Today was the first day of the Amiwest Show 2024 in Sacramento, California. Morning and early afternoon had seminars, and the late afternoon had a swap meet. Go to

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/10/first-day-at-amiwest-show-2024.html

YouTube videos of the seminars later,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

@RobertB

Thanks!

So sad. Were there even 50 people at the show?

@matthey

Its kind expected Amiga users in USA is often a bit older than the ones in Europa,
Amiga has failed in too many years to be relevant, on desktop publishing, web, and gaming. The retro thing is fun, but its slowly killing the platform. I know some people already consider the platform dead,

Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 26-Oct-2024 at 10:03 PM.
Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 26-Oct-2024 at 10:03 PM.

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@matthey

I am the founder of AmiWest and we have over 60 ppl here ! Plus Dave Haynie is here which is a first. Nothing will match the first year of AmiWest BUT I am seeing many new faces and most are young :) With the retro scene , I can only see many new ppl showing up at future shows! Some of the younger ppl are into gaming and pushing what can be done with the Amiga

NutsAboutAmiga Quote:

Its kind expected Amiga users in USA is often a bit older than the ones in Europa, Amiga has failed in too many years to be relevant, on desktop publishing, web, and gaming. The retro thing is fun, but its slowly killing the platform. I know some people already consider the platform dead,

Amiga fans in the US are probably older and in worse shape health wise on average compared to Europe. Of the older Amiga users I know, 1/3 RIP, 1/3 likely has early dementia and 2/3 have given me all their Amiga hardware with little to no further interest in the sad and dead Amiga platform. Of Amiga fans of my generation (I'm 52), one career programmer gave me his Amiga 3000 and CV64 and none I am aware of seem to have further interest in the Amiga. Of the younger generation, most of who I introduced to the Amiga, one gave me an Amiga 500 she was given after she played with it for awhile. I talk to ex-Amiga users and the Amiga may be talked about in conversations but it is considered embarrassing and dead because of lack of availability, lack of value, a high price and lack of modern features making it difficult to get back into the Amiga market. There is some interest here in the 68k Amiga as a retro and hobby platform with enough younger people that think favorably of the Amiga to build a market but it needs to be cheap and easy kind of like THEA500 Mini but ideally offering better functionality and value. I doubt there would be any interest in 20+ year old PPC hardware with poor 68k Amiga compatibility, barely any software and beyond ridiculous lack of value, even if the price was the same as THEA500 Mini thus improving the value. The value is that bad and PPC AmigaNOne is a dying micro-niche of a micro-niche. It is the PPC AmigaNOne which is killing and blocking the retro 68k Amiga platform. The PPC A1222+ is maybe selling hundreds of units while 68k Amigas, including very limited THEA500 Mini using emulation, are selling in the high tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands. PPC AmigaNOne is a bag over the head Amiga embarrassment that misses 99% of the Amiga market.

alanwall Quote:

I am the founder of AmiWest and we have over 60 ppl here ! Plus Dave Haynie is here which is a first. Nothing will match the first year of AmiWest BUT I am seeing many new faces and most are young :) With the retro scene , I can only see many new ppl showing up at future shows! Some of the younger ppl are into gaming and pushing what can be done with the Amiga

The last Amiga show I went to was a Gateway show in St. Louis, Missouri that had many thousands of attendees. There were probably over 100 developers in the developer meeting where many had to stand. The lack of attendance problem is not a US problem or a lack of younger people interested in the Amiga. The problem is a demotivating embarrassment of Amiga hardware and lack of Amiga leadership. The show can't go on for much longer or there will be nobody left. I'm not blaming you. I expect it is a lot of work for so few. It's just reality at the current pace of decline.

Last edited by matthey on 26-Oct-2024 at 11:39 PM.

@matthey

I'm about to turn 54 and would like to think that I'm in pretty good shape.

There's a few times I wanted to go to Amiwest but then work and/or other commitments got in the way.
I was there for the Amiga 30 event in 2015, and if Bill et al organise an Amiga 40 event next year, I'll most likely show up for that.

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agami Quote:

I'm about to turn 54 and would like to think that I'm in pretty good shape.

Back at the last Gateway show I attended, I went with Steve Shireman who was involved with embedded automated milking machines using Amiga 2000s and a custom board (@Farmobile?). Steve sponsored a Polish embedded Amiga developer who came to the show from Poland with his embedded hardware (stepper motor control as I recall). He was thin and muscular and asked skinny me in private why so many Americans and especially Amiga users were overweight after seeing the show attendees. I didn't really have an answer but he was mostly correct, except for Chris Aldi developer of Reaction/ClassAct who we hung out with at the show for awhile. I'm afraid the US may have had a few COVID casualties partially offset by Amiga fans in the US tending to be isolated loners due to Jack's business reputation and now Trevor's even longer failed business model . I would probably no longer be described as skinny but perhaps look more like a muscular Viking/Germanic tribesman now. My looks would probably fit better in Northern Europe. Another story is when my two brothers and I approached a short but buff cop and he immediately called for backup without us saying a word yet. I'm the smallest brother.

agami Quote:

There's a few times I wanted to go to Amiwest but then work and/or other commitments got in the way. I was there for the Amiga 30 event in 2015, and if Bill et al organise an Amiga 40 event next year, I'll most likely show up for that.

Prepare to be disappointed. The Amiga, California and the US have been in steady decline. Then again, the Amiga 40th anniversary may be the last pulse of the Amiga. What is dead may never die, except in Trevor's Amiga Neverland without young blood. Maybe I should unload all the Amiga computers sad ex-Amiga users keep giving me at that time because collectables aren't valuable when the users and collectors are dead. The few people left at Amiga shows are the perpetual optimists while the vast majority would prefer a bag over their head.

@matthey

What are you talking about? The retro 68k Amiga scene has never been stronger! We await Framethrower hardware for our PiStorms with excitement and people's first Checkmate Monitors will arrive on a container ship soon! Americans have always struggled with weight issues and AmigaOne machines have always been niche! Why the belief that it's all over? Introduce your kids or grandkids to the platform and it will never die! We get a new version if Worms DC in January and Metro Siege is on the way! The A600GS is gathering traction and the A600? Maxi is coming in Q1 2025. I'm getting ReShoot Proxima 3 for Christmas! All is good!

Last edited by BigD on 27-Oct-2024 at 11:12 AM.

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@RobertB

Are any parts of the show being streamed or do we wait for the videos?

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@BigD

Broadcast links

#6

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@NutsAboutAmiga

Retro is in and there is a lot of activity now there

If you look at Amiga 38 there is a lot of acitvity now, but most 68k related. You have Amiga as a retro platform what is growing and you have amiga as a professional platform that is dead already for a long time. There my biggest hope would be the merge with linux (axruntime) but until that is real I have enough to do with Aros 68k

@matthey

You mix USA with europe. Amiga always was a european system despite Commodore being from US and development team from US too. In USA Macs and PCs were used, not Amigas. Amiga was only used in combination with Video Toaster as relative affordabel desktop video computer. Never as mainstream home computer like in europe. Most successful it was in germany and england and this is visible up to today. But in germany it is living, the question is only where the future goes, a pure retro hardware ot more.

@OlafS25

True.
At the last show in the U.S. that I recall Dick Van Dyke attending with Newtek, there was also Macrosystems with VLAB Motion (later to become Draco and Casablanca). It was all reduced to the video connection at that show with -very- few other attendees.

#6

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@BigD

Quote:

BigD wrote: What are you talking about? The retro 68k Amiga scene has never been stronger!

The retro scene don't need meetings like Amiwest, they have their Amiga in the attic and are using UAE.

@OneTimer1

sorry you talk nonsense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODnSaem7ow4

@OneTimer1

That is not true, many die hard Amiga users are back doing 68k now after many years with PPC/Morphos/OS4 ... Pistorm and Vampire have made gfx enabled machines a dream to use again!

Last edited by kriz on 02-Nov-2024 at 09:47 PM.

@OlafS25

Quote:

Retro is in

Is it though, still? Haven't we "peaked" retro yet? Isn't "the market" a little saturated already? Are the "new" systems really so great? What's the goal of it all?

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@kolla

68k won't peak until at least the end of 2025 IMHO but things like The Scorpion Engine may perpetuate a new era of bedroom programming! The A600GS is certainly banking on having new software to sell on the Amistore!

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@kolla

Have we peaked? Where do you know? I cannot say. But at least it is a market with constant new hardware and new software, recently even new classical turbo cards. Apollo and Pistorm both in development too. And also new products based on emulation. Who said the new systems are "great"? Me not., It again depends on what you expect. And the goal is world domination of course. What else?

As you know I have my own field where I am active. But currently only 68k is interesting. On AMD64 I will start when there is a amiga desktop and amiga theme available on linux so the look &feel can be emulated.

Last edited by OlafS25 on 27-Oct-2024 at 11:21 PM.