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Author: Jimmy Maher Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262300745 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 341
Book Description
Exploring the often-overlooked history and technological innovations of the world's first true multimedia computer. Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products); and the boring, beige adult box used for business (exemplified by products from IBM). The game machines became fascinating technical and artistic platforms that were of limited real-world utility. The IBM products were all utility, with little emphasis on aesthetics and no emphasis on fun. Into this bifurcated computing environment came the Commodore Amiga 1000. This personal computer featured a palette of 4,096 colors, unprecedented animation capabilities, four-channel stereo sound, the capacity to run multiple applications simultaneously, a graphical user interface, and powerful processing potential. It was, Jimmy Maher writes in The Future Was Here, the world's first true multimedia personal computer. Maher argues that the Amiga's capacity to store and display color photographs, manipulate video (giving amateurs access to professional tools), and use recordings of real-world sound were the seeds of the digital media future: digital cameras, Photoshop, MP3 players, and even YouTube, Flickr, and the blogosphere. He examines different facets of the platform—from Deluxe Paint to AmigaOS to Cinemaware—in each chapter, creating a portrait of the platform and the communities of practice that surrounded it. Of course, Maher acknowledges, the Amiga was not perfect: the DOS component of the operating systems was clunky and ill-matched, for example, and crashes often accompanied multitasking attempts. And Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. But for a few years, the Amiga's technical qualities were harnessed by engineers, programmers, artists, and others to push back boundaries and transform the culture of computing.
Author: Jimmy Maher Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262300745 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 341
Book Description
Exploring the often-overlooked history and technological innovations of the world's first true multimedia computer. Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products); and the boring, beige adult box used for business (exemplified by products from IBM). The game machines became fascinating technical and artistic platforms that were of limited real-world utility. The IBM products were all utility, with little emphasis on aesthetics and no emphasis on fun. Into this bifurcated computing environment came the Commodore Amiga 1000. This personal computer featured a palette of 4,096 colors, unprecedented animation capabilities, four-channel stereo sound, the capacity to run multiple applications simultaneously, a graphical user interface, and powerful processing potential. It was, Jimmy Maher writes in The Future Was Here, the world's first true multimedia personal computer. Maher argues that the Amiga's capacity to store and display color photographs, manipulate video (giving amateurs access to professional tools), and use recordings of real-world sound were the seeds of the digital media future: digital cameras, Photoshop, MP3 players, and even YouTube, Flickr, and the blogosphere. He examines different facets of the platform—from Deluxe Paint to AmigaOS to Cinemaware—in each chapter, creating a portrait of the platform and the communities of practice that surrounded it. Of course, Maher acknowledges, the Amiga was not perfect: the DOS component of the operating systems was clunky and ill-matched, for example, and crashes often accompanied multitasking attempts. And Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. But for a few years, the Amiga's technical qualities were harnessed by engineers, programmers, artists, and others to push back boundaries and transform the culture of computing.
Author: Brian Bagnall Publisher: Commodore ISBN: 9780994031037 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Concluding the Commodore trilogy, this book takes a look at Commodore's resurgence in the late 1980's and then ultimate demise. This was a period of immense creativity from engineers within the company, who began "moonshot" projects using emerging CD-ROM technology. Get to know the people behind Commodore's successes and failures as they battle to stay relevant amidst blistering competition from Nintendo, Apple, and the onslaught of IBM PC clones. Told through interviews with company insiders, this examination of the now defunct company traces the engineering breakthroughs and baffling decisions that led to the demise of Commodore.
Author: Michael Starr Publisher: Lulu.com ISBN: 1409212777 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 330
Book Description
Covering a time span of 1968 to 1998, and encompassing a spectrum of over 14,000 items across the history of the computer, console, accessories and software markets, the Vintropedia 2009 Price Guide is the definitive resource to a collector's needs.Included within are prices (in GBP), machine specifications, regions of origin, release dates, model names, publishing companies, old ads and more! Look no further than Vintropedia, a guide created by collectors, for collectors.
Author: Nick Montfort Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262539764 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 193
Book Description
A study of the relationship between platform and creative expression in the Atari VCS, the gaming system for popular games like Pac-Man and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The Atari Video Computer System dominated the home video game market so completely that “Atari” became the generic term for a video game console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the flexibility of changeable cartridges. Nearly a thousand of these were created, the most significant of which established new techniques, mechanics, and even entire genres. This book offers a detailed and accessible study of this influential video game console from both computational and cultural perspectives. Studies of digital media have rarely investigated platforms—the systems underlying computing. This book, the first in a series of Platform Studies, does so, developing a critical approach that examines the relationship between platforms and creative expression. Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost discuss the Atari VCS itself and examine in detail six game cartridges: Combat, Adventure, Pac-Man, Yars' Revenge, Pitfall!, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. They describe the technical constraints and affordances of the system and track developments in programming, gameplay, interface, and aesthetics. Adventure, for example, was the first game to represent a virtual space larger than the screen (anticipating the boundless virtual spaces of such later games as World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto), by allowing the player to walk off one side into another space; and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was an early instance of interaction between media properties and video games. Montfort and Bogost show that the Atari VCS—often considered merely a retro fetish object—is an essential part of the history of video games.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
A user's manual, a technical reference manual and a developer's manual, this is the only book that shows Amiga owners how to use the machine's disk operating system. All the available DOS commands and ways to utilize them on this new computer are covered in this book.
Author: Brian Bagnall Publisher: ISBN: 9780994031013 Category : Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Filled with first-hand accounts of ambition, greed, and inspired engineering, this history of the personal computer revolution takes readers inside the cutthroat world of Commodore. Before Apple, IBM, or Dell, Commodore was the first computer manufacturer to market its machines to the public, selling an estimated 22 million Commodore 64s. Those halcyon days were tumultuous, however, owing to the expectations and unsparing tactics of founder Jack Tramiel. Engineers and managers with the company between 1976 and 1994 share their memories of the groundbreaking moments, soaring business highs, and stunning employee turnover that came with being on top in the early days of the microcomputer industry. This updated third edition includes additional interviews and first-hand material from major Commodore figures like lead engineer Jeff Porter, engineers Bob Welland, Michael Sinz, Hedley Davis and Electronics Arts founder Trip Hawkins.
Author: Jimmy Maher
Author: Jimmy Maher
Author: Brian Bagnall
Author: Andy Roberts
Author: Commodore-Amiga, Inc
Author: Michael Starr
Author: Raeto Collin West
Author: Commodore-Amiga, Inc
Author: Nick Montfort
Author: 
Author: Brian Bagnall