1. There is a new era on the Amiga users' doorstep. Many Amiga companies have announced new products and great technology. In what way have this changed the way you work, and have you been contacted by the Amiga firms who have made the announcements?

No, they didn't contact me. I have to make contact with them myself. Apparently they don't have the ADA members list.

2. Many of the ADA dealers have been working in the Amiga market since the beginning. When was ADA formed and why was it formed? In what way has the organisation improved the dealers' situation.

ADA was formed aug 97 we started with 8 southern california stores and are now 599 world wide.... that includes 12 new USA stores opening in October 99. It was formed with one purpose to help Amiga dealers, to have a strong and organized union. The dealers situation is improved in the way now they can be a part of a worldwide organization that has more power than one dealer alone, and can push and pressure to achieve our goals and objectives. We also have our voice and vote and can send our problems and concerns to Amiga Inc. more easily and signed agreements with them, like the NDA we already signed. We encourage every member to go online so we can easily use existant technology to be in touch, and talk and express our opinions.
Concepts from Denis Labine ADA President "AS founder of the ADA all members may speak at anytime to anyone about anything that has to do about the ADA. They are NOT restricted nor censored at anytime. It is a free assocaitions with the prime directive to grow, proper, inform and offer inroad TO BETTER COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNICAL HELP AND TRAINING FOR EVERYONE. This concept is also strenghtened by the signing of NDA agreements to fortify this committment to lates cutting edge technology and giving a headups oreface to the dealers who otherwise have had to fend for themselves for years around the world."

3. The market is not like it was before. It has been a long time since the Amiga was a market leader. Do you think the market can be brought back to life? In what way can Amiga users help ADA in promoting the Amiga?

The market can be always be brought back to life, but you will ask how ? Using good and modern marketing strategy. The Amiga has always been a great product, but with total lack of marketing strategies from the companies that owned it, the only reason the Amiga survived is because it is good on its own and their users develop sentimental relationships with their machines. At ADA an at AXIS Computers we have always been evangelizing people, in our particular case the most important problem we found is disinformation or bad information, it's a fact that you don't have much advertisement for the Amiga, people is almost ignorant or totally ignorant of their existence, and there is people that "use to" have an Amiga and they stayed in the past, and think Amiga is dead, they don't even now Gateway owns it, and the technology changes that are going to take place "in the spirit of Amiga". You can establish 3 types, one the general public completely ignores it (nobody told them what an Amiga is) , the 2nd group the ex-users that stayed in the past, and sometimes completely drop the platform for many reasons, the 3rd group is the current Amiga users, this group is the one that keeps the Amiga alive, they are really fans of the Amiga (such as myself), and no matter what happens they are going to keep it.
And there is a 4th group which is formed with ex-uses that are sick of the PCs and want to return, especially in the video field. Those are simple reasons, but if a GOOD MARKETING STRATEGY is developed and supported then the mass public can return and the general public will be aware of the existence of the Amiga, that will happen if there is enough support both from Amiga and from third parties in both hardware and software fields. Before that we will only be a small community.
The users must support their local dealers, in my case I have to fight because lot of users prefer to buy from distant companies than from local ones, they believe they can get more support doing that and a better price, they are wrong but if users don't buy Amiga products from local dealers, they probably have to close, or get out of business. It's very hard just having to fight against very cheap and full of features PCs sold at very low prices, (because they are really 4th class), comparing to computers they ever heard of. The users must be convinced that we have a tight relationship with them, we depend on sales, and we have to bring the best service to maintain the customer base.

4. The Amiga community is really a term that perfectly describes how Amiga users, dealers and companies interact with each other. Do you think this community will dissappear if the Amiga userbase grows again, or will it remain as we know it?

I don't think it will dissapear, I think it will change, it will adapt, because if the market grows you won't be able to offer the kind of personal services, it will be a little more impersonal, but by no way I mean worst, because a bigger market means that there will be more types of clients, with very different needs, and you will have to bring service to all, as always the old customers will be more like friends, and the new ones will have the best service we can offer, the spirit of the community won't be lost it just will be more extended.

5. ADA is an organisation for Amiga dealers across the globe. Are you using the big ADA network to recruit PC dealers in the purpose of making them deal Amigas? Many PC dealers used to deal Amigas, especially in Europe, so they have at least heard of the Amiga.

There is still too early to talk to PC dealers, I've had a few informal conversations and they told me if Amiga will go mainstream they will be pleased to have it, but to achieve that there must be a whole more support (RMA) , a product line with an identity , and software and parts, and training support for their dealers, i.e. In my country there is a major PC retailer that recently opened a Megastore, I talked to him and told him the Amiga is planning a revolution and he was interested to have them at their store, at the same time he told me how concerned he feeled because he just bought iMacs, but Apple didn't support him and his investment was lying on a corridor, without having anyone that understands how to sell it. The point here is: If some ifs are accomplished maybe!

6. If you were to measure the amount of street shops you are connected to internationally, what would be your guess? Is the amount growing or is it decreasing? Have you got the information about how many Amigas that are sold on an international basis, say, in a year?

To be online is one of the greatest advantages we have today, is fairly cheap, the image of a company can be much improved and you have many connectivity options that in the past were impossible to use, or too expensive! Many companies are going online and "opened" to the world, and their number is increasing, I don't know exactly how many Amiga dealers are online, but there are many, and I think the numbers will increase if we get we they promised us. As far as how many Amigas are sold internationally I have no idea, but what I know for sure is that the Amigas used market is not static, how many NEW Amigas have been sold worldwide is very difficult to estimate.

7. In what way are the ADA connected to Amiga Incorporated? Are you their main dealer organisation/assosiation, or have they made their own distribution channels?

The ADA has an NDA with Amiga Inc., and because of this agreement they told us we are going to receive full support from them, so far there are just promises, but we are still waiting. As far as we know until they have a NEW product nothing is certain, but at ADA we are unite and organized and we are pushing them.

8. Why do you think the Amiga has survived the pressure it is experiencing. Is it the users or is it the developers. If it is either one, what is so special about them, and what will become of them if the Amiga gets its promised comeback? People who can nurture the greatness of a stranger should really make an impact if the stranger suddenly became boss!

As I said before the Amiga has an identity of its own its the only personal computers that awakes this kind of feelings, both the developers (with their innovations), and the users buying those innovations and keeping supporting it are the main reason, its a cooperative effort between developers, dealers and end users. It is undoubtfully that Amiga Inc's plan is to make a great comback with a new revolutionary technology that might be called Amiga, but that technology is completely NEW and revolutionary.

9. In my last question, I would like to ask your organisation an important question. How much energy do you put in the Amiga, and how much do you believe in it's chances of a comeback? Do you believe that the Amiga power users soon will be able to work professionally with Amigas alone, instead of PCs?

I put everything I have, I have attended two major Amiga shows in the US about 55,000 miles or 90,000 km from where I live just to be a part of it. I have customers that spend 18 hrs. on a bus trip just to get to our nearest store so they can buy the latest Amiga peripherals, I called that the Spirit of the Amiga. I have been with the Amiga since 1987 and in all those years, I had many disappointments, business changes and I'm still with the Amiga, even if not as profitable as it was, but I will make every effort, I will use every single blood cell I have to support it, because I have it in my heart. As I told you before the Amiga and every product you have depends on one thing good marketing strategies. Good support.If all that happens and what it was said and promised become reality then I have to say Welcome back Amiga! I am a Power user myself and I always find things I can do on my Amiga that can't be done on other platforms at the same price level, and I work at professional level and bring advice at the same level too!
The PCs advantages are only their price and because they are everywhere and it's easy to find parts and replacements, peripherals, and qualified personnel, otherwise I see no advantage at all using them. If the Amiga can offer the same or better price-performance, and competitive products with professional level with a steady and reliable operating system, good quality and better software we will have a true winner.

Thank you for your time, and I wish you a prosperous future dealing Amiga products.

My Pleasure Eng. Ricardo Fitzgerald

Hogne Titlestad of AmiUpdate