honp9@menudo.uh.edu (Jason L. Tibbitts III) (04/10/91)
Well folks, I went to the "World of Amiga" show yesterday (04-06-91) in New York. I thought some might like a review of the experience. It was....... depressing in most ways. We got there about 12:15pm, and headed to the keynote address that was to be given at 12:30 by James J. Dionne (President & General Manager, CBM Inc.). As we headed for the seminar area, we notice that the building was only half full with booths at best (I counted 36 total). Now, much of this is probably caused by the fact that there had been another Amiga show in the area recently.... but that doesn't change the bad taste it leaves to walk into a place this empty looking. ====== K E Y N O T E ====== The keynote speech began at 12:30, the seminar room was pretty full. Before I go on about the address (and much will be critical) let me say that James Dionne struck me as a good guy, and a good manager. I think he will do quite a bit for CBM ... unless they fire him first. ;-). He has been with CBM almost all the way through.. and seems to have an understanding of what they need in many ways. The speech content itself was pretty bland, and could have been lifted straight out of the speech last year. To enumerate the general points.... NOTE: These are not "rumors", this is what the man said. They are vague though so I am sure they will START rumors. 1) There have been 3 million Amigas shipped by CBM worldwide. This is an interesting number. We were told that over 75% of them are A500's so we can be very happy that machine exists! We were also told again (is this supposed to make us feel better that in more than 5 years there are only 3 million out there?) that it took us less time to do this than it took the Mac. 2) CDTV Will change the face of the world. They are billing this thing as the next VCR. Ok, I can go with that. It has a LOT more appeal than a Nintendo, the price is reasonable, and it is a great looking unit. That box is great and the marketing might be ok. I say might because of two things about the marketing that were mentioned in the speech. The first is that James specifically mentioned that one of the great things about it is that if you got a report for homework, you could put in the encyclopedia and do research. Fair enough. He then went on to say..... (paraphrase) "...and since it is fully VCR compatible, you can ... record the information and have a video book report." Somehow, I don't think he has talked to teachers about that idea. No teacher I know will let that happen. If I could, I would have just recorded Nova or something for my reports. The second is that one of the ad campaigns will target a scare tactic along the lines of "If your kid sits in front of a video game, he will turn into a vegetable and fail out of school and die.". This bothers me a LOT! Many parents do not really see a difference between computers and video games, and I think a lot of them will not by a CDTV because of this add.. even though it is supposed to prove how a CDTV can help. 3) A3000T The A3000T will be available "sometime in the near future". It will have more slots. 4) ULOWELL board Will be generally available very soon. 5) There is a new ad campaign on the way that should knock our socks off. I will refrain from making rude noises. But there was a general chuckle in the room. 6) Questions and answers. Here is a selection of what happened during the Q&A session. All answers should be an accurate factual representation of what James said, but not word-for-word. Q - When can we expect the Video Toaster on the A3000? A - Soon. There is a size problem and a technical problem that looks minor and we are working with NewTek on. Q - Will you give hardware to schools to promote the machine? A - I believe that money is better spent putting out loaner machines and granting hardware than taking out full color adds in the teacher magazines. Yes, we are going to institute a program like those soon. Q - When can we expect a path for A500/2000 owners for 2.0? A - I really can't say anything on that. Q - Will ULOWELL support be available under AmigaDos as well as Unix? A - Right now we are targeting the Unix side. I am sure someone will eventually provide that support. Q - CDTV support for regular Amiga's? A - Yes. There is a working unit of a A500 CDTV player outside running CDTV software. Q - When can we expect an upgrade in the basic state of the Amiga? There have been high-end upgrades but no major change. You mentioned that most Amiga's are sold by Amiga owners, but it is difficult to do when a 200$ SVGA card beats the pants off of it. A - (Looks uncomfortable) Redesigning a chipset takes time. Expect something next spring. Q - I know it takes time, but shouldn't you have started in like, 1986? A - If there is one thing we have learned, it is that you can not just sit on your laurels. You have to keep advancing. There was other stuff that I don't remember much. ====== O T H E R I T E M S ====== DCTV was there (separate review to come of that). CDTV was demo'd (separate review on the way) AC/TECH , the new Magazine by A/C Computing was there.... I will post about it, but the short for is that Issues 1 & 2 are MUST >MUST< have's. -- ========[ Xanadu Enterprises Inc. Amiga & Unix Software Development]======= = "I know how you feel, you don't know if you want to hit me or kiss me - = = --- I get a lot of that." Madonna as Breathless Mahoney (Dick Tracy) = =========== Ken Jamieson: uunet!tronsbox.xei.com!tron1 =================== = NONE of the opinions represented here are endorsed by anybody. = === The Romantic Encounters BBS 201-759-8450(PEP) / 201-759-8568(2400) ==== -- Jason L. 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