Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

3
something aifferent than the similarly priced
super consoles it will be up against this
Christmas. But Thurston is aware that more will
be expected from the Scala-Amiga Technologies
collaboration if the Amiga is to become a really
profitable multimedia contender.
Encouragingly, despite their move into the PC
market, Scala believe the Amiga can still lead the
way to a future of computer television. Thurston
explains: in market areas like distributing information
onto TVs, which is what were about. the
Amiga will still be the best machine. Its PAL compatible
as standard, plug and play like they say
Windows 95 will be, and once Amiga
Technologies start producing the machines they'll
still be the most cost-effective solution in the
area."
It would be fair to wonder, however, how much
eas commitment is backed up by new Amiga
developments from Scala. which currently seem
rather thin on the ground. Thurston explains that
they've only really started pushing MM400 following
the buy-out, as they've been building EXs
which expand on the current product's functionality
- most recently they've created drivers for
the PAR card and Sunrize Studio 16.
The key to Scala's vision of the long-term
future, however, is a multimedia standard that will
thrive on all platforms, including the Amiga. Far
ahead of the faddish approach that some PC
developers have adopted, Scala have designed a
state-of-the-art, object-oriented operating system
called MMOS.
"Object-oriented programming," Thurston elaborates,
"basically means that each function in a
program is a separate object with hooks which
allow it to link with other objects within the program.
So whereas before with a Scala product
the Ui5• n
l l Don't beleue the hue
Everyone knows the Amiga was the firstborn mul-
, limedia machine. If you were to believe the hype,
by the PC's dominant brand of multimedia,
M.
Magazines have trumpeted PC interactive CD
t e if it were the dawn of a new age, with wnters
‘ 1. making huge claims along the lines of CD redefinedIng
the boundaries of entertainment. And it you
asked the developers of such software about the
r
. rAmiga,
the best you could hope for was a
patronising smile expressing sympathy
i
t eBut
while the talk has definitely helped retailers
-
w
oa
;11
u
10
The &nip ha5 been promised a new multimedia future by the
men at I51
-tufthou5e
talked tu the third parties that will lead the wag
0M,
• Ho
,
but
Y
e
,
1
t h e
1
1
0
q
r a
n '
t
Scats a infoChannel, a n Amiga multime dia cha mpion
d e
u e
r
t
h
They * a y the
Amiga in its
curre nt form
Is too slow,
but using
Shapeshitter
it ca n run
Mac's
Quick time
taster tha n a
LC
push multimedia PCs into the family home, the
actual product is often disappointing. Anyone
who's seen the average fare will know there's a lot
of cliched. bland material lurking behind arty
interfaces.
II this sounds like the bitter whine of someone
who's missed the boat, then you might be interested
to hear a few statistics. According to CTW, the
computer trade weekly, 90 per cent of the thousands
of multimedia CDs that went on sale in the
US last year sold less than 100 copies, Now that
speaks volumes.
Even makers of acclaimed CD titles are finding
it surprisingly difficult to survive, with Medio
Multimedia, the makers of the almost benchmark
CD called JFK Assassination, recently having to
announce it was laying off 40 of its 75 employees.
Amiga Computing
OCTOBER 1995
FEATURE
the main menu would be a whole series of things
stuck together, now virtually every item is a separate
object. It makes it a lot more flexible, pliable
and easier to add to,"
In lact, MMOS is so flexible it can grow to meet
new requirements with the minimum amount of
difficulty. Thurston gives the example of a Customer
that wishes to incorporate Scala into an
editing suite: previously Scala would have written
an EX for it. but now the customer could be given
a development pack to create one themselves.
The good news is that though MMOS was
developed for the PC, it adapts to the AmigaDOS
environment much more readily. According to
Thurston. the developers one day decided to port
it back to AmigaDOS and were amazed by how
quickly they did it. "If we talk in terms of man
years to get it onto PC. it took a day to put it back
Tho future of inte ra ctive
television is Amiga
based - or a t le a st it will
be it Don Gilbre a th ge ts
his wa y
This is ED, a Viscorp
sot top curre ntly
doing we ll in tria ls in
Ame rica n home s.
Gilbreath be lie ve s
its Amiga -ba se d
succe ssor will be
even bottor
With so many of the CD companies being small
start-up businesses, some commentators believe
that many will be hard pushed to survive.
Which all seems to suggest that a certain
amount of the CD multimedia is not really impressing
the public. Dressing encyclopaedias and cookery
books up in hi-tech clothing does not necessarily
make them into a new and exciting medium.
It's clearly foolish and immature to be overly
partisan on this issue. The fact remains that many
Amiga owners would jump at the chance of getting
products like Microsoft's Encarta. and both hardware
and software developers should be striving
to match the PC's talents in this field. But it is
equally important that we build on the Amiga'S
unique strengths, rather than ,
jumping bandwagon heading o for n fool's •
a
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