jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu (10/10/89)
In article <1188@lakesys.lakesys.com>, mikes@lakesys.lakesys.com (Mike Shawaluk) writes: > The story I heard about the name of our favorite computer is that is was > originally intended to be "Amica", which is Latin for "friend". But, someone > already was using that name, so they changed the "c" to a "g", and the rest > is history. Now, I am not an expert on Latin, and I don't know if they treat > the final "a" as a feminine case modifier, as is done is Spanish. But, from > a marketing point of view, I believe that words that end in "a" are supposed > to appeal to different market sectors than words that end in "o" or other > letters. Any other comments or supporting info? > -- > - Mike Shawaluk The name actually came from the company which designed and would have built it in the first place had they not run out of money and been bought by Commodore. As to whether they (Amiga Inc) got their name in that way is a different story. Anyone remember Amiga? They used to make joysticks. -- James A. Treworgy -- No quote here for insurance reasons -- jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu jtreworgy%eagle@WESLEYAN.BITNET
sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) (10/11/89)
<1188@lakesys.lakesys.com> <2022@eagle.wesleyan.edu> Sender: Reply-To: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: Corpane Industries, Inc. Keywords: In article <2022@eagle.wesleyan.edu> jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu writes: >Anyone remember Amiga? They used to make joysticks. > Yea. They also made the Joy Board, which was like a platform you stood on and used your feet to control. It was meant for some skiing program for..... *Atari* -- John Sparks | {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!sparks | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps ||||||||||||||| sparks@corpane.UUCP | 502/968-5401 thru -5406 Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.
WEVERHA@clemson.clemson.edu (10/14/89)
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 14:24 EDT From: Chris Everhart (803) 656-8164 <WEVERHA@CLEMSON.CLEMSON.EDU> Subject: Re: Where did Amiga come from (was Re: What's ST mean?) To: amiga-relay@LOUIE.UDEL.EDU > In article <1188@lakesys.lakesys.com>, mikes@lakesys.lakesys.com (Mike Shawalu > > The story I heard about the name of our favorite computer is that is was > > originally intended to be "Amica", which is Latin for "friend". But, someon > > already was using that name, so they changed the "c" to a "g", and the rest > > is history. Now, I am not an expert on Latin, and I don't know if they trea > > the final "a" as a feminine case modifier, as is done is Spanish. But, from > > a marketing point of view, I believe that words that end in "a" are supposed > > to appeal to different market sectors than words that end in "o" or other > > letters. Any other comments or supporting info? > > -- > > - Mike Shawaluk > > The name actually came from the company which designed and would have built it > in the first place had they not run out of money and been bought by Commodore. > As to whether they (Amiga Inc) got their name in that way is a different story > Anyone remember Amiga? They used to make joysticks. > > -- > James A. Treworgy -- No quote here for insurance reasons -- > jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu jtreworgy%eagle@WESLEYAN.BITNET From what I've heard, the story goes like this: There was a group of talented people who wanted to build a really high- tech game machine. They planned the Amiga, with all sorts of custom hardware that would make game-enthusiasts' mouths water. After starting work on the new machine, they decided not to just stop at game machine, but to make it a superior computer as well. Unfortunately, their plans began to raise the cost higher and higher, so they started making computer parts to raise the funds they needed. After a while, they were still struggling, and Commodore and Atari, seeing their work, decided to buy them out. Atari tried first, but Commodore beat them out. Jack "Jerk" Tramiel attempted to sue Commodore, but lost. So, Commodore finished the designs (which were almost completed) on Amiga, thus introducing a superior (at the time) microcomputer. The company that originally started development named themselves the same as the planned name for the machine, Amica, Latin for friend, I believe. Unfortunately this was already taken, so they changed to to Amiga...which was by coincidence, Spanish for female friend. (not girlfriend -- the word for that is novia) Anyway, this is what I read years ago. Chris WEVERHA@CLEMSON.BITNET WEVERHA@PRISM.CLEMSON.EDU WEVERHA@GEMINI.CLEMSON.EDU My apologies to Jack Tramiel, but I disagree violently with many of his past business strategies. (I won't name any because I don't want to start an argument for which I'm not qualified)
micke@slaka.sirius.se (Mikael Karlsson) (10/15/89)
In article <1185@corpane.UUCP> John Sparks writes: >Yea. They also made the Joy Board, which was like a platform you stood on and >used your feet to control. It was meant for some skiing program for..... > >*Atari* The Joy Board was also used "the other way around". You sat on the board and tried to sit as still as possible. Any movement was detected by the Joy Board and lowered your Karma (or what ever it's called). The "game" was called... Guru Meditation. So, guys, when you get that dreaded message, stay cool and remember your Mantra. ;-) BTW, if I remember correctly; the machine that the Amiga company was constructing was going to be called Lorraine. Now anybody now what THAT means? Mikael Karlsson, Lovsattersvagen 10, S-585 98 LINKOPING, SWEDEN micke@slaka.UUCP, micke@slaka.sirius.se {mcvax,munnari,seismo}!enea!liuida!slaka!micke C86.M-KARLSSON@LINUS.liu.se
33014-18@sjsumcs.sjsu.edu (Eduardo Horvath) (10/16/89)
Since evryone has been speculating on the origins of the name Amiga,
I decided to ask the horse's mouth, so I called Jay Miner. He said that
Dave Morse was responsible for the name. The original root was Amic as in
Amicable, which then underwent cosmetic changes to become Amiga. Jay was'nt
very clear about this stuff and promised he would ask Dave and put together
a posting if he had time.
===============================================================================
x = MEN AT WORK
x X X x Try: 33014-18@sjsumcs.SJSU.EDU =
x X X X x = This space
x X X x Eduardo Horvath = is
x = UNDER
= CONSTRUCTION
^Doesn't look much like Boing!, does it? =
===============================================================================king@cell.mot.COM (Steven King) (10/17/89)
>Anyone remember Amiga? They used to make joysticks. >James A. Treworgy And darned good ones at that! I had one for my Colecovision. That was the best-feeling, most comfortable joystick I've ever used. Too bad I sold it when I sold the Colecovision... To add insult to injury, the local Amiga (computer) shop has ONE Amiga (joystick) laying around in plain sight. It's the store's manager's, and he won't sell it! :-( /-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\ | Never hold down the "k" key. It tends to put | Steve King (312) 991-8056 | | a lot of "k"s on the screen. | ...uunet!motcid!king | | | ...ddsw1!palnet!stevek | \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/