Subject: Nice to be back again
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 20:21:25 -0500
From: fleecy moss
Organization: NetReach InterNetNews
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Hey there 8-)
first of all, apologies for my long absence.
I have been working in the background on
Amiga issues, and trying to stay in touch,
but employment, family, sickness and just
pure plain being knackered have kept me
apart for far too long.
I am writing this mail because there are
some pretty horrendous rumours flying around
about what I have and have not said, about
how I hate ppl, am issuing death threats,
will work for MS, have breast implants, and
a lot of other crap which is fit only for a
Hollywood 'D' movie.
I am writing some regular columns for Amazing
now, a great magazine, that has kindly given
me a home, and which has brought both Fletcher
Haug and Don Hicks together, two of the brightest
and best in Amiga journalism. We are all determined
to provide the best possible home for the Amiga
community, past, present and future, or
at least to the US portion of the community -
until we get foreign distributors anyway.
I have a big article coming up about my thoughts
re the Collas PR, so I don't want to reveal too
much, but hearing that I had made death threats
against Schindler has sort of forced my hand.
For the record
1 - I am ECSTATIC that Collas has taken charge. To
me it shows a) that Gateway have finally
gotten serious about the Amiga and b) that
Amiga now has a very talented leader with a
proven track record for getting things done.
He brings experience, industry wide respect
and contacts, and a direct line to the very
top of Gateway, because that is were he has
been for the past few years.
2 - It is great news that Havemose has been taken on.
He is a very talented and determined task manager
and once things start moving, he is exactly the
sort of person I would chose to run and push
a technical project team.
3 - I would like to see a public announcement about and
commitment to Bill McEwen. Whilst not coming from
the Amiga community, he has worked tirelessly
behind the scenes to promote and inform the Amiga
community, irrespective
of how the Amiga community may have received the
end result. A few ppl are pissed at Bill, but you
should never shoot the postman when he brings you
bad news, or worse, no news.
4 - The announcement is a start. It does make vague cotton
wool promises but also promises 2 products. I hope
that after the empty promises of the last 2 years,
Collas understands that if he says there will be
product, there had better be product. I also caution
the community, and this is just a reiteration of
what many have said since the term Digital
Convergence raised its head, that Amiga Inc may not,
and do not have to go in a direction that the
community requires. Like it or not (and I do), there
is a revolution coming in digital information markets,
and that is where Amiga Inc should head, to give
Amiga the success it finally deserves.
If Collas's strategy is one of produce and licence,
then hopefully, there will be big opportunites for third
parties to target the many markets our community can
provide, whether Hardware, with Index, DKB, Metabox,
ACT, Villagetronic and P5, or SW, with Paul Nolan, H&P,
NordicGlobal, Finale, Amitrix, Vapor, Omnipresence,
Thule, Digita, Final Writer, Cloanto, the hundreds of
games developers, the thousands of shareware.
We have a new man, one I
have a lot of faith in, and respect for - of course, only
time will tell - as always.
5 - Schindler. I have no personal issues with Schindler. I had a
lot of fun with him. He has a great wife and kids and
really is a nice guy. Ppl can, have and will make their own
judgements relating to the efforts of the last two years,
his performance and business acumen.
Collas hasn't got where he is today without being a
good judge of character, and if he is the new boss,
then he will make the calls as he sees them. My
position is already known. However, the Amiga
has always been, and rightly so, bigger than any
one person. We need to look to the future, ensure
that Collas knows the views and opinions of the
community, and that we come to work together.
Anyone who say him at the press conference
in London knows that he is a man who will
talk, will listen and will rethink his position. This
is a man with whom we can hopefully do business.
There is a lot of anger at how the community has been
treated but we have to make sure we don't blow
an opportunity to influence the future by continuing
to stay angry. Collas could have stayed more than
comfortably off at the highest level of Gateway, but
he has seen something worth pursuing. We have to make
sure that he has the good company of the community
along with him.
6 - McEwen and I are not getting married. Despite my fondness for
"Nuclear wings" Bill,
I am too fond of Elspeth and the kids. Getting to know him is
one of
the best things that happened to me at Amiga Inc, and the Amiga
community has a real friend in him. Hell, he is so much a part
of the
community that Cooksey has sent him over 100 mails - if that
isn't
official membership material, then I don't know what is.
In short, I am very happy that Collas is now in charge, Havemose is full
time
and we finally have some momentum. St Louis will be a big test, and I
hope
we will not have a repeat of the "no news" of the past. There are many
issues
to be resolved, the status of the classic, developer support, user
evangelism,
strategic and product partners, licencing, how QNX fits into the picture
-
these are issues that have been waiting 2 years to be solved, I sense
that someone as smart as Collas has proved
himself to be in the past will address them all, and more.
For the first time in a long time I think there may be a final crack
in the darkness that has surrounded us for the past five years.
.....and if any wacky rumours start flying, please just ask me.
Don't forget, to see my full feelings about the Collas PR, McEwen's
brief flirtation with wigs, the future, plus Fletcher "Are you
looking at me?" Haug's incisive editorial and Uncle Don's
view of the new faces at Amiga Inc, steal, teleport, smuggle, swim the
Atlantic, or simply buy Amazing Amiga...because Amazing ppl write for
it,
and Amazing ppl read it.
...now I couldn't have made that last line up if I drank American beer,
could I ;-)
--
Have a nice K 8-)
fleecy moss *--* myself, my community, my world *--* husband/father
KOSHan (Kommunity Operating System & Hardware) http://www.kosh.net
"Where is the life we have lost in living?" T.S.Eliot
*--*--*--*--* Adventurer in the physical and the virtual *--*--*--*