PRODUCTIONS FROM THE TWILIGHT ZONE PRESENT "SAD CASE OF THE YEAR"- THE DEBATE [Scene: A plush well-fitted discussion room studio in Radio Pure Bollocks FM. Around the circular table are terminals connected to Fidonet points of all the Fidonet users involved. At the head of the table are CHRIS BAILLIES and GENIE (the presenter).] VOICE: Now we go over to studio 4 for some after-awards discussion in a special edition of "Genie's Pool". [Title music, which soon fades.] GENIE: Hello and welcome to a very special edition of "Genie's Pool", held after the "Sad Case of the Year" awards. In the studio, we have the winner of that award, Mr Chris Baillies. Hello Chris, and congratulations upon winning your award. Apparently the judges had a hard time deciding between you and Aaron Smithies. CHRIS: Yes, but so what, I think I had the edge, and when it comes down to that, that's perfectly adequate. GENIE: Yes, well we'll soon be hearing that "edge" which won you the award when we re-unite you with the people which were with you as you made your name for being lame. [Pause for "Genie Pool" jingle] Chris started his meteoric rise to fame by claiming that the sound of the Amiga's 4 channel 8 bit Paula was perfectly adequate, even compared to the 16 bit 8 channel Falcon DMA sound. CHRIS: Well, it is better than the PC cards! GENIE: Hmmmm... yes, but then you went on about how Commodore is developing a new 16 channel Paula chip. CHRIS: [Butting in] It'll be ready just in time for their new Amigas. GENIE: [Embarrased pause] Yes. Well, now we are going to end this completely fictionalised account of the events so far and go live onto the Fidonet "AtariST" message area. Please note that all the comments from the these users are their own words and none of them are made up. So, [Looking at VDU screen] we have our first participant, MICHAEL JAMES. Hello Michael, what do you make of Chris' arguments about the adequacy of the Paula sounchip? MICHAEL: Very compelling argument. The Paula chip is better than the PC cards but the Falcon sounds even better! And if you say 'so what' to that, then go and program a ZX81 and learn the meaning of progress. CHRIS: So what.... [Howls from other users] MICHAEL: GO AND PROGRAM A ZX81 AND LEARN THE MEANING OF PROGRESS! CHRIS: So what, there's sound and there's USEFUL sound... GENIE: [Aside] Huh? CHRIS: Where might I ask do you make room for all those hefty 16bit 44Khz sound samples? MICHAEL: Mmmmm.... That doesn't neccessarily mean that you have to have an inferior soundchip, but you make a fair point about the issue of sample size. The 1 meg Falcon is definately too small for decent samples. Mind you the 1 meg Falcon is too small for any serious programmer! (I know 1 meg is too small for me, and I've got an FM!) This is going to be a problem with Commodore's 16 channel Paula as well, because I can't expect that the maximum amount of sampled instruments in 16 channel mods to be 32!! ...... And anyway, why do Amiga owners need a 16 channel Paula, the one they've got is better than PC cards! CHRIS: To keep ahead of the competition, why else? GENIE: [Sighing a "Doesn't lamer realize that he's just killed his own argument off?" type of sigh] Oh my goodness, I wish I hadn't started this DOC now. There's loads of people wanting to respond to that point. Let me introduce STEVEN LLOYD, MIKE MYERS, MICHAEL SMITH, and PASCAL HAAKMAT. Hello Pascal, don't you think of Chris' point about no space for big samples on the Falcon? PASCAL: This is, of course, nonsense. Where do you make room for 24-bit color images? I mean, progress is lovely ... GENIE: Oh, you're talking about the Amiga A1200 now. Yes, it's got big 24- bit colour images, and the disk drive still only has an 800K capacity! At least the Falcon has a 1.4 meg drive! Hello, Steven, have you got anything to say to Chris' point about sample size? STEVEN: [To Chris] You should know that by looping samples its possible to produce some really good sounds in a small amount of storage space. Its also possible to compress samples quite effectively, so again storage space is saved. Oh, and 8-bit sound is not USEFUL sound, it sounds awful.... CHRIS: [To Steve] What do you take me for? All I'm saying is that for most purposes 8bit is perfectly adequate, only in the area of direct-to- disk recording would 16bit be a necessity. GENIE: Can I stop you two there, because Michael Smith is also wanting to say his piece as well, and also I'm beginning to feel nauseous at the lameness of your argument already Chris. Anyway- what do you think, Michael? M SMITH: [laughs] You know, this is the 'standard' amiga-user argument when they are faced with the 16-bit codec setup... [To Chris] Listen, lamebrain.... CHRIS: I resent that! [Genie falls off chair laughing. Michael Smith continues.] M SMITH: Entirely apart from the fact that there are sound compression algorithms for the DSP that will (un-) compress sound signals by 70- 80%, and take <5% of its processing time for 50KHz 16-bit stereo, you don't HAVE to use all 16 bits. CHRIS: Well not everyone needs one, and for entertainment purposes a development of Paula would be better. M SMITH: [laugh] You really don't know what you're on about, do you? The SDMA (imagine a bigger version of Paula) is completely seperate from the DSP - you can do 8-voice polyphonic 16-bit stereo at 50KHz without having to write a single byte of DSP code. MICHAEL: Intrestingly enough, does the A1200 have a DSP, or a space for a DSP? [MIKE MYERS butts in...] MIKE M: Nope. MICHAEL: So you'll have to pay extra on top of the already inflated price for what the Falcon already has installed as standard? Especially as the DSP appears to be the most talked about part of the machine! CHRIS: Why should people pay for a DSP if they have no use for one... And no, its not a cop out! GENIE: Sounds like one from here... MICHAEL: Well, I wasn't really talking about the use of the DSP exclusively in terms of Falcon sound capabilities, although it is pretty useful. The reason that people are talking so much about the DSP is the speed of it's processing, and the uses of that speed in conjuction with it's digital processing facilities. Oh, by the way, I notice you say 'consumer orientated' rather than 'games machine'. Nice touch. CHRIS: Ha Ha Well the Falcon doesn't seem to make pretentions to being anything other than a games machine with its ST case and good sound hardware. Even Atari admitted its the market they want to crack. M SMITH: Umm. They did? Personal multimedia - you know, interactive education, videophones, Kodak want to use them in their 'instant slide' machines too. Sure, they'll make great games units - I can't wait for Steel Talons, but there's a much bigger market there than there is for, say, the A1200. (snicker) STEVE: Er, why does the case design and sound capability make the Falcon a games machine? Besides, the case will be redesigned soon. PASCAL: Oh come on! It's just the same thing as some 7 years ago: Commodore releases the Amiga, and all ST-coders say: "What a lame machine! There's nothing to code no more, the chips do everything for you!". Now Atari releases the Falcon and all Amy dudes go haywire: "Whaddaya need a DSP for? 16-bit sound is UUUUSSSELESS!!". CHRIS: So What? I probably won't buy either, the Amiga's too expensive, and the Atari won't succeed, because well, its an Atari. PC's are the way to go, I've got two, much cheaper to upgrade and plenty of software. M SMITH: This.. really shows how ignorant you are. PC's are _going_. STEVE: I laugh at the stupidity and puerile (look it up in a dictionary) nature of people who write things like you do. CHRIS: Why bother replying then? Some people....! GENIE: Why bother living at all then Chris you utter lamer?!?! M SMITH: Incindentally, I don't call Paula's implementation of sound 'useful' - it's just another 8-bit joke. CHRIS: It sounds ok to me. GENIE: That's what owning an Amiga does to you! M SMITH: And btw the DSP costs < $10 in the sort of quantities atari are buying. STEVE: I think you'll find there's a noticeable difference between 8-bit and 16-bit samples. 8-bit may well be sufficient for many purposes, but 16-bit samples sound much more polished. Once upon a time people slagged off the ST's pathetic sound chip (and rightly so in my opinion). Now that a machine is becoming available with excellent sound capability it seems that it's getting knocked for being too good. CHRIS: The Atari's niche is music, so its not surprising Atari included a DSP. But I'm not a musician, so why should I pay extra for something I don't need? Maybe you do need such a device. MICHAEL: Hold on Chris, you're getting the DSP and DMA parts mixed up again! CHRIS: Hey, I do know what a DSP is, simply a microprocessor geared towards processing sound..... MARK: Sorry, you don't know what a DSP is! It is a microprocessor geared towards processing digital signals..... GENIE: Hence the name Digital Signal Processor, I guess. This guy's so lame I just wanna cry..... Oh and we've got MARK BAINES and KEITH JACKSON online now. MARK: ... What form those signals take is up to you and your ADC - video, sound, modem/telephone tones... CHRIS: I mentioned it because it USUALLY goes hand in hand with 16bit DMA hardware... MICHAEL: Well, they -can- go hand in hand if programmers want them to, but they don't have to! MIKE M: The DSP can be used to EFFECT sound, for example Surround Sound techniques, Noise Reduction, .... But its a proccessor so can do really anything you want, graphics manipulation, mathscalculations, 3D effects.. CHRIS: Err.. At least I can walk in a shop and BUY an A1200... GENIE: Is a PC not quite bad enough? STEVE: Nobody said that Atari's marketing philosophy is good! There will surely be some people who will go and buy an A1200 today because they think its the cat pyjamas in home computing, but many of the more mature users will hold on to see what else is coming. The 32- bit home computer market is still in its infancy. CHRIS: So whats Atari going to do now? They had their chance and ruined it by hype and delays, the Falcon won't stand a chance, whatever the virtues of its sound hardware. GENIE: Typical Amiga lamer- always obsessed with sound! MIKE M: Who cares what Atari do I just wish you would F*** off ! KEITH: I'll second that Mike !! What is this guys problem ? You'd think from his attitude that an ST killed all his relatives, slept with his girlfriend and then threw up on him in the pub ! I'm the Business Centre Manager at Dixons in Mansfield and the level of interest in the A1200 (in that store at least) has been zero. I get around eight enquiries a day about the Falcon ! The general consensus from fed up Amoeba owners wanting to upgrade is that they are fed up with CBM bringing out new machines and just dropping support for the old ones. If I have a problem with a customer who has an old ST (TOS on disk etc) then at least Atari Uk will talk to me - I wish the same could be said of CBM when confronted with an A500 problem .... MIKE M: You ever tried using Workbench/dos- aaarrrrggggh!!! MICHAEL: I have tried using version 1 of Amiga Workbench, and I wasn't to impressed to be honest. I haven't seen version 2 soon I can't say that much about it. CHRIS: Actually its very nice, easy to use, fast, and good looking. But don't knock Workbench 1.x, as an environment it was far more usable than GEM, you could do more with it, more configurable. Even V1.0 had features GEM lacked until VERY recently. Only in high-res mono was GEM palettable. GENIE: Hi-res 'palettable'? More 'useable'? Chris, do you know what the fuck you are talking about? CHRIS: Now, disk based OS's, I'm all for them! They make upgrading so much quicker and cheaper, but the implementation could make a difference. As an example my Amiga A1000..... [Drowned in general groans from other users...] GENIE: I hear NICK BIRD is online now. MICHAEL: Incidentelly, what are you doing on this echo? There is an echo for Amiga users you know... CHRIS: Heheehhehehe I like it! Seriously big chip on your shoulder or what! STEVE: Isn't that an instance of the pot calling the kettle black? CHRIS: Not really. Anyway, I just write this drivel to stir people up. Nothing wrong with a good healthy debate.. MIKE M: Not really you -Just- slag owt thats Atari face it!!!!! CHRIS: Come on, don't be so serious! I was just trying to wind up a few Atari users who seem so full of themselves. MICHAEL: What? You freely admit to writing messages just to wind ST users up??!?! Sorry Chris, but I don't think anyone's taking you seriously now! NICK: Sorry Michael ! No-one -ever- took him seriously !! MICHAEL: Just winding him up... GENIE: Chris, what's that on your tagline? [Looks at tagline which says: '* SLMR 2.1a * Dead people are cool.'] GENIE: .... Hmmmmmm...... [Fade lights.] THE END. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 11/1/93.