1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickling. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works in Love all Things Tech. As I 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: watched my producer lip sync my intro with me, I 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: guess that's a comment about how predictable I've become. It 7 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. We're talking about Amiga. We're wrapping up the 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: discussion on Amiga. We're going to be cramming a whole 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: lot of history in this episode, because we focused a 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: lot on the politics that surrounded the launch of the 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: Amiga one thousand and then the Amiga five hundred and 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: two thousand. By the time the Amiga five hundred in 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: two thousand had debuted in seven, the story of Amiga 14 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: had changed considerably. The original people who had led the 15 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 1: design of that first computer, that Amigo one thousand, we're 16 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: pretty much out of the picture. There still a few 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: Amiga engineers and developers who were around and we're working 18 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: at Commodore, but they had been more or less incorporated 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: into Commodore's larger structure. The Amiga five hundred debuted at 20 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: a pretty attractive price, It was sold for the princely 21 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: sum of six hundred dollars. If we use an inflation 22 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: calculator to figure out how much that would be in 23 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: today's money, that would be close to about one thousand, 24 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: five hundred seventy bucks. The Attari st had debuted at 25 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars more, but it also came with a monitor, 26 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: and that was for the monochromatic version. If you wanted 27 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: the color monitor version, it was three hundred dollars more 28 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: than the Amiga five hundred. But again, if you bought 29 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: an Amiga five hundred, you had also get a monitor, 30 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: so you could also use a television if you really 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: wanted to. Unlike the Amiga one thousand, which Commodore had 32 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: only sold in computer stores, the Amiga five hundred actually 33 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: found its way onto retail shelves like in sears. The 34 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: lower cost and the superior performance in graphics and audio, 35 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: and the wider availability made it a popular gaming platform, 36 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: particularly over in Europe. It did okay in the United States, 37 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: it always did better in Europe than did in the US. 38 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: Developers like Bill Williams would create games that could leverage 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: the specialized chip set in the Amiga five hundred to 40 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: accomplish stuff that left the Macintosh and the IBM compatible 41 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: machines of that era in the dust. It was around 42 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: this time that I first got a chance to play 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: stuff on an Amiga. I was immediately floored with how 44 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: advanced gaming was on those machines compared to the Apple 45 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: two that I had at home, or even the IBM 46 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: two eighty six that my father was using to write books, 47 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: and whenever he wasn't writing, I was playing games on it. 48 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: It was like nine day when you compared the Amiga 49 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: to other computers. At that time, I could not understand 50 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: why the Amiga was not the dominant computer in the 51 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: consumer market. But to be fair, I was also twelve 52 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: years old, so my capacity for understanding the complexities of 53 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: corporate maneuvers was even less developed than it is now, 54 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: and that's saying something, but I was incredibly impressed. Some games, 55 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: like Williams's title mind Walker, would allow the user to 56 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: run other applications in the background, so you could actually 57 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: take advantage of the Amiga's multitasking capabilities. But soon among 58 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: game developers it became common practice to create software that 59 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: would tap directly into Amiga's hardware. Bypassing the operating system 60 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: and locking the computer into a single task just playing 61 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: a really awesome game. It was a justifiable trade off, 62 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: and I'm pretty sure most gamers didn't really care. Other 63 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: games like Defender of the Crown showcase the Amiga's ability 64 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: to present high resolution, colorful images. Defender of the Crown 65 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: was a strategy game in which you would lead armies 66 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: in a contest for the Crown of England. That game 67 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: launched as an Amiga exclusive, but later ports of the 68 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: game made their way onto lots of other platforms, including 69 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: the IBM PC and even the Nintendo Entertainment System. There 70 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: were lots of other games coming out for the Amiga 71 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: five hundred. The computer system gave developers the chance to 72 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: make really creative choices without being restrained by the hardware 73 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: limitations that were everywhere else. So you had games like 74 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: Shadow of the Beast, which included the ability to incorporate 75 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: up to twelve layers of parallax scrolling, and you might 76 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: wonder what the heck does that mean. Well, parallax scrolling 77 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: is when you can create different speeds of scrolling for 78 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: different layers of an image on a screen. Gives you 79 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: the overall impression of movement. So a lot of side 80 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: scrolling games would use this to create a more compelling experience. 81 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: It's kind of an old trick. You have stuff that's 82 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: in the foreground so close to the viewer moving at 83 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,479 Speaker 1: a faster speed than stuff that's in the background, and 84 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: it gives you the sense that the stuff that's in 85 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: the background actually is further away. That's why moving past 86 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: it takes longer. And uh the uh. The Shadow of 87 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: the Beast could actually have up to twelve layers of this. 88 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: That's pretty much unheard of during that time. The popular 89 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: game series Limmings also debuted on Amiga gosh. I love 90 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: that game. This was one of the games that my 91 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: friend had. Limings. That game, in case you're not familiar, 92 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: was one where you have a group of critters Limmings, 93 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: little green haired creatures that it was your job to 94 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: move them from one part of a level to the 95 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: exit of that level, and you did this by giving 96 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: different limings various jobs, like they might have to dig 97 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: through earth to get to the end part, or they 98 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: might have to parachute to get down to another level 99 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: and build a platform back up so that the other 100 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: Limings can get down and if you lost too many 101 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: lemmings because they were very fragile, then you would fail 102 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: the level. And I just I can still remember the 103 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: sound they would make when you would tell them to 104 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: self destruct. They do a little no and then pop 105 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: out of existence with confetti. But while games were starting 106 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: to take off of the Amiga fire, the system did 107 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: not become a mega hit in the US. A different 108 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: product would really show off how powerful the Amiga platform was, 109 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: and it would ultimately become a combination of an expansion 110 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: card and some software, and it was called the Video Toaster. 111 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: And this was for the Amiga two thousand and here's 112 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: where the story of Amiga's past really would come into play. 113 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: The original intent for the Amiga, back when it was 114 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: first in the design phase, before any hardware had been built, 115 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: was that it was going to primarily be a video 116 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: game system, and as part of that, from the beginning, 117 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: it was made to be compatible with television frequencies, meaning 118 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: you could hook it directly up to a TV. Other 119 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: computers were reliant on computer monitors, and you had sinking 120 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: issues if you wanted to send a signal out from 121 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,280 Speaker 1: a computer to a television. Often the frequencies didn't match up. 122 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: The gen lock in the Amiga two thousand would let 123 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: a user overlay graphics on top of a video signal 124 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: in either in TSC or PAL formats. A guy named 125 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: Tim Jensen, was an electrical mechanical engineer, would take advantage 126 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: of this capability. He had already created a program called 127 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: digit View that would allow him to take a snapshot 128 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: of a video so he could run a video on 129 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: his Amiga. Use this program and capture a single frame 130 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: and save that to an Amiga floppy disk. He saved 131 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: some images to a disk which also happened to have 132 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: his contact information stored on that disc, and he shared 133 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: it with a guy named Jeff Bruett who worked for Commodore. 134 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: Soon his work was being spread around, and because his 135 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: information was still on that disc, he started getting contacted 136 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: by people who wanted to explore the possibilities of using 137 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: the Amiga to work with video in a more robust way. 138 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: Jennison founded a company called new Tech. His programs did 139 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: Your You and digit Paint We're both big hits. And 140 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: then a guy named Paul Montgomery, who really wanted to 141 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: develop a tool that would allow for video manipulation and 142 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: editing joined New Tech, and he came up to Jennison 143 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: and he said, what if we made a program that 144 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: would let you do stuff like squish a video image 145 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: or even flip it. So now you're looking at the 146 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: mirror image of that video. What would it take to 147 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: do that? And Jennison's initial response was, you take a 148 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars. I mean, you're talking about the capabilities 149 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: that a video editing studio running hardware that's dollars easy, 150 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: plus software that's way more expensive than that. It's just 151 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: it's it's financially impossible. But Jennison became obsessed with this idea, like, 152 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: maybe maybe I could figure out a way to do 153 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: this using an Amiga. You know, do the same thing 154 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: that these specific purpose workstation do, but I can do 155 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: it with a general purpose computer like the Amiga. So 156 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: he started thinking about this and Montgomery, Jennison, and a 157 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: guy named Brad Carvey, who trivia here is the brother 158 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: of comedian Dana Carvey got together and started working out 159 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: what it would take to allow an Amiga to manipulate 160 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: video this way. They created a hardware design that would 161 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: interface through an expansion slot on the Amiga, and they 162 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,839 Speaker 1: created some software to give them some early primitive capabilities. 163 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: They built out a prototype of this concept and in 164 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: November they showed off their idea at the Comdex computer 165 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: trade show. The demonstration was a huge hit, and the 166 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: team continued to work on their idea with the goal 167 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: of creating an expansion card and software kit that would 168 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: be able to handle all the tasks that you would 169 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: find in a network video editing bay. And it would 170 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: take three years total and three fifty thousand lines of code, 171 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: much of which was written in the assembly language of 172 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: the Motorola sixty eight thousand chip empowered the Amiga. When 173 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,559 Speaker 1: the product finally came out, it cost just under two thousand, 174 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: four hundred dollars. But if you bought Video Toaster, you 175 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: would get an expansion card, you would get a collection 176 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: of eight floppy disks holding a set of programs, and 177 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: you would suddenly have the power to do video editing 178 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: like a full system. Um. But here's the things that 179 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: even if you bought a brand new Amiga two thousand 180 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: and a copy of Video Toaster, that would set you 181 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: back less than five thousand dollars. That was a fraction 182 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: of what it would cost if you wanted a professional system, 183 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: and yet you would have all the capabilities of a 184 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: professional system. This turned the Amiga two thousand into the 185 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: go to computer system if you were working in video. 186 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: These days, the Mac platform is frequently favored by people 187 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: who edit video or audio, including people here at how 188 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: stuff Works. The Mac isn't quite as dominant in that 189 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: position as it used to be, thanks to some advances 190 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,199 Speaker 1: in PC software suits over the last several years, not 191 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: to mention some decisions that Apple has made with some 192 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: of its editing software that has let's say, cheese off 193 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: some long time editors. But you know, for the longest time, 194 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 1: you'd say the Mac was the dominant video and audio 195 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: editing platform. Well, in the nineties it was the Amiga 196 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: two thousand. I've got more to say, but first let's 197 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: take a quick break to thank our sponsor. The Amiga 198 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: and Video Toaster had an immediate effect on the appearance 199 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: of video because producers now had access to video effects 200 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: that would have previously cost them tens of thousands of 201 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: dollars to use, which led to a saturation of certain 202 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: video effects. You started to see them everywhere, to the 203 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: point where they became cliched and a joke. So today, 204 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: if you were to see a star wipe in a video, 205 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: you would probably hear a lot of people chuckling, especially 206 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: anyone who had worked in video editing. That is a 207 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: very dated kind of look. It's cheesy, but that's largely 208 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: because that effect got so much use in the nineteen 209 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: nineties because the Amiga and video Toaster made it so accessible. Meanwhile, 210 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: back in the executive offices over at Commodore, chief executive 211 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: Irving Gould would hire Max Toy to become the president 212 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: and chief operating officer of the company in the fall 213 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: of nine. Toy would say that no contract would be 214 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: necessary to guarantee his loyalty. That was obviously a dig 215 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: at at Ratigan, the former CEO of Commodore, who had 216 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: been fired by Irving Gould earlier that year, and he 217 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: said that the day he would require a contract would 218 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 1: be the last day he would ever work at Commodore. 219 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: And I guess that day must have happened two years later, 220 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: because that's when he got fired. He got the boot, 221 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: and Commodore then hired a guy named Harold Copperman from IBM, 222 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: and also he had worked at Apple and now he 223 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: was there to lead the United States division of Commodore. 224 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: So why was Max Toy dismissed? Well, for one thing, 225 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: Irving Gould was still extremely impatient, and he still wanted 226 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: results super fast some people would say unreasonably fast. And 227 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: for another, Toy was apparently on the losing side of 228 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: an internal disagreement within Commodore, one that would actually revolve 229 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: around the Amiga. So the disagreement kind of split the 230 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: company into two big camps. In one camp where the 231 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: engineers and developers who wanted to continue to develop the 232 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: Amiga platform, they saw a potential in building out a 233 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: powerful machine that could outpace all competitors in the consumer market, 234 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: specifically when it came to graphics and audio. That camp 235 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: felt the reason that Commodore continued to struggle as a 236 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: company was not due to the quality of its products 237 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,199 Speaker 1: so much, but more in how those products were being 238 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: marketed and sold. They were sure that the Amiga approach 239 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: would win out if it was just given the proper 240 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: chance and promotion. The other camp in which Toy was 241 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: entrenched was that Commodore should just abandon the Amiga platform 242 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: and instead concentrate on producing IBM compatible machines. This was 243 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: the era of the IBM clone. IBM had used off 244 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: the shelf components to build its personal computers, so that 245 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 1: meant that you could buy those same off the shelf 246 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: components and build your same machines, very similar to diabem. 247 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: More importantly, IBM had failed to secure an exclusive license 248 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: from Microsoft for MS DOSS, so you could then license 249 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: ms DOS from Microsoft yourself and sell your own cheaper 250 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: version of IBM computers to customers. This would technically have 251 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: been easier for Commodore to do than to create new 252 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: architecture based off the Amiga architecture, but critics of that 253 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: plan said, yeah, it's easier, but the profit margins are 254 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: also much lower. Commodore would have to pit its IBM 255 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: clones against all the other IBM clones that were flooding 256 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: the market, and ultimately this side lost, and so did 257 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: Max Toy. Harold Copperman would come on board. Copperman's appointment 258 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: was met with some trepidation from outside the company. I 259 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: read an article that was very skeptical about the whole 260 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: situation because at this point the company had a reputation 261 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: now for having a revolving door. When it came to 262 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: chief executives because you had Jack Tramiel and Thomas Rattigan, 263 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: you had Max Toy and now Harold Copperman, all filling 264 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: that role since nineteen four and now it's nineteen eighty nine. 265 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: Nine had seemed to start off well for Amiga. Commodore 266 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: had announced in January nine nine that one million Amiga 267 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: computers had been sold up to that point. Also, one 268 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: other executive took a position at the top of Commodore 269 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: in early nineteen eighty nine. That would be Medi Ali. 270 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: That was the man who had come on board of 271 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: with Commodore as a consultant. He had been an advisor 272 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: to Irving Gould, and he was the one who told 273 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: Gould to fire former CEO Ratigan just a few years earlier. Well, 274 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: now Ali was able to convince Gould to hire Ali 275 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: on as the President of Commodore International, which was largely 276 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: a vacant position for most of Commodore's existence, but now 277 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: made a Ali would inhabit it. Copperman would be president 278 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: and CEO of Commodore's US operations. In November nine, Commodore 279 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: announced the Amiga twenty five hundred. This was essentially an 280 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: Amiga two thousand with a new pair of coprocessors, so 281 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: just a modest improvement over the Amiga two thousand. In 282 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: n Commodore would offer Amiga one thousand owners a thousand 283 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: dollar trade and deal if they would upgrade to an 284 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 1: Amiga two thousand machine. This is also when the video 285 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: toaster products became official and you can actually go out 286 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: and buy it. The company would then announce the Amiga 287 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: three thousand. This was a slightly bigger upgrade than the 288 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: still a modest one, had a new CPU and also 289 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: had a new chip set, and a brand new Amiga 290 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: three thousand with a monitor would set you back four 291 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: thousand one dollars. Truly a princely sum. Commodore would hold 292 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: a swanky presentation to show off the three thousand. Kind 293 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: of reminds me of the initial Amiga launch that came 294 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: out back in Copperman gave the presentation that night, and 295 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: the focus was on multimedia applications, something the Amiga was 296 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: particularly well suited for. There were more changes in executive leadership. 297 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: Copperman resigned, perhaps he was blamed for the moderate performance 298 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: of the Amiga three thous and never really took off 299 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: in sales and it turned out that only the hardcore 300 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: Amiga fans were buying those computers. Other people were happy 301 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: to stick with the Amiga five or the Amiga two thousand. 302 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: James Dion would be named General Manager of US Sales 303 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: slash Head of the United States part of Commodore. At 304 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: this point, it gets real tricky to talk about titles 305 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: because they seem to be somewhat nebulous at the executive 306 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,360 Speaker 1: level at Commodore. There were also some pretty dark jokes 307 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: going around at Commodore at this point because they had 308 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: seen so many leaders go in and out of that position. 309 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: So the joke was, if you were named the head 310 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: of Commodore US, you would move into your executive office 311 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: and on your desk there will be three envelopes that 312 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: say open in case of financial emergency, and they'd be 313 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: labeled one, two, and three. So the first time you 314 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: hit a rough patch, you open envelope number one, and 315 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: inside there's a message that says, blame your predecessor, so 316 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: you would lay all the aim of all the problems 317 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,239 Speaker 1: on the guy who was in that position before you. 318 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: The second time you encounter a rough financial patch, you 319 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 1: open up envelope two, and that one says, blame your 320 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: vice presidents. So then you go blaming all the people 321 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: who work underneath you. The third time you hit a 322 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: financial rough patch, you open envelope three and a message 323 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: inside says, prepare three envelopes. It seemed like working for 324 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: Gould was tough, and it probably didn't help that Irving 325 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: Gould was frequently changing his base of operations. He was 326 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: moving around a lot, and I saw at least one 327 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: guy say that he suspected the reason Irving Gould would 328 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,439 Speaker 1: pick up stakes and move to a different place and 329 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 1: then force shareholder meetings to take place wherever he happened 330 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: to be at the time was so that he could 331 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,400 Speaker 1: take advantage of the most favorable tax policies at any 332 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: given time, so essentially sheltering himself from having to pay 333 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 1: too much tax. That was the allegation. I have no 334 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: idea if it's true, but he certainly did pop around 335 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: a lot. Coming or introduced three new computers in the 336 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: Amiga line. You had the Amiga six hundred, which was 337 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:06,680 Speaker 1: a low cost machine that had a base price of 338 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: five hundred dollars and actually had fewer features than the 339 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: Amiga five hundred, so very confusing. Higher number, fewer features, 340 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: and the initial cost at that point, the Amiga five 341 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: hundred was actually cheaper than the Amigas six hundred. When 342 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: the six hundred launched, because the five d been out 343 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: for a couple of years, not many people wanted to 344 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: get an Amiga six hundred. There was very little reason too, 345 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: why would you want a computer that was less powerful 346 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 1: than an older machine that was actually less expensive. At 347 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: that point, the company started producing more Amiga six hundreds. 348 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: Then it was producing Amiga five hundreds. Technically both were 349 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: still in production, but they began to scale back on 350 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: the five hundreds. That actually led to losses because again 351 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: people didn't want the six hundreds. Later, the Amiga four 352 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: thousand would debut. It had a more powerful processor and 353 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: it had a boosted chip set. The chips had names 354 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 1: like super Gary, Super Ramsey, and super Amber, and there 355 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: was also Alice Lisa at Good Old Paula. And at 356 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: the end of nineteen nine two the Amiga twelve hundred 357 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: came out. The twelve hundred would be a pretty successful machine, 358 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: but the company was making more Amiga six hundreds than 359 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: five hundreds or twelve hundreds, so the computers that people 360 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 1: wanted were being made in fewer quantities than the computers 361 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: nobody wanted. By nine two, Amiga sales were on the rise, 362 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 1: with a seventeen percent over figures, and it looked like 363 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: it could be a turning point for a Commodore, And 364 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: I guess it kind of was, except it wasn't a 365 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: good turning point. In James Dion would resign as the 366 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: head of US operations, so once again that place was vacant. 367 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 1: So now we have Tramuel Ratigan, Toy Copperman, and Dion 368 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: as the various heads of Commodore in the United States, 369 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:58,159 Speaker 1: since medi Ali and Irving Gould were still at the 370 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: tippy top. Gould was still the dire act. Medi Ali 371 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 1: was still the head of Commodore International. During all of this, 372 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: the engineers and developers who were down at the base level, 373 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: we're still doing their best to make the Amiga platform 374 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: as good as they could possibly make it with the 375 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: resources that they had available to them, but those resources 376 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: were getting cut back year over year. It was getting 377 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,679 Speaker 1: increasingly difficult to do. Commodore also had a reputation for 378 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,360 Speaker 1: not treating their engineers and programmers very well. They were 379 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: underpaid compared to others in their industry, although just to 380 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: be totally fair, most of their competing companies were based 381 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: in California, and that's a more expensive place to live 382 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 1: than Pennsylvania, so some of that was cost of living, 383 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:48,360 Speaker 1: but they were still underpaid compared to their peers. In ninete, 384 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: Commodore would post a loss of three hundred sixties six 385 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: million dollars. Sales dropped by twenty percent. In nineteen, after 386 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 1: the first quarter of the fiscal year, Commodore posted another loss. 387 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: This time it was eight point two million, which was 388 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: technically an improvement from the previous year, but still a loss. 389 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 1: And then Commodore sent out a warning message to investors 390 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: saying that the company might have to prepare for bankruptcy proceedings, 391 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: and the stock price took a nose dive. It all 392 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: came to a head on April nine. That's when Commodore 393 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: International Limited stated it would begin liquidating all assets and 394 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: would file for bankruptcy protection. Commodore, including Amiga, was at 395 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: the beginning of the end, but not quite the end. 396 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: Amiga would limp on sword of I'll explain more in 397 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: just a second, but first let's take another quick break 398 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. Now, these episodes are supposed to 399 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: be about Amiga, not Commodore. But to understand why Amiga 400 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: never managed to establish itself as a viable alternative to 401 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: the Macintosh or the IBM PC clone here in the 402 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: United States requires a lot of talk about Commodore because 403 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: the problems were largely based in corporate politics. Again, not 404 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: the technology of the Amiga, which was pretty darn cool, 405 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: but because of managers and executives and the shuffling that 406 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 1: was going on constantly at Commodore. Irving Gould, the investor 407 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: who had been pulling the strings at Commodore ever since 408 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: he convinced the board to kick founder Jack Tramial to 409 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: the curb, is often blamed for Commodore's ultimate failure. Now, 410 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: he didn't take a hands on approach to managing the 411 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: day to day operations of the company. He had no 412 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: interest in doing that. But at the same time, he 413 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: wanted dramatic and rapid returns on his investment, and when 414 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: he didn't see results that were fast enough for him, 415 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: he would come in and change leadership. Those leaders would 416 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 1: often make changes themselves sometimes that helps establish their new 417 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: role at a company. You probably have experienced something like 418 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:11,920 Speaker 1: this at the point, you might have gotten a new 419 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 1: boss sometime or seen a new boss come in and 420 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 1: make seemingly unnecessary changes to a away a company or 421 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: a division does things. Sometimes that's to make a mark 422 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 1: on a business, to say, well, this way I can 423 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: set myself apart from my predecessor. Often it means disrupting things, 424 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: sometimes just so that you can establish yourself, and meanwhile 425 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,959 Speaker 1: the company starts to fall behind. Well, that happened a 426 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: lot at Commodore because Gould kept replacing the head of 427 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,640 Speaker 1: US operations, and he would get impatient when he wasn't 428 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: seeing good results, and he would do it all over again, 429 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,360 Speaker 1: and that would just keep things going in a state 430 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 1: of chaos over at the corporate level. In addition, Commodore 431 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: owed debts to many companies, and several of those companies 432 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 1: happened to be owned by Irving Gould himself. So back 433 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: when Jack Tramiel was still with Commodore, the founder of Commodore, 434 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,440 Speaker 1: when he was the head, he argued that Commodore should 435 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: issue more shares of stock. At one point, what he 436 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,400 Speaker 1: wanted to do was issue shares of stock to raise 437 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:20,119 Speaker 1: more money to pay off some of Commodore's debts. So 438 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: essentially he was saying, let's increase the percentage of ownership 439 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 1: out there on the market. Irvin Gould said, no, that's dumb. 440 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: But he was doing that for two very selfish reasons. 441 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: One was, Irvin Gould was a majority shareholder in Commodore. 442 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: So if you put more stocks out there on the market, 443 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: offering up more ownership of Commodore, that means that Gould's 444 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:47,439 Speaker 1: percentage would get smaller because now there's more of the 445 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: ownership out there on the market, and unless Gould was 446 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: to buy up those shares, it would mean he would 447 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: have less leverage over the company. Secondly, he didn't want 448 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 1: those debts paid off because it gave him leverage over 449 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: the company, so he would shoot down this idea of 450 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: issuing more shares of stock. Then you had Medi Ali, 451 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,239 Speaker 1: the consultant who was picked by Gould to serve as 452 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,400 Speaker 1: the head of Commodore International. He also played a really 453 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: large role in Commodore's failure. According to many people who 454 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 1: worked for Commodore, one of Ali's big moves as leader 455 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: was to increase his own salary and that of Irving 456 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: Gould's as well. The two wouldn't make an awful lot 457 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: of money. They were making more money than pretty much 458 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: every other CEO in the computer industry, so that money 459 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: had to come from somewhere. One source was Commodore's research 460 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: and development departments. Ali would gut the funding for that 461 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: over the years, cutting back research and development year over year, 462 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 1: but he also torpedoed what could have been a lucrative 463 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: licensing deal. There was a point where Sun Microsystems wanted 464 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: to license a Mega technology and use them in their workstations, 465 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: but Ali said, oh, sure, we'll let you do that, 466 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: but he set an unrealistic fee, a ridiculously high licensing fee, 467 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,040 Speaker 1: and Sun microsystem said, pound sand, We're going to go 468 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 1: somewhere else, and they left. When the company would actually 469 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 1: fall apart, there was a new chip set that was 470 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,199 Speaker 1: actually in development at that time. It was called the 471 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,959 Speaker 1: Advanced Amiga Architecture or Triple a A. It was the 472 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: most dramatic overhaul of the original Amiga chip set to date. 473 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: The previous chips that had been tweaked in the past 474 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: had all been what they called enhanced versions of the 475 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: earlier architecture that J. Minor and his team had developed 476 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties. But while this project was in development. 477 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,959 Speaker 1: Medi Ali kept cutting the department's funding, so by the 478 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: time Commodore was declaring bankruptcy, there was only one engineer 479 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: left working on that project. And as you can imagine, 480 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: having a project to redesign the architecture of chips fall 481 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: on one person shoulders means that it's never gonna get done. 482 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 1: There's just only so much work one person can do. Meanwhile, 483 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: PC graphics were starting to catch up to Amiga's position. 484 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: The v g A graphics standard allowed PC manufacturers to 485 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 1: incorporate hardware that was capable of running fast action games 486 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 1: at a pretty low resolution three by two pixels with 487 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: two fifty six colors. And I know that sounds like 488 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: nothing compared to today's graphics, and it really isn't anything 489 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: compared to today's graphics, but back then it was a 490 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,479 Speaker 1: big deal. Just trust me on this. Now. Amiga, however, 491 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: could display up to four thousand, ninety six colors if 492 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: it was running in HAM mode, but that mode could 493 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,800 Speaker 1: not respond rapidly to changes, so while it could show 494 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: more colors than PCs, it couldn't do it in these 495 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: applications like a fast action game. It was fine for 496 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: slower moving games, but the fast action. The computer just 497 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: couldn't keep up with it, so you wouldn't be able 498 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: to play a game like Doom with four thousand, ninety 499 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: six colors on an Amiga. You would have to have 500 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: something to make the Amiga run faster, so it could 501 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: not do the same thing that the IBM PC could 502 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: do um without running at a severe disadvantage where it's 503 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: displaying like thirty two colors on the screen st of 504 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: two fifty six. So it was just starting to fall behind, 505 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: and Commodore wasn't giving the assets to developers to counteract that. 506 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: When Commodore was going out of business, there were still 507 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: engineers hoping to create the next generation of Amiga computers. 508 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: There was the Ombre project that was meant to incorporate 509 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: a three D graphics accelerator card with a powerful processor 510 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: to make the Amiga top in the realm again when 511 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: it came to graphics, but the project lacked the funding 512 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: it needed to make any progress and ultimately fell apart. 513 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 1: Following bankruptcy was a long process to figure out how 514 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: to auction off Commodore's us as sets. This was more 515 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: complicated than most companies, largely because commodore structure was particularly tricky. 516 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 1: I've seen some people suggest that this was by design 517 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: so that it would provide Irving Gould the equivalent of 518 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: a tax shelter. I do not know if that's the truth. 519 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: What I know is that it took a long time 520 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: to sort everything out so that the auction could actually happen. 521 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: Things were different in Europe. By the way. Commodore UK 522 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: had managed to stay profitable while the U S branch 523 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: was flailing around, So Commodore UK was still fine, and 524 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: so if you lived in the UK you could still 525 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,040 Speaker 1: go out and buy Amiga computers from Commodore while the 526 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: US side was fading away. The head of UK operations 527 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: was a guy named David Pleasants, and he had a 528 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: grand plan. He wanted to purchase the assets of all 529 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: of Commodore at auction, including Amiga. So he went to 530 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: some investors and raised some money, and he reached out 531 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: to a company in China called new Star Electronics, and 532 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: his goal was to continue Commodore operations, not just own 533 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,800 Speaker 1: the assets, but keep building Commodore machines and even develop 534 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: new computer systems based on that architecture, so the Amiga 535 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: could potentially have a future. There were a few other 536 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: contenders that also we're vying to purchase Commodore's assets. One 537 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: was Dell Computer, but its bid actually was too late 538 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 1: for consideration. Another was a company called s Com, which 539 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: made PCs in Europe. As COM's bid was lower than 540 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 1: the one that pleasants As Group had made, But then 541 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: just a couple of days before the auction was to 542 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 1: actually take place, the Chinese company New Star would back 543 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 1: out of the deal, and Pleasants was forced to cancel 544 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: his bid, and so s Com would end up getting 545 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: possession of Commodore brand and all of its assets in 546 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 1: the US. As COM's leader, this guy named Manfred Schmidt, 547 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: who had split Commodore's assets and create two companies. One 548 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: of those two companies was Amiga Technologies. He put a 549 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: guy named Petro Ti Schinko, and I'm sure I'm mispronouncing 550 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: that name. It has got way too many letters in 551 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 1: it for a ignorant Americans such as myself to say properly, 552 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: so I'm just gonna call him Petro. The Amiga would 553 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: continue on in Europe for a little while longer, but 554 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: there were no manufacturing facilities left after the collapse of Commodore, 555 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: so there's no place to make new computers. They could 556 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: sell the ones that were in inventory, but they couldn't 557 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: really make more of them. Work was being done to 558 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: bring new facilities online, but for the most part the 559 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,959 Speaker 1: company was existing off selling the Amiga twelve hundred. They 560 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: did do some tweaks to the twelve hundred to try 561 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 1: and remain relevant because the system was quickly aging out. 562 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: It was a few years old, so they had to 563 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: keep making minor changes to it, but they couldn't just 564 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:56,400 Speaker 1: make something new yet. S Com, the parent company of 565 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 1: Amiga Technologies, followed in the footsteps of Commodore, falling prey 566 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: to what some people called the Commodore curse, and it 567 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: too declared bankruptcy. The company had expanded too quickly, it 568 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 1: had overextended its reach, and the Amiga assets again went 569 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,799 Speaker 1: to auction. This time, the company Gateway two thousand, later 570 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 1: known just as Gateway, would win the intellectual property and 571 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:23,760 Speaker 1: Amiga brand in and the new philosophy would require a 572 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 1: huge change in direction for Amiga. The idea was that 573 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: Gateway was going to create a line of Amiga products, 574 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:35,399 Speaker 1: ranging from tablets to workstations to set top boxes, all 575 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 1: of them would run on the same operating system. This 576 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: would have required new architecture and new software, and so 577 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,320 Speaker 1: it would not be based off the old Amiga design, 578 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: but it was meant to follow a philosophy similar to 579 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: the one that Amiga embodied. Sadly, apart from some prototypes, 580 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: this never really got off the ground. Management changed at 581 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: Gateway and the project was ultimately scuttled as the company 582 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 1: moved to all off Amiga to someone else. This time 583 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: there were fewer contenders. The Amiga was rapidly heading toward obsolescence. 584 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: The last new machine to come out was the Amiga 585 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: twelve hundred, and that had come out in n So 586 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:17,399 Speaker 1: a couple of former Gateway employees were able to put 587 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:21,719 Speaker 1: together a new company called Amino Development, and they got 588 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: some investors and they purchased the non patent technologies of Amiga. 589 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,919 Speaker 1: Then they changed their company name to Amiga Technologies later 590 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,840 Speaker 1: Amiga Incorporated. They had big plans, but apart from a 591 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,200 Speaker 1: game pack that could turn a p d A into 592 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,959 Speaker 1: an Amiga compatible gaming system, it didn't really pan out. 593 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:44,520 Speaker 1: The dot com crash dealt another huge blow. The company 594 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: partnered with some manufacturing facilities to make some motherboards, and 595 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:52,480 Speaker 1: there was a software developer called Hyperion Entertainment out of Belgium. 596 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 1: I believe it was that was designed to or designated 597 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,520 Speaker 1: to make the next generation of the Amiga operating system, 598 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: Amiga OS four, but the whole system never really quite coalesced. 599 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:10,280 Speaker 1: Amiga Incorporated existed at least in name until two thousand sixteen, 600 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 1: but then the owner did not renew the copyright on 601 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 1: the name, and now that's essentially gone as well. You 602 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 1: can get hold of some of those motherboards, and the 603 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: Amiga OS four point oh still exists. But a lot 604 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:26,520 Speaker 1: of people say that Amiga is kind of stuck in 605 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,399 Speaker 1: time now because there's just not enough development behind it, 606 00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: so there's not gonna be any advance in Amiga technology. 607 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 1: You could use an emulator and play old Amiga games, 608 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,400 Speaker 1: but no new ones are going to be developed most likely, 609 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 1: or if they are developed, they're gonna have to exist 610 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 1: on that older architecture because there's no one there to 611 00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,680 Speaker 1: develop the next generation. So it's pretty sad. It was 612 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,759 Speaker 1: a tough, tough story. I mean, it was one of 613 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,400 Speaker 1: those things that started off so promising back in the 614 00:36:55,400 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: early eighties, but multiple setbacks leg Demiga throughout its history. 615 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,360 Speaker 1: From the video game crash of three, to declaring Commodore 616 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:11,399 Speaker 1: declaring bankruptcy, and to this essential fizzling out in two 617 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,280 Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen, although you could argue that the company 618 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: was long gone before that. Anyway, maybe one day we'll 619 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:19,759 Speaker 1: see a re emergence of the Amiga brand in a 620 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: serious way. Maybe it will be able to to hold 621 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:28,799 Speaker 1: true to j Minors vision when he first founded the 622 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:33,160 Speaker 1: company back in the early eighties. But for now, that 623 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: is the end of the Amiga story and the end 624 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 1: of this series of episodes. If you guys have any 625 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: suggestions for future topics, whether it's a company, a technology, 626 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: someone in tech, maybe there's someone you want me to interview, 627 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,480 Speaker 1: send me a message let me know. The email address 628 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 1: for the show is tech Stuff at how stuff works 629 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,479 Speaker 1: dot com, or you can draw me a line on 630 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. The handle at both of those is 631 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,839 Speaker 1: tech Stuff hs W. Don't forget to check out the 632 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 1: merchandise over at t public dot com slash tech Stuff. 633 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,560 Speaker 1: I know you've always wanted a tech Stuff T shirt. 634 00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: Can't blame you. They look awesome. I love mine. Actually 635 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,440 Speaker 1: bought two of them, and that's not that's not an exaggeration. 636 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,240 Speaker 1: Actually bought them but go check those out. Every purchase 637 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,719 Speaker 1: you make helps the show out a little bit. I've 638 00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: helped the show now you can too, and don't forget. 639 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:22,399 Speaker 1: You can follow us over on Instagram and I'll talk 640 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. For more on this and 641 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics because it how stuff works. Dot 642 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:43,319 Speaker 1: com