May17 1701: scuzzblog: Amiga 4000d 040 - A bit of all white
ScuzzBlog: Diaries December 2023
Entry 09th December 2023: Post 1: Small computer thinking - Failure of the Amiga.
Small computer thinking - Failure of the Amiga.
I was moved to thinking yet again about the reasoning for why I
have so many of my A500s and A1200s hooked up and working and yet
so few big box Amiga 2000, 3000 and 4000s. You would think with
with such power and variety of kit the big boxes would be way more
prolific. The reason I guess lies with Jack Tramiel. Just hear
me out ...
Today we play join the dots of computer images. The blog today
makes reference to various machines and so I leave you to make
sense of the order of photographs in respect of the text.
Start with the premise it was Jack's fault and I'll take it from
there ..
Jack Tramiel basically created Commodore out of a typewriter repair
company. He and a guy called Manfred Kapp joined forces eventually
acquiring the Singer Typewriter company. This is not going to be
a history lesson of Commodore so I better fast forward.
First though reflect on Jack's first foray into the computer world
with Commodore's line of calculators. A very small form factor and
one that no doubt coloured his thinking from that point on.
OK enter Chuck Peddle and the MOS 6502. It would have been most
interesting to be witness to some of the heated arguments between
Jack and Chuck over the direction of the company. On one hand you
had Chuck squarely propping up the business machine arm of the
company and Jack who was dead set on his ideas for providing
computers for the masses.
The VIC-20 shares so much of the PET hereditary and yet was sold
not to a business community but to the masses. Mostly young kids
in their bedrooms.
The die was cast at that time and Commodore under Jack Tramiel
would lean more and more toward home users and dare I say that
small computer thinking.
Jack had been influenced by another 'small is beautiful' fanatic
namely Clive Sinclair. Jack was also troubled by the MSX machines
of Japan which made him lose the last of his hair with Commodore
in pushing out the 264 later to be known as the Plus/4.
One million VIC-20s and several million C64s had by now somewhat
coloured the philosophy at Commodore and although they did build
other kit it really wasn't the main focus of their endeavours.
On to Jay Miner and the Amiga. Frustrated at Atari and a visionary
in his own right Jay had the aspiration to create a business
computer to compete with Apple and IBM. The Amiga 1000 was born
and was of a form that was lending more to the big box business
machines. Jay was very keen to take on IBM head on and had already
included with the software an Emulator to read PC disks and was
instrumental in the creation of the Amiga 1060 sidecar which also
benefitted from the Amiga 1020 5.25" floppy.
However once Commodore got their hands on the Amiga they instantly
needed to morph the machine into a C64/C128 form factor for the
home market whilst letting the likes of Dave Haynie have a play
with that bog box version as an upgrade to the A1000.
Given the already strong user base of the C64 it is little wonder
that the Amiga 500 became such a roaring success. Which left the
Commodore 128 desktop caught falling between two stools as the
last 8-bit machine Commodore would make.
The small computer philosophy was the driving force at Commodore
giving those computers to the masses, and whilst there was a
general desire to develop machines like the A2000 and A3000 the
computers never broke through into the commercial or educational
sectors in any great numbers.
There is no doubt that the A3000 was an absolute gem of a computer
and was much loved by many in the Amiga world, but at a cost that
prevented most home owners of ever affording one, and where the
business community was entrenched in the IBM model, there just
wasn't the demand to make it a success.
So back to the dabbling and there was certainly a lot of that
going on. The Commodore brand was seen as incapable of doing
anything bad when it came to home computers, particularly in
Europe. The games aspect of the A500 made it cult and adored by
a loving community. However in a move that shocked its user base
Commodore decided to dump the 500, then introduce a 500 Plus and
in a blink of an eye release a much smaller form factor A300 er
A600. That small computer thinking again shaping the product. To
this day few that frequent the Amiga symposiums give little reason
for the need of the 600. It wasn't even half a 1200.
Nearly done.
So whilst Haynie and co dabbled with AAA product and computers
that came and went without ever seeing store shelves the A1200
came to save the day as a small computer for a home market. Although
it's life was short it has lasted the decades and still furvours
great admiration from computer enthusiasts all over the world.
Hang on... what about the A4000 ?
Like much of the Commodore legacy and portfolio of products the
Amiga 4000 falls into the bracket of stuff they just made but were
never really serious about in terms of which market it was aimed at.
Commodore had no chance of ever growing into the business or
educational markets. The kit was way too expensive for your average
home user, so why were they even making the stuff. The A3000T and
A4000T are the rarest of Amiga computers cus they just didn't sell
many. Granted only around 400 of the A4000Ts that were made by
Commodore saw the light of day before they went bust, but I doubt
the order books were overly full of punters ready to buy such an
expensive beast.
These were good machines. They represent Amiga at their best, but
sadly you need buyers in need of the product. There was no business
community in Jack Tramiel's base philosophy. The A4000 was not
designed to give computers to the masses, and no doubt over the
years so many at Commodore had been banging their heads against a
brick wall, when trying to colour commercial decisions on the
direction of the company.
Commodore was stuck in the success of the C64 when the A500 became
the new kid on the block. Interestingly Dave Haynie accepted that
the A1200 was a very good machine. These machines were the bread
and butter at Commodore, and I guess the guys working on the C128
very often shared a canteen table with the big box boys designing
the Amiga high end kit. The guys having fun were playing Turrican
on the A500.
The Amiga came and nearly went. It hangs on by its finger nails.
It does so by feeding new gadgets and gizmos to the A500/1200
brigade of gaming nutters. So don't ask me if an A4000 is or was
ever popular. All I can say is it was an Amiga fit for purpose.
The only thing missing is that purpose... And I can't answer that.
I don't think there was ever anyone at Commodore that knew the
answer either.
And so you see it was Jack's fault all along. Saying that, I have
checked the varying dimensions and can confirm that my original
Commodore calculator is exactly the same size as a modern iPhone.
Just thicker.. and not a phone. I'll shut up.
So maybe he was right all along. Small is better?
Small computer thinking - Failure of the Amiga.
A bit of all white
If you can only see this CONTENT window
then click the image above for the full site
Last updated 9th December 2023
Chandraise Kingdom
Keep the Faith
scuzzscink 2023