[comp.sys.amiga] AMIGA seen on Beyond 2000

vervalin@AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM (Paul Vervalin) (01/04/91)

Another Amiga sighting!!!

I was just watching the Discovery channel when Beyond 2000 came on.  It looked
interesting so I watched it.  About 15 minutes into the episode (episode 77 to
be exact) they started talking to Timothy Leary, of 1960's fame, when he started
talking about computers and how wondeful they are, etc...  Then I saw an Amiga
500, then a 2000, then a 1000.  This guy was surrounded buy Amigas.  Then he
was showing some animation which I didn't recognize and he starts saying things
like, you know to do graphics of this quality used to cost many thousands of 
dollars, but now it is affordable enough, and easy enough to do that a 14 year 
old can do it!!!  Then there was a DeluxePaint screen with some guy using a 
brush that looked like Spock's head.  The whole thing lasted about 5-10 minutes,
and was very enjoyable.  Annnnnnnnd, its going to come on again this Saturday.
So for those of you who missed it, episode 77 will be coming on at 6:00 P.M.
(Eastern Standard Time) on Saturday, January 5th.  Don't miss it.  The only 
drawback was that once again there was no mention of the Amiga specifically, 
BUT, you can clearly read the name on the monitor in several of the close up 
shots.  Happy viewing....

vervalin@austin.lockheed.com

hunter@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (James Gardiner [hunter]) (01/08/91)

In <449@shrike.AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM> vervalin@AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM (Paul Vervalin) writes:


>Another Amiga sighting!!!

>I was just watching the Discovery channel when Beyond 2000 came on.  It looked
>interesting so I watched it.  About 15 minutes into the episode (episode 77 to
>be exact) they started talking to Timothy Leary, of 1960's fame, when he started
>talking about computers and how wondeful they are, etc...  Then I saw an Amiga
>500, then a 2000, then a 1000.  This guy was surrounded buy Amigas.  Then he
>was showing some animation which I didn't recognize and he starts saying things
>like, you know to do graphics of this quality used to cost many thousands of 
>dollars, but now it is affordable enough, and easy enough to do that a 14 year 
>old can do it!!!  Then there was a DeluxePaint screen with some guy using a 
>brush that looked like Spock's head.  The whole thing lasted about 5-10 minutes,
>and was very enjoyable.  Annnnnnnnd, its going to come on again this Saturday.
>So for those of you who missed it, episode 77 will be coming on at 6:00 P.M.
>(Eastern Standard Time) on Saturday, January 5th.  Don't miss it.  The only 
>drawback was that once again there was no mention of the Amiga specifically, 
>BUT, you can clearly read the name on the monitor in several of the close up 
>shots.  Happy viewing....

>vervalin@austin.lockheed.com
Beyond 2000 is made in Australia so I know a few interesting facts about it.
Beyond 2000 has some BIG sponcers over here and One of the BIGGEST is
Apple Mac.  Because of this, the amiga is a NO-NO to show on the program
The amiga has made its way into some stories however.  You will notice
that they always use a MAC when any computer will do.  Ie for
cosmatics in a example.

Hunter
-- 
James Gardiner [Hunter].  System Admin, Public Access UNIX Melbourne, Australia
PubNet: phoenix!hunter | (voice)+613-532-8030 (data)+613-523-9865&+613-532-8029
Internet: hunter@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au             | PO BOX 54  Chadstone Centre
UUCP:..!uunet!munnari!labtam!eyrie!phoenix!hunter | Melbourne  Australia   3148

ifarqhar@sunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) (01/09/91)

In article <1991Jan8.004830.26455@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au> hunter@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (James Gardiner [hunter]) writes:

>Beyond 2000 is made in Australia so I know a few interesting facts about it.
>Beyond 2000 has some BIG sponcers over here and One of the BIGGEST is
>Apple Mac.  Because of this, the amiga is a NO-NO to show on the program
>The amiga has made its way into some stories however.  You will notice
>that they always use a MAC when any computer will do.  Ie for
>cosmatics in a example.

Beyond 2000 is low-quality pseudo-science for the terminally stupid, so
I don't think that the absence of Amigas on it is a major drawback.

Let's look at the record of this show:

*  A recent program where someone claiming to be an astronomer
   (no justification for this title was presented) showed "proof",
   their word, that astrology was a scientific fact.

*  Carmel Travers mixing up the concept of a bit with a byte,
   ("64 kilobits, the same amount of memory as in a common
   home computer."  Of what decade, I suppose the question would
   be.)

*  Innumberable useless gadgets and a fascination with cars.

*  Their repeated inability to present primary-school science and
   get it right.  Also, quite a lot of statistics abuse, though I suspect
   that this is not deliberate.  They are too stupid to realise that
   a statistic is nonesense.

*  Their continued use of non-metric measurements (this is a science
   show produced in Australia, remember.)

*  The original presentation of the Amiga in mid-'86 where it was
   shown genlocking and doing graphics, but where the name of the
   machine was never even mentioned, and no closeups of the unit
   were taken.

The team does tend to use Apple Macintoshes, and it is true that they
are parraded out whenever the team needs an "official looking desk."
I am not sure if they are sponsored by Apple, but it would not surprise
me one bit.  They do mention the Mac commonly, when they almost always
refer to it as the "Apple Macintosh", but otherwise they refer to
computers as "PC's" or "Personal Computers."

Anyway, I am not terribly concerned that this bunch of moronic reporters
didn't mention the Amiga.  If they did, perhaps they would repeat
something that the Sydney Telegraph Mirror did recently, when they
announced: "the program, which runs on the Omega computer..."

Some press can be done without.


Disclaimer:  A world that needs disclaimers needs laywer hunting season.
             Standard ones apply, anyway.

--
Ian Farquhar                      Phone : 61 2 805-9400
Office of Computing Services      Fax   : 61 2 805-7433
Macquarie University  NSW  2109   Also  : 61 2 805-7420
Australia                         EMail : ifarqhar@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au

bwdavies@rodan.acs.syr.edu (01/10/91)

--------
To be fair, I'd like to point out that all of the episodes of _Beyond 2000_
that I've seen were between three and five years old.  As a result, we
are constantly seeing "amazing new technology" that is not only out of
date, but in most cases has never even made much of a splash in the world
anyway.

For the record, the most interesting items (other than the Leary piece)
that I've seen were the 3M device that used electrical current to force
the release of endorphins and the wave-powered electrical generator.  I
like to watch _Beyond 2000_ when there's nothing else on because it's
usually good for a laugh.

The Leary/Amiga piece was interesting, but I believe that Tim has a couple
more software packages available by this point.  As usual, he came off
looking slightly silly.  So did Devo.  Jeez!

(Question for Australians -- the black woman is an American, right?  She 
always seems to get the really silly stories.)


-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Hill Cabal				"If there's anything insidious going
bwdavies@sunrise.bitnet			 on in the world, the media is behind
bwdavies@rodan.acs.syr.edu		 it!"	-T.J. Teru

fhwri%CONNCOLL.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (01/10/91)

I saw that Tim Leary feature, and, from what I could tell, it was from
about 1987; he was talking about his "upcoming" game NEUROMANCER, which he
first announced back in 1987. The graphics he showed (that nifty animation
that he showed, I mean) was by Brumbaar (sp?) and was shown in Amiga
World in late '87. I would love to see what ol' Dr. Tim is doing THESE days
on his Amiga...
                                                --Rick Wrigley
                                                fhwri@conncoll.bitnet

rxtgep@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Glen Pill) (01/10/91)

From article <1071@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz>, by ifarqhar@sunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar):
> 
> Beyond 2000 is low-quality pseudo-science for the terminally stupid, so
> I don't think that the absence of Amigas on it is a major drawback.
> 
As I remember from the ads on TV for this show, one of their last shows for
the 1990 ratings period showed some "amazingly new technology" in the form of
a Fax card for PC's.  So much for them supposedly being at the forefront of new
technology.  They don't even provide a contact service so viewers can find out
more about a product they report about in sketchy detail.

--
Glen Pill                              ACSNet: rxtgep@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au
RMIT Computer Centre                   Snail : 124 LaTrobe St, Melb. Oz. 3000.
                                       Phone : +61 3 660 2538

xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (01/10/91)

Just to comment, this is a typical c.s.a.advocacy thread; please move it there
as soon as possible, for instance by following up this posting.

                                                           /// It's Amiga
                                                          /// for me:  why
Kent, the man from xanth.                             \\\///   settle for
<xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>   \XX/  anything less?
--
Convener, COMPLETED comp.sys.amiga grand reorganization.