91_bickingd@GAR.UNION.EDU ("Bicking, David") (11/22/90)
I found an interesting article in the Nov 5 issue of InfoWorld. I was hoping someone else would find it and post it here for discussion, but no one did. Comments in brackets [] are mine, but most comments (and flames) will be after the article. This article has been posted without permission, so I hope I don't get sued :/ Read on... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=- Begin Article -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MACROMIND PROPOSES MEDIA FORMAT Macromedia to Guarantee Compatibility Across All Major Platforms By Paul Worthington San Francisco - Multimedia innovator Macromind last week proposed a programming standard for multimedia developers and announced support by several vendors. the proposed multimedia data format, Macromedia, consists of a data interchange protocol standard. It should guarantee producers that they only have to create their work once in order for it to play on all major platforms, said macromind founder Marc Canter. Macromedia is now licensed by Fujitsu and Microsoft Corp. "We are in active negotiations with most ofthe other major platform vendors," Cantor said. Macromedia is a superset of many existing standards, enabling multimedia data to perform identically on multiple platforms; scripts and device protocals will be compatible, Canter said. "Macromedia is the glue that fills in the gaps," Canter said. The standard will be offered to vendors on all platforms with the hope [ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ] that they will incorperate it at least as a format option. Applications will be capable of loading and using all parts of a document they understand, leaving other aspects unchanged, Canter said. [ A paragraph skipped to save space and my typing hands :) ] Based on Electronic Arts' Interchange File Format [IFF], Macromedia works with each platform's native standard file format: Quicktime on the MAC, RIFF on Windows, and OCA on OS/2. [ Hey! No mention of the Amiga here. I guess it isn't considered a major platform. Funny, since they're using the standard created for the Amiga, on the Amiga, by a company that got it's start from the Amiga. ] At the conference, Apple Computer said its Quicktime multimedia system software extension will be seeded to some deveilopers in January. Quicktime should be widely available at Apple's next developers' conference in May, officials said. Separately, Canter also said he will relinquish his role as chairman of the San Francisco firm he founded, largely to push for standards and create new technology. President John Scull will resign to pursue interests in publishing. Electronic Arts cofounder Tim Mott will take the helm as Macromind's president, chairman, and CEO. -=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-End Of Article-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Quite frankly, I'm getting fed up with InfoWorld. Am I the only one? I've been reading it for about a year now, and I have found only *one* reference to any Amiga (a short paragraph announcing the A3000). It is bad enough when they ignore developments on the Amiga, then months or years later announce the "new" development of Apple or IBM (which is the same thing, but often not quite as good, sometimes better). But it really raises my ire when a standard developed ON the Amiga, FOR the Amiga BY Amiga developers is not connected with the Amiga. Clearly, the Amiga will be able to use the Macromind format, since they used the AMIGA's IFF standard... So why was it not mentionned as one of the supported platforms? After all, the article did say "all platforms". Does that mean they don't consider the Amiga a platform?????? I'm seeing announcement after announcement for products that give the MAC or IBM "revolutionary new capabilities", (nearly half of which were already on the Amiga, many as standard features). Why not cover the Amiga? There are over 2 million of them out there. They do things that other companies are hoping to do by sometime in 1991. But you all know this already.... Is there SOMEONE, somewhere who can give Infoworld a wakeup call? Anyone from C= wanna try and convince them (and others) to (realistically) support the Amiga platform? I'm getting REAL frustrated here... I've heard they only briefly mentionned the Video Toaster in their Comdex review, and a rather uninterested mention at that! What's the deal???? -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=- Dave Bicking Single Tasking????? Just say NO!!!! Union College Box 152 91_bickingd@union.bitnet // Schenectady, NY 12308 91_bickingd@gar.union.edu \X/ Amiga -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
monty@sagpd1.UUCP (Monty Saine) (11/27/90)
In article <9011220147.AA17420@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 91_bickingd@GAR.UNION.EDU ("Bicking, David") writes: > Is there SOMEONE, somewhere who can give Infoworld a wakeup call? >Anyone from C= wanna try and convince them (and others) to (realistically) >support the Amiga platform? I'm getting REAL frustrated here... I've heard >they only briefly mentionned the Video Toaster in their Comdex review, and >a rather uninterested mention at that! What's the deal???? > The deal is that INFOWORLD is a IBM/PC and MAC oriented rag that is totaly biased in that direction. No CBM ad money = no CBM coverage. It is really quite simple, but I agree it is agravating to see editors stating untrue or misleading "FACTS" about the "INDUSTRY" they are writng to/for. Try letters to the editor, I did (whith no response naturally). It is the only weapon we have! Monty Saine
mcc@moscom.UUCP (Mike Corbett) (12/10/90)
In article <9011220147.AA17420@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 91_bickingd@GAR.UNION.EDU ("Bicking, David") writes: > >I found an interesting article in the Nov 5 issue of InfoWorld. > > MACROMIND PROPOSES MEDIA FORMAT > Macromedia to Guarantee Compatibility Across All Major Platforms > >By Paul Worthington > [long article that ignores the Amiga in Multimedia deleted] > > Is there SOMEONE, somewhere who can give Infoworld a wakeup call? >Anyone from C= wanna try and convince them (and others) to (realistically) >support the Amiga platform? I'm getting REAL frustrated here... I've heard >they only briefly mentionned the Video Toaster in their Comdex review, and >a rather uninterested mention at that! What's the deal???? > Maybe it's time for a letter writing campaign by _us_, the people who read Info World. I have seen enough quotes from Info World in this newsgroup to know that a lot of us here do read it. If the readership -demands- coverage of our favorite computer we may get some. The more enterprising wmong us may even like to include a copy of your letter to an Info World advertiser (or two) with an explanation of how much you dislike such lopsided reporting. I know that I get pissed just about every time I read an issue now adays. Remember the recent special on GUIs for "single user systems". They compared ease of installation, ease of use, memory handing, ability to muti-task, etc. But not a _word_ about the Amiga. In another issue there was a comparison of word processing for graphical based environments. Again, no mention. It was the vocalness of the Mac community that got coverage started there. Now it's our turn. We can't expect them to read our minds. They will only include the Amiga if they know that people want to read about it. Let's let them know! Mike -- /// /// "Only Amiga Makes It Possible!" mcc@moscom \\\ /// \XXX/ "On the other hand, you have different fingers..." Steven Wright
mcc@moscom.UUCP (Mike Corbett) (12/12/90)
In article <2405@moscom.UUCP> mcc@moscom.UUCP (I) write: >Maybe it's time for a letter writing campaign by _us_, the people who read >Info World. I have seen enough quotes from Info World in this newsgroup to [stuff deleted] >It was the vocalness of the Mac community that got coverage started there. Now >it's our turn. We can't expect them to read our minds. They will only include >the Amiga if they know that people want to read about it. > >Let's let them know! > >Mike > As was pointed out to me in e-mail I should have included an address for Info World. Here it is... Letters Info World 1060 Marsh Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 or via e-mail at Compuserve: 73267,1537 MCI Mail: 259-4127 fax: (415) 328-1049 As a side note, I noticed the following in last weeks Info World rumors column, by Robert X. Cringley (sp). 'New Tek was approached separately at Comdex by Apple and IBM, both offering New Tek whatever it cost to do a version of the Toaster for their respective systems. New Tek turned down both offers on technical grounds. Unlike the Amiga, Macintoshes and PS/2s are not "video systems." They just don't have the ground-up designs needed to handle such a product.' Proof positive that it is not impossible to get them to acknowledge the Amigas existance. Mike -- /// /// "Only Amiga Makes It Possible!" mcc@moscom \\\ /// \XXX/ "On the other hand, you have different fingers..." Steven Wright
Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com (12/13/90)
>Maybe it's time for a letter writing campaign by _us_, the people who read >Info World. I have seen enough quotes from Info World in this newsgroup to >know that a lot of us here do read it. If the readership -demands- coverage >of our favorite computer we may get some. The more enterprising wmong us may >even like to include a copy of your letter to an Info World advertiser (or two) >with an explanation of how much you dislike such lopsided reporting. > >I know that I get pissed just about every time I read an issue now adays. >Remember the recent special on GUIs for "single user systems". They compared >ease of installation, ease of use, memory handing, ability to muti-task, etc. >But not a _word_ about the Amiga. I wrote them a (polite) letter about that issue. > In another issue there was a comparison of >word processing for graphical based environments. Again, no mention. > >it was the vocalness of the Mac community that got coverage started there. Now >it's our turn. We can't expect them to read our minds. They will only include >the Amiga if they know that people want to read about it. > >Let's let them know! > >Mike > >-- > /// > /// "Only Amiga Makes It Possible!" mcc@moscom >\\\ /// > \XXX/ "On the other hand, you have different fingers..." Steven Wright Have you seen the latest issue? They review a multimedia authoring tool for the PC where the user drags flowchart icons onto a screen to create the program. SOUND FAMILIAR? Not one word about AmigaVision. (And get this: the PC program costs $2600.00 !!!) I'd write them again, but this time I'm not qualified: I don't own AmigaVision, so I can't comment on its quality. (Though everything I've heard about it has been terrific.) Anybody else out there want to send a letter on AmigaVision to InfoWorld? Lee Lee_Robert_Willis@cup.portal.com