7 Jun
1998
7 Jun
'98
3:47 p.m.
Date sent: Sun, 07 Jun 1998 13:46:25 -0400
Send reply to: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
From: Ward Donald Griffiths III <gram(a)cnct.com>
To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers"
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Early Mac Clones
Zane H. Healy wrote:
IIRC, NewTek (makers of the Video Toaster) decided that since they were
having some trouble getting the Toaster accepted in the mainstream because
most people thought the Amiga was only a toy, they created an interface card
for a Mac that would allow the Mac user to run the Toaster-equipped A2000
(private-labeled for NewTek) from his Mac, thereby making it 'legit'.
I had to laugh at the thought of paying a grand or more just to see the Amiga
Workbench come up on a Mac screen instead of the "toy" Amiga screen. Of
course, this 'toy' made multimedia possible before Uncle Bill said it was ok to
use it.....too many people forget that. Not you guys, though. (I hope.)
One of my other favorite Amiga stories was something I swear I read in
AmigaWorld or Byte -- right after the A1000 came out, Gates had a press
conference to talk about Windows. Some reporter asked him about
multitasking, and Gates replied that multitasking really wasn't possible in
anything under 8 megs of ram. To which the same reporter replied, "But doesn't
your own Amiga Basic multitask nicely on a 512k Amiga?"
A question which Gates promptly ignored and moved on.........
Paul Braun
NerdWare -- The History of the PC and the Nerds who brought it to you.
nerdware(a)laidbak.com
www.laidbak.com/nerdware
I think that's the same book I've got a
copy of around here. Interesting
reading, but I've basically never seen any of that stuff anywhere. Though
I found it really interesting, has anyone ever seen a Mac Plus or simular
system recased into a PC case? It would be a fun project, but I've got to
many other projects :^)
The closest I've got to a Mac clone (I'm writting this on a PowerMac
8500/180) is a Amiga 3000 with emulation software. The Amiga is actually
about as fast as the real thing.
I had a coworker in the late 80s who had his Mac and his Amiga 2000
recased and rack-mounted, sharing a rack with a lot of _serious_
video editing gear.
--