http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar320_Sections/opinion.HTML (Amiga Plus Extra No. 5/97, 05/1997)
compt.sys.editor.desk
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compt.sys.editor.desk By: Jason Compton
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Some people like drawing analogies between the Amiga and the (once
Amiga-generated) TV show Babylon 5, which for the first two seasons opened
with the lines "It was the dawn of the third age of mankind."
They perceived us as being in the "third age of the Amiga", from Amiga Corp
to Commodore-Amiga to Amiga Technologies. But that wasn't really
merited...not until the Video Toaster Expo, anyway.
Finally, the third wave hit. Redesigned PowerPC Amigas projected just over
a year away. Upgrade cards for existing machines less than a year away.
Roughly par for the course, some in the industry shake their heads and say
it'll never happen, others are starting to take note as new competitors
crop up in what is becoming an interesting PowerPC market.
Now it's our job to watch carefully to see if Amiga Technologies can really
implement this plan. I suppose it's also our duty to fund it with the
purchase of the current line of machines. That may not be the easiest for
everyone to cope with, but the concept of PowerPC upgrades for the 1200 and
4000, courtesy of the cards Phase5 has in development, make the concept
less painful.
I'm pretty much totally satisfied with the move. A new processor is better
than an 060 dead end, made worse by the seemingly endless delays for the
processor's release. And a new processor with as much developer enthusiasm
and sheer buzzword value as the PowerPC is a good thing. Motorola is
talking about serious levels of support, the newsgroups and PowerPC News
magazine are talking...yes, this was the right move.
So, 6 months into the game, Amiga Technologies has figured out what the
right things to say are. By my calendar, they've got a bit over a year to
figure out how to make it all come together. We'll keep you up to date.
But for today, be sure you check out the official word on the decision, as
well as the myriad show reports from where Amiga Tech has set up stands in
the past few weeks. The sheer volume of news and reports this issue has
crowded out some of the reviews we have lined up, but 3.21 should remedy
the situation.
And be sure to check out our Nova Design/ImageFX IRC conference to be held
on Undernet IRC, channel #imagefx, at 9 PM EST on Sunday, November 19,
which translates to 2 AM GMT Monday, November 20th. The authors of the
very popular image processing system will be on hand to field questions and
give away prizes. Sorry for sticking this plug in the editorial, but with
43 news items already, I wanted to make sure nobody missed it.
So strap in and enjoy the largest Amiga Report in history!
Jason
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