*** Area: AMIGA                                   Date: 14 Jan 94 22:05:03
*** From: Ruud Dingemans (2:284/5.0)
*** To  : All
*** Subj: A Miner Interview

@PID: BWRA 3.01 [Eval]
@MSGID: 2:284/5.0 2d3198d0
This is an edited version of an on-line interview I had with with Jay Miner,
"Father of the Amiga", for the Dutch Amiga Magazine earlier this year (1993).
As it's published now, I guess it's all right to release it on the Nets.
Have fun reading, and if you think other people might like to read it too,
please spread it further, so that the Amiga community might benefit ;-)
On-Line publications are allowed to include this interview as long as
the contents remain basically unchanged. I've posted it in three parts.
Special thanks must, of course, go to Jay Miner.

Ruud Dingemans
Editor, Amiga Magazine
The Netherlands

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Hi there

This is Jay

Hello, Jay. Hope I "barged in" at a more convenient moment this time? And
don't let that computer fool you: my name still isn't Bruce, no matter what
it says ;)

He he he I was on the phone but I'm off now, let me see what time it is BRB

Ehm BRB? That's a new one for me.. ;)

It means Be Right Back. OK this is a good time, what did you want to jaw
about????

Well I'm on my way writing The Amiga Story for the Dutch Amiga Magazine.
Come some way up 'till now, but there still are some missing links in the
story. That's why I've made a couple of questions. For instance, this one:

Is it true that a military flight simulator partly inspired you in what to
create with the Amiga?

Yes, I had a friend who worked at Singer-Link, and he described how their
line register could get a lot more colors by holding the change in color,
rather than the absolute value, that inspired the HAM mode on the Amiga.

I had also heard that it was so impressive you wanted to create something
that could do that kind of flight sims on a small scale?

Yes, that's true, I loved the flight simulators, and wanted one (even a
cheaper one) at home. I saw the possibility for all kinds of "simulation".

Certainly true. Well another tidbit I wasn't quite sure of:
When & where was the Amiga officially launched by C=? (I've got differing
data on this one..)

Gee, I don't remember the date, but it was in New Your at the Lincoln Center.
I think it was about 1984.
Everyone got to bring their wives and we all had tuxedos, and stayed at a
fancy hotel in New Your. C= spent a lot of money on that launch.

Yeah I guess they won't be having too many party's at the moment.. ;)
(June '93 that is - RD)

Not anymore, for sure, looks like they are on the way out.  Well that's the
way it goes when you don't advertise right.

I did see *some* ads in BYTE etc. these days..? (With the "Cartoon" guy - RD)

I missed them, were they good ones?? Most just pass over the Amiga's
advantages.

Well they have had some criticism from USA Amiga users, they thought the ads
were too 'playful'. And Byte itself didn't even mention the AGA chips in the
review.. At least not its strong points. But here in the Netherlands it
ain't much better then in the States I must say.

Yet Amiga sales are much better over there aren't they??

Yes, I think so, but a lot of the Amiga's sold here are used mainly for
games - which hinders the development of serious Amiga software a bit.

Yes, C= has pushed games and video to the loss of many other applications
that make the Amiga look good.

True.. But I guess that they just don't have the money to advertise as much
or as good as the MS-DOS industry?

Well they still have enough to give million dollar salarys to themselves.
Good Public Relations doesnt cost that much if you have an imagination. I
just think they are brain dead.

(Continued)

--- GEcho/386 1.01+
 * Origin:   .  .  Magic Land  .  .  +31-73-430261/420529 (2:284/5)

*** Area: AMIGA                                   Date: 14 Jan 94 22:05:04
*** From: Ruud Dingemans (2:284/5.0)
*** To  : All
*** Subj: A Miner Interview

@PID: BWRA 3.01 [Eval]
@MSGID: 2:284/5.0 2d3198d1
(Part two of the Jay Miner interview, mid-1993)


;) You won't be alone in that...! (Ever read the international Amiga Fido
echo..? Just about everyone from the States says the same.. ;) But I see
my time is running on.. So I'd like to go to the next question, ok?

Sure.

What Amiga hardware do you own and use yourself? (If any... ;)

I have a 2000 with an 030 card, this BBS runs on, and I have a 4000 that C=
gave me at the Pasadena WOC show.

Any plans for future add-ons?

No not really, with my medical treatments, I dont have enough time to keep
up with the BBS really.

Understandable.
Can you name some of your favorite Amiga hardware and utilities? (And how
about games?  ;)

Well, my favorite game is still Dungon Master, followed by Leasure Suit
Larry, followed by The Lemmings.  I don't have much add on hardware except
the GVP 030 card, which I love. I have a Flicker fixer in my 2000 and a flat
faced Zenith high speed monitor, which is the best pic I've seen on a
computer.

Slurp... ;)  And utils.. maybe PD?

Nothing lately, I like SysInfo a lot, and tool master.
(Jay probably means Tool Manager here, it showed up on his BBS - RD)

Ok. Well now for a real classic:
What were the differences between the Los Gatos "Ranger" and the
("WestChester"?) A2000? I thought both parties were going for a machine
with more slots...

Yes, but Los Gatos didn't like the vertical slots, and the "Ranger" looked a
lot like the A3000 actually.

Apart from the slot position, there must have been some other differing
goodies, right?

Not that I remember, we were both constrained by the chip set, and cost to
mainly a 2000-like machine.

How did you get involved in chip design in the first place? (For instance,
what projects were you involved in before you were working at Atari?)

Oh goodness, I've been designing chips since 1964. Before Atari?? Well let
me think, I was at Synertek designing watch and computer and many misc
types of chips.

Technically speaking, what do YOU think are the Amiga's major assets when
comparing to its competition (the Atari ST and the MS-DOS computers, for
instance.) Everybody seems to have his/her opinion on this, ranging from
Workbench to one of the custom chips...

I think it is the operating system. Actually I think we could have done a
much better job on the chips, allowing more memory bus expansion and
more standard display modes.

Probably (with enough time... Sure, but I guess any manufacturer gives its
designers a deadline, yes?)

That's very true, and engineering is the art of comprimise too. Lots of the
people wanted a cheap games machine, others, me included, wanted a good
expandable computer.

Glad you went in that direction or we would be talking Nintendo right now..
;) Is there *anyone* from the original Los Gatos crew still working on the
Amiga?

Not that I know of, most of them are doing a computer for the "3DO" machine.

Yeah, when I heard who were behind that machine I kinda thought "Phew, the
Amiga Story all over again..!" ;) What do you think of the 3DO?

Well, I'm slightly negative on the whole idea that people are going to play
and communicate through their TV's.  I like the computer, but I doubt the
market.

OK. What do you think of C='s new "Hope for the Nineties", the A1200?

Without good PR AND ADVERTIZING, AND DEVELOPER SUPPORT NOTHING WILL MAKE A
DIFFERENCE. C= IS DOOMED.

Ah. But do you think C= has handled the technical evolution of the Amiga
adequately, the last couple of years? (I'll leave the marketing side out of
it...  ;)

I think they have done a good job, I haven't seen their new chipset yet
but it sounds good. They should have gone with CMOS a long time ago, but
their in-house factory doesn't make CMOS, so greedy they are, they
wouldn't farm the chips out for manufacture, so they are still making NMOS.

Other than that (and if the new chipset does what it is said to do) I
think they have done well, but somewhat slow.

Yeah; a lot of people think they could have gone a lot faster on the AGA
range, considering the amount of external technology they built in
(CrossDOS, probably HAM-E...)

But their main prob now is the software, and marketing (PR). The
competition has developed good software, maybe it doesn't multitask or have
as good a windows system, but it's what average people want.

They have got a good lot of applause on developing AmigaDOS 2 and 3, though.

Yes, but the average user just wants to click on windows and have business
applications that has all the features. I lump a lot of software in the
business category, and they don't see advantage in multitasking 'cause C=
doesn't advertise the advantages of it.

The Amiga will always be a special computer to a LOT of people, including
myself. Which factors do you thing contributed the most to making the Amiga
"more than just a machine"?

Again I think the operating system is the main thing. We should put up a
statue to Carl Sassenrath.

(continued)

--- GEcho/386 1.01+
 * Origin:   .  .  Magic Land  .  .  +31-73-430261/420529 (2:284/5)

*** Area: AMIGA                                   Date: 20 Jan 94 23:36:01
*** From: Ruud Dingemans (2:284/5.0)
*** To  : All
*** Subj: Miner Interview, Part III

@PID: BWRA 3.01 [Eval]
@MSGID: 2:284/5.0 2d399750
(Part three of the Jay Miner interview, mid-1993)

RD: OK. Well I really want to know this one. You didn't REALLY ask
your dog Mitchy for approval on every new design sheet... did you? ;)

JM: Well.... I might have watched her sometimes, and Dave said she would nod
when something looked right, so who knows???

:)  Oh yeah, who was "Lorraine" (the prototype Amiga - RD) actually named
after? (Someone's wife, I guess?)

Yes, she was the wife of our pres. Dave Morse.

Now being one of the most experienced designers in the 'biz', what
technical developments or projects (Amiga or non-Amiga) have really caught
your eye lately? Are there still gadgets that can make the Padre go "Wow!"?

Well I just finished up at a company that does "implantable defibrillators".
It is a powerful "smart" pacemaker that can treat a heart attack with
various shock therapies. Anyway, the whole medical electronics field is
going to really expand with the new computers and chips.

Good chance it will if an old hand like you says so.. ;) Is there actually
a difference between such an implantabale defib and a normal pacemaker?

Oh yes, very much so. First the power to shock is much greater, 2nd the
detectors are smart digital and analog filters and waveform analyzers, that
can discriminate a real heart attack, and apply gradually increasing shock
therapies; and they can save the data inside it for doctor readout later,
even if the guy should die.

(Wow.. ;) Sounds like a gadget that might save quite some lives in the
future... That was your latest project.. Was the Amiga the last "computer"
you worked on?

Yes to both, I didn't design the one on the market now, but I did an
improved computer for the next one, and improved the serial communications
port that drives a coil under the skin for bi-directional computer
communications.

Sounds like a project worth being in.. Maybe even more so than the Amiga.
But that computer actually "saved" a lot of lives from MS-DOS, though.. ;)

Yes, I have had many people tell me how it literally saved them,
suicide, loneliness, computer education etc.

Even suicide??

Yes, one man lost his wife, and was going to kill himself. He saw an amiga
and was sucked into it, and got so involved, and loved it so, he wasn't
depressed anymore.

Well there you have it... ;) Can't do much better for a computer. Well Jay
I have to round it off now, but here's one to be complete:

Just for the statistics Jay, when and where were you born? (So we can
mention that for the records.)

I was born in Prescott, Arizona in 1932.
And I have to go eat dinner real soon.

;) I can hear it rumble from here I think.. ;) Well anyway Jay I want to
thank you very much for having this chat with me, more or less representing
the Dutch and Belgian Amiga fans. Any message from the "Padre" to his flock
in these parts?

Yes, take good care of the Huge indoor watersled in Rotterdam. I'm coming
back one of these days.

Please do..! We'll give you a warm welcome. Thanks for designing such a
great computer Jay. Maybe talk to you real soon..!

OK key you later.

Exiting Chat Mode...

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