Has anyone seen or read this?

http://www.amiga.com/news/?art=32&PHPSESSID=92612d39fe265f4ce51e1b931ba03e87

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@SHADES

Yeah, its the B***S*** from their website, isn't it? As meaningless as their announcement today.

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Fred Booth
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@SHADES

Not that old tripe again

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@SHADES


Yeah, what a load of ####e....

Read it and responded. Clearly Bill McEwen is living in some sort of parallel dimension and not the reality that we all know. Here's my reality check for Bill:

"To whom it may concern:

Frankly, I can only conclude that Bill McEwen is a self-centered, delusional, fool who has no touch with reality much less the community that loves the Amiga so much. I have sat on the fence for eight years, not taking sides in the whole Hyperion/Amiga debacle because I'm sure there's guilt on both parts and I'm more sure that placing the blame isn't going to help ship any Amiga products. I paid my $50 for the Amiga club. I bought AmigaDE SDK's for both Windows and Linux, not because I'm a programmer, and certainly not because I have both Windows and Linux (to this day I still don't use Linux), but rather because I felt that any little bit of support for Amiga helped. I even bought a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. You remember those? There's a picture of a girl using one on your home page; except that AmigaDE support for the Zaurus was dropped meaning that I wasted $600 on that thing. And for what? So I can read some insulting email that makes the most absurd claims of ne'er any wrongdoing or missteps on Amiga's part. A letter that basically sets the Amiga community up to look like we are the ones to blame for the impending death of Amiga.

I will congratulate you, Bill, on having managed to sucker venture capitalists into paying you to do what amounts to nothing for the past eight years. It takes a special kind of business sense to pull that off. Now, before you go getting all bent out of shape, you need to remember to take a look at the situation from my shoes. After eight years of supporting Amiga what do I have to show for it? The most expensive T-Shirt I will ever own and $600 PDA that can't run Amiga Anything but does run the Java applications that I've written. I have heard a whole lot of promises, but the fact is that there just isn't anything to justify the existence of Amiga anymore. Your announcement that AmigaOS 5 = AA2 is nothing short of a joke and leads me to question if you even know what an operating system is. At this point, MacOS 10.5 puts anything Amiga to shame. Of course, they've been given eight years to play catch-up so it's not too surprising. It's just a simple fact that when I use MacOS 10.5 I am reminded of using Workbench (you do know what that is right?).

You tout this new AmigaAnywhere2, which I have to say that I agree with others that it is more likely just the original AmigaAnywhere touched up for a new appearance to make your VC's think that you're actually attempting to produce something, as being the future of AmigaOS and yet not one Amigan gives a pair of feted dingos kidney's about running some stupid virtual machine on a cell phone (actually, I would suspect that most of us already do this to some degree, only it's Java). The only future Amiga I care about is a desktop or laptop computer so that I don't have to buy a PC or a Mac. You have, since day one, been obsessed with this idea of digital convergence, but the fact is that train left the station while you were still trying to buy a ticket. You want to see real digital living? Buy a PS3 and a PSP. I can run my PS3 using my PSP via wireless internet from anywhere in the world. I can even stream movies, music, and games from my PS3 to my PSP or even from my PC laptop to my PS3 and then to my PSP. Soon I'll even be able to use the PSP as a Skype phone and schedule and watch Tivo recordings. Now that is cool and far more Amiga like than freaking space invaders running on a cell phone. That's little more than an insult to everything the Amiga name stands for (not to mention nothing appears to have changed since AmigaDE some five years ago). Again, Java already does that so it's even less interesting. What sickens me even more is that you have brought Amiga in league with Microsoft, no matter how much business sense you think that made, it goes against the very core of what Amiga stands for. I refuse to purchase Microsoft products and apparently, that means I refuse to purchase Amiga. So be it. I'm extremely happy with my PS3 and PSP. Too bad Amiga doesn't run on those.

I don't expect you to stop what you're doing, but I really wish that you would. You have made the Amiga into the laughing stock of computer history. Your actions, announcements, and so-called "products" bring shame to our community. I have no idea how you can sleep at night when you must know that you have ####ed all over the fond childhood memories that so many Amigans share of their days using the Amiga computer. You never were an Amigan and you never will be, because you simply do not "get it." You have announced the future of the AmigaOS and to that I say, I am no longer an Amigan as I have zero interest in the AmigaAnywhere2 "product" or the direction that Amiga is heading."

@Skandall

Your reply catches many of my feeling too. Just one correction though.... It's Bill and Company that are not the Amigans, not you. But as long as Amiga Inc holds the name hostage, it's time for a new lable.

So what shall become of us AROSians?

Plaz

Last edited by Plaz on 08-Jan-2008 at 02:12 AM.

I just went back and scanned that letter.... old news from months ago. Lots of whinning and no business tact at all.

Plaz

There is a conceit I've encountered on the Internet, and it seems to be strongest among the twenty-somethings and younger. It runs along the lines of "It cannot be true, or else we would have heard of it."

It is said that the Smithsonian Museum reacted that way when they first received word of the Wright brothers' flight at Kittyhawk, two years after the fact. But, that occasion cannot hold a candle to today's youth.

Bill McEwen's statement matches perfectly the model of Amiga, Inc. that I've always held.

At first, McEwen raised the capital to purchase the Amiga trademarks and IP from Gateway when Gateway decided to sell them. Amino didn't have further capital to develop new software and hardware as work for hire, so the only viable option open to them was to partner with others who did have such capital. They settled on Hyperion. Hyperion chose Eyetech.

Years later, Hyperion's mantra of "when it's done" seems to be turning out to mean "when Amiga's done going bankrupt." It seems that Hyperion's strategy had been for Amiga to go under, owing Hyperion money. This, it was thought, would allow Hyperion to file as creditors and to receive the Amiga IP, etc. at a pittance, and to then open their doors as the new Amiga.

Well, Amiga didn't go bankrupt as scheduled, and so the drama has been protracted for years, as we've witnessed.

During the whole time, Amiga, inc. have kept silent until deals were finalized instead of sharing with us every inquiry they've received from others. (Businesses never do that, anyway. Why do we expect Amiga to be different?)

Take my situation as an example. I work for a large manufacturer of silicon wafers. We supply wafers to makers of silicon chips. I will not divulge our client list, but I'll share that it includes just about every major name you've ever heard of, and about a hundred others you haven't.

Our production crew is divided into four shifts. Since I work lots of overtime, over a quarter of the wafers we've produced over the last three years have had my input in their creation. Statistically, our wafers become a large percentage of our client's chips, which are included in just about every modern electronic device sold these days, from cell phones, PDA's, videogame consoles, stereos, iPods, microwaves, dishwashers, refrigerators... You name it, it's almost certain to contain chips made by one of our clients. And statistically, a certain percentage of those were made from my wafers.

That's a pretty cool feeling, when I ponder it that way.

That's been true since I started with my current employer three and a half years ago, but I'll bet none of you ever knew it.

It's an interesting concept, isn't it? It was true, but you didn't know it. Well, it's the same for Amiga, Inc. Just because it wasn't on their web site, doesn't mean that it wasn't true.

Take my company again. You can scour the Internet all you like, but you won't find our price sheet anywhere. Our clients know how much we charge, but you don't, and never will. You won't find our price sheet on the Internet because it isn't there. That circumstance shows only our discretion; it is not "proof" that we don't really exist, or that we aren't really selling wafers.

I am disappointed with the reactions I am reading in this thread. I thougt the grown-up here would have more sense than the kids on the videogame forums do. There, they rail against Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, each in turn and all together. From all of the negative things that have been said about each of them, you'd wonder how they manage to stay our of jail, let alone stay in business. Yet they each stay strong.

Amiga, Inc. is seen just that way by folks in industry; they have solid assets and great potential.

The chatterings on Internet message boards is taken with a bag of salt because these days a grain isn't enough.

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@SHADES

"One of my frustrations lies with the fact that this Amiga team sacrificed a great deal to deliver on our promises. I want to thank the loyal members of the Amiga community for sticking with us through thick and thin.

Bill McEwen"

HAHAHA! Yea Bill it's you and your company, whatever it's called today that we are sticking with,
we couldn't be here doing this without you! .... yea right ....

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@Quixote

You make it sound as if Amiga hardly makes any statements. And that people are dreaming stuff up because they are so silent. Unfortunately they are not silent.

And if it were true that:

Quote:

Amiga, Inc. is seen just that way by folks in industry; they have solid assets and great potential.

then the article titles would not be like they are:

"New Products From . . . Amiga?" - Information Week

"AmigaOS 5 surfaces... sort of" - The Register

Most people outside of knowledgable Amigans are surprised they still exist at all, and that includes people in the computer industry.

Last edited by fairlanefastback on 08-Jan-2008 at 04:05 AM.

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Dammy

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Dammy

@Quixote

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Moxee
AmigaOne X1000
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I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

@Quixote

Quote:

There is a conceit I've encountered on the Internet, and it seems to be strongest among the twenty-somethings and younger. It runs along the lines of "It cannot be true, or else we would have heard of it."

On the other hand, for many if not most of the people critical of Amiga, Inc.'s behavior, their twenty-something years are distant memories.

Quote:

That's been true since I started with my current employer three and a half years ago, but I'll bet none of you ever knew it. It's an interesting concept, isn't it? It was true, but you didn't know it. Well, it's the same for Amiga, Inc. Just because it wasn't on their web site, doesn't mean that it wasn't true.

The distinction is that your employer and its clients don't have a history of bogus announcements, misleading claims and outright lies, I would assume, nor are there people within our community who have personally had bad experiences with them. I think it's reasonable enough to give the benefit of the doubt when making a statement like "even if I can't see it, it may exist." But in some cases there are factors to consider that cause skepticism. Amiga, Inc. has provided us with plenty of these, which is where your analogy breaks down.

Quote:

Take my company again. You can scour the Internet all you like, but you won't find our price sheet anywhere.

I don't know, but I assume a person could research your company and find evidense that it does in fact produce the chips you say it does, that it has employees and earnings and so on. So even though we can't find a price sheet -- naturally enough not available to us who are final consumers rather than product manufacturers -- we can find some signs that the company is a legitimate, productive operation. The same can't be said for Amiga, Inc.; in fact, quite the opposite impression is created.

Quote:

Amiga, Inc. is seen just that way by folks in industry; they have solid assets and great potential.

Is this your personal assumption, or do you have some evidense that "folks in industry" see Amiga, Inc. as a company with solid assets and great potential? Please share it, if you do. I find that extremely hard to believe, given the documentation on Amiga, Inc. that is publically available.

-- gary_c

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@Quixote

Quote:

The distinction is that your employer and its clients don't have a history of bogus announcements, misleading claims

I have to echo gary_c's thoughts here. What is the usefulnes of describing your company in the same conversation as A.I. ? You highlight A.I. short comings even further in comparison to a well run business. I'd wonder that a pack of 20-somethings could have probably done a better job.

It's understandable that a company would not disclose full information about their dealings, contracts and partners. But year after year we've basically been told "a deal is in the works". Yet, year after year these deals don't produce or fail for one reason or another. The "internet truth" I see is that the group behind Amino/A.W./Kmos/A.I./whatever else, has a horrendous win-lose record.... time for the team to get a new coach, and/or new owner, and some new players. Probably won't happen any time soon though.

Plaz

@SHADES

Quote:

Has anyone seen or read this?

Yes.

More 'Crazy Bill' ramblings.

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Sam

@OldAmigan

Quote:

OldAmigan wrote: @SHADES Yeah, its the B***S*** from their website, isn't it? As meaningless as their announcement today.

What announcement? I see no new announcement on their website..

@Thread

When was this tripe posted? It sounds like old news and the usual BS.

"thank the loyal members of the Amiga community for sticking with us through thick and thin."

Whos the loyal member that sticks with them ? Im not, are you ?!??

@Kicko



Does "want to be" count?

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Moxee
AmigaOne X1000
AmigaOne XE G4
I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

@tonyyeb

Quote:

When was this tripe posted? It sounds like old news and the usual BS.

Yes, old news posted way back when the law suit first made the news.

Plaz