A reply to Open Letters
to the Amiga Community
dated (9/14/99 & 9/17/99)
from Thomas J. Schmidt
President & CEO
Amiga Inc.
> *** Forwarded message, originally written by Aaron Ruscetta on 20-Sep-99 ***
> <>
>
> To: Thomas J. Schmidt
> President & CEO
> Amiga Inc.
>
> From: Aaron Ruscetta
> President, Image Architects
> Former President, VP and Secretary, Amiga Atlanta Inc.
> Current Board Member, Amiga Atlanta, Inc.
> Amiga Programmer & Developer
>
> Re: Open Letters to the Amiga Community (9/14/99 & 9/17/99)
>
> cc: The World Wide Amiga Community
>
> Dear Mr. Schmidt and managing staff
> of Gateway's Amiga Inc. subsidiary:
>
> Congratulations. With your announcement of Sept. 14th, 1999, I think
> you have now established a clear path to accomplishing what two previous
> trustee bankruptcy's, endless legal wrangling and 15 years of corrupt
> monopolist competitors have failed to do: you will finally succeed in
> killing the Amiga (at least the name, anyway, since nothing can kill
> the spirit).
>
> Your assertion that the Amiga is not "just" a box is a thoroughly
> correct one, though every conclusion you build from that point belies a
> complete ignorance of what makes the Amiga technology so unique, so
> empowering and so inspiring that it spawned a fanatically dedicated and
> extraordinarily creative community of millions. A community who's
> spirit, like the Amiga itself, is so durable, resilient and adaptive
> that it has already survived without visible support for seven long
> years in an environment where change is measured in days.
>
> The vessel that holds the spirit of the Amiga has always been and
> will continue to be One Box, whether seen as a single computer or the
> entire body of its components. One Box so accessible in its simplicity,
> so diverse in its applications, so efficient in its distribution of
> function and so integrated in its form that it holds nearly infinite
> possibility. From its One amazingly compact, fully integrated, priority
> preemptive, object oriented, multi-tasking, multi-threaded Operating
> System to the custom, multi-processor hardware architecture to the
> innovative graphical interface to the video standards compatibility and
> multimedia delivery, that One Box set levels of flexibility and
> capability in 1985 that took its peers a full decade to approach. Even
> after development of the Amiga's technology had been sidelined for
> years, the genius of its design could only be challenged by brute force,
> with behemoths that swallowed up 10 times the resources and burned up 10
> times the processing power, like rocket powered ox carts attempting to
> fly like helicopters.
>
> For someone to suggest that the free flying marvel of the helicopter,
> that the spirit of the Amiga, could somehow be realized by a software
> interface layer riding on an interpreted emulation engine wedged into
> foreign operating systems floating on TCP stacks cabled to the
> internet... well, infinitely absurd can only begin to describe the image
> of it. Even an ox cart looks like comfortable and efficient transport
> when compared to straddling a saddle glued to an apple crate lashed to
> the back of a tap dancing pig on roller blades.
>
> In hearing your plans for the future I am reminded of the old saw,
> "three's the charm". If there's any truth to that, then the failure of
> Amiga Incorporated through the bankruptcy of Gateway is inevitable now.
> Like the two previous owners of the Amiga who refused to help it grow or
> allow it to fly on its own, you will be burned up in the commodity
> market exhaust of rocket powered ox carts. It will mark the final
> chapter in the book of clone computer makers who could neither see the
> brilliance nor hear the spirit of the Amiga while it was in their trust.
>
> I think Jim Collas saw and heard the Amiga. I know that he listened
> to it's community, that he held the torch out for your vacant eyes and
> told its story for your deaf ears. It is a sickening shame that Gateway
> abandoned his promise and commitments so completely that he had to walk
> away; his integrity in doing so is to be greatly admired. I would hope
> his energy and integrity will stay with the Amiga spirit, that he'll
> follow it with us to the next incarnation of genius that is already
> rising from the ashes. Though a bit hard to view from here, it's looking
> a lot like some cool kind of helicopter, hovercraft, Harrier jump jet
> hybrid; definitely nothing of cart wheels or roller blades about it, so
> it's sure to be a brilliant ride!
>
> --- 9/16/99
>
> Addendum, 9/18/99 (justice?):
>
> Your Open Letter of 9/17/99 more clearly and openly acknowledges that
> Gateway and Amiga Incorporated intend to quite thoroughly abandon both
> the community and spirit of the Amiga. The honesty of that letter is
> appreciated, even if most of its message is not.
>
> One point does suggest, however, that Gateway harbors some regret for
> the neglect and abuse inflicted on the Amiga over the past two years.
> Your promise to leave the door open for licensing of the Amiga
> technologies, as empty and self serving as the gesture is, shows that
> you may still possess some conscience, some sense of the injustice in
> your other actions. Perhaps Gateway will make a surprising break from
> its traditional handling of Amiga policy and actually honor that
> commitment.
>
> Of course, if Gateway and Amiga Incorporated possess any real sense
> of conscience, integrity or justice, you will do what should have been
> done years ago: release the classic Amiga technology, in its entirety,
> as Open Source.
>
> By now it should be infinitely obvious to you that, regardless of
> your actions, it is impossible for anything to kill the spirit of Amiga.
> Since you refuse to see it, or hear it, or help it grow, continuing to
> obstruct its flight is a most mindless cruelty. I believe the deepest
> hope of the Amiga community is that you might recognize the futility of
> trying to restrain the Amiga spirit and arrive at the only rational,
> respectable course of action: set it free.
>
> Most Sincerely,
> Aaron Ruscetta
> 9/18/99
>
>
> *** End of forwarded message ***