Hmm. I had (still do) an Atari - Jack Tramiel managed to run that company into the ground too!
I can say that comfort with 8-bit systems like TRS-80, Apple ][ machine language and Atari 800 is probably the major reason I find microcontrollers enjoyable.
As far as keyboards, go I do pay for quality. I use an IBM PS/2 clicky keyboard which will get replaced with a $99 unicomp or Das Keyboard. A good screen and a good keyboard are worth paying for. Quality companies making quality products may not have large markup, but they will get me as a customer.
Hmm. I had (still do) an Atari - Jack Tramiel managed to run that company into the ground too!
Only IBM (including clones) and Apple survived the computer wars. There was lots of competition at the time.
The truth is that Atari and Amiga still have a fan base. They are working on their emulators, still writing programs and they are still going strong because the computers are that good.
Unfortunately the two greats, Atari and Commodore, had one failing in common, this is Jack. He is a man after money, his greed killed CBM, and he was hired to manage the computer division of Atari, at the time they produced the thirty-two bit systems, and his greed eventually killed Atari.
We have two great computer companies that were killed by the same man. Both of these had the potential to make the PC/AT and the Macintosh a distant memory, another Altair.
Unfortunately the two greats, Atari and Commodore, had one failing in common, this is Jack. He is a man after money, his greed killed CBM, and he was hired to manage the computer division of Atari, at the time they produced the thirty-two bit systems, and his greed eventually killed Atari.
I thought Jack bought Atari.
Piracy killed Atari; games were pirated and being played before they even came out on the market.
Commodore was a billion dollar company and still afloat when Jack left. In fact, people are still programming and using Amiga computers today. The fact that Jack could go to Atari and make several new machines means that they weren't finished. And people are still using Atari computers today; I've seen their Atari in FPGA.
You have to understand something. The 6502 had several clocks and a reason why I didn't see them speeding it up to compete with the other chip makers was because it is hard to speed them all up and keep them in sync with a new design. Back then having several clocks on a system bus was a "no no" unless you really knew what you were doing. From what I read, the 6502 was slowed down to do writes to the screen. That is probably why they never tried to change the design of the old computers.
The thing which killed the Amiga was price gouging. Amiga third party peripherals were more expensive on the Amiga than on IBM compatible systems. A reason why 8 bit computers won't compete with today's computers is you can't play video from Youtube or get on the internet. The real reason is you can't compete with billions and billions in chip research unless you have your own niche.
Commodore did a lot of stupid things after Jack left. They killed projects that would have brought in some money and kept the company afloat because they wanted people to abandon the C-64 and C-128 line and make people with Commodore 64 budgets buy Amigas when they didn't have budgets for Amigas. The amount of upgrading that users did on the Amiga was enough to bankrupt people who didn't have the money.
And Commodore wasn't paying their bills. My college professor ordered an Amiga 1000 with sidecar for the college and it was never delivered. They ate the loss but he predicted that companies with bad business practices won't be around much longer.
n fact, people are still programming and using Amiga computers today.
Yes and Amiga was let go back to an independent entity when CBM went under. Amiga is a company that is still around and not part of Commodore.
I do not see how Piracy could have killed the Computer market for Atari, which was bigger than there game console market. Atari computers and there OS were a great design, you needed the computer to run the OS and at that time Only Atari made the ST/STE/Mega/TT/Falcon computers, thus what is there to pirate to kill them?
Though I should say that when I said that these two companies had products that could have ruled the market, I was referring to the Amiga while CBM still owned them, and the 16/32 bit Atari systems. These computers were better than anything else on the market at the time. The Atari 16/32 bit systems were much less expensive than a super cheap 80386 based PC-Clone in 1990 and would greatly outperform the 80386. The Amiga was a bit more expensive though its performance and asynchronous peripheral architecture put it miles ahead of the competition.
Though I should say that when I said that these two companies had products that could have ruled the market, I was referring to the Amiga while CBM still owned them, and the 16/32 bit Atari systems. These computers were better than anything else on the market at the time. The Atari 16/32 bit systems were much less expensive than a super cheap 80386 based PC-Clone in 1990 and would greatly outperform the 80386. The Amiga was a bit more expensive though its performance and asynchronous peripheral architecture put it miles ahead of the competition.
Jack Tramiel left Commodore because he brought in an investor named Irving Gould who had given Commodore a loan and had controlling stock. Jack Tramiel then left Commodore with engineers and went to Atari because I believe he used his money to buy Atari. Jack Tramiel had the Amiga technology before Commodore did when he gave Jay Miner a loan. I think the Amiga was nicknamed Lorraine back then. Jay Miner had the option of paying back the loan and Jay Miner left Atari to go to Commodore and Commodore gave Jay Miner the money to pay back Atari for the money they loaned him for research. So I don't see Jack Tramiel as doing anything negative to hurt Commodore through Amiga because he wasn't there at Commodore anymore.
Comments
I can say that comfort with 8-bit systems like TRS-80, Apple ][ machine language and Atari 800 is probably the major reason I find microcontrollers enjoyable.
As far as keyboards, go I do pay for quality. I use an IBM PS/2 clicky keyboard which will get replaced with a $99 unicomp or Das Keyboard. A good screen and a good keyboard are worth paying for. Quality companies making quality products may not have large markup, but they will get me as a customer.
Only IBM (including clones) and Apple survived the computer wars. There was lots of competition at the time.
The truth is that Atari and Amiga still have a fan base. They are working on their emulators, still writing programs and they are still going strong because the computers are that good.
We have two great computer companies that were killed by the same man. Both of these had the potential to make the PC/AT and the Macintosh a distant memory, another Altair.
I thought Jack bought Atari.
Piracy killed Atari; games were pirated and being played before they even came out on the market.
Commodore was a billion dollar company and still afloat when Jack left. In fact, people are still programming and using Amiga computers today. The fact that Jack could go to Atari and make several new machines means that they weren't finished. And people are still using Atari computers today; I've seen their Atari in FPGA.
You have to understand something. The 6502 had several clocks and a reason why I didn't see them speeding it up to compete with the other chip makers was because it is hard to speed them all up and keep them in sync with a new design. Back then having several clocks on a system bus was a "no no" unless you really knew what you were doing. From what I read, the 6502 was slowed down to do writes to the screen. That is probably why they never tried to change the design of the old computers.
The thing which killed the Amiga was price gouging. Amiga third party peripherals were more expensive on the Amiga than on IBM compatible systems. A reason why 8 bit computers won't compete with today's computers is you can't play video from Youtube or get on the internet. The real reason is you can't compete with billions and billions in chip research unless you have your own niche.
Commodore did a lot of stupid things after Jack left. They killed projects that would have brought in some money and kept the company afloat because they wanted people to abandon the C-64 and C-128 line and make people with Commodore 64 budgets buy Amigas when they didn't have budgets for Amigas. The amount of upgrading that users did on the Amiga was enough to bankrupt people who didn't have the money.
And Commodore wasn't paying their bills. My college professor ordered an Amiga 1000 with sidecar for the college and it was never delivered. They ate the loss but he predicted that companies with bad business practices won't be around much longer.
I do not see how Piracy could have killed the Computer market for Atari, which was bigger than there game console market. Atari computers and there OS were a great design, you needed the computer to run the OS and at that time Only Atari made the ST/STE/Mega/TT/Falcon computers, thus what is there to pirate to kill them?
Jack Tramiel left Commodore because he brought in an investor named Irving Gould who had given Commodore a loan and had controlling stock. Jack Tramiel then left Commodore with engineers and went to Atari because I believe he used his money to buy Atari. Jack Tramiel had the Amiga technology before Commodore did when he gave Jay Miner a loan. I think the Amiga was nicknamed Lorraine back then. Jay Miner had the option of paying back the loan and Jay Miner left Atari to go to Commodore and Commodore gave Jay Miner the money to pay back Atari for the money they loaned him for research. So I don't see Jack Tramiel as doing anything negative to hurt Commodore through Amiga because he wasn't there at Commodore anymore.