Well, I, along with the rest of the Amiga world, was impressed to hear of the Gateway 2000 buyout of Amiga Technologies, and am convinced that it is defintely good news.
So apparently was the PC world - I first heard of the buyout in Computimes in the Irish Times, which to be fair actually mentions the Amiga more than most.
But the real surprise, as mentioned in the News Section, was to hear in mentioned alongside Apple on CNBC's Saturday morning computer show.
As far I'm concerned, it can only be good news for the Amiga is at last in the hands of a highly profitable company with the ability sell computers.
Of course, there is cause for concern - a large company like Gateway could easily eliminate competition by puchasing a small computer like the Amiga and simply stop making it, but fotunately that doesn't seem to be the case here.
For a start, Amiga Technologies is to be renamed Amiga International and its current president, Petro Tyschtschenko is to remain - so we can rule out any hostile moves against the Amiga on Gateway's half.
Many people are probably disappointed that dedicated Amiga followers Viscorp or Quikpak failed in their bids, but even a reasonably sized company such as Quikpak simply doesn't have the necessary capital to research a new machine quickly and then to effectively market it.
The problem with the Amiga has always been that the owners have been enthusiastic, but have failed to actually do something with it, due to incompetence and lack of funds.
Commodore's advertising department was legendary, although mythical is probably a better word - I challenge anyone to name more than two advertisements that Commodore ever ran for the Amiga, and ditto Escom - you've seen their ads, but for anything other than a PC?
This is one area where Gateway has proved itself - it is renowned for its customer relations, and it is adept at selling computers, shifting over a half million last year alone.
It would seem to be a case of - if anyone can, Gateway can.
