The Commodore Amiga
    -------------------

    The first time I saw the Commodore  Amiga  was  at  the  1984  Personal
    Computer  World  show.   The machine was not officially launched in the
    UK, but Metacomco, the developers of the Amiga's operating system  were
    were  demonstrating  the machine to OEM's.  Compulink had a small stand
    with the ACC at the show  and  my  exhibitors  pass  got  me  into  the
    darkened room where stood the Amiga.

    I  had  heard  rumours about 'amazing graphics' and 'incredible sound',
    but unlike most rumourous machines, the Amiga was even more  impressive
    than  I  imagined  it  to  be.  There was a thronging crowd outside the
    Metacomco booth so the demo was short but sweet.  The  Amiga  'boot-up'
    procedure  was  a  little slow as the 'ROM' came on a 'Kickstart' disk.
    Once the machine was booted the 'Workbench' is loaded into  memory  and
    the  Amiga  was  ready  for  action.   Windows and icons flashed on the
    screen and a dull thud like a medicine ball falling  to  the  gymnasiun
    floor  came from the left hand Bose PA speaker.  The demonstrator swept
    the mouse off the end of  the  table  with  a  flourish  and  announced
    "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  the  Amiga".  As the blue workbench
    screen slid from view a red and white checkered three dimensional globe
    gyrated  into view and then proceeded to bounce 'off' the corner of the
    screen with another resounding thud.  Speechless we were.

    I still get the same sort of reaction when I  demonstrate  the  amazing
    Amiga  today  but two years ago it was truly astonishing.  As with most
    juvenile computers the software still has a lot of catching up to do to
    make  full  use  of  the hardware.  But the Amiga is definitely getting
    there.  We are now seeing the first TRUE arcade  quality  video  games.
    The  Amiga  version  of 'Marble Madness' is absolutely identical to the
    arcade version - a truly remarkable feat

    I don't think the Amiga will carve itself a niche in the business micro
    market - No - the Amiga will create it's own market.  I suppose it will
    find a home in the office of a few graphic designers, and maybe  a  few
    animation  studios.   But  it  will  be bought mostly by people with an
    artistic bent and well heeled video game players.

    Why then are we supporting the Amiga?  Good question!  Well, the  Amiga
    is  for  me a refreshing change from the very staid type of software we
    generally deal with, and it's fun.  With our expanding user base and an
    expanding workforce to cope with it we feel there is room for the Amiga
    alongside its somewhat  philistine  brother  the  IBM-PC  in  all  it's
    various guises.

    It's  going to take some time for us to be able to offer the same level
    of support to Amiga owners that we can offer PC owners,  but  we'll  do
    our  best.   We will be publishing an Amiga newsletter - similar to the
    UpDate sheets for the IBM.  And our  software  library  for  the  Amiga
    already contains thirty disks of prime Amiga public domain software.

    If  you already have an Amiga, or if you are thinking of buying one and
    would like to subscribe to our Amiga service, please fill in the  Amiga
    Subscription form enclosed.