By Michael Webb, Editor-in-Chief, 103165.3700@compuserve.com
People have been known to say "if only I could go back...," and the typical response is that you can't go back. This is true of time and space alike; you can return to your childhood home 30 years down the line, but will it ever be the same?
But a pervading question becomes: if I could go back, and so with the foreknowledge and experience of my life so far, would I be able to, or for that matter, try to change anything? And should I return without that knowledge, would there be any gain in simply re-experiencing life so far? Surely that would leave me in the same situation in which I now find myself, and from which I clearly wish to escape, at least temporarily.
Let's take a look back to 1985. President Ronald Reagan's second US administration was in full swing, Japan was embarrassing the US in the automobile markets, progressive rock was falling out of favor with pop culture-oriented youth, and the Amiga had just been introduced. This, of course, only a few years after the IBM PC and Macintosh, respectively, had been developed. The microcomputer industry, although not new, was in its fledgling stages at least as far as mass markets -- and comsumer-oriented products, for that matter -- were concerned. Commodore took the Amiga under its wing, and took the computer world by surprise. Here was a computer with a multitasking operating system, graphical user interface, amazing animation, 4096 colors, and versatile video capabilities, all for a good deal less money than most other systems that couldn't even begin to compare in capability; but there's no need to retell this story, for you've all heard it enough times.
For a time, the entire computer industry was at least aware of the Amiga, if not impressed by it. It had experienced a strong start, only to be followed by relatively weak growth. It began to become ob- vious that Commodore was extremely hesitant to aggressively push their star product, but riding on the momentum of its introduction, the Amiga continued to move forward somewhat. In 1987, the Amiga industry began to show more promise with the introduction of the A500 and A2000, but still Commodore did not market effectively.
The saga, of course, continues up through present day. The A3000 was a brilliant product, but its potential success was severely stunted. The same occurred in 1992 with the onset of AGA. Yet riding on the shoulders of its past and on the committment and support of the Amiga community, and bolstered by Newtek's explosion into the desktop and professional video industry, the Amiga some- how continued to survive.
So where does that leave us today? More or less with a 4-year technological deficit in the wake of Commodore's illness (more the final onslaught of a chronic disease than a sudden infection) and quick death, which not only took its toll as any such disruption of the business cycle would, but also in the extended fashion caused by the legal wrangling over Commodore's assets, and continued by what many people judge to be a gross misinterpretation of the Amiga industry by ESCOM; further, today, we find ourselves plunging into yet another abyss, at the end of which may exist...what? A final chance at true success for the Amiga, or that which all "efforts" so far have not been able to attain: the ultimate destruction of the Amiga, and the dream on which it stands.
But if you take a look back to 1987, you see a good era for the Amiga...or at least comparatively so. It wasn't difficult to find Amiga dealers, or user groups, for that matter. Resources were at hand, and you could actually use them, even if you had problems or questions. Programmers and hardware designers alike were frequently breaking new ground. Few people questioned the Amiga's potential or capability. People were enthralled with the power and convenience of the Deluxe Paint series; F/A-18 Interceptor dispelled any doubts of the Amiga's graphics, sound, and processing power; Word Perfect for the Amiga showed that the Amiga stirred legitimate interest in other segments of the computer industry. And today...? Well, Deluxe Paint V (not to mention its competition) blows away its predecessors; games like Gloom and Nemac are all the rave; Final Writer 5 and Wordworth 5 thoroughly show up WP and anything else from the era. And at the same time, we our in our time of greatest stress. It's interesting how much better, and how much worse, some things can be. There was hope in 1987. Was it false hope? In light of our current predicament(s), one might be compelled to say "Uh...yeah, somehow I think so." But without any certain knowledge of what is coming next, we can't say for sure. It sure is hard to judge a book by its cover, but even harder to judge a book by one of its chapters. In other words, we can't see the whole story because we are acting it out. And the drama continues...
I believe it was Cher who said something about what she'd do if she could turn back time...well, we're mere mortals, last I checked, and we seem to be fairly well confined to where we are now. Although the past may have seemed more positive, it would most certainly lead right back to where we are now. We have been given a situation on which to act, and we have to make the best of it. The future is shrouded in mystery and fraught with peril. We aren't within the minds of the corporate executives, or the engineers; we are, however, the users, the backbone of the entire community and industry. For the Amiga to survive, we must have strength, determination, and resources. It's going to take sincerity, and it's going to take leadership. And it's going to take a united effort.
It is truly amazing that this platform has survived as long as it has, and it is testimony to the incredible support of the community that has grown around it. But this can only go so far. There's no question that we could continue to survive as a group for some time, as evidenced by Commdore's earlier ventures (C64 ,C128, and others), and Apple's stepping stone to the Macintosh, the Apple II. It is no coincidence that the Roundtables on Genie dedicated to those two platforms, in conjunction with the Starship Amiga Roundtable, comprise some of the busiest areas on all of Genie. But I, and I think many others as well, do NOT want THAT kind of a destiny. As far as cutting edge computing is concerned, those other platforms, I am sorry to say, are permanently out of the question. But right now (and I emphasize that this will NOT remain true forever, and we absolutely MUST end this stagnant period if there is to be ANY hope), the Amiga fortunately remains somewhat on a par with the IBM PC and Macintosh platforms, albeit in some ways marginally.
It's STILL not too late. We have survived so much opposition and so many obstacles that it is all we know, and yet we continue to hold out hope. Whatever you do, remember what this is, and what it stands for; always have faith in your inspirations and aspirations.
We are so tenacious that we just won't give up the dream. And I hope we never have to.