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%% The Power of Positive Thinking!                    by Dennis Julien %% 
%%                              Dennis.Julien@f303.n249.z1.fidonet.org %%
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Remember the days of old  when  you  could log  on to most  any  bulletin
board system and engage in a hands down, one on twenty battle  with MSDOS
users and emerge victorious?  I do.  There  was  nothing more  satisfying
that pounding away at the keyboard, on a mission to educate; a calling to
elevate the Amiga to the level of admiration it deserved,  and  a  worthy
system it was!   I remember the resulting awe once  information  such  as
'4096 colors' and 'multitasking' had been divulged.   EGA, and  even  VGA
seemed pale in  comparison.   4-channel stereo sound,  a  graphical  user
interface, and a special chipset for processing duties were all qualities
that could be proclaimed endlessly...

    Of course, that was several years ago.   A  new leaf has been turned.
The Amiga, once known as a  'games machine'  is now  a  video  production
machine.   The IBM,  once known as a stiff,  business-executive  tool  of
slavery, is  now  a  platform  yeilding some of the best games, graphics,
and sound tools around.  Slowly but surely,  the  archaic  Intel  systems
of days gone by have evolved into a very powerful and formidable opponent
for the beloved Amiga.

    "Bah!  Untrue...", some of the remaining Amiga die-hards can be heard
shouting.  I am one of them.  Unfortunately,  the  reality begins to sink
in.  Of course, despite the leaps and  bounds  the  Intel-based  machines
have achieved, I still prefer my old Amiga 500.  However, I have  had  to
reorganize my relentless attack of the IBM...   Doom?   Who cares.   I've
got MegaBallAGA,  so take that!   Such comments are familiar to the loyal
Amiga owners unwilling to let go.   Commodore isn't in financial trouble!
They've been selling CD32 units at over 20,000 per month in Europe!   The
fact is  that  Commodore does appear  to  be  facing  some  very  serious
troubles, and because of it I've had to fight  off  more  arguments  than
Howard Stern will likely have to face to become governor.  Here is a good
template for all those still insistent on arguing the cause of the Amiga:

1) Price:  Mention price at every turn.   Around here, the A1200 is  $499
           without tax.  Neglect to mention that  this doesn't  come with
           a monitor or HD.  Tell them 2 megs of CHIP  RAM  is  equal  to
           at least 4 on the IBM.  They'll never know!

2) Professional Use:  Always include  things  like,  "Hey,  it  was  good
                      enough  for  Wayne's  World!"  in   the   argument.
                      Quickly  change  the subject  if it  comes up  that
                      IBM systems are used everywhere, for everything.

3) WorkBench:  WorkBench is still the best operating system around.   Use
               tidbits like the funtions available  using  icons,  screen
               flipping, commodities, etc.   Utilitize the  senselessness
               of Windows in your attempts to assimilate.

4) Compatibility:  Emulation is a key factor.  Mention  that both IBM and
                   Macintosh disks can be read  by  the  Amiga.   Mention
                   that both systems can be  emulated.   Mention  nothing
                   about price or glitches with emulation.

5) Lie:  Finally, lying is of the utmost  importance.   "I can run  15-20
         programs in the background, download  a  file, print  a  report,
         copying files from harddrive to disk,  and  play  a sound module
         without *any* slowdown..."  (Demonstrate only a module and maybe
         a directory listing on a 68000 for best results...)

    Inevitably the next little while will be a new beginning or beginning
of the end for Commodore.   It  would  be a  terrible shame to see such a
great computer fall to a tragic end, and more notably, it would be tragic
for  me  to  have  to spend my days using MSDOS.  You can do your part by
plugging the Amiga  here  and  there.   I  read somewhere about calling a
number for Electronics Boutique to annoy  them  into  carrying  the CD32.
Ironically enough, I went into newly opened store  in  my  hometown,  and
there was no Amiga software to be found.  Asking if there would be any in
the future, I was met with a "Probably.   About  20  people  have been in
during the last few days asking for it and the CD32."  Really?

    With this article coming to a close, you may still be wondering where
the point to all of it is.  To tell you the  truth,  I'm  not  sure.   "A
Clockwork Orange" is playing in the background,  and  I'm bored.  I think
the moral however, is this:  While Commodore may  be  buckling, the Amiga
community is still willing to support their computer.   It  is  important
that the Amiga continues to thrive with the help of hardware and software
developers, along with the help of a quite-large userbase...

"Ticking [typing] away, the moments that make up the dull day [on the
 Amiga...]"