I was one of the folks who wanted to migrate from the 8-bit Atari world to the brave new 16-bit world. Initially, I'd have likely gone Atari ST because of costs. Don't get me wrong - I wanted the Amiga 1000, but just soooo expensive. The Amiga 500 changed that path and I got my 500 and 1080 color monitor in 1987.
Deluxe Paint, Dynamic Drums and so many other creative programs would follow. And the games - lordy the Amiga was meant to game on.
I left the Amiga as my daily computing platform in 1992, moving to a 486 machine with VGA and a sound blaster and Windows 3.0 initially with an upgrade to 3.1 later that same year. College saw me choosing to use the Macintosh lab as my preference and I'd eventually switch to the Macintosh full time with the iMac.
I still use Windows/PC for work, but for my "personal computing" I'm a Mac guy, with a Mini M4 and a MBA with an M3.
And even today, I'll fire up my Amiga 500 mini for a few game sessions - and if RetroGames ever releases one, I'll get the Amiga maxi model they've promised. But all about the games - wouldn't dream of using it for anything else.
The mid to late 80s were a great time to be involved in home computing.
The https://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a2320 board converted from interlace to progressive for use with standard VGA monitor. But I never bothered to get one.
American perceptions of the Amiga as a niche, boutique computer are at odds with the European experience, where the Amiga 500 and its successors became the dominant home computer platform between roughly 1989 and 1993.
Unfortunately, Commodore failed to advance the Amiga to keep up with the competition, preferring to repackage 1985 technology in different formats like the disastrous CDTV and A600 - a story of technological stagnation and business ineptitude told in detail in Brian Bagnall's books.
In the US, the PC was really a juggernaught and prevented other niche platforms from getting anywhere near mainstream. I did read "The Amiga Years" by Brian Bagnall a few years ago, although I ought to also read his other books in the series.
In the late 80s Early 90s, a magnet school I attended called Southwood Center for the Arts out of Miami had aquired an Amiga 4200 this model had a Video Toaster to SuperImpose Title Graphics with a toggle switch on the back of the pc. This was used for Credits, Intros and Anchor Names during our day to day broadcast on WSWD. I was part of the team as Camera Operator and Technical Director. Eventually I was trained to use the Character Generator. Way ahead before VideoOnics came into existence years later. Amiga Hardware Database - Expansion cards https://share.google/DH741yjKUVyIVJk8G
If you are looking for a more detailed story, get the books by Bagnall about the Commodore Years, the Amiga Years and the Final Years.
I was one of the folks who wanted to migrate from the 8-bit Atari world to the brave new 16-bit world. Initially, I'd have likely gone Atari ST because of costs. Don't get me wrong - I wanted the Amiga 1000, but just soooo expensive. The Amiga 500 changed that path and I got my 500 and 1080 color monitor in 1987.
Deluxe Paint, Dynamic Drums and so many other creative programs would follow. And the games - lordy the Amiga was meant to game on.
I left the Amiga as my daily computing platform in 1992, moving to a 486 machine with VGA and a sound blaster and Windows 3.0 initially with an upgrade to 3.1 later that same year. College saw me choosing to use the Macintosh lab as my preference and I'd eventually switch to the Macintosh full time with the iMac.
I still use Windows/PC for work, but for my "personal computing" I'm a Mac guy, with a Mini M4 and a MBA with an M3.
And even today, I'll fire up my Amiga 500 mini for a few game sessions - and if RetroGames ever releases one, I'll get the Amiga maxi model they've promised. But all about the games - wouldn't dream of using it for anything else.
The mid to late 80s were a great time to be involved in home computing.
The https://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a2320 board converted from interlace to progressive for use with standard VGA monitor. But I never bothered to get one.
Yes, I too felt that the Amiga desktop was ugly. That's why when I wrote my own OS/GUI for scientific/embedded computing, I modeled it after GEM (both the look and the API) instead. https://www.semitracks.com/reference-material/failure-and-yield-analysis/failure-analysis-package-level/figures/acoustic-microscopy-figure-9.gif
American perceptions of the Amiga as a niche, boutique computer are at odds with the European experience, where the Amiga 500 and its successors became the dominant home computer platform between roughly 1989 and 1993.
Unfortunately, Commodore failed to advance the Amiga to keep up with the competition, preferring to repackage 1985 technology in different formats like the disastrous CDTV and A600 - a story of technological stagnation and business ineptitude told in detail in Brian Bagnall's books.
In the US, the PC was really a juggernaught and prevented other niche platforms from getting anywhere near mainstream. I did read "The Amiga Years" by Brian Bagnall a few years ago, although I ought to also read his other books in the series.
In the late 80s Early 90s, a magnet school I attended called Southwood Center for the Arts out of Miami had aquired an Amiga 4200 this model had a Video Toaster to SuperImpose Title Graphics with a toggle switch on the back of the pc. This was used for Credits, Intros and Anchor Names during our day to day broadcast on WSWD. I was part of the team as Camera Operator and Technical Director. Eventually I was trained to use the Character Generator. Way ahead before VideoOnics came into existence years later. Amiga Hardware Database - Expansion cards https://share.google/DH741yjKUVyIVJk8G