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Subject: WOA-Toronto Wrap Up!
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Steve Bowie ([e-mail])
Wed, 13 Dec 1995 06:44:44 -0500

> WOA Toronto,1995
>
> Sorry that this final report was so long in coming...unfortunately, BOTH
> my Internet feeds were down by Sunday night. Probably too much "hot news" ;)
> The boys at Wonder must have succesfully recovered from the hangovers
> after Saturday nights 'wine and cheese'party, as my access is working
> again....Thanks guys!
>
> I hope no-one minds this final "byte-burst"...I think that the majority of
> the LW community still maintains at least some interest in the well-being of
> the "mother- platform", and that those who aren't acquainted with it yet can
> only benefit for their tolerance.
>
> .........................
>
> As in the previous report, I am compelled to begin with a correction (and I
> now have a newfound appreciation for 'editors'):
>
> I mentioned Sunday that Draco Systems were going to be presenting a Zorro
> slot Alpha card (some uncertainty about whether 21164 or not) called the
> 'Palladin'...well, I was close! They are indeed working on this card, but
> it is NOT called the 'Palladin'. The 'Palladin' is in fact another card
> which I neglected to report on, so here is some advice....DO NOT SELL YOUR
> OLD A2000!
>
> The Palladin card is a lowly 030 accelerator for the 2000....this may not
> seem to be teriffic news, until you here the "rest of the story" as they
> say. In additon to a modest speed increase, this card will have the capacity
> to be directly linked to the special connector on the 'new version'
> VLabMotion card  I've been telling you about for some time now.
> Bypassing the Zorro bus bottleneck, this link will permit true UNCOMPRESSED
> DIGITAL VIDEO at speeds approaching 30 megs per second! The limiting factor
> then becomes hard drive speed, and the jpeg ratio becomes a distant memory!
>
> Think about it....your old dino pal, the A2000, with a few very modestly
> priced additions can become an animator's dream machine, allowing multi track
> 16 bit CD quality sound to be added and edited with perfect sync to your
> glowing Lightwave masterpieces. You will of course also be able to grab your
> own moving textures and background sequences, and do your own demo tapes, on
> an XT vintage dream machine!! Look for this very soon!
>
> BTW, the aforementioned Alpha card is apparently not named yet. Eric Kloor,
> of Draco systems, on hearing of my goof, suggested he might name it after
> me...but I don't know. Calling it the "Dork" card just seems to lack
> something.
>
> ............................
>
> OK, enough apologies, on with the final report:
>
> I have been asked about the turnout, sales, and number of vendors. The
> turnout was very good, especially given the very tight time-line...many
> Amiga-philes were in evidence from at least as far away as Texas, many from
> NY, Indiana, and other States. Canadian representation might have been higher
> yet were it not for two previous local Canadian shows. The ticketing practice
> in use does not lend itself to accurate figure, but I would place total
> attendance toward 4K. At peak times each day, navigation was very difficult.
> There were only perhaps thirty exhibitors, and a number of these were there
> to show, not sell, but the dealers present were all clearly delighted at
> brisk sales! The celebratory mood on the floor was a far cry from that of
> the previous show two years back, and only improved as delegates were
> astounded by the high quality of the offerings,and ambitious near-future
> plans of the developers present. It takes no exxageration at all to report
> that the audience was surprised, exuberant, even excited at the prospects
> for our beloved platform!
>
> ...............................
>
> Petro Tyshenko (apparently even his mother isn't absolutely certain how to
> spell this) began his keynote address by stating that the "Amiga is alive and
> well...and KICKING"!! This was demonstrated to be no overstatement.
>
> He exlained that 1995 required quick re-establishment of production, and a
> presence....both things were accomplished. The focus on presence was manifest
> in a multitude of European and N. American shows and conventions, as well as
> press events. These however, were largely directed to the existing Amiga
> 'family'. 1996 will see the extension of the "Back for the future" campaign
> to the rest of the computing world. AT is planning to use radio, tv, and print
> media (including non-Amiga computing publications) to spread the word!
>
> 'Petro' indicated that his expectations are that arrangements will be made to
> see "standard" programs ported to AmigaDOS....he did not elaborate, but he
> does not seem to be one to speak speculatively. He also announced that
> shortly a new official Amiga Internet pack will be available with all the
> usual goodies.
>
> In another remark, he indicated that he WAS in fact approached by Apple in
> March, and that unspecified discussions are ongoing as I write. Given Apple's
> own problems, and the IBM/Apple desire to break the MS/Intel choke-hold, while
> simultaneously making a grab for the Euro/Asian markets, it seems more than
> likely we may at the least see strategic technology sharing.
>
> ................................
>
> In marginally LW related news, Deitrich Wolf, GM of Phase 5 told me that
> NewTek is in possesion of a Cybergraphics board, and he is hopeful that this
> will be a fruitful 'loan'. As a native RISC Cybergraphics driver is being
> written, as well as libraries suited to graphics card enhanced 3D rendering,
> one may be forgiven for dreaming that new heights of rendering speed may be
> reached by the ATeam!
>
> Speaking of Cybergraphics, I don't believe I mentioned that as well as the
> Draco version of the Retina graphics card using the cybergraphics driver,
> the original RetinaEmu, now at 2.6, is unlikely to be developed further,
> it's role being usurped by the more "system-transparent" Cybergraphics
> driver.
>
> Also in the speed realm, I may have overlooked mentioning that one of the
> real highlights of the new DKB Wildfire accelerator series is an on-board
> PCI slot!! What could you do with 100 megs per second? Just about
> anything, was their answer to me!
>
> Finally, look out for a new presence in the Amiga print media: "Amiga
> Renaissance" is due to appear in late winter. As near as I can make
> out, it intends to be a class act, stepping...no, STRIDING into the gap
> left by Amiga World with a 60-70 page format I would describe as
> "trans-Atlantic", more  depth, more bite, less "it must be great
> because look at how many pages of ads they bought"!! The force behind
> this new mag is the indomitable WCi, the information branch of Ottawa
> based Wonder Computers. Trust me, find it, and subscribe!
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> There are many more things I'd like to tell you, but you really should have
> come yourself :)
>
> Conclusion:
>
> One of the presenters, in his intro to a seminar entitled "How to Make Money
> in Multimedia" said the following: " Amiga is alive and well, and living in a
> lot of machines where you are not even aware of it's existence...".
>
> It is also clearly alive and well in the hearts of many enthusiasts, and some
> serious programmers, businessmen, investors, and engineers! Many faces were
> seen in the crowd who we thought had been lost to other platforms. Apparently
> they wanted to see what all the noise was about! I think some of them are
> back to stay, even as the 'hiatus' has opened our eyes to realize that no
> platform has all the answers, and that co-operation is going to take us a lot
> further down the road to our goals than close-mindedness! Indeed, one of the
> fascinating things about this show was seeing the various 'competing'
> developers literally "putting their heads to-gether" and recognizing that
> in the diversity of options they are presenting, they are only strengthening
> the platform by complementing one another.
>
> ps- I beleive you will shortly find further coverage of this amazing event
> in an upcoming edition of Jason Compton's "Amiga Report".
>
> Regards,
> Steve
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