Karen said she chose the King of Cups to represent the computer makers: Signifying creative intelligence in art and science. The Cups are containers, computers to hold and use software.

OK, now for my translation:


1. Influence: The Devil

Simple - the Devil influence is that of Intellectual Property mis-handeling. The IP issue is the core of the problem.


2. Obstacles: Judgment

Well there is no shortage of Judgements being made. To bad these judgements are far to pre-mature and all to often wrongly placed on the end user and others in the "know".


3. Aspiration: The Hierophant, inverted

As Karen said - "Compatibility between software and hardware devices is also longed for." Yes, but the Devil IP mis-handeling is preventing it.


4. Foundation: Nine of Wands

I could easily say it's the VIC with it's nine commands. Certainly it's a battle. But there is much more to it than a simple tool. There are many other issues surrounding the fierce combat against uncertainty. But there is no suspence, just hard to achieve goals and this is tiring as the Amiga community certainly knows.


5. Background: Seven of Pentacles, inverted

The industry's money worries are only beginning. The High sales are what is waning. What is causing this is a great lack of trained computer professionals to fill the needs. So bad is it that the IT industry in the US alone has no hope of US natives to even help and are pulling from India. Additionally, there is major concern over Microsoft releasing NT 5.0 in 1999. A matter of further draining human resources away from dealing with the Y2K problem. Even Microsoft must be concerned enough to be reconsidering release dates. The 50/50 break point of non-productive efforts vs. profit potential in the computer industry are also a concern. The IT industry in the US alone is showing $250 billion in non-productivity out of it's $600 billion plus market. This equates to being around the 40% mark. Add the rest of the computer industries in and you have something around the 45% mark.


6. The road ahead: The World, inverted

As Karen said: "the road leads to stagnation, inertia, and permanence." and "However, this potential can be (and is) overridden by the final outcome card."

Yes, the world is upside down. To right-side-up it means major change at the source in changing the Devil influence. The Intellectual Property mis-handeling needs to be corrected, and it will happen. And, yes it's due to the last card, the end-____.


7. Computer makers' attitude: The Chariot, inverted

Karen wrote: "You'd think with all the outside pressures, PC makers would band together. Not so. They're famous for sniping at, quarreling with, and suing each other. I guess that's what happens in a competitive market."

Of course they cannot work together for the devil IP issue is preventing it! But it's not competitive market that is causing it, but only the way IP is being mis-handled. Correct this IP handeling issue and competition will only explode in the direction of compatability and versatility, and alot of growth.


8. Environment: King of Pentacles

Yes the potential of the computer industry in general is that of having alot of business acumen and intelligence. But chaos really is not helping to bring it out, for it is with the user community where the real business acumen and intelligence is.


9. Hopes: Ace of Pentacles

Karen: "All that computer makers want is ecstasy, timely information, and some cash. Is that so much to ask?"

Yes it is! If the computer industry (hardware and software) cannot keep up (and they clearly can't even hope for it) then they don't deserve ecstasy. On the other hand if they'll just help the users to help themselves, the users will return deserved ecstasy.


10. Final outcome: Page of Wands

Karen: "This is an odd card to come up here."

Odd only because recognizing the end user is very odd.

Karen: "It means a dark young man, an ardent lover and noble envoy.

:) Yes, I have dark hair and when cleaned up look much younger than my youth of 40. If I wasn't an ardent lover then I don't suppose I'd be suffering from PTSD, given why I suffer. Noble indeed, as an end user I don't really have any other choice.

Karens tarot book: "He is unknown but faithful, and his tidings are strange."

Unknown? Why of course, due suppression of my communication efforts by others.

Faithful? On the straight and narrow! Amiga.

Strange tidings? And who hasn't agreed with this? :)

Karen: "Steve Jobs is a dark young(ish) man and an ardent Apple supporter, and his tidings do tend to be strange, but he's certainly not unknown. Or faithful to Apple."

Karen: "That's one possible interpretation. Another is that 1998 will be the year of the Amiga. It's not a dark young man, but it is faithful, ardent, and mostly unknown; and if the Amiga came back, those tidings would certainly be strange.

But someone is making it happen, and he knows it. :)

Yes, it's not Steve. But Steve is a marketer looking at the "gold mine", as he called the usenet newsgroups, for ideas to (Quoting Steves own words of support for a quote from Picasso) "a good artist copies, a great artist steals". And in his search found such things as "I'm no saviour" (My own writting in part 4 of my talk with Petro), "rebel" (from Carl Sassenrath Lava/Rebol promotion), and "different" (which I'm sure he got from the Amiga community whole).


Figure Head? Who better than an end user, given the computer industry past and where it's headed. Hmmm, the computer industry might think it can blame the end user, even here. Wouldn't that be........

Tim Rue