Interview with Iwin Corporation
1. Many, if not all Amiga users, want to see an end to the aggressive
speculation that has been going on in the press, the newsgroups and in chat
forums. I would personally agree with anyone stating that the speculation
has gone over the edge of reason. In what way has the current tense
situation affected your company in relation to press announcements and
focus in planning of development?
We didn't expect these aggressive responses. And yes, the speculations and
discussions wether Iwin Corporation exists or not has gone much too far. I'm
pretty sure the Amiga community as well as we, has much better things to do
than discussing the existance of a firm and / or products. I guess - and
this is the only real prove for us and our products - it would be the best
if people wait until the final product release or our press conferences
which will be held in Brussels/Belgium and in Germany (Munich, Berlin or
Hannover - we are currently searching for a good place).
We wont give any announcements regarding our products anymore - before the
final product release. As soon as something is available, we will announce
it - but not before anymore. And how it has affected our focus in planning
the development. Well, we saw that there are still a lot of people who like
the so called "Classic" Amiga line and we want to provide a smart migration
for those to a new generation. This is what we are currently working on and
what our future products will be.
2. The silence has shaken many Amiga users. Are you now in a position where
it is possible to break it? Why was it necessary to close the communication
with the Amiga community? Will you channel future announcements mainly
through the internet or through other mediums? Will you do a TV appearance
as Amiga did or are you focusing on the print press?
The silence was neccessary for some reasons. First we have some new partners
which do not want us to spread around the news already now but only with the
product release. But we didn't close the communication with the community.
We have some beta testers who are allowed to give the news which they
receive from us to the community, and everybody is still welcome to send an
email. We will answer them as soon as possible.
However, I have to apologize for the last 10 days. We had some troubles with
our mail and could not answer them anymore. If people now want to send us an
email, they can do this either to info@iwin-corp.com or to
questions@iwin-corp.com
The main focus for commercials is the Internet. We are also currently
designing and planning commercials for the print press. We are thinking
about a TV spot, but it's not sure.
3. The last few months can best be described as radical. We have seen great
announcements, tough misunderstandings and the demise of some great Amiga
milestones. It has become clear that the whole Amiga internet community has
been dried out of patience - they need something live and working on their
desk. How long is it before the Amiga market can start growing again based
on fresh Amiga computers with modern standards?
Well, as we said already. We have a scheduled production start at the 6th of
September. This is still the plan to go. First products should be available
in the end of September.
4. The new computers and AmigaOS 3.5 will not be enough to catch up with
alternative platforms and their vast mass of software. What have you done,
or what are you planning to do, to make software available on the Amiga as
it was before the Commodore bankruptcy? Do you think that large software
companies are still interested in the Amiga platform?
I don't know how many firms are still interested in the Amiga platform.
However, we have two partners which will port some of their games to the
Amiga platform. It will depend on the Amiga community and their response to
it if they will continue the development of games.
5. I could go on and on about the current state of the Amiga community. It
is a special situation, either way marking the beginning of a new phase in
Amiga history. What do you think the future will bring Amiga users? Will we
again see Amigas in the role as a serious and up to date work horse in
general companies? Will it be possible for, say, a firm that creates
geographic maps, to purchase Amigas to do the work? Will it be possible for
TV companies to again use Amigas for their broadcasting presentations? Will
the Amiga again be compatible with market standards?
I don't think that we should make the same mistake as Commodore did and try
to make the Amiga compatible with MS-Dos - or better say Windows now. The
Amiga always was something special. If the Amiga will be an up to date work
horse in general companies also depends on the Amiga community. We are
providing now a platform which should be the start of a migration to a
completely new system and platform. The new platform of course can be a up
to date work horse. If we get enough response from the community telling us
what exactly they would like to see inside the new computer and how / where
they want to see it, then we sure will try to produce such a computer.
6. Many see your company as either a hoax or an aggressive competitor to
Amiga Inc. What is the real position of your firm. Do you understand the
reactions you have met and do you have a surprise to end the uncertainty
living in the Amiga community? Are you making partners with current players
in the Amiga market that can eventually verify your position?
We have a good understanding of the position of people thinking negative
about us - of course. However, the position of Iwin Corporation is not to
create a complete new market for the Amiga - we are (currently) just a small
player trying to bring live again into the classic Amiga market. And we
certainly don't want to be competitors with Amiga Inc. It is very sad that
Jim Collas left Amiga Inc. because we already have started talks with him.
We will see what the future will bring. However, with or without Amiga Inc.
we will start the production - if our computers are now called "Iwin Cxxxx",
"Iwin Amiga xxxx", "Commodore xxxx" or "Commodore Amiga xxxx" - it doesn't
matter very much because the most important thing is the inside qualities of
the computer and how to satisfy our customers.
7. The best thing that could happen, would be to have the Amiga back in the
mass market, putting it where it should have been presently if Commodore
never met its unfortunate destiny. Is this what you are planning to
achieve, or is it too ambitious? How would you describe your goals?
I guess it is too amitious for the near future. Too many years have passed
since the last real innovation in this market. Of course there are very good
and high quality exentsions (Phase 5 or Haage & Partner - products for
example), but there was no new computer. So our goals for the near future
are: to bring again a little life into the "Classic" market, then to provide
the solution for migrating to a new generation. I know that we can do that.
8. What do you want to say to the Amiga community that can ease the tense
atmosphere that has covered the events we have experienced?
There is not much to say. Maybe just repeating something what I said before:
People should not spend all of their time discussing some rumours or
speculating about products or the existance of Iwin itself. The only prove
for most of them will be the final availability of our products.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for the possibilty to state our goals.
© 1999 .AmiUpdate
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