Amiga Computer Ships

In October of 1985, Commodore corporation shipped the Amiga 1000. This machine was easily the most advanced consumer-level computing and graphics engine to hit the marketplace by this point in time.

Offering a stong windowing system as well as a command-line interface, a 4096 color RGB display and the first truly multitasking, real-time operating system for consumers, the machine easily gathered a dedicated following of technically visionary users.

Unfortunately, Commodore's marketing was not up to the standard of its technical achievements, and the computer would lag a distant third in the marketplace behind the then-technically inferior Apple and IBM designs. In fact, what success the machine had can fairly be attributed to the base of users rather than Commodore. They built immense online user communities, something that was almost unheard of in 1985. These communities, initially centered around the Compuserve and Genie online networks, made the transition to the Internet and remnants of them are still hanging on in 2015.

Eventually, Commodore closed its doors and the Amiga technologies began a series of transfers from one company to another as devotees tried desperately to resurrect the heart of the machine. Some of these interim owners of the Amiga core technologies included German companies and Gateway Computer in the USA.

Despite these efforts, it was not to be. Eventually, the Amiga user base eroded to an insignificant market share, and software and hardware aftermarket products for the machine slowed to a trickle. IBM machines continued to increase in capabilities until the Amiga's most visible advantages were eclipsed.

The most interesting part of this story for the writer is that this machine truly was superior in almost every way, and was also able to maintain that superiority for several years after its initial release due to the strength of the technical people behind the product and its aftermarket support. The public, virtually blinded by marketing coming from both the IBM and Apple camps (and perhaps we can stretch the metaphor to say that they were also poked in their blinded eyes by Commodore's pitiful attempts to market the machine), elected to support the inferior products without a single good technical reason to do so. The rest is history, and should serve as a powerful lesson to those who think that technical superiority is key to survival in the computer industry.

Marketing is the first, middle and final ground of competition for taking a product to the mainstream consumer. The Amiga is the perfect example of a technological tour de force that foundered strictly on the shoals of marketing.

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