Awesome and just another testament to show that had silly Commodore actually learnt how powerful the Amiga was. They would probably still be around today building Super AAA Chipset Amigas for us to enjoy and perhaps Gates and Jobs would not be household names. Oh well one can dream and who knows with all the interest now perhaps that journey might kick off again.
Warms the heart. I was always annoyed when people that didn't own Amigas talked about it like it is only good for games. Show them this and tell'em to suck it.
Awesome video guys. This footage is priceless. It was amazing to see the Amigas in there and that gentleman was very intelligent and made some great point. Thanks for this! -- Bill
Commodore intended the Amiga line as a more serious business machine, rather than a gaming device. They even tried to get rid of the "toy store computer" image built with the C64, which was still their most successful product. They were used at NASA illustrates how reliable and powerful, yet cheap these systems were.
The Amigas at NASA: Years ago when I wrote my final Design-(tech)-History essay at collage I came across a webpage with this interview in textformat. This material was great. Could only print out a copy for reference compilation for the teacher and link reference it in the essay itself and cross fingers the link would not become a dud too soon. Terrific to finally be able see the interview. Bloody good job guys!
It still amazes me, even today, that companies reject certain solutions on the simple basis that it's either "not Microsoft" or "it's not expensive enough" as though they were the only two measures of the right tools for a given task. In the case of the Amiga, it was perceived as only one thing - a "gaming" machine, but at least they acknowledged that what made it great as a gaming machine also made it great for number crunching, that and the fact that Commodore were very open with the technical specification too.
In modern times since Xbox 360 and GeForce 8800 GTX (CUDA), PC gaming GPUs have evolved into GpGPU i.e. excellent for mass data processing for games and non-games.
Remember seeing some "sneaked out" photo of an Amiga 1000 or a 2000 (you had to look close) from insida NASA in a computer magazine here in Sweden (I guess it was around 1990 or something). I was amazed the article did not say much as I remember what it actually was used for. Even though I was an Amiga fan I thought maybe it's just for some personal use or something. But now I know that it was not, it was actually critical hardware/software for NASA! Pretty nice!
The Amiga 500 plus was the first computer to "WOW" me on just about every aspect, Graphics, sound, speed of loading, crisp Workbench OS. Before this, i was used to ZX-Spectrums, C-64's and Atari 2600's. So it felt like a big leap in tech for me. My only regreat is that i only really used the Amiga as a games machine and not a serious Computer to program, make music, word process or anything like that. For my college work i just used my uncles old 'hand me down' Amstrad 1512.
At that time Amiga's not only offered a more stable platform that early windows endeavour's, it also offered better rescue options if a system failed as it could be rebooted very quickly. Part of the early problems with PCs were the fact processors and clones could have inherent bugs in them like the Pentium floating point bug whereas the Motorola 68xxx series were well seasoned, tried and tested creatures.
Certain 68060 revision has FPU bugs e.g. the MMULibs software checks the revision of the chip when the computer boots and disables some problematic features. Doing that has a slight hit on performance but it's probably not noticeable. The Amiga 2500 has 68020 or 68030 CPUs. Full documentation is important for NASA and Commodore provided the documentation.
@@blast4722 100% correct .We know that the Amiga had multitasking, but it lacked memory protection. Guru Meditation errors were quite common, especially when opening multiple applications. I believe that everything related to the Amiga is very idealized, while the reality was not like that.
I laughed pretty hard at the comparison. I'm not even an Amiga (yes, I'm Atari) but this made me get "something in my eye", it just goes to show how well optimised and powerful these computers were. I never understood the hype for the MD/SNES (even though I had an MD myself) when both the Amiga and the ST were doing much more complex things for a longer period of time.
I had an Amiga A3000 with a 7 port serial card. I would attach several terminals and run shells on each serial port. This was a multitasking multiuser system. Graphics programs could be run on the main screen at the same time. If I’d had enough terminals, I could have 8 users on the Amiga A3000 at the same time.
My era. Gary Jones got me hired. I worked with Charlie Michaels in getting parts for the interfaces from Amiga to IBM. I have four C-64s if someone wants them.
It was made by Amiga Atlanta / Bob Castro. Not sure if he still about. Best quality I can find. There is a slightly longer version on Cloanto Facebook page i believe.
The hardware designed for the operating system optimized totall. amiga is verry stable. Exept for mine. I always thinks Why in hell is windows 3.11 so big. its no diferent from amiga os ?
Hahaha....PC hardware architecture was really about as bad as it is now!! So true!! Windows OS sucks!!! I think the Amiga OS was it's time far ahead and still much better then Windows! I really do hate Windows!
I hate it when people rip old analog, already not-the-best quality video footage into digital form, then compress it so much it becomes all blocky, and then after this CROP it from 4:3 aspect ratio into 16:9 and upload it to UA-cam. I don't understand, WHY? Why are you reducing picture quality even more, why do you want to leave a big portion of the original information out from the video? What is so wrong with 4:3? The original video was shot in that format, the camera angles and positions were thought out with 4:3 aspect ratio in mind, the original editing was done with 4:3 viewing in mind, why is it not good enough for you? So frustrating, especially when the subject is of interest :( With this video it's even more ridiculous since it talks about retro computers that had their displays in 4:3, way before computer monitors were widescreen...
At the time they needed the Amigas, Linux and BSD didn't exist... only full fat UNIX. That is why the DEC Alphas were mentioned. Too expensive, remember? Linux wasn't released till 1992. So the only choice would have been DEC Alpha or other similar systems ranging in price from the high 10s of thousands per system (for a mini) to hundreds of thousands (high end - close to the million mark) for the full large system. Add on top of that a UNIX license (per processor or per seat depending on the UNIX variant), and now you have spent a helluva lot of money... not to mention, DEC would never open up their schematics to allow NASA to create the custom interface hardware necessary to the job. Amiga 1000s on the other hand cost (at release time) $1285.00 per unit... a considerable price difference... also, no extra OS needed... what came with it was fine as the OS was built to be multitasking and realtime from jump street. What made that possible is the custom chipset, good engineering principles on design, and good software writers. Additionally, Commodore Business Machines opened up their schematics and other engineering sheets to NASA for use so that custom hardware could be designed and implemented. I know you're a fan of Linux/BSD and so am I... but it just wasn't an option then, and even if it were, the necessary hardware was way to expensive for the realtime access needed... additionally, at the time, Linux would have been far less mature an OS as well (had it been released then) and would not have handled the realtime aspects well. I don't know if you remember early Linux, but I do, and it is a far cry from what we have today. There were stability issues, timing issues, compatibility issues, etc... they got ironed out over time, but it took a few versions to iron out a lot of it... some of it still exists today. Back in 1985, there was no better overall system than the Amiga. It had great graphics, sound, RAM, realtime OS included (GUI), and a shitload of expansion options all for that introductory price. I was never able to afford one back then (I had an Atari 800xl with a cassette drive and a single floppy drive) which was expensive too... but I loved my little machine till lightning got it. 😫
IndifferentDude Actually it was in january of 1986, the Amigas were introduced after that. And as it says in the interview they didn't handle the space shuttle directly, but the user telemetry... So it wasn't either funny or accurate your remark on the accident that resulted in death of the astronauts...
NASA used Amigas AND ATARI STs . There were some STs used to make computations on trajectory .
Awesome and just another testament to show that had silly Commodore actually learnt how powerful the Amiga was. They would probably still be around today building Super AAA Chipset Amigas for us to enjoy and perhaps Gates and Jobs would not be household names.
Oh well one can dream and who knows with all the interest now perhaps that journey might kick off again.
Warms the heart. I was always annoyed when people that didn't own Amigas talked about it like it is only good for games. Show them this and tell'em to suck it.
These days, GpGPUs are being used for AI/DL/ML and data processing military applications.
"They don't like the Amiga because it doesn't cost enough."
Interesting quote... ;-)
Great vid, thanx!!
CLASSIC AMIGA Still being used at NASA TO THIS DAY
Awesome video guys. This footage is priceless. It was amazing to see the Amigas in there and that gentleman was very intelligent and made some great point. Thanks for this! -- Bill
I still have my Amiga 4000. It is one my most prized possessions. Only Amiga makes it possible!
Commodore intended the Amiga line as a more serious business machine, rather than a gaming device. They even tried to get rid of the "toy store computer" image built with the C64, which was still their most successful product. They were used at NASA illustrates how reliable and powerful, yet cheap these systems were.
The Amigas at NASA: Years ago when I wrote my final Design-(tech)-History essay at collage I came across a webpage with this interview in textformat. This material was great. Could only print out a copy for reference compilation for the teacher and link reference it in the essay itself and cross fingers the link would not become a dud too soon. Terrific to finally be able see the interview. Bloody good job guys!
Was aware that NASA was using Amiga. This video was new to me. Superb. 🙂
It still amazes me, even today, that companies reject certain solutions on the simple basis that it's either "not Microsoft" or "it's not expensive enough" as though they were the only two measures of the right tools for a given task.
In the case of the Amiga, it was perceived as only one thing - a "gaming" machine, but at least they acknowledged that what made it great as a gaming machine also made it great for number crunching, that and the fact that Commodore were very open with the technical specification too.
In modern times since Xbox 360 and GeForce 8800 GTX (CUDA), PC gaming GPUs have evolved into GpGPU i.e. excellent for mass data processing for games and non-games.
Remember seeing some "sneaked out" photo of an Amiga 1000 or a 2000 (you had to look close) from insida NASA in a computer magazine here in Sweden (I guess it was around 1990 or something). I was amazed the article did not say much as I remember what it actually was used for. Even though I was an Amiga fan I thought maybe it's just for some personal use or something. But now I know that it was not, it was actually critical hardware/software for NASA! Pretty nice!
The Amiga 500 plus was the first computer to "WOW" me on just about every aspect, Graphics, sound, speed of loading, crisp Workbench OS. Before this, i was used to ZX-Spectrums, C-64's and Atari 2600's. So it felt like a big leap in tech for me.
My only regreat is that i only really used the Amiga as a games machine and not a serious Computer to program, make music, word process or anything like that. For my college work i just used my uncles old 'hand me down' Amstrad 1512.
Wow, thanks for sharing this video, the amiga never stops impressing
The best part was the comparison with Macs and PCs.
Amiga still the best! Glad I still have my two Amiga 1200 computers!
I knew it many years back so a sent an email but never got an answer. Thanks for this vid.
Amiga will be always in my heart (and on my desk :-D)
Nice! We all love amiga whatta machine rock solid. Our studio has 3 amiga 500 and 1 amiga 1200 for retro!
At that time Amiga's not only offered a more stable platform that early windows endeavour's, it also offered better rescue options if a system failed as it could be rebooted very quickly. Part of the early problems with PCs were the fact processors and clones could have inherent bugs in them like the Pentium floating point bug whereas the Motorola 68xxx series were well seasoned, tried and tested creatures.
Certain 68060 revision has FPU bugs e.g. the MMULibs software checks the revision of the chip when the computer boots and disables some problematic features. Doing that has a slight hit on performance but it's probably not noticeable.
The Amiga 2500 has 68020 or 68030 CPUs.
Full documentation is important for NASA and Commodore provided the documentation.
Amiga OS was famous from instability, e.g. unfamous "guru mediation" and also that OS was completely stripped from any memory protection.
@@blast4722 100% correct .We know that the Amiga had multitasking, but it lacked memory protection. Guru Meditation errors were quite common, especially when opening multiple applications. I believe that everything related to the Amiga is very idealized, while the reality was not like that.
if the commodore amiga had not gone bankrupt could have been a great computer in the present times
I laughed pretty hard at the comparison. I'm not even an Amiga (yes, I'm Atari) but this made me get "something in my eye", it just goes to show how well optimised and powerful these computers were.
I never understood the hype for the MD/SNES (even though I had an MD myself) when both the Amiga and the ST were doing much more complex things for a longer period of time.
Great!! Thanks for sharing this vid! AMIGA FOREVER!
amiga is still out there in your laptops phones desktops
I had an Amiga A3000 with a 7 port serial card. I would attach several terminals and run shells on each serial port. This was a multitasking multiuser system. Graphics programs could be run on the main screen at the same time. If I’d had enough terminals, I could have 8 users on the Amiga A3000 at the same time.
& even Amiga's used NASA (sorry NASP, 'DJ' software - don't ask!)
Even Nasa used Amigas!
Fantastic Document!
Amiga Ruuleez on space! 🤞
AMIGAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Dam Right!!!!!!
My era. Gary Jones got me hired. I worked with Charlie Michaels in getting parts for the interfaces from Amiga to IBM. I have four C-64s if someone wants them.
Always was & STILL is....ONLY AMIGA :-)
Like I was always telling people... Amiga Rulez! :)
Hal was a standup guy and fair to deal with.
If you wanna show someone just what the Amiga was capable of, SHOW'EM THIS!!! :D
The Amiga was, and still is, the best computer ever released IMO.
It still is?
that s fab i still use my amiga
*"Only Amiga Makes it Possible!!!"*
whoa 😻
That's why Amiga is the best computer ever.
I bet you used a PC to type that.
Did Commodore use this in their Amiga commercials?
They were bankrupt before this was filmed.
Wow👍
Wow
wow, amazing, didn't know that, I bet you can't get the software though lol
Wow!!!!
144p ?
...nice...
yeah micro$soft, it's celled efficiency, something you don't have !!!
Is there a high-resolution video of this anywhere? Who does this video belong to?
It was made by Amiga Atlanta / Bob Castro. Not sure if he still about. Best quality I can find. There is a slightly longer version on Cloanto Facebook page i believe.
Acually just found a slightly better hig res and the full version here ua-cam.com/video/ZxW3E7UMrKM/v-deo.html Enjoy!
Amiga is what people said Apple was.
The hardware designed for the operating system optimized totall. amiga is verry stable. Exept for mine. I always thinks Why in hell is windows 3.11 so big. its no diferent from amiga os ?
Hahaha....PC hardware architecture was really about as bad as it is now!! So true!! Windows OS sucks!!! I think the Amiga OS was it's time far ahead and still much better then Windows! I really do hate Windows!
honestly, it's still better than Windows is today... or MacOS... in almost every metric.
I hate it when people rip old analog, already not-the-best quality video footage into digital form, then compress it so much it becomes all blocky, and then after this CROP it from 4:3 aspect ratio into 16:9 and upload it to UA-cam. I don't understand, WHY? Why are you reducing picture quality even more, why do you want to leave a big portion of the original information out from the video? What is so wrong with 4:3? The original video was shot in that format, the camera angles and positions were thought out with 4:3 aspect ratio in mind, the original editing was done with 4:3 viewing in mind, why is it not good enough for you?
So frustrating, especially when the subject is of interest :( With this video it's even more ridiculous since it talks about retro computers that had their displays in 4:3, way before computer monitors were widescreen...
I uploaded this at a higher rate only just notice UA-cam for some reason has changed its format, might re-load if I can get permission again.
amigang
Thanks for the response, you should really do that.
sorry, it was done using a PC :P
NASA is weird... Tender parts for launch vehicles like the Shuttle to the lowest bidders but baulking at Amiga because their are cheap...
I guess they never heard about Linux or *BSD at the time.
At the time they needed the Amigas, Linux and BSD didn't exist... only full fat UNIX. That is why the DEC Alphas were mentioned. Too expensive, remember?
Linux wasn't released till 1992. So the only choice would have been DEC Alpha or other similar systems ranging in price from the high 10s of thousands per system (for a mini) to hundreds of thousands (high end - close to the million mark) for the full large system. Add on top of that a UNIX license (per processor or per seat depending on the UNIX variant), and now you have spent a helluva lot of money... not to mention, DEC would never open up their schematics to allow NASA to create the custom interface hardware necessary to the job. Amiga 1000s on the other hand cost (at release time) $1285.00 per unit... a considerable price difference... also, no extra OS needed... what came with it was fine as the OS was built to be multitasking and realtime from jump street. What made that possible is the custom chipset, good engineering principles on design, and good software writers. Additionally, Commodore Business Machines opened up their schematics and other engineering sheets to NASA for use so that custom hardware could be designed and implemented. I know you're a fan of Linux/BSD and so am I... but it just wasn't an option then, and even if it were, the necessary hardware was way to expensive for the realtime access needed... additionally, at the time, Linux would have been far less mature an OS as well (had it been released then) and would not have handled the realtime aspects well. I don't know if you remember early Linux, but I do, and it is a far cry from what we have today. There were stability issues, timing issues, compatibility issues, etc... they got ironed out over time, but it took a few versions to iron out a lot of it... some of it still exists today. Back in 1985, there was no better overall system than the Amiga. It had great graphics, sound, RAM, realtime OS included (GUI), and a shitload of expansion options all for that introductory price. I was never able to afford one back then (I had an Atari 800xl with a cassette drive and a single floppy drive) which was expensive too... but I loved my little machine till lightning got it. 😫
So I guess when the challenger exploded the Amiga was doing a "Guru meditation"!
IndifferentDude Actually it was in january of 1986, the Amigas were introduced after that. And as it says in the interview they didn't handle the space shuttle directly, but the user telemetry...
So it wasn't either funny or accurate your remark on the accident that resulted in death of the astronauts...
IndifferentDude You are SICK, sir.
poor quality