gilham@csl.sri.com (Fred Gilham) (04/14/90)
Well heck, I just thought I'd add to the general chaos presently
reigning here regarding which computer to use.
In the April 23 issue of Bay Area Computer Currents, in the Amiga
column, it says the following:
The Amiga at Hewlett-Packard: A
Multimedia Case History
.
. <description of multimedia studio etc. omitted>
.
The studio also features an Amiga 2000 personal computer for animation
applications.
Why did HP pick the Amiga? Because the company found it to be the
most cost-effective tool to fill their need for broadcast-quality
animation. Before the Amiga was purchased, two other personal
computer platforms were considered: HP's own PC compatible and
Apple's Macintosh II[!!]. HP Teleclass Training Consultant John
Vernon explains how the choice was made: "When we were looking for an
animation platform, the IBM did not have any real-time animation
software that I thought would make it, and neither did the Mac II.
THE AMIGA WAS THE ONLY MACHINE CAPABLE OF MOVING LARGE GRAPHIC OBJECTS
AROUND THE SCREEN QUICKLY AND SMOOTHLY.'' [extra hype added by me]
.
.
.
The article goes on to describe how they move clip-art from
HP's library of clip art into Amiga-based applications using
DeluxePaint on the IBM compatibles, and save it into IFF format, and
load it onto the Amiga using Cross-DOS. Sounds to me like he could
use a bridge-board. It ends with the following:
Conclusions
The Amiga is the undisputed leader in the production of cost-effective
computer animation. No other personal computer can approach the
special capabilities offered by the Amiga's unique architecture. New
products expected from both Commodore and third-party Amiga developers
should extend this lead [!!] even further. The Amiga is simply
the best platform for multimedia computing.
I thought the article was interesting in that it showed the Amiga
competing successfully against the IBM compatibles and Macs even in a
company that makes IBM compatibles. The emphasis seemed to be that
the Amiga was better in absolute terms because it had capabilities the
others didn't, and in relative terms because it cost less.
--
Fred Gilham gilham@csl.sri.com
If it can be shown that the machinery has come into the world as a
curse, there is no reason whatever for for our respecting it because
it is a marvellous and practical and productive curse.
-G. K. Chesterton