5 ms·

> back in my Amiga days when Atari was "the enemy" To the best of my recollection that was the first major fanboi war in computers, also amplified by the adven

> back in my Amiga days when Atari was "the enemy" To the best of my recollection that was the first major fanboi war in computers, also amplified by the advent of pre-internet online community in the form of BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems). I fondly remember accessing GEnie[0] from my trusty Atari 1040ST (my first home computer, since it had midi builtin). However, I have to admit, the whole fanboi thing struck me as silly, since Amiga’s were graphically superior, while Atari ended up attracting midi developers and users. Not until much later did I realize, that in marketing terms, a fanboi war may very well benefit both sides. So while I still shake my head at fanboi posts, I also see why manufacturers like those wars. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEnie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEnie

ngold 7y ago
I was always surprised at how Amiga went under the radar during apples 2e and Microsoft dos days.
- vidarh 7y ago
  Commodore destroyed their dealer network in the US by mistreating them during the C64 days. The worst probably being Jack Tramiels parting shot as Commodore CEO when he cut recommended retail prices overnight without warning dealers or offering any refunds/discounts to deal with the massive drop in the value of their inventory he caused. Conversely in Europe where local Commodore subsidiaries did well in many countries, Apple was a tiny presence most places until the Mac. I pretty much lived in the local computer stores in Norway in the 80s and never saw any Apple 2 variant for example. Apple was a non-entity to me, even though I knew of obscure brands like Dragon and Enterprise 64. Commodore dominated the home computer market in Norway, with Atari, Spectrum and Amstrad following shortly after, and a variety of smaller players.. Once the Mac arrived, one store nearby had a single one on display in the corner. These things varied greatly by country.
- pjmlp 7y ago
  To add to vidarh's testimony, in Portugal Apple devices were sold by Interlog, they had two offices across the two main cities Porto and Lisbon. So no one one islands would get to see one, and on main land it required actually driving down to those shops to see them, or you would eventually see an ad on a computer magazine and eventually schedule a delivery to your place, that could take several weeks. On top of that they were very pricey versus the competition, which was already quite expensive for average Portuguese salary. So the only place you would actually see Apple live would be in some computer lab at the top universities. Regarding DTP, most companies were using Atari or Amigas for it.
TomVDB 7y ago
To the best of my recollection that was the first major fanboi war in computers, ... Definitely not the first major one! I fondly remember endless back and forth discussions between proponents of the magnificent Commodore 64 and adherents of the despicable ZX Spectrum.
- Marazan 7y ago
  So close but deeply wrong. The Spectrum was the path of goodness and light and the C64 was the route to beige coloured damnation.
  - vidarh 7y ago
    The Spectrum was surely just meant as a doorstop, just like the Oric 1
  - detritus 7y ago
    it's strange for me now, looking back and appreciating the Commodore 64 for what it was - the colours that I thought muddy and awful as a child now seem considered and more broadly useful, the capabilities of the SID chip blowing away what the Spectrum was capable of. And then there was the Amstrad - I simply can't recall its graphics being as good and as colourful as they clearly were. Blinkered fanchild shades, I guess!
    - Marazan 7y ago
      Trust your instincts as a child the C64 pallette was and remains horrible.
  - the_af 7y ago
    I disliked the Speccy back then: I owned a C64 and my friend a Sinclair (which was a Spectrum clone if I remember correctly) and back then I thought the C64 was so much better: better sound, better colors, less "artifacts" in color graphics... ... now I see the Spectrum and I have a newfound respect for it. It was technically inferior but there was a certain grace in how game devs worked around its limitations and weird color palette. And the graphics were crisper than I remembered.

ngold 7y ago

I was always surprised at how Amiga went under the radar during apples 2e and Microsoft dos days.

vidarh 7y ago
Commodore destroyed their dealer network in the US by mistreating them during the C64 days. The worst probably being Jack Tramiels parting shot as Commodore CEO when he cut recommended retail prices overnight without warning dealers or offering any refunds/discounts to deal with the massive drop in the value of their inventory he caused. Conversely in Europe where local Commodore subsidiaries did well in many countries, Apple was a tiny presence most places until the Mac. I pretty much lived in the local computer stores in Norway in the 80s and never saw any Apple 2 variant for example. Apple was a non-entity to me, even though I knew of obscure brands like Dragon and Enterprise 64. Commodore dominated the home computer market in Norway, with Atari, Spectrum and Amstrad following shortly after, and a variety of smaller players.. Once the Mac arrived, one store nearby had a single one on display in the corner. These things varied greatly by country.
pjmlp 7y ago
To add to vidarh's testimony, in Portugal Apple devices were sold by Interlog, they had two offices across the two main cities Porto and Lisbon. So no one one islands would get to see one, and on main land it required actually driving down to those shops to see them, or you would eventually see an ad on a computer magazine and eventually schedule a delivery to your place, that could take several weeks. On top of that they were very pricey versus the competition, which was already quite expensive for average Portuguese salary. So the only place you would actually see Apple live would be in some computer lab at the top universities. Regarding DTP, most companies were using Atari or Amigas for it.

TomVDB 7y ago

To the best of my recollection that was the first major fanboi war in computers, ... Definitely not the first major one! I fondly remember endless back and forth discussions between proponents of the magnificent Commodore 64 and adherents of the despicable ZX Spectrum.

Marazan 7y ago
So close but deeply wrong. The Spectrum was the path of goodness and light and the C64 was the route to beige coloured damnation.
- vidarh 7y ago
  The Spectrum was surely just meant as a doorstop, just like the Oric 1
- detritus 7y ago
  it's strange for me now, looking back and appreciating the Commodore 64 for what it was - the colours that I thought muddy and awful as a child now seem considered and more broadly useful, the capabilities of the SID chip blowing away what the Spectrum was capable of. And then there was the Amstrad - I simply can't recall its graphics being as good and as colourful as they clearly were. Blinkered fanchild shades, I guess!
  - Marazan 7y ago
    Trust your instincts as a child the C64 pallette was and remains horrible.
- the_af 7y ago
  I disliked the Speccy back then: I owned a C64 and my friend a Sinclair (which was a Spectrum clone if I remember correctly) and back then I thought the C64 was so much better: better sound, better colors, less "artifacts" in color graphics... ... now I see the Spectrum and I have a newfound respect for it. It was technically inferior but there was a certain grace in how game devs worked around its limitations and weird color palette. And the graphics were crisper than I remembered.