IT'S TIME TO MAKE OUR PRESENCE FELT - says an Amiga User Group veteran

It's probably time to reactivate our collective Amiga User presence in our part of the world (Australasia) and show how we truly feel about what's been happening to our preferred platform, the Amiga. So here's my go at `striking up the Band'.

Those of us who are left here in Perth (Western Australia) are now a little older and, hopefully, wiser. Because we've been looking at the extinction of our species now for at least the last three months, we've probably become a bit tougher minded too. Whilst we will give any new developments in Amiga our full support, we've had to learn to keep all our options open.

The new owners of Amiga cannot expect our renewed, undivided loyalty and trust. Our first duty as user organisations is to our user member base. And the IT marketplace doesn't have much time for sentimentality, even when a product has been quite inspirational and is still not quite past its time.

Up until now, I hadn't felt like the Amiga had been fully superseded. However, the rest of the computing world has, and is moving on at an ever accelerating pace, and so there may well be a worthy successor to the old Amiga `Touchstone' (i.e. one that truly does embody the original `spirit of Amiga').

As President of our local User Group, I am only too aware that, following Amiga's recent misfortunes, Amiga User Groups are now faced with a very rapidly dwindling membership.

With the grim prospect of no tangible focus for any further Group activity, it was felt necessary to at least try to prepare the remaining members for the possibility of a computing life beyond Amiga, and to introduce them (through presentations at meetings) to a range of alternative (non-windows) platforms and OSs. Thus they might be better able to make intelligent and informed choices when their trusty old Amiga does finally fall over for the last time.

Even with the very recent change in ownership of Amiga, and the glimmer of light that it sheds for an Amiga future, I believe it is now necessary to prepare members for inevitable change, regardless of any renewed optimism.

I also think it's important for any new owners of Amiga not to take for granted our forgiveness and continuing total loyalty to the Amiga. They should not fall into the trap of thinking that they can just pick up where Jim Collas left off. In a recent posting to ANN, Yunko Yoshida reports:

`Moss said "...but since we announced the buyout, many of the ones who are left are begging us to provide them with a reason to return."'

I think it's important for us to send Amiga "caretakers" (as Bill and Fleecy like to put it) the clear message that our members are, by and large, now looking for a computing OS/platform that embodies the original spirit of the Amiga with or without the Amiga badge.

As far as I can see, the new caretakers of Amiga need our user group loyalties much more than we need them.

We have had to learn our independence the hard way.
They now have to win us back to the clan.

I would like to hear how other members of the Australasian Amiga community feel about AMIGA in these first few weeks of 2000.

Keith Rutherford
Email: k.rutherford@bigpond.com

RESPONSES

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# Response19Jan2000 from Jeffrey Rose.

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