http://www.cucug.org/amiga/amiinfo/monitor/am1_9htm/editoria.htm (Amiga Plus Extra No. 5/97, 05/1997)By Michael Webb, Editor-in-Chief, MikeWebb@CompuServe.COM
It was March 27th, 1997. The Amiga had been in limbo for many months, following the demise of ESCOM, in turn following the demise of Commodore and the other long liquidation period I'm sure many of us remember all too well. VIScorp had been quite a source of controversy and contempt, all after many had considered it virtually the guaranteed winner in the ESCOM bankruptcy. With them long gone, QuikPak entered the fray. Many thought it was simply too late, while others were certain the resolution was near. However, after QuikPak failed to attend Amiga 97 in St. Louis, the concern grew, and the rumors started to fly. We were in the process of publishing the March issue of The Amiga Monitor. Uncertainty was at a new level. But then, something beyond most people's wildest dreams happened...
It was March 27th, 1997. The sun was shining brightly in often-cloudy Binghamton, New York that day, just as the light of good fortune apparently shone upon the Amiga, long shrouded in darkness, that very same day...but more on that shortly. It had been a long and interesting day. After taking some time to take in the arrival of spring outside, I had gone to the Kopernik Space Education Center (a.k.a. "Obseratory"), where I volunteer, in order to help conduct the massive influx of humanity associated with Hale-Bopp, arguably the most spectacular comet of modern time. To give an idea of how significant the event was, The SciFi Channel was there to record a television program, "Inside Space." (my shirt, incidentally, is now a national TV star).
It was March 27th, 1997. It was around 11:00 at night, and I was returning home, exhausted and ready to sleep (and also having picked up a new cold virus, which I was later to enjoy for about a week). I was hardly prepared for what I was about to learn. As I arrived home, Kyle Webb (AM Cartoonist) greeted me at the door with the news: "Gateway 2000 bought Amiga Technologies." My heart nearly skipped a beat at not only the news that the Amiga had been bought, but also far more so by the fact that it was Gateway. After verifying the news for myself, I joined most of the AM staff in the Amiga RTC on Genie, where, conscious of the need to take everything with an appropriately-sized grain of salt, we discussed, conjectured, and rejoiced. From the Gateway Computer Show to Gateway 2000 in less than a month.
It was March 27th, 1997. And things were only just beginning to get underway.
As I write this, it is the one-month anniversary of that day, and much has happened since then, mostly in terms of reaction within the Amiga community. Depending upon what happens from here, we may one day be able to look back upon this first month as a formative period in the relationship between Gateway 2000 and the Amiga community (where ideally it would become an integral part of the Amiga community), or the formation of a legacy, if you will.
I'm not saying the Amiga is guaranteed success under the Gateway flag, but rather that this is probably the most crucial juncture of the Amiga's existence, and that what happens here will probably determine whether it soars to new heights of success, or simply fades into the sea of history, cold as the bitter winds and unforgiving as the desert sun. No, the Amiga has not found the magic elixir that will instantly propel it to the zenith of the computer world. We cannot be too quick to embrace this as something so wonderful, as the ticket to the big time for which we have so long waited.
What the Amiga has found, however, is an opportunity for success, and possibly its best yet. And despite the uncertainty, we should be optimistic, and welcome Gateway 2000 with open arms; for what they can potentially do for us is greater than what Commodore and ESCOM put together ever did, and probably ever could, do. Gateway is well-established in the computer industry, and a number one name in terms of quality, customer support, and many other items as well. It is large and powerful, and with its resources, the Amiga could (powerful emphasis on the word "could") go far.
The obvious question there, however, becomes "Why would Gateway 2000, a successful PC company, be interested in Amiga technology, something widely regarded as dead and obsolete?" That single question has probably spawned more rumor and controversy over the last month than any other. Rather than add aimlessly to the rumor pool, let's look at the situation.
Ideally, and perhaps a bit unrealistically, one might suppose they saw the writing on the wall, and the inherent superiority of the Amiga's technology, and decided to boldly revive the platform with an eye to eventually move completely to the Amiga architecture, rather than continue down the decadent, wasteful path prescribed and enacted by Microsoft, Intel, and others like them. Do I believe this? Well, let's just say it seems a bit far-fetched at this time.
Another suggestion, or possibly set thereof, is that the folks at Gateway 2000 simply want to pick and choose parts of the technology for their own benefit, and really not give a hoot about the Amiga itself, or that they want to develop it for a niche market. Here, I would like to differentiate between two types of niche market: one, what the Amiga has right now, simply means a small number of people use the technology; the other means a specialized product, not for the mass market. Examples proposed in this case include low-end, entry-level machines (a la AST, Packard Bell, IBM Aptiva) and palmtops. These ideas are part of a general trend being promoted by some that seems to indicate that the Amiga technology is only suitably for less-powerful devices. That idea, in my view, is absurd for two main reasons: for one, the technology is still quite powerful, and the Amiga has several simple, logical, fundamental upgrade paths available that can once again place it at the forefront of the computing industry. I must also disagree with this motive for practical reasons; if Gateway wanted to make low-end systems, all they would have to do is take low-end components from the giant pool of such things in the computer industry, and put together low-end systems with them. It would probably cost them a great deal less than developing a completely different platform. For that matter, it just wouldn't make sense to go looking for totally different technology just to address a general region of the market, something I'm sure they already do admirably anyway.
I have first addressed the two extremes; now, I will discuss the option which, to me, seems most reasonable, and also best supported by the rather sketchy evidence we have so far. Gateway 2000 could be looking to become a dual-platform company; their importance in the world of the dominant PC, combined with their sole proprietorship of the Amiga with its many strengths, could give them the best of both worlds, and greatly increased market share, not to mention the value of the intellectual property the Amiga would provide. Over time, if the Amiga did become successful, the first and second scenarios I described could begin to come true to an extent; that is to say, Gateway might begin to put an increased emphasis on a moderately successful Amiga platform, and parts of the Amiga's technology might start bridging the gap to the world of PC's. As I said, evidence from the press release points to this; they point out some of the Amiga's strengths, and most importantly, say they will maintain Amiga Technologies as the distinct subsidiary Amiga International. Any mere absorption of the technology would probably result in an equally thorough absorption of the company, but this they have not done. Without making any guarantees, it certainly bodes well for their intentions for the Amiga.
The most important thing to remember at this point is that we have seen very little. The original press release, fortunately, spoke volumes for its small size (they could have been far more cryptic and secretive, had they chosen to do so), and seemed to be positive, but it is still almost all we know for certain, and as of my records at the time of this writing, the deal was still subject to regulatory approval by the German courts. The precise degree to which this is either a "mere formality" or a major hurdle is not entirely certain. Assuming this does occur (and most do not doubt that it will), we can probably expect to hear more once the deal is finalized. International business law probably explains well enough the relative cloak of secrecy under which Gateway 2000 continues to operate. Like before, we must simply wait. Unlike before, we are waiting for something known, something definite, and something that can very well be the best thing to ever happen to the Amiga.
It was March 27th, 1997. On that day, Amiga life as we know it may have changed forver. We can only continue to wait, wonder, and hope.
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