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[News] Built With Amiga campaign to closeANN.lu
Posted on 10-Apr-2001 20:49 GMT by Christian Kemp24 comments
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Keith Blakemore-Noble wrote: The Built With Amiga site is closing down in the next few days/weeks for a variety of reasons, but the final straw was the recent Amiga "announcement" fiasco. Yes, I'm afraid so - after nearly 4 years, I'm closing this site down in the next few days.

Primary reason is financial - domain name fees and site hosting fees are up for renewal right now, and to be perfectly honest, I can't justify paying out for them any more.

I decided to wait until the St Louis "announcement" and see what that brought - sadly, from what I can see, it brought nothing good for existing Amigans; the various direction changes, u-turns and confusion seems to be nothing but a stab in the back for those of us who have stood by Amiga during the long dark period - indeed, to my mind, the significant changes in direction seem indicative (to me at least) that AInc are loosing their way.

So, I'm afraid that I can't really justify spending my money and time on BWA any longer, so once the current registration expires, the site will be gone (unless someone wants to take it all over - I'm off on holiday for a week so don't get annoyed if you don't get a reply immediately if you do email me). Thanks to everyone for their support over the past 4 years - it's been fun and hopefully we'll meet again.

Naturally, I wish Amiga Inc every success in their plans, and I shall be keeping a close eye on what happens - I'd love to be proved wrong!

(And before anyone starts flaming, remember this was all done at my expense in my own spare time - you are more than welcome to take over!)

Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 1 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Keith Blakemore-Noble on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Ooops, that didn't quite work!
The URL didn't come out (<a href="http://www.builtwithamiga.org">www.BuiltWithAmiga.org</a>) and the paragraph formatting disappeared - it all looked OK in the preview, honest!
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 2 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by redrumloa on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Seems like every time there is a major show with big announcement, people leave. The worst has to be the Linux kernal announcement by Gatesway. I personally think the truth is every show people are hoping for the magic announcement that the NG Amiga is shipping.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 3 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by KSK on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
This all is so ridiculous.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 4 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Troels ersking on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Well...after I have had some time to think about it, I think the announcements are great. I had almost getting used to the thought of dropping the old AmigaOS in favor of the new AmigaDE, but im' very pleased to see AmigaOS moving forward.
I believe what really pisses some people off is that they can't run AmigaDE native on X86 hardware, but thats just my thought.
Why do you describe it as a fiasco, Keith??? (most people I have talked to like ed the news!)
Regards
Troels Ersking
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 5 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Kent Seaton on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
While I find it sad that Keith is going to take down the BWA site, I find the monetary reasons are perfectly legit. When it comes to the statement "sadly, from what I can see, it brought nothing good for existing Amigans" I just have to say speak for yourself Keith and leave me out of it, Amigan or not. Also, if the site is indeed going to go down, I will be happy to host it on a private low bandwidth server and carry on the BWA stature. I'm not sure if I will be able to purchase the domain name though, kind of short on cash flow right now.
"If this man should fall, who shall have the honor to carry this flag?" - Matthew Broderick, 1989 - Glory
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 6 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by AmiRaoul on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
What`s the problem with the annoucements!! Only thing A. Inc changed in their strategy is that they will not offer at the beginning a nativ version of the A.DE!! That`s the only change!! So they are investigating more time and money to ClassicOS2PPC and insert DE in that version!!
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 7 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by sutro on 09-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 6 (AmiRaoul):
What people don't understand is that it is not easy to build an fully featured OS - at least not in a few months with a limited budget, developers and resources. A native elate-based OS could come but currently it seems that it will be a evolutionary thing not revolutionary.
Sure, everyone might have been expecting something more from AInc after 1 year, but at least they didn't call it quits (yet), did they ? As for the PPC, its a good platform with an exciting future (and don't believe the GHz ype from Intel,AMD and lame media)
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 8 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by STRICQ on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In order to see the beauty of Amiga's plan, you need to take a whole bunch of
steps backward in order to see the forest that Amiga is building. I think the
people who see nothing but bad are having trouble seeing the whole plan because
they keep looking for a single detail out of the myriad of possibilities that
Amiga is trying to create for everyone. The way I see it, Amiga has indeed
listened to the community at large, and listened well. This new plan is not
a change of direction, Amiga has not turned off the road they have been on since
Jan 1, 2000. Instead, what has happened is Amiga has built bridges to as many
of the other paths "Amiga" as was possible. The Amiga plan is no longer a single
path but several paths that eventually merge sometime in the future. Many parts
of the Amiga community felt they were being left behind. They have now been
brought on board for a great ride. Many of the loose ends left by the classic
OS, MP, VM, to name two hot spots are now dealt with. A new hardware platform,
an updated OS, all under the wing of THE Amiga. Those that don't hop on board
soon will be left still banging their heads against a single tree while the rest
of us take a ride down an ever widening path with an extensive view of a
potentially awe-inspiring forest.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 9 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Cyberwlf on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Amiga's current plan is extremely to the contrary of what he claims.
It is the BIGGEST endorsment and support for current Amiga users we have -ever- seen since the vapour OS 3.5 or whatever was announced for the Walker, sure we had 3.5, but that was released as a 'update' (albeit quiet significant one) and wasnt intended for the existing A/OS to go much further. Well now plans have changed about turn. AmigaOS will live on, and what more, it will keep all that we like and bring the OS into the 22nd century ;-). 64bit SMP hardware independant version of the OS which will ultimately be able to integrate tightly with the platform independant DE, this means the DE will be, come OS 5.0 time, a truly Amiga product, unlike it currently 'looks/feels' (imho). OS 5.0 will be a culmination of the amigaOS we know and love into a DE environment. Sure Os 4.0 (not 4.2) is not the biggest step up, but development takes time, and they want to give us something sooner than later. 4.2 will represent a true PPC AmigaOS platform, something weve been after for years. sure no x86 is a kick in the pants for those with PCs now..but this point remains, they have PCs now, so they must enjoy using the Os somewhat which resides on it, they can continue to do so, but also even at this early stage have the benefits of running DE apps which will work on OS 4.2 too and STB/PDA/etcs. Yes, DE *Apps*(or Games), so even before you get any 'operating environment' to work in you'll already be experiencing the benefits of what DE will have to offer us (compact kernal, multiplatform, etc etc).
So to say Amiga have abandoned us is tripe, theyve given us the biggest sign of endorsment and support ever. the MorphOs situation on the other hand....well thats an entirely different matter in itself, which i wont discuss here.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 10 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Keith Blakemore-Noble on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 4 (Troels ersking):
Why a "fiasco"? Simply the unprofessional way in which the information is being drip-fed to us piece by piece from multiple different sources, with most of it being in the form of "I heard they said that..." and "I think Fleecy probably meant that...".
S Louis was supposed to be a major set of announcements, clearly defining AInc's strategy.
Instead, we are still as confused as anything as to just what they AR doing - WHERE is their clearly-laid-out announcement on www.amiga.com? (Remember, Bill keeps telling us that unless we read it on their website, we shouldn't believe it...).
Sorry, but their communication and publicity and, indeed, entire handling of this is nothing short of a fiasco. Again.
Sorry.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 11 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by John Block on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 10 (Keith Blakemore-Noble):
They effectivly said:
New Amiga with PPC based OS in 4 months.
What do you want:
1) Spin Doctors and bullshitters who are clearly on message but with little really happening.
2) Techies who have trouble getting their message across but are activly and energetically working on Amiga and showing results.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 12 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by John Block on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 11 (John Block):
Costs have really gone down:
A domain can be renewed for 13.50 dollars http://www.000domains.com
and hosted for free http://www.50meg.com
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 13 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by mikeyc on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 10 (Keith Blakemore-Noble):
I renewed my amihoo.com domain name for as little as 8 pounds (uk)
Not exactly breaking the bank.
Still, I wish you luck Keith.
Regards
Mikey C
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 14 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 10 (Keith Blakemore-Noble):
Keith is right.
They are a bunch of amateurs and they have mishandled the community. They have gone
from indicating the future is one thing ( buy an AmigaOne system based on some super video chip
and you can select the CPU flavour you want - bye bye AmigaOS ) to a contrary set of objectives
( AmigaOS lives but you still cannot use your existing Motherboard or PPC investments ).
Now the first announcements made a good percentage of the community that liked AmigaOS leave
and go to Linux or Windows.
The hangers on were mostly made up of those looking for something new.
The current set of announcements would have made the original percentage happy - but
they have gone already. The current set of announcements cheered a few up, made some of the
more flexible members happy and those that have really put their heart behind something new
are just dissapointed.
They still have done nothing tangible since they took the helm since set us back two years. Tell
me what is here that could not have been achieved by say Phoenix Consortium in a much
shorter time if they had backed them.
Original announcement should have been:
1) There will be an Amiga OS 4, 5 and 6.
2) We back PPC - we partner with [x] and they will provide a new hardware programme and a transition programme
3) We are putting together a new programming layer that will increase the portability of your software. Its going to take us a few years
to put the new API together, in the meantime heres a copy of Elate to play with and a manual where we just did a search/replace Elate/Amiga on.
4) We are partnering with PDA companies to bring Amiga based content onto their devices. Note that is CONTENT these
PDAs are not going to be running AmigaOS they are just going to use Elate for a small fast JVM.
Tell me how this was impractical to do 1-2 years ago? Tell me what today is different to this scenario?
I back Eyetech on AmigaOne but I think Fleecy and Bill have made some mistakes and in some cases appear to
have let megalomania creep in over good business sense.
They are in a corner, they must KNOW they have wasted time and gone down a blind alley but
how does a CEO and CTO apologise for something like this? Would it help if they did
or would it just damage morale and make them look spineless?
So, to conclude. I agree with Keith, it has been two years of farce on top of another 5 years
of farce. We could have been in this exact same position two years ago. We could be much happier.
However, where I leave Keith is that I want to get back onto AmigaOS and if I have to buy from
Eyetech to do it then Im happy to do that.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 15 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 14 (Anonymous):
I agree that the whole thing is a farce.
Amiga Inc have chopped and changed their plans, and after nearly 2 years they have changed again and will now have to _start_ development of AmigaOS 4.0.
It seems to me that they have no long term plans at all and are just making it up as they go along. Or, perhaps they realised the extreme unpopularity of AmigaDE and saw the demand for AmigaOS.
So it either shows up their hopeless planning, or it shows up their hopeless mistreatment of the Amiga brand name and the total disregard for the Amiga users believing they'd follow a name.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 16 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Cyberwlf on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 15 (Anonymous):
Their plans have hardly been a farce. Yes, they did change certain aspects of things.
But several of you fail to see the bigger picture.
through the combination of OS 5.0/DE you will see essentially what Amiga promised before, not running on x86 desktops natively granted, but hosted, and by that stage it wont matter whats running underneath.
Amiga didnt change their plans for no reason, they changed their plans, took a different route to be more accurate, as if they went the way they expected, theyd have gone the way of Be Inc/BeOS, down the drain.
Drivers take time, and god only knows how many there r in the pc world, and whose to say we could even get support for these thing, and often support requires huge financial inputs, who will provide that huge cash injection?
they are developing what id say is a far more REALISTIC system, which they can give to the community releases of earlier than they otherwise wouldve been able to if they had to do full native DE/write all the drivers/etc. And come Os 5.0 time, the DE will ultimately be in content/etc what they promised us.
Infact there was talk of doing x86 DE laptop systems running it natively.
With their system they can ultimately exist on any other platform without having the platform even 'grant support for it', and use strategic alliances, to officiailly combine the Amiga solutions with other peoples products.
theres many benefits of what they are doing. Just because a bunch of PC users cant run DE natively for now, they are having a big whinge, yet forgetting that theyll still be able to run DE apps on their probably already pre-existing linux/win box's.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 17 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Alex Klauke on 10-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Funny this is.
And I thought AmigaInc. did it very much 'the Amigan way'.., hmm.
Define your target, that rather seems impossible to reach (platform independent
environment for the content universe).
Try to break walls and to swim the ocean against the stream. (release a SDK and
and try to get developers for that).
When realizing you cannot reach your target this way in time, get back a
little and get yourself a boat to be there even faster. (AmigaOS the boat that is).
It is about actively looking for alternatives if you realize your facing a dead end
choosing a different way, but at no time giving up.
(That's what _I_ call Amiganship, I cannot blame AmigaInc for _that_ ;-).
Unlike other OS'ses users who steadily _wait for updates_ to fix the worst bugs,
but not trying to use (not even knowing of) alternative software.
So on Windows, even Mac, companies are doing Updates (IE6, Word10, erh XP, same
of other companies) to even the worst software :(
On Amiga different companies/developers were trying to do better apps for a
similar task even when there was only one feature missing not willing to wait
for an update (at the glorious times it seemed like this :).
(Don't refresh PowerUp/WarpOS, please..)
This pays out when the market is strong, but when the market is small a single
of those apps for one task does not sell well even if there is a (relativly)
high demand.
Anyway, hope to get Keith back onto our ship soon, we need critical minds
(to pull me back to the ground standing..).
Be well til then.
Ciao, Alex
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 18 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 11-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 16 (Cyberwlf):
I do see the big picture which is why I think they have made a mess of things. Read my reply to Keiths post again.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 19 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by leki on 11-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 12 (John Block):
even cheaper domains at only $11 at http://onestop.net
also there hosting is very cheap compared to everywhere else i have seen
anyone know better?
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 20 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Christophe Decanini on 11-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Amiga had a poor communication: they should have updated their web site around april 1.
Now people got pieces of news for 10 days. We really need the official announcement. Remember: "If it is not on amiga.com it is not true".
Some people here are complaining about Amiga Inc doing strategic changes.
I expect every company doing such changes. For Amiga I see it more like expand opportunities than doing U turn like some people said.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 21 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by mountain_myst on 12-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
Bye.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 22 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Amigan Software on 13-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
I must disagree with Keith. The announcement was a positive one, the only bad thing was that I want OS4.x for M68K, and it doesn't sound like they're doing that <sigh>. He's obviously just looking for excuses.
Anyway, if you want 'Made with Amiga' buttons take a look at http://users.interact.net.au/~cjaj/amigan.html
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 23 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 14-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
blah blah blah. yet another rat jumps ship.
Built With Amiga campaign to close : Comment 24 of 24ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 15-Apr-2001 22:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 23 (Anonymous):
Well, Mr Anon, I don't see YOU jumping in offering to take over and host/run the site.
Anonymous, there are 24 items in your selection
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