4 ms·

‘Amiga PCs’ is an oxymoron.

by drsopp 8y ago

unicornporn 8y ago
Are you saying the Amigas weren't personal computers?
- detaro 8y ago
  "PC" was a very clear label for "(mostly) IBM PC compatible" systems. They're all various forms of personal computers, but not meant when people say "PC".
- ekianjo 8y ago
  You are missing the context completely. At the time (late 80s, early 90s) Amigas were one of the main alternative against "PCs", so nobody would have said "Amiga PC". Just like you dont say "Mac PC".
  - orionblastar 8y ago
    Amiga had the IBM PC Bridgecard to run DOS and Windows on it. (I think it even ran OS/2 and others). The only PC that Commodore made was the Colt series. It was a PC compatible that Commodore botched in marketing by saying "It is not a PC Clone, it is a Commodore!" of course it was a PC Clone that is what people wanted.
    - mattl 8y ago
      After the ESCOM buyout they produced a bunch of PCs for the UK market (maybe others) branded as Commodore. Edit: Mine came with dual boot OS/2 Warp and Windows 95.
      - orionblastar 8y ago
        I don't live in the UK so I didn't know about the PC clones by Commodore in the UK. I was talking about Commodore before they got bought out by Escom ect. I almost bought a PC Colt but got a generic 386DX PC a friend of mine sold me used that was cheaper.
    - hestefisk 8y ago
      That is untrue. They had the Commodore PC-10 and -20 series, at least in Europe. I still remember the start up beep of my PC-20 —— it sported a 8088 Intel cpu at 4.75MHz.
  - unicornporn 8y ago
    I owned an A500 and it's true I never called it a PC. However, the context appeared to me being a Hacker News thread — a place where I would not expect anybody to deny the Amigas were personal computers. I have no problem calling Macs personal computers — because they are. The whole Mac vs. PC debacle was a misnomer if anything.
ddingus 8y ago
Preps popcorn bowl... :D From Wiki: The Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original ... The best selling model, the Amiga 500, was introduced in 1987 and became one of the leading home computers of the ... I am not invested in any of this. Always enjoy these types of discussions. They show a little about our roots.
PeCaN 8y ago
It's really a testament to the success of the IBM PC that people now attach the "PC" label to any non-Apple home computer.
- 8bitsrule 8y ago
  The other way around: the term 'Personal Computer' existed years before the IBM, and they were running scared down in Boca Raton, so they tried to co-opt the term. Chaplin or not, many of us wanted nothing to do with Big Blue and its 27 feet of manuals. Its 'success', like that of MS, is down to religion.
Annatar 8y ago
No it isn't; Amiga is a personal computer, very much so. We didn't call the Amiga a PC back in the day because of IBM PC XT and PC AT computers, but nowadays when people don't even know anything other than a Windows and a MacOS based computer, it's a different story. Now it can be said that it's a personal computer, because that's what it is, just with an architecture superior to IBM PC clones.
- kilon 8y ago
  Home computers were never personal in any interpretation of the word. They were mostly shared among family members which is why unlike PCs were made to play both games and run software. Calling a home computer a PC is showing a fundamental lack of understanding not only what PC is and was but more importantly what home computer was and why its named home computer and not pc or game computer or whatever.
  - Annatar 8y ago
    I would say the other way around, disputing what I wrote shows a fundamental lack of understanding the time period in which these personal computers came: it was a personal computer at home which the average person could finally afford. A computer that did not cost one million dollars but could run the same types of computations. In that sense, home computers of the day were personal computers, and they were designed to be generic enough to also be able to generate audio, perform desktop publishing and play games as well. The big machines like the General Electric and the PDP-1 and later on PDP-9 and PDP-11 were the breeding ground for the nascent game industry, since the very first games were programmed on them, so in that sense, playing on one's home computer doesn't make it any less of a personal computer. Personal computing is a usage paradigm, and we sure used our home computers for personal computing. And usually only one person used the machine back in the day. Multiple people using the same system didn't come around until the advent of the average Joe going onto the InterNet.

‘Amiga PCs’ is an oxymoron.

by drsopp 8y ago

‘Amiga PCs’ is an oxymoron.

unicornporn 8y ago

Are you saying the Amigas weren't personal computers?

detaro 8y ago
"PC" was a very clear label for "(mostly) IBM PC compatible" systems. They're all various forms of personal computers, but not meant when people say "PC".
ekianjo 8y ago
You are missing the context completely. At the time (late 80s, early 90s) Amigas were one of the main alternative against "PCs", so nobody would have said "Amiga PC". Just like you dont say "Mac PC".
- orionblastar 8y ago
  Amiga had the IBM PC Bridgecard to run DOS and Windows on it. (I think it even ran OS/2 and others). The only PC that Commodore made was the Colt series. It was a PC compatible that Commodore botched in marketing by saying "It is not a PC Clone, it is a Commodore!" of course it was a PC Clone that is what people wanted.
  - mattl 8y ago
    After the ESCOM buyout they produced a bunch of PCs for the UK market (maybe others) branded as Commodore. Edit: Mine came with dual boot OS/2 Warp and Windows 95.
    - orionblastar 8y ago
      I don't live in the UK so I didn't know about the PC clones by Commodore in the UK. I was talking about Commodore before they got bought out by Escom ect. I almost bought a PC Colt but got a generic 386DX PC a friend of mine sold me used that was cheaper.
  - hestefisk 8y ago
    That is untrue. They had the Commodore PC-10 and -20 series, at least in Europe. I still remember the start up beep of my PC-20 —— it sported a 8088 Intel cpu at 4.75MHz.
- unicornporn 8y ago
  I owned an A500 and it's true I never called it a PC. However, the context appeared to me being a Hacker News thread — a place where I would not expect anybody to deny the Amigas were personal computers. I have no problem calling Macs personal computers — because they are. The whole Mac vs. PC debacle was a misnomer if anything.

ddingus 8y ago

Preps popcorn bowl... :D From Wiki: The Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original ... The best selling model, the Amiga 500, was introduced in 1987 and became one of the leading home computers of the ... I am not invested in any of this. Always enjoy these types of discussions. They show a little about our roots.

PeCaN 8y ago

It's really a testament to the success of the IBM PC that people now attach the "PC" label to any non-Apple home computer.

8bitsrule 8y ago
The other way around: the term 'Personal Computer' existed years before the IBM, and they were running scared down in Boca Raton, so they tried to co-opt the term. Chaplin or not, many of us wanted nothing to do with Big Blue and its 27 feet of manuals. Its 'success', like that of MS, is down to religion.

Annatar 8y ago

No it isn't; Amiga is a personal computer, very much so. We didn't call the Amiga a PC back in the day because of IBM PC XT and PC AT computers, but nowadays when people don't even know anything other than a Windows and a MacOS based computer, it's a different story. Now it can be said that it's a personal computer, because that's what it is, just with an architecture superior to IBM PC clones.

kilon 8y ago
Home computers were never personal in any interpretation of the word. They were mostly shared among family members which is why unlike PCs were made to play both games and run software. Calling a home computer a PC is showing a fundamental lack of understanding not only what PC is and was but more importantly what home computer was and why its named home computer and not pc or game computer or whatever.
- Annatar 8y ago
  I would say the other way around, disputing what I wrote shows a fundamental lack of understanding the time period in which these personal computers came: it was a personal computer at home which the average person could finally afford. A computer that did not cost one million dollars but could run the same types of computations. In that sense, home computers of the day were personal computers, and they were designed to be generic enough to also be able to generate audio, perform desktop publishing and play games as well. The big machines like the General Electric and the PDP-1 and later on PDP-9 and PDP-11 were the breeding ground for the nascent game industry, since the very first games were programmed on them, so in that sense, playing on one's home computer doesn't make it any less of a personal computer. Personal computing is a usage paradigm, and we sure used our home computers for personal computing. And usually only one person used the machine back in the day. Multiple people using the same system didn't come around until the advent of the average Joe going onto the InterNet.