computer science

History of the Amiga

History of the Amiga is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of the Amiga rather than just read about it. In short: Amiga is a family of home computers that were designed and sold by the Amiga Corporation (and later by Commodore International) from 1985 to 1994. Amiga Corporation The Amiga's Original Chip Set, code-named Lorraine, was designed by the Amiga Corporation during the end of the first home video game boom.

Key takeaways

History of the Amiga belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect History of the Amiga to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of History of the Amiga from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Amiga is a family of home computers that were designed and sold by the Amiga Corporation (and later by Commodore International) from 1985 to 1994.

Amiga Corporation

The Amiga's Original Chip Set, code-named Lorraine, was designed by the Amiga Corporation during the end of the first home video game boom. Development of the Lorraine project was done using a Sage IV machine nicknamed "Agony" which had 64-kbit memory modules with a capacity of 1 mbit and a 8 MHz CPU. Amiga Corp. funded the development of the Lorraine by manufacturing game controllers, and later with an initial bridge loan from Atari Inc. while seeking further investors. The chipset was to be used in a video game machine, but following the video game crash of 1983, the Lorraine was reconceived as a multi-tasking multi-media personal computer. The company demonstrated a prototype at the January 1984 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago, attempting to attract investors. The Sage acted as the CPU, and BYTE described "big steel boxes" substituting for the chipset that did not yet exist. The magazine reported in April 1984 that Amiga Corporation "is developing a 68000-based home computer with a custom graphics processor. With 128K bytes of RAM and a floppy-disk drive, the computer will reportedly sell for less than $1000 late this year." Further presentations were made at the following CES in June 1984, to Sony, HP, Philips, Apple, Silicon Graphics, and others. Steve Jobs of Apple, who had just introduced the Macintosh in January, was shown the original prototype for the first Amiga and stated that there was too much hardware – even though the newly redesigned board consisted of just three silicon chips which had yet to be shrunk down. Investors became increasingly wary of new computer companies in an industry dominated by the IBM PC. Jay Miner, co-founder, lead engineer and architect, took out a second mortgage on his home to keep the company from going bankrupt. In July 1984, Atari Inc. was bought by the recently resigned CEO and founder of Commodore, Jack Tramiel. A substantial number of Commodore's employees followed him, prompting a lawsuit from Commodore for theft of trade secrets. Tramiel's son Leonard later discovered that Atari Inc. had lent $500,000 to the Amiga Corporation, with repayment due at the end of June, prompting Atari Corp. to counter Commodore. In a subsequent development, the Amiga group received interested from Commodore, and began discussions of selling the company. In August 1984, Amiga was purchased by Commodore for $27 million, including paying off the loan from Atari.

Commodore

1985–87: the early years When the first Amiga computer was released in July 1985 by Commodore, it was called the Amiga 1000, devoid of references to Commodore. Commodore marketed it both as their successor to the Commodore 64, and as their competitor against the Macintosh. It was later renamed the Commodore Amiga 1000.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

History of the Amiga: An Amiga 4000 (1992) — An Amiga 4000 (1992)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of the Amiga

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of the Amiga claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of the Amiga before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of the Amiga ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of the Amiga

In research: History of the Amiga appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of the Amiga in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of the Amiga is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amiga, History of Silicon Valley, History of computing hardware, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of the Amiga outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of the Amiga in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what History of the Amiga means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain History of the Amiga out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is History of the Amiga in simple terms?

Amiga is a family of home computers that were designed and sold by the Amiga Corporation (and later by Commodore International) from 1985 to 1994. Amiga Corporation The Amiga's Original Chip Set, code-named Lorraine, was designed by the Amiga Corporation during the end of the first home video game…

Why does History of the Amiga matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of the Amiga?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of the Amiga.