As expected, Amiga Inc has made an announcement – of sorts – about the fate of its Amiga hardware and the operating system. In a letter posted on the company’s website addressed To The Amiga Community Thomas J Schmidt, president and CEO claims that: The reports of Amiga’s death have been greatly exaggerated. However, the rest of his letter makes it clear that the multimedia computer and operating system that garnered a worldwide cult following will be strangled just on the brink of a re-birth by Amiga owner, Gateway Inc.
In his letter, Schmidt says: I hope you’d agree that Amiga was never about a box. It was never about an operating system either…The original Amiga was all about multimedia, so why not have Amiga running on every type of device imaginable, on top of every other OS out there…Amiga is going to produce software technology that will enable internet services on an emerging category of products commonly referred to as Information Appliances…In addition, we have decided to work with business partners who will deliver our software technology on their systems, rather than enter the hardware business directly. Gateway, it appears, will not be one of those business partners, a source close to the company said that it has no intention of producing Amiga hardware. No one was answering calls at Amiga.
It could be asked exactly what Amiga is, if not a PC and operating system. From the scant details given it must be presumed that the company intends to some kind of Linux-based multimedia streaming layer for handheld devices and set-tops – a long way from the multimedia convergence computer (MCC), set-top box and home networking hub that the company was promising just over a month ago.
Indeed, the company’s plans seem to veer well away from the strategy laid out by former CEO Jim Collas, which positioned Amiga software as an all-singing, all-dancing multimedia home network. However, Collas – who had piloted the plans for the MCC – resigned at the end of August, citing personal reasons.
Certainly, the ‘Amiga Community’ seems to regard the letter as nothing less than outright betrayal. Amiga – dead, dead, dead and Gateway have fscked [sic] us good and proper was the general tone of postings on the Amiga user group sites. Schmidt will be making more announcements about Amiga’s strategy next week.
