Learning About the Amiga

Back when I was a teen in the 1980s, kids my age that were using computers had typically started on one of the 8-bit models, most commonly the Commodore 64 and the Atari 800XL. These were (and are) great computers that were especially fun for learning how to program and playing games.

But in 1985, new computers were introduced by Atari and Commodore that were the dream of kids my age. The were of couse, the Atari ST (first the 520ST, then the 1040ST) and the Commodore Amiga (first the 1000, then the 500).

At the time, being an Atari guy, I was mostly getting my computer news from Atari magazines so much of my knowledge is biased. I did read about the Amiga in Compute! magazine and I thought it might be interesting to write about my thoughts.

The first time I heard about the Amiga was in Compute! magazine. There was a small blurb about it mixed in with the coverage of the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (August 1985 issue). The piece was called “A Tantalizing Peek at the Amiga”. It was just less than two pages and it was already talking up the big new advancements the Amiga was supposed to bring, including: multitasking, custom graphics chips with 4096 colors and expandibility. There were no real specifics, though.

But the next month that would change. In the September 1985 isue of Compute!, the Amiga was featured on the cover with an accompanying mulit-page article: “The Amiga, from Commodore: An In-Depth Review”. Of course the editorial column from that issue was also all about the Amiga.

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