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BACKGROUND

Could you please explain your thought processes when you
decided to fund what you wanted to be seen as a legitimate
successor to Commodore Business Machines?

My love affair with both Commodore and Amiga began in the early
1980Õs. While most of you were either playing games or writing code, I
was enthralled with the capabilities that the C64 and the Amiga 1000
offered me at a time when I needed an affordable computer system
for a rapidly growing, but cash shy division of my company Cabletech
Satellite Systems. We had grown to over 180 locations in the US, and
were still processing orders, creating invoices and maintaining
inventory reports all by hand. We were well supplied with three part
carbonless forms, one-write payroll systems and a Brother typewriter
for our corespondance, but is was clear that in order to keep up with
the work load, a real computerized infrastructure was needed. I had
received quotes from a number of the well known system suppliers,
and soon realized that the costs involved were far greater than our
checkbook would allow. Luckily, I had a high school student working
for us on weekends and holidays. I will never forget the day he came
into work with a new C64 that he had set up to demo the dream
system that I had spoken about with him weeks earlier. There it was,
the C64, the 1541 floppy and the matching monitor. It looked great,
and the aroma of the freshly baked PVC case and keyboard were
intoxicating to say the least.  Add to that the fantastic logo with the
vibrant color bars and I was ready to be convinced that a so called
gaming console/ home computer would be able to  fulfill all the
requiremements we had at a fraction of the cost of conventional
systems. Needless to say, the accounting software, along with a few
other programs he loaded up that afternoon all worked perfectly. I
spent the next two weeks visiting every Toys ÔR Us retail location in
the NY metro area, buying up every C64 I could get my hands on,
along with the matching CRT monitor and floppy drive. In total, I
purchased almost 200 complete Commodore systems in less than 10
days. Just how many have any of you bought? No contestÉ I win!

My AMIGA story is also business oriented. I never played a single
game, but my love for the machineÉthe softwareÉ.and of course the
business applications are what led me to a long time love affair with
the AMIGA mystique. We were building cable company head ends all
over the US, and most of these cable operators were using very
expensive character generators for their on screen video overlays. The
major player in this market was a company named Chyron, whose



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name was synonomous with this video application. Along comes
Amiga, and the NewTek Video Toaster. At a fraction of the price of the
industry leader, with features at the time surpassing the established
market leaderÉit was a Òno brainerÓ. We sold almost every new CATV
system an AMIGA computer with the NewTek Video Toaster. So in the
end, was my enchantment with AMIGA based on love or money? IÕd
say a little of both!

Fast forward to a few years ago, when I saw an ad in a computer trade
magazine for a keyboard computer produced by Cybernet.  It
reminded me of the original C64 form factor in a modern enclosure
with current components inside. My interest was rewarded when my
wife purchased one as birthday gift. I really enjoyed that machine, and
the more I used it, I became convinced of the possibility to recreate
the Commodore brand with a product line unlike anything being
offered today. This was in late 2009/ early 2010. I spent months trying
to contact the holders of the Commodore IP. After exhausting every
possible avenue, and having spent countless hours and legal fees, I
gave up, and decided that whoever owns the IP will find me, if I
th
scream load enough. So I screamed. On the evening of March 15,
2010 I put together a website featuring the Commodore logo, along
with a product listing for a custom configured Cybernet keyboard
computer that they would OEM for me. The site was finished right
before midnight, and I then simply sent out two emails; one to
Engadget, and the other to Gizmodo. The emails contained no body,
just the subject header reading:  www.commodoreusa.netÓ They both
ran the story, and within hours of the launch the site had received
almost a million hits. The rest is history.

The personal computer market is a multi-billion dollar market and will
be for the foreseeable future. The Commodore brand is well recognised
throughout the world and it is conceivable that it could one day stand
alongside the major players in the PC industry again. The Commodore
trademark continues to have value, as witnessed by the many millions
that have been spent in attaining the trademark by various players
since CommodoreÕs demise.

While the Commodore and AMIGA trademarks may have switched
hands many times, it cannot be denied that our company has
succeeded beyond all others in reigniting the Commodore and AMIGA
brands in peopleÕs consciousness. Our company name is Commodore
USA, and we sell Commodore and Amiga branded hardware. That the
Amiga brand has finally been reunited with the Commodore brand
after all these years is a most astonishing development. In that light,



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arguments about legitimacy are rendered moot really, as this is the
most that anyone could have conceivably hoped for from a new
Commodore company.

As you can see, I am passionate about Commodore and AMIGA, and
returning them to their former glory is something I think and obsess
about incessantly. Indeed, this passion is shared by many people and
thus they feel it necessary to provide their opinions and armchair
criticisms. Ultimately, once youÕre the person signing the checks, you
have to make decisions that make the most business sense with the
knowledge and resources at your disposal. But let me tell you
something, if my dream comes true, I guarantee that yours will also,
as weÕll be in a position to do each and every thing the various fan
bases desire. If we win, you will too.


ON SOFTWARE - GENERAL

I realise that you fell for Hyperion's legal bluff regarding
Amiga-Alike OS's hook, line, and sinker, but why didn't you
research other approaches to enter the computer market with a
product that, if it didn't have anything directly to do with
existing Amiga intellectual property (Motorola/Freescale
680X0 or PowerPC), at least fit in with the original Amiga
philosophy of Hardware and Operating System tightly coupled
together?


When we first started this Commodore adventure the OS we would
utilise was a matter of contention and a great deal of discussion. It
was clear to us from the beginning, that unless you are Apple, to be
taken seriously in the PC market your hardware must be at least
Windows compatible. That said, as Commodore had always had its
own software platform, we wanted to have something unique along
those lines, which could be accessed alongside the more mainstream
OS option. Thus our machines are now configured with multi-boot
functionality and our own custom branded Linux distribution called
Commodore OS Vision.

Much of the input we got from Commodore fans when we started was
about utilising AROS. So, wanting to add a bit of Amiga-ness to our
hardware, we pursued that avenue for many months, communicating
with various members of the AROS scene in regard to a Commodore
branded AROS distribution. AROS would never have been our main



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OS, but a choice alongside Windows, and one that we hoped to foster
until it could compete with mainstream OS offerings. However, I saw
great value in licensing the Amiga trademark also, for Amiga was also
dear to me, and I found it fitting that the brand be utilized in
connection to our high-performance line of personal computers.
Unfortunately, this appears to bind us to many of the restrictions that
were placed on Amiga Inc., and thus, we quickly discovered we could
no longer pursue our plans regarding the further development and
dissemination of a Commodore AROS. If we couldnÕt use AROS, or
directly influence our own OS identity and destiny, I didnÕt see the
point of spending money on it. It would be entirely charity, and there
are much better causes IÕm afraid.

The choice of any personal computer vendor must be about what
makes the most sense in this day and age for the majority of people,
rather than romantic notions that only a small minority of technically
oriented people can really appreciate. We have concerned ourselves
with software and hardware technologies that provide the most bang
for our buck in terms of performance, rather than recreating old
technologies.

During the microcomputer era, when computer vendors built their
hardware and software together, such sentiments about the Amiga
philosophy made sense. The Amiga was originally devised as a
console, and direct hardware manipulation with its fixed in place
cutting edge graphics chipset gave it an edge at the time. It can also
be argued that this edge also contributed to the AmigaÕs downward
popularity as chipset progress seemingly stagnated beside the PCÕs
competitive graphical upgrade options. Today, in order to have the
most powerful graphics solution one must utilise the latest
interchangeable hardware components from various vendors, and to
ensure such interoperability common APIs are required. In this respect
banging the metal has gone out of vogue.

In terms of operating system selection, what is ultimately most
important is that the OS is able to take advantage of the hardware.
The original Amiga operating system astounded everyone with its
popularisation of pre-emptive multitasking, but todayÕs operating
system, in the era of multiple CPU cores on even the least powerful
processors, must utilise Symmetric Multiprocessing. The OS must also
be able to utilise the latest graphical APIs in order to even have a
chance of producing cutting edge graphics.

Then one must consider the software functionality of the OS and how



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difficult it is to develop for. Leveraging existing software development
tools is important. It would be suicide to go with an OS on our
machines without substantial software development options and
mature and popular APIs. You canÕt just sit back and think, if we build
it, they will come. Now, and in the future, we would seek to motivate
the bedroom coder or indie developer, and in order to do so we must
not force them to use, what would generally be considered, archaic
software development methodologies that stifle both productivity and
potentially cross platform marketability.

To any unbiased and rational observer it is quite clear that the most
important things an OS must have are present in GNU/Linux.

1. The ability to utilze the latest hardware
2. An advanced graphical API.
3. SMP
4. An advanced software stack
5. Mature software development options.

In this regard our custom Commodore branded Linux distribution,
which we call Commodore OS Vision, intended for pre-installation on
our machines, allows us to have more software and features out of the
box for free than most people use in their lifetime. This distro will be
further developed over time to be something stunningly unique and
interesting, and IÕve got news for you, for a great many users it
already is.


Could you please explain why your retail model places all the
supply, financial, and legal risk on your retailers to the point of
having them assemble your Amiga models for end users for
you? This seems to be unprecedented in the computer world.
Even small Gaming PC operations like Alienware, Cyber Power,
IBuyPower, Falcon Northwest, Digital Storm, and AVA Direct do
not opperate in anything like this fashion.

We have not publicised our Commodore Custom Configurator deal to a
great extent yet. Watch our website for further details.

They are certainly not assembling Òour Amiga modelsÓ; they are
assembling their Amiga models, in an approved custom configuration
that satisfies their customers requrements. There are thousands of
potential configurations, and this is obviously something that we
cannot provide, but a reseller can. ItÕs a very simple solution where



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we, the reseller and the customer all win.

Here are the basics on how it works. We provide barebones cases at a
discount to various system vendors. System vendors typically have
their own established hardware suppliers and prices. These system
vendors are then free to configure their machines however they want
at whatever price they want (with very few restrictions).

These Commodore Custom Configurators will be promoted on our
website, with links to their respective businesses.

As an item of considerable expense, many people like to touch and
play with computers before making a purchase. Customers also like to
configure their machines in unique ways. Also, for some people, there
is a concern about shipping costs, even though we provide free
shipping at the moment. Having a retailer physically located where you
live is clearly preferable to purchasing online, allows you to take the
system home practically immediately, and means that support issues
can be rectified in a more timely manner.

As a small company we currently lack the capacity to supply pre-
assembled units to large retailers around the world. Indeed, when we
eventually do it, it is likely that a similar business model will be used.
There are many system vendors, both large and small, out there that
are just as passionate about Commodore and Amiga computers as we
are, and we are quite happy to extend them the possibility of getting a
piece of the action and get the Commodore and Amiga brand names
out there.

Ask yourself how we can possibly be responsible for the hardware that
independent system vendors place within these barebones units or the
quality of their assembly. If we hear they are selling substandard
equipment, or in any way causing harm to consumers or the brands,
we will no longer fulfil their barebones orders.

In regard to OS support, Microsoft ensures that system vendors are
entirely responsible for Windows support when they install OEM
Windows on assembled machines. This requirement for Commodore
OS, should the system vendor even choose to install it, is no different.
Why would we have to field support calls, when we arenÕt even aware
of the sale, the hardware or anything else?

If the barebones case is defective, then we get involved with the
system vendor, but otherwise the barebones cases allow system



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vendors to profit as well. Their success is our success and we will try
to help them in their various regions in any feasible way we can.


What is the unique value proposition and/or intended market
niche for an Amiga Mini with parts that have been priced
(Minus the Amiga Logo) at a total of ca. $550 when you have
set the prices set starting at $1,700, and one can get
something with slightly higher specification from Alienware for
$850?

Our prices have dropped since this question and will go down even
further eventually. If you do not feel any of our models are worth
purchasing then donÕt buy one. We will be releasing new models in
different form factors quite soon that will be more price and feature
competitive.

What happened during the discussions I would assume you had
with Ben Hermans and maybe Trevor about the attempt to
license the AmigaOS for your Licensed Amiga hardware that
you could build based on perhaps a Sam or X1000 motherboard
in an official Amiga case.

DonÕt ever assume anything. (IÕm sure youÕre all familiar with a very
popular adage). I have never had any conversation with either of
them, although there are still possibilities for collaboration, but it is not
for me to discuss these matters publicly.


Do you or any of your team still use or own classic Amiga
systems? if not why not? and, if so what do you enjoy about
them?

I know Leo still has a classic A1000, A500 and C64 displayed
prominently in his office, but he tells me he no longer uses them much
if at all any more. ItÕs a bit hard to justify turning them on when a lot
of modern day functionality is missing and when game emulation is so
good and so easily accessible. IÕm not one for games these days and I
have used a Mac almost exclusively for many years. I was most
impressed with the state of 3d gaming in Commodore OS, but I was
blown away watching the latest 3d Windows games during our AMIGA
mini testing, which had super smooth and cinematic game play. The
AMIGA mini is a little beast.




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In your first year of operation there was I feel a few mistakes,
promoting Aros, promising support for aros, promptly dropping
support and attacking aros, using copyrighted images on the
web site, threaten legal action towards members of the
community and respected web sites, using the workbench
trademark before legally having right to it, calling your Amiga
range 1000x, very similar to another product if you asked me,
photo of your operations not being quite right, and announcing
products and systems before you seem ready to announcing
them, so basically how would you personally rate your
performance? And would you care to comment on any of the
above.

Well, you have summed up quite a few of our mistakes right there. I
have apologised for various things, but none of these things are a
capital offence, and certainly a lot of companies have done a lot worse.
Have you bothered to complain to Apple when they appropitated the
iPhone moniker, knowing full well that it was the IP of another
company?  Every photo and video of our operation is accurate and
genuine.. There are videos of our facility all over the net. In one
instance, I asked one of our agents to send us pictures of the
motherboard facility, and was sent a stock photo of another facility.
Keeping in mind the language barriers, I understood the error, and
explained it. Big deal!  After two years it isnÕt really worth a rehash
except for the propaganda purposes of a small number of individuals
with an inconsequential factional agenda of some sort.

http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_FacilityVideo.aspx

How much has CUSA contributed to any AmigaOS, AROS or MOS
bounties ?

Not a dime, and we have not seen a requirement to do so as we do
not utilise any of those OSes, nor are we allowed to.


Do you intend to contribute to any Amiga related bounties such
as the Magellan one? Given the on-going development of OS4
as well as AROS, etc. What plans does C-USA have to
incorporate support of any of these Amiga-ish operating
systems in to their Amiga branded machines?

No. We do not utilise any of those OSes, and until we do so, have no
plans to contribute to these environments. We are more likely to



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contribute to the Linux ecosystem at this point.

Incidentally Commodore OS has a Dopus Megellan clone pre-installed
as standard already. Ironic, that we already have it, and a much more
refined version at that.

ON AROS

What's your opinion of Aros? Is it planned to have AROS
supported by your system? Is it going to support all the build-
in hardware? Is there any chance for any kind of cooperation
between CUSA and Team AROS? Why did you back out of your
deal with AROS?

AROS is a cool little Amiga-like OS that continues to improve. But
many AROS supporters would be first to admit, it isnÕt quite ready for
prime time. It would need a lot of work to realistically be someoneÕs
main OS, but as a secondary OS for nostalgia purposes, for the time
being, it would have been a perfect addition to our machines. There
was no actual deal with AROS to back out of, just as there does not
need to be an actual deal with GNU/Linux on which Commodore OS is
based. The Mint team has been supportive of our efforts.

Unless, the legal situation changes there is little room for cooperation,
as much as we would like to. We have already mentioned why we
couldnÕt go forward with our AROS plans, and it has been on the FAQ
page of our website for over a year now.

ON HYPERION/Amiga OS/Workbench

Do you consider cooperation with Hyperion Entertainment to
port AmigaOS 4 on PPC Amiga which you are planning to create
in the future?

We currently have no plans to produce a PPC Amiga ourselves.

However, we did offer the AmigaOSNG community an opportunity to
get us to produce that, if they could get 500 people to agree to the
unit cost of such a project and put away the money in an escrow
account. HyperionÕs agreement would have been required prior to
going forward of course, for it to make any sense, but what would be
gained from yet another PPC motherboard?

We are open to various possibilities and always have been. We have



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stated this publicly on several occasions, but whatever we do must
make sense from a commercial standpoint.

Do you consider cooperation with Hyperion Entertainment to
port AmigaOS 4 on Amiga x86? Is Amiga PPC from Commodore
USA going to work under AmigaOS 4 or some other operational
system?

We are open to various possibilities and always have been. We have
stated this publicly on several occasions, but whatever we do must
make sense from a commercial standpoint.

Is there any truth to the rumor that CUSA is buying out
Hyperion?

Yes, it is true that there is a rumor about CUSA buying out Hyperion.
No, there is no truth to this rumor.
A strategic alliance would be more reasonable.

On Linux/BSD/Windows

Do you plan to support Linux mint developers and Linux
community?

Does Mint send money to Ubuntu? No.
We hope to contribute back to the Linux community in some fashion at
some stage, but we are a little focused on our own business
development at the moment. The most we can do right now is
assisting the open source cause by proliferating GNU/Linux.

Have you considered adopting the Amiga styled Window
Manager amiWM which although is quite limited in its current
form, would at least give users a traditional look and feel of
Workbench?

We would only be accused of copying something, and there is also a
small likelihood that there is a legal restriction in regard to OS
appearance. Technically, I am told Amiwin is too primitive to be used
as a main desktop, and some Amiga operations are counterintuitive to
people used to mainstream OSes. There is nothing stopping anyone
from installing an AOS theme on top of Commodore OS, and we have
seen a few commodore-amiga.org members do it. Ultimately, we want
Commodore OS to have its own identity and its own look and
functionality. There is also nothing stopping anyone installing AROS on



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our machines if they want similar functionality.

Do you plan to initiate a new open project similar to Wine
which is strictly dedicated for Amiga operational system?

That is an interesting idea, but an interpretation of the legal
restrictions would also seem to prohibit us from sharing similar APIs to
AmigaOS. It can also be argued that we would gain little as the Linux
software stack is far superior to that of current Amiga-like OS
implementations. A much better idea, that would assist the AmigaOS
community, would be cross platform development kits that would
enable portability between such platforms. But still that gains us little
except a software development direction to point all the developers
who ask us where to start in regards to technology.

Are there plans to bring out a customized (Workbench style)
GUI like what Apple have done with BSD and custom GUI?

Yes, a custom GUI but not based on Workbench style or APIs. We want
to be a forward looking company. We want to build something that is
also applicable to tablets and consoles with a desktop fallback mode.
Commodore OS/Linux is already pretty close to the functionality of
MacOSX really, and all that is lacking are commercial apps. Perhaps
our utilisation of GNU/Linux can go some way in supporting
commercial development for it. We intend to open our own app store
some time soon, which would provide WINE compatible games, classic
emulated games and Linux games.

On UAE

Do you plan some sort of a help for UAE project in order to add
support for PowerPC to this application?

I am told very little would be gained from that as there is very little
PPC software that is not already available to us non-emulated.

HARDWARE

On PowerPC/Natami/non x86 Hardware

Wouldn't it be more reasonable to support a project like Natami
or Minimig AGA than releasing a PC with Linux and the Amiga
sticker?




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No, not at all. PCs are a billion dollar industry and these hobby
projects, while cool, have no commercial value and appeal to a much
smaller group of retro enthusiasts.

I like the Natami and Minimig projects and think they are very
interesting, and for that reason alone would like to bring them under
the Commodore umbrella, but there is very little we can do to add to
their development or success at this stage. If, or when, these projects
ever come to fruition it may be worth providing them as Commodore
Amiga options, but the majority of people would have difficulty
justifying the price in comparison to a fully fledged PC.

What is your opinion of the Natami project? Would you be
interested in making Classic a500/a1200 style cases(similar to
the amiga fantasy case) for natami and for sale to users that
want to build their own systems. Do you plan to use the
potential of Natami to create chip or card that could work with
your motherboard under a new, common operational system?

While we have no immediate plans for an A500 replica, we will surely
produce it one day. When that day comes we intend to make
allowances for Natami as long as it does not conflict with our design
goals. Inclusion in our upcoming line of desktop models is more than
likely possible.

A Natami custom chip or card would be great, but would require the
kind of R&D we canÕt afford right now. However, if 500 people could
agree to put the unit cost in an escrow account as per our offer, we
could justify the risk and make it a reality.

Why are you not doing the only sensible option of funding
PowerPC 604 CPU emulation core for WinUAE option so Amiga
OS4 could be run on your generic cobbled together medium
power PC compatible?

I see you are under certain delusions and will leave it at that.

Would you consider some non-x86 HW, like the upcoming Efika
i.MX6 from Genesi?

Yes, we are considering all options and others you havenÕt heard of.

What is your opinion about the FPGA projects that are
recreating the old 8-bit and 16-bit machines on hardware FPGA



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emulation?

As I said earlier, I like the Natami and Minimig projects and think they
are very interesting, and for that reason alone would like to bring
them under the Commodore umbrella some day.

Perhaps an FPGA PCIe card could be utilised as options on our
machines. There are certainly a lot out there, but they are too
expensive to provide as standard. Even then, one would argue that
emulation is preferable though.

What do you (or any of your employees with computer
hardware/systems backgrounds) think of this computer/OS
architecture?

From what I can understand, it sounds wonderful, but would likely be
outdated before it ever came to fruition.

How did you feel about iContain and what sets your Amiga
apart from their computers?

iContain, was just a friend of BillÕs doing him a favour. It no longer
exists to my knowledge. But ask yourself, do you really want the
Amiga to be a bargain basement brand associated with the rental
crowd, which basically canÕt afford to buy PCs? Do you really want
something with a remote off switch? I have nothing against people
who canÕt afford PCs, but thatÕs really taking the Amiga brand in the
wrong direction. No, we want the Amiga brand to be associated with
high-performance home computing again and once established, to
become as respected and popular as todayÕs Apple Macs.

On x86 & current products

Why is it taking you so long to bring to market range of
computers made from pre-existing cases with a pre-existing
motherboards running a pre-existing OS?

Focus, thatÕs all. We have as much as we can handle with existing
models. We intend to release a few new models in the coming months.
Not everything is as easy as you think to pull together and to be quite
honest, we arenÕt in any particular rush. Despite the apparent
condescension in your question there is more than a trivial amount of
modification to our cases and to the OS we use, and there are even
more to come. A great design is a great design, whoever makes it, and



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if it is close to what we already had in mind, then why not use it? Not
everyone scans the web to see what part came from where. ItÕs a little
obsessive compulsive if you ask me.

Is there a line of Commodore / Amiga mice and keyboards
being designed/produced which will complement the current
range of Mini computers?

There will be keyboards and mice available as both accessories and
standard options some time soon. We are currently finalising such
plans.

Why do you feel it appropriate to use the Amiga (or Vic) name
on these machines?

I think of the Amiga more as a concept, rather than it must be this
hardware or that software. I believe its essence is encapsulated as a
beautiful, high-performance, home computer for creativity and
entertainment. The VIC line is represented as something more
affordable and more compact. Something more Òfor the massesÓ. I
would also like to re-iterate that there will be no Atom based
Commodore AMIGAs in our line up, so it really is about time people
stop accusing us of doing that. We hold the AMIGA line with the
utmost respect and dignity and our AMIGA range will grow to include
even more stunningly powerful options. The AMIGA mini is just the
base model of our AMIGA range, not the flagship. The best is yet to
come.

Why do you make mistakes like not putting a proper fan in the
c64x or giving this amiga mini too small a power supply?

Why do you make the mistake of believing this to be so? Our C64x
always had enough ventilation, however to make sure and allay such
concerns we added an additional fan, and even reshaped the heat sync
to accommodate it. It was never really a problem, but we took steps to
ensure it didnÕt become one in peopleÕs minds. The configuration in
question was recently discontinued in favour of a more powerful
motherboard, so it is a moot point anyway.

The AMIGA mini has a sufficient power supply despite what you may
have read. The GPU is onboard, and the total power requirements are
within the specifications for the components we use.

Is your Amiga Mini product UL and CSA certified? Likewise,



--------------------------------------- 15

were you issued an FCC ID for your product?

Every product we sell is FCC, CSA, CE, UL, etc. rated and certified. In
fact, our VIC Slim and C64x had to undergo extensive testing before
an FCC registration was issued. You can go online and read the few
hundred pages of test results if youÕre that concerned, or you could
simply ask some of your fellow forum members to look on the bottom
of their Commodore computer, and read you the label. (Yes, believe it
or not, there are quite a few Òcloset Commodore customersÓ amung
you)!

What is the purpose of 16 GB of Ram in your system?

We wanted to come out with a bang. Do you see many systems that
small that come with 16 GB of RAM? It got you attention didnÕt it? The
amount of configured memory is now optional.

Do you intend to introduce UEFI technology instead of BIOS (of
course in Amiga way)?

UEFI usage is inevitable, and is currently in some of our products now,
but as we donÕt actually produce the hardware we incorporate, we
must utilise whatever is available.

For those people who are not excited by a linux pc, will you
genuinely have something of interest for them?

Yes, itÕs called Windows, you may have heard of it. We are considering
providing that as an option beside Commodore OS. Ultimately, we are
OS agnostic, and donÕt care if you go and install AROS or MacOSX on
our machines (at your own peril).

Otherwise, we believe the hardware configuration, the software
configuration, the modelÕs looks and the famous Commodore and
Amiga brands give us some slight advantage in the marketplace, and
certainly with the 30+ million odd former Commodore owners out
there.

Why should we ask any questions to a producer/assembler of a
regular PC computer when the only connection between this
system and Amiga is by UAE?

We are re-releasing computers bearing the famous Commodore and
AMIGA brands that many people cut-their-teeth with and loved.



--------------------------------------- 16

Whether you find it interesting is really up to you. We receive so many
questions and so much interest from so many people who are
supportive of our activity, you would have to ask those people what
compels them.

Almost 30,000 ÒlikesÓ on Facebook; feel free to engage with them:
http://www.facebook.com/CommodoreUSA

AMIGA can mean many things to many people, and not many can
agree on what it is, but as long as you are convinced that AMIGA is a
certain narrow set of hardware and software rather than a concept as
we do, there can be no convincing you of the merits of our activities.
You have to let go to take off.

Is Amiga x86 going to have fully licensed Amiga ROM in order
to legally emulate previous systems?

Amiga ROMs for game emulation are part of our license.

What is the target group for your product?

We have, or soon will have, models aimed at different target groups,
from those who love retro, to hardcore gamers, all the way to a more
mainstream audience. The Commodore and AMIGA brands obviously
have the most appeal to those that grew up with those computers, and
want something a little different, but not so different so as to be a
nuisance.


ON THE COMMODORE and AMIGA BRANDS

What relationship (if any) do you have with Amiga Inc? Again
same question but with regards to Hyperion, A-eon or any
other amiga company?

Bill McEwan signed our license contract and every so often we talk to
him about our plans. We presently have no relationship with any other
ÒAmiga companyÓ, whatever that means.  Keep in mind that
Commodore USA, LLC is the only company that can produce and
market products bearing the ÒAMIGAÓ trademark, without any attached
suffixes or prefixes. In any case, communication between any of these
parties would be subject to confidentiality.

Having acquired a license to use the Commodore name to sell



--------------------------------------- 17

common x86 hardware what made you decide to buy a license
for the Amiga name to do exactly the same thing?

The reunification of the Commodore and Amiga brands after all this
time was a fantastic opportunity and one we are yet to fully capitalise
on. I felt it was perfect as a way to differentiate our upcoming high-
performance gaming line. ItÕs a similar thing to what Dell does with
Alienware.

Given the expressed desire to progress from being a licensee to
an owner of both Commodore and Amiga IP, is there any
progress on either of those fronts?

I canÕt recall every publically making that statement.

Could you describe exactly how the legal situation stands
regarding the brand names (Commodore, Amiga, with
associated marks like "Boing Ball" etc), and licenses and
ownership's thereof?

The Commodore trademark is still being duked out in the courts, as we
have documented on our forum, commodore-amiga.org.
Amiga Inc, continues to own the AMIGA trademark and Boing Ball
trademark amongst other things.  Our license covers Boing Ball
imagery on our Commodore Amigas.

How much did you pay Amiga Inc. for the rights to use the
Amiga name on your computers?

Such contracts are confidential between the parties to the agreement.

Do you pay Amiga Inc. a licensing fee for each machine sold, or
was it a single lump sum payment, or a combination of both?

I will this one time indulge you and say, both.

Do you plan to create your own BIOS in Amiga style?

No, although we may skin it where possible. We need to be flexible in
terms of motherboards in order to allow us to have the most
technologically advanced product. ThatÕs what we believe having an
Amiga should be about. The most technologically advanced computer
for the time, for the form factor.




--------------------------------------- 18

Why did you use name AMIGA for a PC computer that neither
its operational system, architecture nor a case even in the
smallest way has any connection with Amiga?

I think of the Amiga more as a concept, rather than it must be this
hardware or that software. I believe the AmigaÕs essence is
encapsulated as a beautiful, high-performance, home computer for
creativity and entertainment. The VIC line is represented as something
more affordable and more compact.

Apart from the "Commodore" name, does CommodoreUSA have
anything more in common with the old classic line of
Commodore systems? (logos, stickers, labels, retro keyboards
are not an answer here)

When you have such a leading question that excludes everything but
your desired response, what in your opinion could meet such criteria?
We have gone to the trouble of creating our own custom branded
Commodore operating system based on GNU/Linux, which does
everything an Amiga-like OS can and more, without any of the various
hindrances people seem to argue about ad infinitum. We have plans
for greater things but it will be a while before they bear fruit. We also
are also rather unique with our focus on keyboard computers which is
practically synonymous with Commodore and is a great differentiator.

Why are you putting Amiga logo on HTPC cases, where are the
Amiga look-a-like cases?

We want to go beyond pure retro for a look that can also appeal to
more to a mainstream audience. We donÕt want to put all our eggs in
the replica basket. Think of the new Mustangs, MiniÕs and Beetles, for
an idea of what is in our mind regarding re-styling or re-imagining of
classic models. Our new models will pay similar homage, and to do so
they need to be pizza shaped like the classics or todayÕs HTPC units.
We will also likely sell towers by years end, but leveraging the classic
Amiga form factors seems the most appealing and distinctive option at
the moment.

Do you feel at liberty to sell products with AROS bundled, in
products branded Amiga? 2b) Or sell products to re-distributors
who bundles the HW with AROS?

We cannot for reasons that have already been discussed. It is likely
that official resellers/configurators will be under the same restrictions



--------------------------------------- 19

also.

If I understood things right, You have put up an idea of third
party system builders can buy a branded case (of your
selection) from you and build whatever custom combination of
HW inside it, for their local marke? Is that correct? 3b) Can this
be "turned around", i.e. say that I already have a product using
a cool custom case I have had designed, can you allow
branding on those for a fee?

It must be stressed, that a reseller or configurator does not suddenly
have a license to produce or merchandise anything they like under the
trademarks, nor may they represent themselves as us or even as an
affiliate of ours. Ultimately, if you want your cool looking custom case
to bear Commodore and/or AMIGA branding, then it would be prudent
to try to convince us to include it in our line-up so you and others can
too. In that way you would either receive royalty fees on your design
or be paid for case manufacture.

When you acquired the Commodore "thing" did you get any
papers containing "secrets", items like unknown future
designs? Stuff like that we would all appreciate to hear about,
if such exists.

No. But we know they exist. ;-)

Is Commodore USA in possession of schematics or HDL codes
for Amiga chipsets? If yes, do you have rights to use them?

No. But if Amiga Inc. do we could license them if we wanted to.
Outside of that, certain things have come to our attention from various
sources, but I canÕt say weÕre jumping on anything at this stage.

Do you think the fee (whatever that may have been) you paid
Amiga Inc. for the name was worth it financially?

We believe it will be, and by the huge amount of press we received
initially, and most recently with the release of our Amiga mini, I would
have to say YES! Keep in mind weÕve only just released our first
AMIGA model, and we have many more models up our sleeve.

Do you think the Amiga license represents value for money in
terms of additional media coverage and custom over the
attention that the Commodore name has brought to your



--------------------------------------- 20

business.

I can categorically respond to that with a big ÒYESÓ again. It was about
as big as our Commodore 64 announcement and we have witnessed a
huge spike in sales across our whole range as a result.

The philosophy around the Amiga was "a computer for the
masses".
Will we ever see that philosophy in practice again? And, will a
"new" computer carrying a heavy name like that be as
revolutionary as its ancestors were?

You have it all wrong. That was the late Jack TramielÕs Commodore tag
line, and as he left Commodore well before AMIGA came about, one
could argue it didnÕt play into CommodoreÕs thought process with
Amiga. The C64 catered to that segment all the way up to the early
nineties, while the Amiga was much more expensive, especially when
brought up to similar specs as PCs of that era. We have a number of
ideas for low cost PCs, and we will see how they play out.

With the breakneck pace of technology, it is pretty hard to be
revolutionary in the PC arena these days, and even if you could, it
would be fleeting. However, just because you canÕt surpass those with
multi-million dollar R&D budgets technologically, it doesnÕt mean you
canÕt focus on certain emerging technologies that are more novel and
interesting. I have a few very different ideas which could make Amigas
special again, but I donÕt want to say anything about them until we
can actually make them a reality.

More specifically, do your plans change depending on the
outcome of the C=Holdings B.V. v. Asiarim Corporation et al
lawsuit? If so, in what way?

Not really. It will be business as usual.

ON THE COMPANY

What is the capital of your company? What does the ownership
structure look like? What are company's incomes and costs?
Does the company have any loans taken?

These are confidential business matters that as a private company we
are not obligated to answer. I own 100% of the stock. I donÕt blame
you for asking because you are interested, but please realise that you



--------------------------------------- 21

are not a potential investor or stakeholder, in which case you would be
required to know such things.

Where is a real registration place for your main company
(mother company)?

Our current address has been on our website
www.CommodoreUSA.net for nearly a year.

6555 Powerline Rd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309.

If you call ahead I would be happy to provide you with a tour of our
facilities. There is a slideshow video of our configuration center on our
website.

http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_FacilityVideo.aspx

How many employees does the company plan to hire this year?

As many employees as required to fulfil product demand. I know that
sounds like a non-answer, but you can never really know until orders
start coming in. We have a few new models coming out soon, and weÕll
see what kind of workload they generate.

Who is supposed to be strategic investor? Where does the
production take place? What part of the production will be
made/is made outside of Asia (percentage of the final
product)?

Good question; short answer: There is no stategic investor that I can
comment on presently. I can say that we haves spent thousands of
dollars on the preparation of documents including Private Placement
Memorandums (over 1500 pages!) and other SEC documents needed
to go forward in this regard.

Currently, the VIC-Slim and our upcoming VIC-Max are assembled in
China, and everything else is manufactured in the US (C64x case and
keyboard) and assembled in Florida. Assembly in China is obviously
the cheaper option and will allow us to sell computers at an acceptable
price Òfor the massesÓ.

Why do you think there is so much animosity towards CUSA
from people in the Amiga community, and does it bother you?



--------------------------------------- 22



"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." --From Hamlet (III, ii, 239)

I am no psychologist (although I am married to one), but I think it
comes down to the fact that when people invest a lot of time in a
particular pass time or activity they begin to identify themselves with
it and with those of similar likes. Such groups polarise on ideas and
this generates an Òus versus themÓ kind of mentality. IÕm told it is a
school yard mentality, and certainly some of the criticisms that come
our way seem rather juvenile at times. As the new kids on the block,
with what would be considered a different way of thinking about all
things Amiga, of course there is going to be a lot of animosity towards
us. The Amiga scene has always been belligerent to each other, so
why should our appearance on the scene be any different? I was quite
amused on first learning about all the different ÒcampsÓ, and the
various histories and hostilities. In this, and more pertinent world
affairs, I think Òwhy canÕt we all just get alongÓ. I think, in the end, it
comes down to some, but not all, in these groups being set in their
ways and somewhat inflexible. But thatÕs fine, no one is forcing or
even asking you to change. I do believe however that the most vocal
critics are just spiteful of our success, to the point of their vitriol
reaching a level of absurdity.

Since I will not reply in kind to these disgusting, sometimes slanderous
comments made by a small handful of borderline psychotics, I must
admit that I do get amused knowing that their elevated blood pressure
and intense mental anguish will be my only reward.  It makes me
laugh quite often. ItÕs not like weÕre killing any current scene projects
or changing them in any way. They all continue as before and we have
taken nothing away from the community. I can only think that there is
quite a bit of sour-grapes on the part of those that would have wanted
their particular faction to acquire the notority, exposure and
acceptance that we have experienced.

Admittedly, I also talk in quite grandiose terms sometimes, which I
know can grate on some people, but such is the way of marketing and
showmanship. I think weÕve been quite successful in that aspect, given
our limited resources, so I donÕt think IÕll stop that any time soon. I do
believe however, that through the immense publicity we have raised
we are adding to the Amiga scene in general by reaching fans who
never wanted to be involved in the hardcore scene or with all the
childish in-fighting. WeÕve brought entirely new blood into the Amiga
scene and had some converts along the way. We may have different



--------------------------------------- 23

ways of celebrating the greatness of classic Commodore and Amiga
computers, but we are passionate just the same.

The AMIGA represented different things to different people, and IÕve
got news for you, not everyone was so obsessed with the OS or the
particular nuts and bolts of the system as the hardcore fans on this
forum are. For many, the OS and the hardware were just what you
had available at that time, and to go back to that, while interesting
and nostalgic, would seem a backwards step to many. I prefer to see it
as how some people like using a stick, and some enjoy automatics. If
it gets you to your destination comfortably and on time there is not
much difference.

It must be also realised that the majority of Amiga owners were solely
games players, using their Amigas in a similar fashion to consoles, and
while they may have used the machines for some other purposes now
and then, do not have any particular allegiance to the operating
system or chips in the machine, but loved the brand just the same.
They were proud of their purchase, and of the classic Commodore
Amigas, as being fantastic all-singing, all-dancing, game playing
machines of the era, and so it will be again with our new Commodore
Amigas.

As I said earlier I consider the spirit of the Amiga brand in terms of the
following concepts. The Amiga allowed people to be creative, which we
now provide through Commodore OS with its abundance of creative
software. With all the graphics editors, music composition tools,
programming suites and games available within our Commodore OS
Linux distro, from the get-go, we have it all. How is that not what the
AMIGA espoused and was well regarded for? GNU/Linux is a great OS,
which is worthy of more mindshare, and it is as big an underdog as the
Amiga seemed in the day.

The new Commodore Amigas will be entertaining and more than
capable of playing great cutting edge games, be they through
Windows, or through Commodore OS which comes with hundreds of
3d and retro games which can provide hundreds of hours of
entertainment value in their own right. ItÕs even got a built in media
center. And if you want to run a classic game you can easily run it
through our included emulators, just as IÕm told next gen Amiga-like
OSes have to these days. But I ÒgottaÓ tell you, while fun, and worth
having as an attraction, classic emulation is really a gimmick and not
at all as important in the scheme of things as many of you believe. We
are not expecting sales just because our machines can run classic



--------------------------------------- 24

games, but it is a nice to have feature that adds to the enjoyment of
our systems.

As painful as a change of perspective may feel to people, we are
basing the new AMIGA on commodity hardware. The pace of
technology is exponential, such that a computer company sitting on
the same motherboard for more than a year for their flagship product
is increasingly unlikely. The only realistic way an Amiga can possibly
ever be technologically up to date or a success again is to go toe to
toe with what is out there with comparable weaponry. Some people
donÕt want that, but that is their problem.


ON THE ACCUSATIONS

Why should an Amiga user get one of your Amiga's? What does
a CommodoreUSA Amiga offer that a PC made from the exact
same parts doesn't, apart from the name, and a doubled price-
tag?
If someone really wants a commodore or amiga branded pc,
why should someone pay 3x as much as the parts cost to get it
from you instead of making their own stickers?

First of all, our prices are in flux, and secondly you are wrong on
prices. Many of the price configurations we have seen people come up
with have been either dead wrong or have left out essential bits, like
fixed overhead, payroll, taxes, insurance and most importantly
PROFIT! We can never hope to compete with systems you can put
together yourself on price. No one can. Not everyone wants to build
things themselves either, but if you like our Commodore and Amiga
branded cases you have the possibility of buying one and can have at
it.

Why did you claim that ads would be on television, when they
never made it anywhere but on youtube?
What happened to your 30 million dollar advertising budget.
Does it cost 30 million dollars now to self edit a few videos to
cheesy production music that costs 20$ per track and upload
the view to youtube? You claimed you had a 30 million dollar
advertising budget. All we've seen is a mention on a dvd and
some youtube videos that were made at home.

The 30 million dollar budget was an invention of the advertising
agency we are no longer affiliated with. A budget is just a plan, and



--------------------------------------- 25

clearly things would be entirely different if we actually had 30 million
dollars, and we never claimed we had it. People just jumped to
conclusionsÉ..We tried to correct that publicly on a few occasions and
just gave up, and didnÕt want to get involved with all the vitriol. If
youÕre stupid enough to believe we have 30 million dollars weÕre quite
happy to let you.

Why did you illegally steal footage from a disney movie (TRON)
to make ads for your company?

Another contender for the most stupid question. Here are the facts
regarding the co:branding of the release of our C64x and with DisneyÕs
release of their TRON dvd:

Regardless of the repeated lies initially started by one of your forum
members, and repeated by the brainless individuals who seem to get a
vicarious thrill diminishing and mocking our success É

1. We did not approach Disney in any manner regarding the
possibility of a co:branding of our companies respective IP and
product.
2. They approached us, and presented the opportunity that they
wanted us to participate in.
3. Commodore USA, LLC and The Walt Disney Company did not
exchange any cash or cash equivilant in this co:branding
campaign. NOT ONE PENNY changed hands between us.
4. Disney already had two HUGE computer companies battling for
this opportunity; when the VP of Disney became aware of our
upcoming C64x launch, he put us on his radar, and we began
to engage.
5. This was not a paid advertising program; You canÕt buy this
exposure from Disney, it as to be offered; itÕs not for sale.
Disney, at their sole expense, printed millions of full color dvd
insert panels, which were included on the front of every TRON
dvd worldwide!
6. Every video we produced had to be approved by Disney. In
fact, many were rejected for various reasons, and the final cut
is what was presented to a worldwide audience on April 4,
2011.
7. MILLIONS of viewers worldwide shared in this exciting
adventure; the thirty year rebirth of the C64 and TRON!!!!

Disney is the worldÕs largest multi media conglomerate. The fact that
they saw the value in such a huge co:branding alliance with



--------------------------------------- 26

Commodore USA speaks volumes about the efforts and successes we
have obtained in such a short time frame.

Link to DisneyÕs official TRON webpage, featuring Commodore USA as
a co:branding partner, right next to Coca Cola.

http://disney.go.com/tron/index_flash.html - /partners

What percentage of markup do you apply to your off the shelf
components, it seems dreadfully high?

Really? Same as Apple. They take their raw cost of materials and
DOUBLE it. That becomes their approx. selling price.  OK, I know we
are not Apple, but the principle remains the same.  We must remain
profitable in order to stay in business, and live to fight tomorrowÕs
battle. Our margins have been a bit high IÕll grant you, but weÕre
changing our strategy and will be pricing more aggressively.

Why did you steal text from apples website on one of your
earlier websites?

Yes. I believe I apologised for that. In the excitement of putting the
first website together one night I got a little copy/paste happy. It was
really just a temporary place holder, and it looked a lot better than the
stock latin blurb I should have used. IÕd be happy to give Apple an
apology. Sorry Apple. I wonÕt do it again. There, happy?

Why do you maintain so many shill accounts on a.org and
elsewhere to defend your company? Why don't you just grow
set of balls and post yourself and stop hiding behind fake
users? Do your parents know your running a computer empire
out of their basement?

We do not have any fake user accounts, although I must admit the
thought has crossed my mind. It may be hard for you to believe, but
we have legitimate fans who like to come onto the various forums and
evangelise, as well as defend against all the lies, vitriol and
propaganda a small number of individuals like to spout. HereÕs a link
to a video showing our facility being run out of my parents basement
http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_FacilityVideo.aspx

Whats the point of using the Amiga nameplate on something
not even resembling an Amiga product? We aren't naive
enough to take such bait, and frankly, it is very insulting.



--------------------------------------- 27


Sure, the AMIGA mini does not resemble a classic AMIGA but I felt it
was something that Commodore would have produced had it continued
to this day. Some of our new Amiga models will bear a closer
resemblance to the classics but are not intended as replicas. We intend
to do what we feel Commodore would have done if it had continued to
this day.

Please understand, that we could have done a lot of things with the
Amiga brand, and if you think that was insulting, you should seriously
consider what another company, without such reverence for the
brands, could have done.

What happened to those 25,000$ workstation amigas you once
bragged about? What happened to the hundreds or thousands
of c64x's you claimed you were shipping to big box retails
stores that never happened. Why?

This was in reference to something I commented on relating to a
potential collaboration with NewTek around a new Amiga Video
Toaster. I went on to estimate that various configurations of such a
machine could cost as much as $25,000. Obviously, such collaboration
has not yet occurred, nor will we produce a mainstream Commodore
Amiga machine that would cost anywhere near that amount. To think
so is crazy, but yet again, what I have said has been taken out of
context and applied to the propaganda purposes of a small yet vocal
minority.

I do not recall having ever claimed to ship hundreds of thousands of
C64xs. Some reporters went a little crazy with numbers when they
published, but certainly not that high, and quite frankly, it was not in
our best interests to correct them.

The rainbow coloured ticker has huge appeal in the gay
communities, I know this first... hand... after visiting bars and
nightclubs in Amsterdam and San Francisco, wearing nothing
but a... wearing a dark purple T-shirt with huge Amiga ticker on
the chest. Are you considering the market appeal for "Amiga"
and rainbow ticker in the LGBT communities?

ThatÕs funny. Maybe we should create a line of Amiga clothing
especially for them. IÕll talk to our Director of Social Media and get his
take on this.




--------------------------------------- 28

Does Dammy's misrepresentations and incorrect expectations
about company policy and expectations represent corporate
policy?

Dammy is not an official representative of Commodore USA but one of
our biggest supporters. I quite often enjoy talking to him about some
of our plans and some of the possibilities of those plans. Sometimes he
gets a bit ahead of himself and extrapolates things we never publicly
promised. We have made it quite clear publicly that he is not an official
representative, but many of his comments do hold a lot of insight into
our thought process and desires, if not concrete plans. His support and
commentary are most appreciated and valued by myself and our team.

Whatever happened to "Commodore USA's Final Challenge to
the Community?"

You all gave up. It still stands. ItÕs not our fault you canÕt agree on
anything or maybe there just arenÕt enough of you out there. :-P

FUTURE PRODUCTS/PLANS

How are the discussions going with the Natami team to support
them and if you can resolve a licensing issue with Ben Hermans
then build into an official Amiga system. Have you any plans to
create a more classic amiga or such or peripherals etc.

What discussions? These are leading questions. Any such discussions
would be confidential. We currently have no plans regarding classic
Amiga hardware.

Are you going to conquer computer market of graphics station
based on 4 core CPU and graphic boards with powerful GPUs?

I donÕt know if that is even possible. We are focused on home
computing but certainly there are avenues for powerful workstations in
such industries. It is certainly doable with multiple high-end nVidia
Quadro cards being touted as super computers.

Does C=USA have plan to DEVELOP any new hardware or
software or to licence (outsource) any h/w or s/w
development and if yes, what?
Do you plan to resume the production of Amiga
600/1200/4000/CD32 in the classic form known from 1993?




--------------------------------------- 29

No, we may do some case replicas, but we currently do not have any
plans to recreate classic hardware.

The Amiga Fantasy case or similar all in one keyboard
computer will it happen? When will Amiga PPC from
CommodoreUSA see the daylight?

We want to create an A500 replica. We currently do not have plans to
sell PPC hardware.

Do you plan to begin some sort of a cooperation with the Amiga
community that has nurtured the legend for so many years?
What I mean is to convince (in a financial way) three Amiga
teams (AmigaOS, MorphOS, AROS) to work on one operational
system dedicated to one machine created by CUSA.

Unfortunately, there appears to be much animosity between the next
gen Amiga OS teams. WeÕve made it quite clear that we would like
AmigaOS running on our x86 machines, so in terms of usefulness to
the collaboration, Hyperion could potentially do that with the
assistance of AROS. While it would be wonderful if MorphOS Team
could get involved, I donÕt see how it could be directly useful.

What companies do you plan to start cooperation with? (not
only Hyperion or Amigakit but also other suppliers and
distributors).

Any such cooperation would be subject to confidentiality.

Is there *anything* interesting/unique in regards C-USA
products, or will they always just be using other peoples work?
(ie. any plans for custom apis, drivers, technologies,etc.)

We will license or purchase technologies as needed, when we need to,
just as Commodore did with the Amiga in the 80s.

Do you have plans for selling the system in Africa? If no, why?

We currently ship worldwide for free. Even to Africa.

How many employees does the company plan to hire this year?

All I can say is, as many as we need to fulfil product demand.




--------------------------------------- 30

Do you plan to create something like AppleStore and after
coming to agreement with the publishers and owners of old
classic Amiga games make them available to buy as ADF
images or to create remakes of the most popular titles?

Oh yes. We are planning to release an app store for classic emulated
games, WINE compatible games and Linux games within Commodore
OS and potentially other GNU/Linux distributions.

Why don't you cooperate with Yoz Montana in the matter of
Amiga cases which are modern, original and have some retro
feeling?

Frankly, because we have much better and more realistic ideas. His
design looks great, but when he designed it he seemed to forget you
need room for actual hardware inside. Of course we provided him with
feedback, and he came back with another larger design, but we
werenÕt so enamoured with it. It really is a balancing act between
looks and functionality.

Do you plan to add numbering system to computer models (like
in case A500, A1200 etc.)?

Yes, it has always been our intention to use Commodore model
naming nomenclature when there are similarities in appearance or
form factor with classic models. Even a T suffix for towers. We also
intend to use the lowercase x suffix in our more official model name
designation, just as we did with the C64x, which has been quite useful
for denoting our models from the classic C64 in discussion. That said,
we often just refer to our models as the new Commodore 64 for
instance, and I imagine we will advertise our new models in similar
fashion, like the new Commodore Amiga 1000, or the new A2000 etc.

Do you consider extending the offer for much cheaper models,
models which will be custom made upon the user requests,
desktop models, mobile models, etc.?

We now allow a variety of configuration options on our website. Some
models have a single base configuration. Configurators will likely want
to go further in building things to order for their customers. In terms
of our model line-up there are one or two very different things in the
pipeline for later in the year.

Do you have any plans to support any area of the current



--------------------------------------- 31

Amiga scene? Viva Amiga film? Advertising on amiga web site?

We would like to support the demoscene, if we knew where to start.
Viva Amiga knows of us by now, IÕm sure, yet they havenÕt
approached us. Who knows, now that weÕve actually released our first
Amiga maybe that will change.

Do you have any plans to attend any Amiga shows to demo
your products?

Unfortunately, no. I was actually excited to do that, until I discovered
the attendance at various Commodore and Amiga shows was rather
poor, making it hard to justify the expense. We would rather create
our own Commodore show in more easily accessible and populated
regions, or perhaps as an adjunct to a major computing show.

Do you feel you made any errors in talking with the Amiga
community ? Will there be changes in the future?

Of course, and quite often. I do not know of any company that would
so openly discuss plans on forums, yet I do not know of any company
that has ever come under such incredible scrutiny. Except maybe
Apple of course. People said I was crazy, and many still do, to be
conversant with a group of hardcore fanboys, especially ones of such
historic epic hostility. It was a bit of a culture shock. You may have
noticed that since we have our own forum we donÕt come around as
much, and you likely only see some of our supporters still around
posing our side of the argument. The thought that anyone from
Commodore USA comes onto AmigaOS sites for advertising is so
utterly ridiculous it just boggles my mind. I sometimes post for my
own amusement, but that is all.

I am doing this interview solely because I was politely asked to, and
would like to set the record straight without all the accompanying
noise for once. If my answers upset you, then I really feel it is time
you had a long good look inside yourself to figure out what the cause
of the hostility is. We are as passionate about Commodore and the
Amiga as many of you are, but with a different perspective to many on
this forum. Our activities and plans are not meant to invalidate your
hobby, your favourite OS, or to denigrate the legendary Commodore
and Amiga computers, in any way, but to lead the Commodore and
Amiga brands, that have seemingly languished over the years, to
greener pastures. Many of your goals are ours too, but we are either
restricted legally, lack the particular IP, or cannot do everything at



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once. All I can say to you, is that despite the hostility, there is a lot of
love, and we do not take much to heart. I would like to thank
everyone that has been vocal in their support of us since we started,
and it has been a pleasure discussing your hopes and desires for our
products and our company. It means a lot to us. It is my hope that
some day we may be in a position to make everyoneÕs Amiga dreams
come true. Until thenÉ.Take care and God bless.

Barry