|2-Tell Escom! This document is a survey for current and prospective AMIGA users. The authors of this document want to find out what AMIGA users expect from their computing systems. For those who were Commodore computer users from the days of the CBM Pet to the heyday of the AMIGA 4000, they will remember that Commodore produced a variety of high quality computers, but they were products usually devoid of user input. For example, the A600, was designed to be a niche replacement for the A500, and although it was based on an integrated component set making chips less likely to unseat, and included a PCMCIA slot, it was not what the low end user wanted. ^7^^450 The one complaint that most users have in common with the defunct CBM customer support was that there was almost none for many people. Even with the launch of the Commodore Gold Express service, most users still had to resort to other means of support. The goal of this survey is to compile as many users as possible and get as much input as possible. Imagine what might have happened with the AMIGA in the late 1980's if Commodore had listened to its users and "ADVERTISED"? Also imagine what would have happened if they had listened to A500 users, and had figured out how to make a ECS or AGA drop in add on to upgrade their computers? The time wasted on the A600 could have been more efficiently invested. This survey has three parts. Part one is a "wish list" for what users want from the next AMIGA, assuming ESCOM continues development of this product line. Each question is rated on a scale of importance from 1 to 10. 1 indicates low user interest 10 indicates high user interest. Part 2 contains yes/no questions about how you have used your computer and items related to current AMIGA equipment. The third part is for you to describe yourself and indicate items of specific concern to you about the AMIGA. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVEY 1. READ THE COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS. THIS WILL SAVE US FROM MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND WRONGLY COMPILED REPLIES. 2. USE A WORD PROCESSOR/ EDITOR TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. 3. SAVE YOUR ANSWERS AS PLAIN ASCII TEXT. 4. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS OR ALTERNATE MEANS OF CONTACT. 5. TO COMPILE THE ANSWERS OF YOUR CLUB SIMPLY FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE BELOW ("HOW TO PREPARE YOUR ANSWERS"). 6. SEND THE ANSWERS BACK TO US...THIS WON'T WORK IF WE DON'T GET IT BACK, THE OUTCOME IS UP TO YOU. 7. FOR EMAIL, MAKE THE HEADER READ "(SURVEY REPLY)" SO WE CAN SORT OUT PERSONAL MAIL FROM SURVEY RESPONSES. User clubs are encouraged to compile the results of parts one and two. Individuals are encouraged to team up and compile the answers to reduce the load on the few people that are compiling the survey results. HOW TO PREPARE YOUR ANSWERS If you are an individual just list the question number and your answer for each one. Arrange the answers in rows so we can tabulate them. For part one of the survey your answers would look something like this: EXAMPLE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL SURVEY ANSWER SHEET PART ONE NEXT -------top of response page----- (Your name would go here.) Question/Answer Question/Answer Question/Answer 1- 10 20- 2 30- 5 2- 4 21- 3 31- 6 3- 0 22- 10 32- 0 4- 3 24- 7 33- 4 ETC. until the bottom of the page is reached. There are a bunch of questions, but list all the questions that you answered. For any question numbers that you do not list we will assume that they do not apply to you. If you are a person from a user group compiling the answers for the members of your group, the task is a bit more daunting. You need to construct a table of questions with the responses of your group marked on it. See the example: EXAMPLE FOR A GROUP SURVEY ANSWER SHEET PART ONE NEXT -------Top of the response page----- (Your group name would go here.) (The number of people in your group would go here.) (Voluntarily, list the names of all people like this: Last Name, First Name) question Total --------------------------------------------------------------- (responses are listed below top line from 1 to 10) -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- -10- --------------------------------------------------------------- Q 1. 2 1 0 5 3 12 15 10 7 2 57 U 2. <----ANSWERS----> E 3. (Your group results go here. In the example for question) S 4. (one, a total of 57 people answered the question. Under ) T 5 (each responce is total of people who answered. For eaxmple) I (no one in this group selected 3 for question one, but 15) O (people chose number seven. The total may differ from question) N (to question due to people not having opinions which is why) S (we have included the TOTAL row.) For part two the format is almost like part one if your an individual, but if you're a person completing it for a group you have another table to make. EXAMPLE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL SURVEY ANSWER SHEET PART TWO NEXT ------Top of the responce page----- (Your name goes here.) Question/Answer Question/Answer Question/Answer 1.Y 30.DNA 60.Y 2.Y 31.NOP 61.N 3.N 32.Y 62.DNA ETC. Until the bottom of the page is reached. EXAMPLE FOR A GROUP SURVEY ANSWER SHEET PART TWO NEXT -----Top of the responce page------ (Your group name goes here.) (The number of people in your group goes here.) YES NO NO OPINION DID NOT ANSWER ------------------------------------------------ Q 1. 5 4 1 3 U 2. E 3. (In the example for queston one, a total of) S 4. (13 people answered the question. Five people) T 5. (answered YES, four NO, one NO OPINION (NOP), and) I 6. (three DID NOT ANSWER (DNA). DID NOT ANSWER is for) O 7. (questions that either don't apply to a person) N 8. (or because they just did not answer.) S 9. For PART THREE just include the information requested in part three of the survey. If you are compiling the results of a group, attach all of the part three answers of your members to a single copy of parts one and two of the survey with the tables of responses for all the members. This will make for some big EMAIL files but your time spent organizing your group's answers will help us a great deal and will shorten the time it takes before ESCOM receives this. The goal of this survey is to compile as many users as possible and present the results to ESCOM as soon as possible. The reasons for this are many. Firstly, we believe that AMIGA users finally deserve to be heard by the company making AMIGAs. Secondly, we belive that AMIGA users will support and buy only those AMIGA products which we need. If ESCOM follows Commodore's policy of ignoring the users, we will be given what ESCOM thinks we want, but not what we really need or want. Thirdly, ESCOM will not invest in AMIGA development if they are under the impression that AMIGA users are too few to warrant new AMIGA products. So please fill this out, think of it as a vote for the AMIGA's future. * ESCOM, Commodore, CBM, and product names are noted as trade protected. This document not meant to be sold. Reproducion is allowed and encouraged, provided nothing is removed from the original text. This document represents no corporate entity. The authors assume no liabillity for this document. Receiver assumes any loss or expense incurred. * Mail Completed Document Survey to North America: E-Mail Redskull@ix.netcom.com Snail G. Lee 225 China Street # 8 Athens GA 30605 Europe: E-Mail Fabbe@spider.compart.fi Snail F. Fagerholm Helsingforsvagen 9-11 A6 02700 Grankulla FINLAND NOTE DO NOT INCLUDE THE DOCUMENTATION ABOVE IN YOUR SURVEY RETURN PLEASE ANSWER IMMEDIATELY, LETS GET A GREAT AMIGA FROM ESCOM, NOT A HACK AMIGA USER SURVEY STARTS HERE (delete the above from your reply) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This survey is divided into three parts; please follow the instructions in the above documentation. Please return by Email ASAP. PART ONE This part contains questions about future AMIGA development as a product line. It is meant to gauge user interest in software/hardware options. Answer each question with a number 1-10. 1 indicates that you feel the option is not important to you at all. By answering with 10, you feel that the particular question is a must for you as a user. Hardware: Each question relates to Hardware for a new AMIGA. For each option, answer the importance of the item in question. 1. Hardware should have 24 bit graphic capability. 1-10 2. Hardware should be based on AGA chipset. 1-10 3. PCMCIA expansion should be included. 1-10 4. 16 bit sound should be included in architecture. 1-10 5. Hardware should use Motorola PowerPC chip as CPU. 1-10 6. Hardware should use Hewlett-Packard PC chip as CPU. 1-10 7. Hardware should use Motorola 68040 chip as CPU. 1-10 8. RISC protocal should be used on motherboard. 1-10 9. Operating system should be ROM based. 1-10 10. 2 megs of RAM should come pre-installed. 1-10 11. 3 megs of RAM should come pre-installed. 1-10 12. 4 megs of RAM should come pre-installed. 1-10 13. Expansion of RAM should be at least 8 meg. 1-10 14. Expansion of RAM should be at least 10 meg. 1-10 15. Expansion of RAM should be 16 megs or more. 1-10 16. SCSI standard should be adopted. 1-10 17. IDE standard should be adopted. 1-10 18. 2 PC1 slots for expansion. 1-10 19. 2 ZorroII slots for expansion. 1-10 20. All custom chips DIP mounted. 1-10 21. All CPU, MMU, FPU chips DIP mounted. 1-10 22. Power supply should be internal, ie. no brick. 1-10 23. MMU should be included. 1-10 24. FPU should be included. 1-10 25. 80 meg hard drive included as standard. 1-10 26. 120 meg hard drive included as standard. 1-10 27. 240 meg hard drive included as standard. 1-10 28. Up to 640 meg hard drive included as standard. 1-10 Monitor/Display 29. RCA composite ability should be maintained. 1-10 30. Multisync monitor should be plug and play. 1-10 31. VGA display enabled, cable provided out of box. 1-10 32. PAL/NTSC signal for television set use maintained. 1-10 Software: 33. Virtual memory handler standard. 1-10 34. Speech programs enhanced and restored to OS. 1-10 35. OS upgrade ie. Workbench 4.X. 1-10 36. Maintain software compatibillity with WB 1.3. 1-10 37. Maintain software compatibillity with WB 2.X. 1-10 38. Maintain software compatibillity with WB 3.X. 1-10 39. Completely new Operating System. 1-10 40. UNIX operating system standard. 1-10 41. Communications software should be bundled. 1-10 42. Graphics software should be bundled. 1-10 43. Desktop publication software should be bundled. 1-10 44. Game software should be bundled. 1-10 45. Programing language software should be bundled. 1-10 46. CrossDOS/CrossMac style software should be bundled. 1-10 47. MUI should be offered as primary GUI. 1-10 48. Music production software should be bundled. 1-10 PART TWO GENERAL QUESTIONS This section has questions of AMIGA users and how the AMIGA is used by people right now. Answer with Yes, No, No Opinion, or Did not answer. The last two answers "No opinion" and "Did not answer" are for those items which you have no opinion on or have read and do not feel that it applies to you. Questions 1-7 answer the question that describes you best, place "DNA" next to those that do not apply to you. 1. I use my AMIGA for games mostly. 2. I use my AMIGA for work mostly. 3. I use my AMIGA for school mostly. 4. I use my AMIGA for video related work mostly. 5. I use my AMIGA for audio related work mostly. 6. I use my AMIGA for communications/storage work mostly. 7. I no longer use my AMIGA. Questions 8-10 answer the question that best descibes you, use "DNA" for those that do not describe you. 8. I use my AMIGA for various personal activities. 9. I use my AMIGA for various professional activities. 10. I use my AMIGA for both personal and professional activities. Questions 11-20 answer all that apply to you with yes or no. 11. I have an A500. 12. I have an A500+. 13. I have an A600. 14. I have an A1000. 15. I have an A1200. 16. I have an A2000. 17. I have an A2500. 18. I have an A3000. 19. I have an A4000. 20. I have a CDTV. 21. I have a CD32. 22. I have an AMIGA based Video Toaster. 23. I have an Emplant. 24. I have an IBM or clone PC. 25. I have an Apple Macintosh PC. 26. I have a CD-ROM or think it should be added to my system. 27. I have a genlock attached to my AMIGA. 28. I have an external floppy drive. 29. I have an internal hard drive. 30. I have an external hard drive. 31. I use/have a multisync monitor with my AMIGA. 32. I use/have a composite monitor with my AMIGA. 33. I use/have an RGB monitor with my AMIGA. 34. I use/have a PCMCIA expansion device(s). 35. I have a modem. 36. I have a Dot Matrix printer. 37. I have a laser jet printer. 38. I have a bubble jet printer. 39. I have a dye sublimation printer. 40. I have a color printer. 41. I use high end commercial graphics programs. 42. I use commercial desk top publishing programs. 43. I regularly transfer files between my AMIGA and other PC platforms. 44. I consider myself an AMIGA programer. 45. I am a member of an AMIGA computer club. 46. I subscribe to Amazing Computing. 47. I subscribe to AMIGA Report. 48. I subscribe to AMIGA Power. 49. I subscribe to AMIGA Link. 50. I subscribe to Amiga Format. 51. I subscribe to Amiga Shopper. 52. I subscribe to non-AMIGA specific computer magazines. 53. I use WorkBench 1.3. 54. I use WorkBench 2.x. 55. I use WorkBench 3.x. 56. I use NetBSD, or another operating system. 57. I use Shareware or Public Domain software. 58. I get most of my programs from commercial sources. 59. I get most of my programs from Aminet. 60. I program my own software. 61. I am satisfied with my AMIGA for the tasks I need. 62. I have contact with other AMIGA users in person. 63. My contact with AMIGA users is Internet/Aminet only. 64. I will buy a new AMIGA, just to have the newest model. 65. I will buy a new AMIGA, only if it is bundled with software. 66. I will buy a new AMIGA, only if it is bundled with a monitor. 67. I will not buy a new AMIGA, regardless of the abillities of the system. Questions 61-65, answer the question that most accurately describes you, use "DNA" for those that do not apply to you. 68. I have had an AMIGA for 1 year or less 69. I have had an AMIGA for 1-2 years. 70. I have had an AMIGA for 2-3 years. 71. I have had an AMIGA for 3-4 years. 72. I have had an AMIGA for more than 5 years. 73. I know about/use the #AMIGA IRC channel. 74. I know about/use the Aminet FTP sites. 75. I know about/use the AMIGA home page on World Wide Web. 76. I create multimedia presentations on my AMIGA. 77. I get paid for using the AMIGA. 78. I am a former Commodore Developer. 79. I create expansion devices/ cards for the AMIGA. 80. I use AMosaic. 81. I use Lightwave. 82. I use Amos. 83. I use Wordworth. 84. I program mods. 85. I have access to AMIGA user groups in my area. 86. I have a Picasso board. 87. I use Final Copy II. 88. I spend 7 hours or less a week using my AMIGA. 89. I spend between 8 and 27 hours a week using my AMIGA. 90. I spend 28 hours or more a week using my AMIGA. 91. I spend $100 or less on AMIGA related items per year. 92. I spend $250 or less on AMIGA related items per year. 93. I spend $500 or less on AMIGA related items per year. 94. I spend $1000 or less on AMIGA related items per year. 95. I spend more than $1000 on AMIGA related items per year. 96. I would spend no more than $500 on a new AMIGA. 97. I would spend no more than $750 on a new AMIGA. 98. I would spend no more than $1000 on a new AMIGA. 99. I would spend no more than $1250 on a new AMIGA. 100. I would spend no more than $1500 on a new AMIGA. 101. Cost is not an Object, I would buy a new AMIGA regardless of price. PART THREE, THINGS YOU THINK ARE IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW. This part is for you to do the following; 1. Give us your NAME. 2. How we can contact YOU. 3. Comments about your use of the AMIGA. 4. Comments on hardware options important to you. 5. Whether you would like to help with this survey. 6. Problems that you think need to be addressed. Please remember, we expect hundreds of responses to this survey so please do keep it short, but also don't be afraid to express you thoughts. This might be the only chance to do that... The survey you return to us should simply be a listing of question numbers followed by your answers. DO NOT INCLUDE THE QUESTIONS THEMSELVES. Attached to the first two parts should also be part 3, which contains some or none of the 6 topics in that part. Even if you have no comments at least include your name and how to contact you in the event of an ESCOM emergency or in case we decide to contact the participants. Thank you FABBE and REDSKULL