@persia

Quote:

Wh would I buy a product from the New Commodore rather than ASUS or ACER or Cybernet or ...?

I don't know about you, but when I walk into a shop selling computers I rarely even consider the brand. I look at the design, but I know underneath it's pretty much all the same technology underneath. I have absolutely no brand loyalty.

The Commodore brand does elicit an emotional response for people who grew up with it.
The same can be said for Apple, and as such people have traditionally been willing to pay a premium for their aesthetically pleasing and well designed products.
We intend to take a similar approach and draw on all the powers of our retro status, at least initially, to gain a foot-hold from which can step forward with more modern and unique products, that the original Commodore would surely have developed if they'd never collapsed financially.
We will be different to what is currently out there and hopefully become a player in the industry.

_________________
Leo Nigro, CTO Commodore USA, LLC
Opinions expressed are my own and not those of C= USA.
Commodore/AMIGA "Beautiful, High-Performance, Home Computers for Creativity and Entertainment."

@BigBentheAussie

At first I must say I admire your enthusiasm with this project. I can see why people are skeptical, I haven't forgotten iWin either. But hey, one needs to have a dream in order to achieve something.

What I am wondering is why you think this Commodore USA will be a success where the Dutch attempt of relaunching the Commodore brand never really took off. Don't get me wrong or be offended, as I stated I admire your enthusiasm and surely hope you will have enough success to earn a decent living with this. Heck, I might even consider one of the devices to replace our media PC dubbed old Dell Optiplex (if you managed to get a batch of the Amiga-style cases with a SAM built in I might surely consider one)

Last edited by Amiga_3k on 13-Aug-2010 at 06:48 PM.

_________________
Back home...

@BigBentheAussie

Quote:

I am confident that in a year from now things will look entirely different.

Not 2 weeks?

Quote:

It isn't exactly brain-surgery to do what we're intending to do, so I'm confident we'll be successful in at least some, if not all of our plans. This is a new beginning, as respectful to both Commodore and Amiga's legacy as humanly possible, but with a future focus too in the spirit of fun and nostalgia.

or

Quote:

The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster ride for myself and as you learn what is happening, we hope you will share in our our excitement along with our vision to bring Commodore to the forefront of the computing world once again. It's a major undertaking, to be sure, and we'll surely make mistakes or decisions you won't agree with.

Which is it? Not rocket science or a major undertaking?

I vote for scam.

Your website starts with a picture of the Amiga fantasy render:

Amiga fantasy link

Then you have the Cybernet zero footprint pc:

Cybernet PC

Then your greatest product, the Invictus, AKA Great Wall PCU510 from China!

Great Wall Computer!!!

Then you have a non-descript keyboard, a stock c64 image, and a 64 with a hacked in CD rom that was done a few years ago. You didn't even bother to resize the images!

You slapped it all together on a crappy website that you registered with a hidden name! A real website would be registered in the name of the corporation!
Good lord?!?! Are people really so stupid as to believe this crap?



Quote:

I agree that the website is disgusting but it will suffice for the moment and it allows us to get things up quickly and gauge people's reactions.

That is a dead give-away that you are a fraud! You don't make a CRAP website to gauge people's interest. Your response will not be accurate. If you have a quality site then you get an accurate response. A lame hacked together site gets an inaccurate response.

Bull crap bull crap bull crap. Fake. All Fake.

Go away iWin-Amiga 2.0

My God aren't people happy to shout Scam. What about just keeping them in mind and check them out again in a year, then start the Scam shouting. If they were to build a whole new computer (like Troika, ACK e.g,) I'd be worried., but to me it seems they want to make a Fantasy case filled with off the shelf hardware, sure it's not easy but easier than designing a whole computer.

_________________
AmigaOS or MorphOS on x86 would sell orders of magnitude more than the current,
hardware-intensive solutions. And they'd go faster.-- D.Haynie

@Manu

Doing it like that (re-packaging off-the-shelf parts ) is IMHO the only way of having half a chance of success.

_________________
Back home...

@Manu
You are right but a little and healthy scepticism is normal in our Amiga community. Too many times we where disappointed.

I wish them luck and hope for them that it works. But please don't just copy and paste. Some words are enough and better than reused renderings.

I said it on aros-exec.org:
I hope you will be a good addition to the market. And if you can expand it even, you gain my respect and support if needed.

I learned to be patient : )

Is it now really really really really official that you (CommodoreUSA) have the rights for the Name "commodore" ?

If yes a Commodore Amiga isn't far away

_________________
AROS Broadway - AEROS - Aminux - AmiCloud - indieGO! Appstore - AmiWallet - VAN lossless video codec - AMC Amiga media Center -KrypUnite - LibertyNet - MinX - amigaNX

@A3K

Quote:

Which is it? Not rocket science or a major undertaking?

I was referring to our new products, in that it's not "rocket science" to design a computer keyboard and put PC components into it.
The "major undertaking" is restoring the brand to something resembling its former glory.

You're perfectly entitled to your opinion. It is clearly not one I share.
We'll deliver our own exclusive products and a fancy website in due course.
As well as pimp up our current products beyond manufacturer spec.
I know this hostility is due to the fact you care, about the brand and what we intend to do with it.
It's scary when people, whom you don't know, take something you love and move it in a new direction.
In regard to the Commodore brand, the only way is up.
Our purpose today is about opening up communication with the community and allowing you to get to know what the company is about, our dreams, our vision, our products and our potential.
We're going to be shaking things up soon and hopefully there will be something that will interest you at some stage.

And we are listening... For instance....
We will allow people to purchase our cases, for personal use, as some of you have requested.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and encouragement.
We really want to do you proud.

Last edited by BigBentheAussie on 13-Aug-2010 at 07:37 PM.

_________________
Leo Nigro, CTO Commodore USA, LLC
Opinions expressed are my own and not those of C= USA.
Commodore/AMIGA "Beautiful, High-Performance, Home Computers for Creativity and Entertainment."

@BigBentheAussie

My suggestion for a good business start:

Ask someone (in this forum?) that could make you a simple homepage.

You should have pages with current products, prices and links to dealers selling this products.

Make (this is important) own photos from your existing products,

Own fotos will proof the existence of the devices. Describe the installed software, try to avoid rights and licenses you don't have. You can talk as much about retro comping, old and gone homecomputers as long as you avoid to use brands names you don't have.

There is nothing wrong with selling products under an own label as long as you don't try to sell them as own development, your company is small and I would prefer a x86 PC with components used in other brand PCs over a product from a dubious backyard manufacturer.
try to express waht made them special:
Design ? No, you can buy them everywhere
Hardware ? No, you can buy this everywhere
Brandname ? No at least as long as you have to sell them with extra stickers.
Software ? Maybe a pre-installed C64 Amiga emulation seems something different.

If you really plan to produce a C64 or Amiga fantasy device, post it somewhere else on you page, don't mix it with existing products, describe it as future plans, work under progress and makes it look real, try to post own pictures (if they exist) it should look like your company is working on it, not as you company doesn't have the knowledge to render the Amiga Fantasy case.

About design
The existing keyboard computers doesn't really look appealing to me, converting them into a beige C64 or a Silver A1200 fantasy product might be interesting for a retro market but only makes them looking more old fashioned.

cu

Last edited by Arko on 13-Aug-2010 at 08:22 PM.

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AmigaONE. Haha. Just because you can put label on it does not make it Amiga.

I borrowed this comments from here (#27 & #28):
http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=38873&forum=2&start=20&order=0

@Arko

I absolutely agree about the website. Thanks for your constructive criticism.
There is an interim website in development that should launch some time next week, that at the very least will be a lot tidier and feature many of the things you mentioned.

_________________
Leo Nigro, CTO Commodore USA, LLC
Opinions expressed are my own and not those of C= USA.
Commodore/AMIGA "Beautiful, High-Performance, Home Computers for Creativity and Entertainment."

BTW... If anyone can get in touch with Marko Hirv we'd appreciate it.
His mail is bouncing and the Project Reality team doesn't know how to contact him either.

Last edited by BigBentheAussie on 13-Aug-2010 at 08:08 PM.

_________________
Leo Nigro, CTO Commodore USA, LLC
Opinions expressed are my own and not those of C= USA.
Commodore/AMIGA "Beautiful, High-Performance, Home Computers for Creativity and Entertainment."

@BigBentheAussie

Do you have any kind of contact with Amiga Inc?

_________________
There are very interesting in all languages.
http://www.kensonpro.com
Program, codes for websites, hifi, measuring instruments and more. The site is of more than 1200 pages and nearly 3Gb .

One thing that would be great is that atleast IF possible when you have earned some money, dont close the door on some retro products down the line

There is still a community that might buy a little stuff that is directly related to C64 and Amiga classic hardware. I repeat : a replacement C64 mobo and a MiniMig v2.0 in a proper case .. And why in the world is NO ONE making new SID chips ? Is it impossible?

The proper retro case for the MiniMig might be the fastest thing to pull off. Atleast if you manage to do a Fantasy style case , you should be able to do a nice case for the MiniMig. Or possibly make sure it is possible to put the v2.0 illuwatar redesign (isnt that the mini itx redesigned one ? That as of yet has no hardware massmanufactured ? ) Please make that case such as it is possible to put a board such as the NatAmi or MiniMig or Atari board or etc ...

The other V1.1 minimig is also short on cases (?)
after thedaddy (? cant remember the name) sold the last of his.

And Ive also heard about this FPGAarcade board, maybe something like that needs a proper case as well ..

A retail classic Amiga product .. Complete, in a case, debugged and ready to buy.

I guess Arcade Retro Gaming also has this as well, maybe I should check them out closer... Theyre just out with their new retro FPGA thing..

But I fully understand a moneymaking prioritization is neccessary .. So make a fun comp. Just DO NOT make the hardware so fast that the keyboard is hot to the touch, cant stand typing on hot keyboards..

Btw to the naysayers: I also have a personal website that is registered privately via Domains by proxy , its a standard private registrator.. (??) And no scam ? I believe GoDaddy use them.

Last edited by Mr_DBUG on 13-Aug-2010 at 08:59 PM.
Last edited by Mr_DBUG on 13-Aug-2010 at 08:56 PM.

How soon we forget.

Walker
Pios
A/box
MCC
BoXeR
Phase5 PowerUp G4
AmiJoe
Shark
Vixxen
Merlancia products
iwin-amiga products

Every photo on that site is "right click save as" off of another internet source. Check my links.

What products are listed are real products - simple all-in-one PC designs sold by other companies. They just photoshopped a chicken head logo on some. Heck, he even forgot the photoshop out the windows keys in some.

Forget about whether or not the web site sucks or if there is a valid reason for it. The web site is registered through an anonymous proxy on Godaddy.com - the cheapest way to register an anonymous site. A real company would have legit contacts on their whois. It would say Commodore USA (LLC) or something, with a technical or administrative contact...not

registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)

Seriously folks, quit lapping it up. It would be one thing if it was a legit company trying to resale prefab all in one pc's. He has outright claimed that the Invictus is their own product, yet a little searching located it being made by a Chinese company called "Great Wall."

Are you people so desperate that you will believe anything? The last time this happened in the Amiga community, a lot of people sent money for vapor products and half of the user base left over it. There isn't enough left for that to happen again. This charade needs to stop. The community can't handle another scandal.

Benefit of a doubt, maybe Leo is being suckered too. After all, Dave Haynie worked for Merlancia without knowing it was a hoax until later.

@A3K

I'm prepared to give Commodore USA the benefit of the doubt, until proven otherwise. It's not like they're forcing you, me, or anybody else into buying one of their products... Let's see what comes out of it, and then decide whether it is hoax or legit.

I do agree to a certain point that a company bearing the name Commodore should not be selling "rebranded" PCs.

_________________
The shadow is cast on who you used to be,
Let me set you free.
Come now, come take my hand, then you'll understand,
We'll go to that forbidden land.

@Argosy

I am not willing to give them the benefit of a doubt.

Bring some products to retail distribution, then hit message boards.

It has been done the other way for 15 years and ALWAYS been a hoax. No reason to expect change now.

Put them in the store - then advertise them. If you have something worth buying, people will buy it. As it is he is acting like they are doing some kind of design or r&d and that is totally untrue. All he has presented are photoshopped images off of other people's web sites. Real companies don't do that. Heck, even iwin-amiga bought a banner ad on amiga.org. This dude hasn't even done that! All he has is a slapped together web site and some internet message board posts.

@A3K

What's the motive? He isn't asking for money so what's the scam here?

I would agree with you if he said "give me $500 to pre order the new Commodore Amiga computer" but that's not what is happening here.

@Argosy

Quote:

I do agree to a certain point that a company bearing the name Commodore should not be selling "rebranded" PCs.

I have to agree!

_________________

@tommywright

What was the motive for iwin? Merlancia? Gateway never took one red penny for MCC pre-orders, though I would say that the MCC was the most "legit" of the next gen products.

What I see is yet another person yanking the chain of those wanting a Commodore/Amiga resurgence.

Forget about the motivation for a moment and just look at the facts.

(1) The web site is registered through a proxy ID. Legit businesses register and have real contacts. It was registered through godaddy - a bit unusual for a serious corporation.
(2) The telephone number for Commodore USA reverse lookup to Barry S. Altman of Pompano Beach Florida - not a business. The fax # is unlisted Fort Lauderdale. Those facts do not exactly scream "legit business capable of manufacturing original equipment and hiring a CTO. There is no address - just emails.
(3) The images on the site are cut and pasted from other web sites. There is not one single piece of original info.
(4) The available machines are nothing but rebranded all-in-one PC's sold by Cybernet.
(5) The "original" Invictus is a computer in a keyboard made by Great Wall Computers of China.
(6) The Amigo is no different than the others - likely an AIO or some similar Asian product.
(7) The site is amateurish at best...again it is worth mentioning that they didn't even snap a digital photo - they just used other people's images.

At best they are nothing more than a PC reseller pushing all-in-one linux boxes, who is gluing on the Commodore logo and trying to lay claim to being some sort of next generation Commodore machine. There is nothing original. They are guilty of (if nothing else) trying to tug the heartstrings of Commodore fans for marketing - which is fine, but spare me all the CTO/technical development/R&D talk. It is what it is. a PC with the C= logo.

At worst? We don't yet know...but I wouldn't buy any tee-shirts.

@A3K
Those companies failed because they tried to build retro machines, this new Commodore is buying PCs from China that *look* retro. There's a big difference between those two ideas. There's a lot of interesting PC stuff in China that never makes it outside, I suspect they're going to try to find the cooler stuff and resell it. Not a bad plan.

@A3K

Quote:

A3K wrote: How soon we forget. Walker Pios A/box MCC BoXeR Phase5 PowerUp G4 AmiJoe Shark Vixxen Merlancia products iwin-amiga products

Yeah, how soon do we forget. How can you say all of those were scams ? Sure the hardware didn't en up being sold to users but some were serious attempts. I-win on the other hand was a scam. It seems you just wanted a long list of so called "scams" so you put almost everything you could think of there.

Should we start shouting scam as soon as somebody attempts something ? No way. I can give them my benefit of a doubt. It doesn't take one penny out of my wallet to see if they can produce anything of their own within a year. They're not trying to invent anything new, and why shouldn't Commodore be connected to "PC's". they sold "PC's" too before so it fits like a glowe.

Yeah rebranded PC's isn't my cup of tea either, but an affordable x86 board inside a Fantasy case running AROS would be cool, note I don't say I will buy one but maybe some would. It just depends on the price, I never pay fantasy prices for anything. It depends on how low they can come with the price tag.

So if you call scam on this, then you have to admit that either somebody hijacked BigBenTheAussies account or he's fooled by his "employer" because he's been among us here at AW for 7 years so he's not actually new here and every post you read from him are honest and well written and has always been. Not the person most likely to scam anybody.

Last edited by Manu on 14-Aug-2010 at 06:03 AM.

_________________
AmigaOS or MorphOS on x86 would sell orders of magnitude more than the current,
hardware-intensive solutions. And they'd go faster.-- D.Haynie