Reader Mail

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                               Reader Mail
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Date: 15 Jun 96 12:16:11 +1000
From: mingleby@netspace.net.au (Michael Ingleby)
Subject: The winning edge???

Hi Jason,

After reading the excellent articles by Kermit Woodall, Sergei Nester and
Wolf Deitrich in AR4.08, I sat and pondered what the future holds for the
Amiga...

If things eventually come together the way they seem to be, then the future
may be a bit brighter than many have realised.

Faster CPUs, better graphics and 16 bit sound will finally bring the Amiga
to a position where it can proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with today's
hordes of wintel machines.

As I sat and wondered, a thought entered my mind: "What will give the Amiga
an extra 'edge' against the pee-cees?"...  All pee-cees have good graphics,
good sound, large hard drives, plenty of memory, serial, parallel, joystick
ports...  The Amiga has all of those (plus a superior OS), but what would
give it an edge?

Then I thought back to the Atari ST...  A nice machine, but no match for
the Amiga...  But why did it last for so long without the great graphics
and sound offered by the Amiga systems?  The answer is simple: MIDI...  I
was the only low-cost machine (not counting the CDTV!) to come standard
with MIDI IN and OUT ports...  Not a single pee-cee came stanard with MIDI
then, and the situation remains the same to this day...

With this in mind, it seems to me that any future Amiga systems (I'm
tending towards Phase-5's philosophy at this point) should come standard
with MIDI ports.  This would give it an advantage over any other systems I
can think of.  I know many people who would jump at the chance to by an
Amiga-like machine with built-in MIDI.

With the emphasis on Multimedia and Video Production, MIDI would complement
the capabilities of the new Amigas in these fields.  Look at how the Macs
have taken over in the field of audio/MIDI production.  Any future Amiga
would have the power to trounce the Apple machines in this area.  With
software such as 'SoundStudio', 16 bit audio and MIDI, the Power Amigas
would soon gain wide acceptance as the ultimate low-cost music-computer.

I'm not sure if the inclusion of MIDI has been considered, but I believe
that at this early stage of development, ALL new machines should be
designed with MIDI ports as standard.  The cost of the two 5 pin DIN
sockets and the associated controlling hardware IS negligible, compared to
the extra sales that would result form it's inclusion.

Since you're the 'collator of ideas' at VIScorp, I thought I'd send these
thoughts to you first.  I hope you can pass them on to someone who will
take note and not just pass them off as, "Not worth it".  Because it
certainly IS worth it...  Believe me, this is a great opportunity to give
the Amiga that extra 'somthing' that's missing from every pee-cee!

Thanks for your time (as always!)

And keep up the great work at VIScorp/Amiga Report!

Mike

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Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 10:12:47 -0700
From: Nigel Milnes <nigelm@cin.gov.au>
Subject: A Letter to the Editor! Hi Jason!!!

Hi!  Recently I was in need to upgrade my old Amiga 500 and I could only
think of one thing--the Processor!  So I set out to find a better and
faster upgrade, and along the way I found out about the Motorola 68010 and
how easy it was to fit in, so I decided to get one.  After a most hardy
search for this rare chip I came to the conclusion that there was only one
place to get it, and so I rang the Australian distributors for Motorola
(VSI).

After a good chat with the StoreMan I discovered that they could not find a
68010 anywhere either!  Then low and behold they blurted out that there was
a MC68000 P12 (P12 = 12 Mhz).  Well being a curious man as i am I ordered
the minimum amount allowed of 5 at AU $14.  When I recieved them in the
post I instantly put one in the old 68000 P8 socket and low and behold my
computer ran faster!  Then I loaded up Sys Info and found No difference.
The computer didnt realise that this chip was faster by 4 Mhz. Then I
decided to use my beloved program Image FX and it ran faster as well!  Then
a friend told me that Motorola made some processors with MMU capacity
(Memory Management Unit).  Wow!  What if this litle beauty had virtual
memory!  So i checked Image FX again and turned on its virtual memory prog.
It worked and now i can get more out of this now old Dinosaur. 

My conclusion is that if you have a bog 1000,500,2000 with the old 68000
P8, change it Now.  This new one is better in Speed and the new option of
Virtual memory with No compatabitlity problems!  Trust me it's good, and
for a quarter of the price of a game who can resist!

Yours Faithfully 

Nigel M
Australia, Tasmaina

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