5 ms·

The Amiga video system had genlock capabilities so it could lock onto an external master clock to keep it in sync with other equipment in an editing suite. This

The Amiga video system had genlock capabilities so it could lock onto an external master clock to keep it in sync with other equipment in an editing suite. This was fairly unusal for consumer equipment. I believe this was originally intended to sync with a laserdisc player if the chipset was used in an arcade machine, but it came in useful giving the Amiga a niche in the lower end of broadcast video as well. Video Toaster did get ported to Windows when the Amiga died, and NewTek are still around doing various broadcasting related stuff. I guess it's just less prominent when it's just another company doing pro video stuff behind the scenes rather than a company Amiga fans can point to and brag about as one of their few "wins".

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
> ... one of their few "wins". That's fighting talk round my way. Yes, the Amiga ended up declining, but it was ahead of its time with a multi-tasking OS, advanced sound capabilities and great graphics for its time (4096 colours!).
- pjc50 3y ago
  The Amiga is a classic example of "technological tour de force, commercial failure". Did it ever sell well in the US?
  - ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
    Well, I'm in the UK where it was moderately popular, but according to Wikipedia it sold less than a million units in the US as it was sold in toy stores and seen as a toy compared with PCs which were more expensive.
    - vidarh 3y ago
      The irony is that Commodore in the US pushed it a lot harder as a business / graphics workstation, but they'd ruined their dealer network a few years before and never really managed to build it up again, so they struggled to get it into professional dealers, while they failed to market well to the gamer market. Meanwhile, Commodore UK achieved most of their success by making games bundles that the US was very reluctant to try to push. E.g. the Commodore UK "Batman pack" in '89 was near legendary [1][2] in its ability to drive Amiga sales. Commodore UK did well enough that they tried to assemble a consortium to buy Commodore International when their parent company went bankrupt... [1] https://www.generationamiga.com/2021/05/09/how-batman-changed-everything-for-commodore-amiga-computers/ https://www.generationamiga.com/2021/05/09/how-batman-change... [2] https://www.pczone.co.uk/back-to-the-amiga-500-batman-pack-30-years-later/ https://www.pczone.co.uk/back-to-the-amiga-500-batman-pack-3...
  - vidarh 3y ago
    Commodore torched its US dealer network during the C64 days by both not informing them about a drastic price cut (because it was by all by all means an impulsive rapid choice by Tramiel), and focusing on low-end retailers like Kmart, and so when the Amiga came and the Commodore US tried to push it as a business machine that needed a dealer network they were screwed. Some of the reasons Commodore kept doing so much better in Europe (to the point that Commodore UK management attempted to get financing for a buyout of their parent after the bankruptcy) was a mix of allowing the regional companies a lot of latitude to do their own thing (UK and Scandinavia was very games focused, Germany pushed more business sales) in smaller markets, not screwing their dealers over in Europe, and many of the European subsidiaries going full in on games more so than the higher end machines. As a long time Amiga user (and Commodore 64 before that) it was really sad to see the fall, but Commodore was so deeply dysfunctional that it was just a question of when not if they'd eventually fail irrespective of whatever technology might fall in their laps.
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    It was quite strong over here, besides the PC, it was the Atari and Amiga that ruled the 16 bit days, in many European countries there were hardly anyone selling Apple devices, and Acorn were mostly an UK thing.
    - JKCalhoun 3y ago
      I met a lot of European-born engineers at Apple that grew up with the Atari ST, ha ha.
    - vidarh 3y ago
      Growing up in Norway saw a grand total of one Apple machine in the 1980's and until maybe '93 or '94 or so: A lonely Mac sitting ignored in the corner of my local computer store. They must have sold a few, but a whole wall was taken up by Commodore/Amiga machines, Atari ST's, and Spectrum. An Amstrad was located next to the Mac, and that got far more attention, but that too was rare. I first saw more Mac's when briefly dealing with marketing/desktop publishing companies when I started working in the mid '90's, but only sporadically until the iMac.
      - esafak 3y ago
        Same in Holland.
- deltarholamda 3y ago
  Interestingly, the first time I got platformed shamed was by an Amiga kid. He found out I had a 286 at home and told me to "get a real computer, get an Amiga."

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago

> ... one of their few "wins". That's fighting talk round my way. Yes, the Amiga ended up declining, but it was ahead of its time with a multi-tasking OS, advanced sound capabilities and great graphics for its time (4096 colours!).

pjc50 3y ago
The Amiga is a classic example of "technological tour de force, commercial failure". Did it ever sell well in the US?
- ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
  Well, I'm in the UK where it was moderately popular, but according to Wikipedia it sold less than a million units in the US as it was sold in toy stores and seen as a toy compared with PCs which were more expensive.
  - vidarh 3y ago
    The irony is that Commodore in the US pushed it a lot harder as a business / graphics workstation, but they'd ruined their dealer network a few years before and never really managed to build it up again, so they struggled to get it into professional dealers, while they failed to market well to the gamer market. Meanwhile, Commodore UK achieved most of their success by making games bundles that the US was very reluctant to try to push. E.g. the Commodore UK "Batman pack" in '89 was near legendary [1][2] in its ability to drive Amiga sales. Commodore UK did well enough that they tried to assemble a consortium to buy Commodore International when their parent company went bankrupt... [1] https://www.generationamiga.com/2021/05/09/how-batman-changed-everything-for-commodore-amiga-computers/ https://www.generationamiga.com/2021/05/09/how-batman-change... [2] https://www.pczone.co.uk/back-to-the-amiga-500-batman-pack-30-years-later/ https://www.pczone.co.uk/back-to-the-amiga-500-batman-pack-3...
- vidarh 3y ago
  Commodore torched its US dealer network during the C64 days by both not informing them about a drastic price cut (because it was by all by all means an impulsive rapid choice by Tramiel), and focusing on low-end retailers like Kmart, and so when the Amiga came and the Commodore US tried to push it as a business machine that needed a dealer network they were screwed. Some of the reasons Commodore kept doing so much better in Europe (to the point that Commodore UK management attempted to get financing for a buyout of their parent after the bankruptcy) was a mix of allowing the regional companies a lot of latitude to do their own thing (UK and Scandinavia was very games focused, Germany pushed more business sales) in smaller markets, not screwing their dealers over in Europe, and many of the European subsidiaries going full in on games more so than the higher end machines. As a long time Amiga user (and Commodore 64 before that) it was really sad to see the fall, but Commodore was so deeply dysfunctional that it was just a question of when not if they'd eventually fail irrespective of whatever technology might fall in their laps.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  It was quite strong over here, besides the PC, it was the Atari and Amiga that ruled the 16 bit days, in many European countries there were hardly anyone selling Apple devices, and Acorn were mostly an UK thing.
  - JKCalhoun 3y ago
    I met a lot of European-born engineers at Apple that grew up with the Atari ST, ha ha.
  - vidarh 3y ago
    Growing up in Norway saw a grand total of one Apple machine in the 1980's and until maybe '93 or '94 or so: A lonely Mac sitting ignored in the corner of my local computer store. They must have sold a few, but a whole wall was taken up by Commodore/Amiga machines, Atari ST's, and Spectrum. An Amstrad was located next to the Mac, and that got far more attention, but that too was rare. I first saw more Mac's when briefly dealing with marketing/desktop publishing companies when I started working in the mid '90's, but only sporadically until the iMac.
    - esafak 3y ago
      Same in Holland.
deltarholamda 3y ago
Interestingly, the first time I got platformed shamed was by an Amiga kid. He found out I had a 286 at home and told me to "get a real computer, get an Amiga."