Mr. Compton, Because there is such a variety of what users want in packaging and expandability of the Amiga, I would think there is really only one way to go with it. Put the Amiga on a board or two like any expansion board. We already have CPU cards, ram boards, and other expansion boards. What should take the location or place of the standard mother board is what the A4000 daughter board is, what the high-flyer board is - a slot board. Certainly by just focusing on improving the electronic technology of the Amiga in the form of an expansion board(s) while leaving it open for others to package it, power it, expand it, etc.. will contribute greatly to making available the resources (otherwise spent else where) to improve the technology. This will also take alot of expectations off of the owner (VIScorp) of the Amiga Technology as to how it should be packaged, expanded, even marketed, etc.. Expectation no-one has really been able to meet, due the variety of use. Maybe I don't know enough about the integration of the Amiga electronics but I would think it can be put onto one board or board set (like the toaster). The external or attached devices - The mouse has been redone by others and monitors have been built by others. Even the power supply is nothing special. The Keyboard may be the only external device to keep, but in some Amiga units even it has been replaced and even removed altogether. But the Keyboard is the one place where the trade-name can be shown. Some want IDE, others SCSI or SCSI-II/III, and there's zorro slots, ISA slots, etc... From the A1000 to the A4000T there is the constant end user request, expandability. Another request is to improve the technology, bring it upto and beyond what other systems have (this is founded in the base technology of the tri-processors - the custom chips team-working). There really is only one way to give everyone what they want. Simply produce an Amiga board with an expansion connector that allows one to add what all they want via an expansion board of which third parties will produce a variety of. An open-ended design that is only one board. No more need to re-manufacture or re-tool, leaving this up to those who are going to do it anyway (yea, I did the piggy-back ram mod. to my A1000 and later added an insider board). The only time there is a need to redo the Amiga board is in improving the technology, not in re-configuring old technology to fit some case or product idea. The board/unit should be such that it need not be re-done just for a new product or case. That of the Amiga that is open to change (within the current, not new, technology used) should be made external to the board as an add on expansion. If you want a laptop, CD32, Tower, Desk-top, rack-mount, ED, etc.. Build it yourself or buy it from someone who does or will. Who knows maybe someone will even come up with the idea of building a case set that may be attached to each other like blocks to form a desk-top or stood up for a tower, with the ability of the drive bays to be turned accordingly. Maybe even the ability to add spacers and brackets for a rack mount. Power Supply blocks of different power, drive blocks of different drive count compacities, expansion blocks of different number of boards. External port blocks with different abilities, etc... But the basic blocks would be the Amiga Block, power block and the external port block. The Amiga Block would have connectors for only monitor, audio out, mouse (1), and keyboard. The Amiga block would have a fan and a power LED, but no power supply, no floppy drive, no parrallel port, no serial port, no drive bays, but it would have the expansion edge that can be accessed from either side (or top and bottom if turned this way) due to the small expansion board the Amiga board is attached to. And feet are attachable where one migth need them as well as the blocks having a way to secure themselves together. The width of such a unit would of course be that of handeling an installable drive and it's depth, well you get the idea. What has got to be the biggest complaint of Amiga users is that this or that should have been done this way or that way hardware wise. Well maybe it's time to let them have only themselves to complain to. Maybe it'll cost a little more, at first, but it is in quantity that the price should fall, not in redesigning it to have less or different ability. Everyone wants a lower price, but I can only wonder what the price would be if the A4000, A4000T, A1200, CD32 Amiga board was only one board instead of 4 or more boards. Certainly quantity is important, and in looking at divide and conqure I can only wonder if so many Amiga boards haven't contributed to the fall. Again That which is different about these boards, not size but configuration, should be put on it's own board and leave the KEY AMIGA board without built-in limitations (leave that to what all is attached). One might think that doing such would cause to much of a split as to expansion compatabilities. But I believe it is more likley to cause some standards to be set. No hardware expansion developer needs to redesign packaging. Hardware development is better focused on what goes into the hardware abilities, not outer shell. Package developer are the ones to design and build complete units such as the CD32, desk-top, tower, rack-mount, ED, lap-top, etc.. or such unit parts as the Block idea above. Actually the largest Amiga based machine is probably some coin based game machine in which it (Amiga) is hidden (like so many Amiga based machines - including those hidden under some skirt at a trade show -> Scala 100 for the IBM platform was being demo'ed buy such a hidden Amiga.) In the Video/Film industry it (the Amiga) was hidden, even to the point of just covering the Amiga Logo up with a Toaster logo and selling it as an external device for the Mac? Sooooo.... Go with the flow and let's stop trying to second guess or put constraints on those whom all have good ideas as to how to package the Amiga, because they are going to do it anyway. Put it on a board that has an open-ended connector. A board that has such demensions that make it very versatile in use. And this is half of what the Amiga is really all about. The other half being the OS. I believe an advantage to doing this would be a reduction of advertising/marketing cost or expectations of VIScorp. As the Amiga has been, it's been mostly up to the third party developers to promote it anyway, so open the door and let the idea of value added reselling really take place. It's those whom sell to the end users that hear what the end user wants, so let them build what the end-user wants. Don't force on the seller constraints that are not needed. And certainly don't force on the end-user constraints they would rather not have. Personally my perspective of Emerson is that they are a company whom has produced such devices that are known not to last as long, but are generally cheaper to buy. Fine, but don't let it rub off, Don't let this be a reason for not allowing higher quality devices from being produced using the Amiga. Who really cares as to how the Amiga is used, so long as it is used enough to finance advancing the technology of it. And this include the OS. In summary, don't try to second guess what people want to do with the Amiga, how they want to expand off of it, package it, but simply allow them to do so, while focusing on advancing the technology of the chip set and OS. Design or spec out a building block case type set and let everyone have at it. The Idea is only buy what you want, can afford, need - granted this may overall add to the casing and number of fans but no-one can complain about not having enough space, power, cooling, etc. Thru standard and quantity, cost will not be that much more but versatility will out do such costs. Product #1a - The Amiga Board/card Product #1b - The Amiga Standard CPU/ram board/card -replaceable by third party accellerators (as it is now) Product #2 - The Amiga OS Product #3 - The Amiga Keyboard Product #4 - The Amiga Mouse Product #5 - The Amiga board block case w/basic ports (large enough for the CPU/RAM board) Product #6 - The Amiga power block w/built in fan Product #7 - The Amiga port block (parallel, serial, and a 2nd mouse port that can be switched to serial) Product #8 - The Amiga drive block w/fan and interface card options (SCSI, IDE, etc..) Product #9 - The Amiga expansion bus block (holds four cards) w/fan mount. Product #10 -The Amiga block connector kit (includes a card edge for connecting two blocks and hardware for securing blocks together) Product #11a - 11? - various sizes of Amiga block cases Product #12a - 12? - various sizes (to fit #11) of pass thru boards w/expansion slots. Third party hardware developers following/using the block concept will figure out things like feedable fax/copy blocks, card swipe blocks, camera blocks, ups/battery block, etc.. If the block concept is done right, someone will figure a way to easily add an LCD Display, with a keyboard mount, to the side and you'll suddenly have a portable Amiga. What blocks would the A4000 have? It has an expansion block (mine contains a Video Toaster, Emplant card), a power block (that I know can be put into at least half the space of the expansion block), a drive block (that I know could be put into a block the size of the expansion block), an Amiga and CPU/RAM Block (also fitable into the size of an expansion block w/room to spare), and a port block (1/4 or less of the height of the expansion block). And I can add additional Blocks as needed. As well as an LCD Display and Keyboard mount Without having to Buy another system to become portable. Fact is this would possibly be smaller than the Portable Case I saw, though it might be a little heaver. As far as a lap-top goes, someone will build it and plug an Amiga Board into it. If there is any one thing about the Amiga that attracts people, it would have to be what they can do with it. And there is no way for any owner of the Amiga technology to see what so many will do with it, before they do so. Thank for reading, Tim Rue
Email: timrue@mindspring.com
Copyright © 1988, 1994, 1996 Timothy V. Rue