This is only marginally related to scanning, in that it presents another way
of looking at graphics computing power and design, and a fresh look (in this
case, a flashback :-)) is always a good thing to take once in a while, IMHO.
Most people who never used one are confused completely about what Amiga was.
No, it wasn't a grown-up Atari, although it was designed (and marketed--as
seldom as *that* was) as a game-machine, and it didn't rely on a graphics
accellerator--although it could use one at "screaming" speed--for its time,
that is (mid 80's). It didn't *originate* in-line processors (NASA, NSA, DEC
and Cray were already doing that), but it *was* the first desk-top machine
to use co-processors.
The co-processors, in this case, were 2 proprietary ICs dedicated to sound
and graphics (math chips were added later), plugged into the motherboard in
near proximity to the CPU (a Motorola 630xx, same as Mac's). The closeness
of the connections probably provided a few more "nanos" of speed and
instructions-per-second, but that's neither here nor there--the sound &
graphic chips were integral to the design and performance--as was a SCSI
controler--not circuit-boards added into accessory slots in the back
(although it had slots, too).
The beauty of the idea was that the CPU dould do its "control" thing while
the sound and graphics chips did the "heavy lifting." The math chip could
help out if there were arithmetic problems. ;-) (actually, all computer
graphics are math-heavy, but the math chip was more specialized, and not
programmed-for early on). It could, therefore, do "multi-tasking" almost
effortlessly. That's what I mistakenly thought Tim Victor was talking about
in his earlier post.
Those of us interested in CG knew what the machine was capable of, but the
owners of the company never did (not to mention most of the computer
community). It took a 3rd party to develop a companion circuit-board and
apps program (called "Toaster" and "Lightwave," respectively) that made it
the first multimedia and animation computer that wasn't a mid-sized DEC or
Sun Workstation.
(Side note: Disney studios bought one of the first Amigas for animation,
didn't like it, threw it in the trash bin, then developed their own
proprietary computer animation programs and started using them again as
rendering engines. One young Amiga animator was hired by Disney right out of
high-school (he quit a few years later, but is still an animator). And *all*
of the space scenes in the TV series "Babylon 5" were designed, animated and
rendered on Amigas.)
The sad--and cautionary--end of this tale is that the owners of the Amiga
patents, and of Commodore Inc, were so short-sightedly interested in getting
back their $7-millon investment by looting the company that they
screwed-over their software developers, marketing teams, development teams,
and eventually their stockholders and customers, declaring bankrupcy in
1995.
And that, filmscanners, is why I appreciate developers like Ed Hamrick and
OEM people like David Hemminway so much. They care, and they make the
effort. Now, having said that, I will stop bugging you non-believers about
Amiga. ;-)
Best regards--LRA
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