magazines still outsold monthly Mac publications by a large margin in 1995 / 1996.

[Andre.Siegel]

I agree with you, but this was a product of its time.

Indeed, the Walker is now roughly 20 years old which is a ridiculously long time for anything related to computer case design. Even though I did not find it particularly pretty myself, due to its unique look the Walker received a fair amount of attention from the media with pictures being printed in mainstream PC magazines, for instance. Even though not all coverage was entirely positive, for any computer brand aiming to crawl its way back into the eye of the masses a small public controversy is usually a godsend.

The Walker could have been for Amiga what the iMac became for Apple, which too received a lot more attention for its unconventional design than for it its technical specifications. (I can´t say I liked the iMac case when it was introduced either, for the record.)

Without giving anything away, I was present when the case was first unveiled at Amiga Technologies GmbH by Stefan Domeyer. The reasons given for going with this case design was to (1) make it stand out next to other computer models, and (2) increase focus on a different kind of market, in which design aspects drove sales. Turn the clock forward a couple of years and you'd see how this could have played out: set top boxes!

Has there been any computer company who managed to successfully penetrate the market for settop boxes in the 90s and early 00s? Despite all the talk about rise of the settop boxes back then, it seems to have largely remained a mirage for many years.

[number6]

Indeed, the Walker is now roughly 20 years old which is a ridiculously long time for anything related to computer case design. Even though I did not find it particularly pretty myself, due to its unique look the Walker received a fair amount of attention from the media with pictures being printed in mainstream PC magazines, for instance. Even though not all coverage was entirely positive, for any computer brand aiming to crawl its way back into the eye of the masses a small public controversy is usually a godsend.

The Walker could have been for Amiga what the iMac became for Apple, which too received a lot more attention for its unconventional design than for it its technical specifications. (I can´t say I liked the iMac case when it was introduced either, for the record.)



Has there been any computer company who managed to successfully penetrate the market for settop boxes in the 90s and early 00s? Despite all the talk about rise of the settop boxes back then, it seems to have largely remained a mirage for many years.

Given your mention of Stefan Domeyer, it seems appropriate to mention this here:
http://188.122.70.211/

#6

[hishamk]

While the concept does have its merits, such as the "stackability" of different modules, the design itself is (even thinking back 20 years ago) quite horrid, with an almost uncomfortably crustacean critter feel to it.

Not sure what the original designers were thinking, but it'd be good to get an interview with them and see what they were thinking at the time.

[Trev]

In key European markets such as Germany, Amiga print magazines still outsold monthly Mac publications by a large margin in 1995 / 1996.

You're right, of course. Jobs hadn't returned to Apple yet. 1995 was a big year for technology, but Apple wasn't among the leaders. Why am I thinking of the Walker as something made closer to the new millennium?