Animal Instincts

Instincts are the basis of survival, Simon Wyndham looks towards an 
alternative future...

As Atari sunk below the horizon it's more apparent than ever before the 
TOS platform is keep alive by enthusiasts.

Why do we do this despite the best efforts of so called computer 
professionals is a remarkable survival story.

The general trend towards computers with faster processors stuffed full of 
memory running disk based operating systems which demand ever increasing 
resources which at the end of the day end up running word processors and 
spreadsheets might just give us a clue.

The time is right for a new breed of machine. For far too long the fat 
cats of the computer industry have conned the public into buying some 
pretty expensive emperors new clothes.

It seems other people are also seeing the need for a new platform. There 
was suggestion in another magazine that a new platform was being developed 
around the Amiga called Phase 5. A machine that would have built in MPEG 
decoding, 3D graphics routines and a basic screen resolution of 1600*1200! 
Of course this computer would still force you to part with the best part 
of 2000 pounds. However this does prove that others are seeing beyond the 
PC. The Atari it seems is also a popular third party development concern. 
Wouldn't it be great to have a mass market computer with the ease of use 
of our beloved Atari combined with the power of a slightly upgraded 
Falcon?

A new TOS based computer would not only have the support of the existing 
Atari community along with all the innovative programmers that go with it. 
Lots of inexpensive software would also be available for it. Some of which 
now performs better than their PC equivalents.  Neon Grafix is a good 
example as is Apex media. It is written to take advantage of most extra 
hardware such as 040 processor boards as well as work very fast on the 
original machine. Of course a new computer could not just be a straight 
rehash of the original Falcon 030. Any designer of a new system would have 
to consider the failings of the original design.  The processor speed must 
be increased of course, along with the bus speed. The operating system 
would have to undergo a pretty big overhaul with features like long file 
names being added. The minimum screen resolution would have to be pretty 
high with none of the slow down problems that the Falcon suffered from in 
true colour mode. Of course compatibility modes should also be offered. 
However the most important aspect would be making the machine known to the 
general public and maybe more importantly having the software available on 
launch. Another problem is getting the machine on the market for an 
affordable price.

Some of you may think that all this is a pipe dream. What must be taken 
consideration of though, is the fact that the PC boom is slowing down. 
Even the none computer fanatics I have spoken to are wise to the PC 
upgrading syndrome. The reason why people buy PCs is that they are given 
no alternative by the salesmen, who in turn do not normally know what they 
are talking about anyway! In recent times we have been given glimmers of 
hope by C-lab.  Some of you may think that the PC is too deeply embedded 
into the market.  This would be a very fair comment, but the fact remains 
that not everyone can afford œ2000 on a new Pentium computer.  You have to 
remember that although they could buy a cheaper PC all the latest software 
is written for the fastest processor available. On an Atari platform, 
however, most of the software is highly optimised and works very well on 
the lowest common denominator.

All that is needed now is for someone with a bit of marketing muscle and 
money to see light in the idea. Have no delusions. The market gap is 
there.  Remember that contrary to what the media would have you believe, 
home computers are not as widespread as you would think.  There are more 
non users than users. This means that whoever is intelligent enough to tap 
into the non user market first with a cheap, easy to use computer before 
the big guns get there first will be onto a potential gold mine.

** FEELNEON.IMG **
Neon 3D. A professional 3D renderer for the Falcon. Could a new machine 
bring this power to the mass public?

** FEELPAP.IMG **
Papyrus Gold can hold its own against similar packages on machines that 
are supposed to be 10 times more powerful.

** FEELWIN.IMG **
Win Rec showed off the Falcons incredible sound capability for free!

Simon Wyndham