ScuzzBlog: Diaries August 2024 Entry 13th August 2024: Post 1: Amiga 690 - The rarest thing I have. Amiga 690 - The rarest thing I have. OK.. The weather people are taking the pee.. Yesterday they said there was to be a dramatic drop in temperature, but sadly the main room which I am sitting in at the moment is still over the twenty eight degree threshold for safe usage. I have codged this quick blog together for now, and hope tomorrow will be kinder. OK filler time ... When asked what is the rarest thing I have I always say the A690. Not so much for the actual A570 complete unit but for the basic motherboard I have which proudly states A690 Rev 2.2. It is quite the most interesting of all the things I have for several reasons. 01: The A570 when released was shipped for a computer that was now defunct. The A500 and A500 Plus had been terminated. So she was basically dead on arrival. 02: The mix up over the numbering is fascinating, and I find it hard to believe that the creators didn't know their failing early on. My hunch is that they never believed this peripheral was ever going to see the light of day so why does it matter. 03: To the board itself it is quite unique and obviously was of limited distribution. Whether this board that has become separated from its casing is different to the A570 or complete A690 is a mystery that I would love to investigate further. The board has its own architecture and was obviously the subject of a thorough reworking of some of the notions associated with sidecars of the A500 era. 04: This represents the very last side expansion released by Commodore. It may well be the very last peripheral, expansion or add on that ever carried the Commodore name. Being a 690 makes it rare but being the first iteration of the ill-fated A570 makes it even more rare. 05: I am not sure if the creators of this little beast are still in circulation but I guess like many of the Amiga follies it has a very interesting back story. An unsung hero that never actually was given the time to become a hero. Shot down as it raised its head over the trenches. 06: And never forget that this was CD technology in the form of an expansion for the humble A500 and with the exception of the CDTV which was not an Amiga, it represents the only formal Commodore CD to be released for an Amiga. 07: And so for all kinds of reasons this is a very rare bit of Amiga history. The thing that always makes me reflect on just how rare, is the untold story of how an incorrectly labelled motherboard got to find its way into my collection. Its specific journey from the moment it was produced to my residence would be a intriguing story in its own right. I sense we will never know. The memories have all but vaporised into the ether. The card is lost in my vast storage area so I am sorry the images are twenty years old. Amiga 690 - The rarest thing I have.

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Last updated 13th August 2024

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