Journal fragmentate's Journal: Computer History Day
Friday, at the office, we had a "Computer History Day" where people brought their antiques in. Most people brought in 386's, and 486's. There were quite a few Commodore 64's, VIC20's, and even a Commodore 128. Three TRS-80's, and a Timex Sinclair also made it in. All machines had to be in working condition.
The only machine that was absent (until I got in) was the Commodore Amiga. Not one person had an Amiga. In fact, most people had no idea what an Amiga was.
My little computer that could is still in use today. I render 3D frames using Blender 3D and pass them to the Amiga for processing using ImageFX and some custom written hooks. So, that's what I demonstrated. All the while it was playing MP3's in 14-bit stereo sound (yes, 14-bit -- more on this later).
Not once did the MP3 skip. Which didn't really impress anyone. Not even in the slightest...
...until, I notified them that the machine was operating at 50MHz. Yes, 50MHz and it was crunching image data while playing an MP3 (192kbps). These machines were fabulous in their day. Just goes to show you what happens when something great is in the hands of a company that has a recto-cranial inversion.
The really amazing thing about the Amiga is how it even plays MP3's at all. You see, the Amiga only has 4 independent 8-bit sound registers. Two of the sound registers play on the left, two on the right. In spite of what you may think at first, you can't combine them and get 16-bit sound. Two of the bits are lost due to signing (one sound register has to always be positive, the other always has to be negative, the highest bit controls sign.) So, not only is this 50MHz machine having to decode the mp3, but also split the positive and negative swings of the audio to the 4 different registers. It's rather complex...
I was given a $400 "bonus" for having the most impressive machine there.
My Amiga 1200T (custom tower) is 13 years old, and still going strong with the following configuration:
Motorola 68060 CPU
128M PC100 RAM
120M Seagate 2.5" Internal IDE HD
240M Quantum 3.5" Internal IDE HD
10bT Ethernet (with BNC!)
64-bit 64M Pixel64 3D graphics card
They just don't make 'em like that anymore.
The only machine that was absent (until I got in) was the Commodore Amiga. Not one person had an Amiga. In fact, most people had no idea what an Amiga was.
My little computer that could is still in use today. I render 3D frames using Blender 3D and pass them to the Amiga for processing using ImageFX and some custom written hooks. So, that's what I demonstrated. All the while it was playing MP3's in 14-bit stereo sound (yes, 14-bit -- more on this later).
Not once did the MP3 skip. Which didn't really impress anyone. Not even in the slightest...
The really amazing thing about the Amiga is how it even plays MP3's at all. You see, the Amiga only has 4 independent 8-bit sound registers. Two of the sound registers play on the left, two on the right. In spite of what you may think at first, you can't combine them and get 16-bit sound. Two of the bits are lost due to signing (one sound register has to always be positive, the other always has to be negative, the highest bit controls sign.) So, not only is this 50MHz machine having to decode the mp3, but also split the positive and negative swings of the audio to the 4 different registers. It's rather complex...
I was given a $400 "bonus" for having the most impressive machine there.
My Amiga 1200T (custom tower) is 13 years old, and still going strong with the following configuration:
Motorola 68060 CPU
128M PC100 RAM
120M Seagate 2.5" Internal IDE HD
240M Quantum 3.5" Internal IDE HD
10bT Ethernet (with BNC!)
64-bit 64M Pixel64 3D graphics card
They just don't make 'em like that anymore.
