Buy new:
-11% $35.49
FREE delivery Friday, May 17
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$35.49 with 11 percent savings
List Price: $40.00

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 17. Order within 17 hrs 8 mins
In Stock
$$35.49 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$35.49
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$25.00
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! See less
$3.99 delivery May 20 - 24. Details
Or fastest delivery May 16 - 21. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$35.49 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$35.49
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by HPB-Emerald.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Jimmy Maher
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies) Paperback – January 26, 2018

by Jimmy Maher (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 135 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$35.49","priceAmount":35.49,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"35","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"49","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"I91Q9U2CcQCUoYRwZT%2B91rGAcLomufQdbNc9NzoFnoUjqGlRWf214gV%2F7ld8JvmT7q%2FtxrJgYjTZs8sxPKbvhEDcySUg4VwzEKcTYG%2FCi1nWOagFYwomiP%2B3tobBrG6HNZdFpAq4nvTFA114E8CZlw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$25.00","priceAmount":25.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"25","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"I91Q9U2CcQCUoYRwZT%2B91rGAcLomufQd%2BVu%2BzowHR0c7KOwG5cztYegbu3KaWB6V%2FVGghNBBZmTFe%2FFUESlOdbRet0yDuuiIYgwrohuFiciOuctoXCUhqrj1DryMXGySbqsTyHBHKF91Lxm97zgBH4nXTmUo2fMtNhJvxXlAOW5OJVokhohxlr%2BBv7tbl7Uh","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Exploring the often-overlooked history and technological innovations of the world's first true multimedia computer.

Long ago, in 1985, personal computers came in two general categories: the friendly, childish game machine used for fun (exemplified by Atari and Commodore products); and the boring, beige adult box used for business (exemplified by products from IBM). The game machines became fascinating technical and artistic platforms that were of limited real-world utility. The IBM products were all utility, with little emphasis on aesthetics and no emphasis on fun. Into this bifurcated computing environment came the Commodore Amiga 1000. This personal computer featured a palette of 4,096 colors, unprecedented animation capabilities, four-channel stereo sound, the capacity to run multiple applications simultaneously, a graphical user interface, and powerful processing potential. It was, Jimmy Maher writes in The Future Was Here, the world's first true multimedia personal computer.

Maher argues that the Amiga's capacity to store and display color photographs, manipulate video (giving amateurs access to professional tools), and use recordings of real-world sound were the seeds of the digital media future: digital cameras, Photoshop, MP3 players, and even YouTube, Flickr, and the blogosphere. He examines different facets of the platform—from Deluxe Paint to AmigaOS to Cinemaware—in each chapter, creating a portrait of the platform and the communities of practice that surrounded it. Of course, Maher acknowledges, the Amiga was not perfect: the DOS component of the operating systems was clunky and ill-matched, for example, and crashes often accompanied multitasking attempts. And Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. But for a few years, the Amiga's technical qualities were harnessed by engineers, programmers, artists, and others to push back boundaries and transform the culture of computing.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Platform Studies
  2. Print length
    344 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    MIT Press
  5. Publication date
    January 26, 2018
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.85 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0262535696
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0262535694
  9. See all details
Next page
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Frequently bought together

The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies)
$35.49
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Commodore: The Amiga Years
$26.89
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
Only 9 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

At once challenging, rewarding, emotional, and insightful...a compelling read for those interested in the Amiga platform, as well as those interested to learn more about the culture of computing.—John F. Barber, Leonardo Reviews—

About the Author

Jimmy Maher is an independent scholar and writer living in Norway.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MIT Press; Reprint edition (January 26, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 344 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262535696
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262535694
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.85 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 135 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jimmy Maher

Jimmy Maher

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I've been writing professionally on analog and digital culture for quite some time now.

My latest project is a series of books called simply The Wonders of the World, whose aim is to accessibly chronicle some of the most remarkable achievements in human history. The series is premised on the idea that its subjects are indeed wondrous, and there's no reason why books about them should be one whit less exciting and inspiring than a good novel. It's also something of an experiment in reader participation: books in the series first appear on a chapter-by-chapter basis at my website The Analog Antiquarian, where readers can comment on them, help to weed out the bad ideas, and generally shape the product before it gets refined into its final published form.

In addition to the Wonders of the World series, you may wish to explore my book on the history of the Commodore Amiga personal computer for the MIT Press's Platform Studies series, or visit my other website The Digital Antiquarian, a long-running history of personal computing and computer gaming. Your support of my work, whether through buying my books here or signing up to support my websites, is the only thing that makes it possible to continue. So, thank you for that! Without readers, a writer is nothing.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
135 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

PhotoSynth
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved learning more about the Amiga
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
I've never had an Amiga, but I remember being envious of my friends in the 80s that had such a wonderful machine and was curious to learn more about its history and technology.

The only negative is that the history parts, while a good overview, are relatively limited, mainly centered on Jack Tramiel and seems collected from available public sources rather than new interviews.

The book is structured around the impact of the Amiga on computing, with the various chapters also explaining the computer architecture, history and applications when those fit in the bigger story. Don't necessary believe all the claims, some of the technologies were already available earlier (e.g. the multitasking in the SInclair QL one year earlier), but only the Amiga made them successfully available to mass of consumers and professionals, and the machine was revolutionary at the time.

There are also many sections where the author delves in great details into aspects like the graphics processor, the bouncing ball demo and some of the software and add-ons. Casual users may find these descriptions too technical and boring, but for me (a computer engineer) these were the highlight of the book and even just by themselves warrant my 5 star rating. Very interesting!
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Andrew Pape
4.0 out of 5 stars Great nostalgic book
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2012
Verified Purchase
This is a well-written book, especially nostalgic for anyone who had an Amiga.

The book isn't perfect for any particular audience. I have a computer-game programming background, and have a Computer Science Degree, so I am more likely to understand the book's technical details than a layperson. If you don't know much about the basics of computers, then reading a book about an advanced computer like the Amiga will be difficult to read or appreciate.

The author picked a good example for each chapter, e.g. how the Boing ball demo was made, and also the 3D Juggler. I was happy to learn about Boing, although for casual readers it might be difficult to follow, e.g. the concepts of colour-cycling. For the Juggler demo, I'd heard years ago that it used pre-generated graphics, as the Amiga was too slow to do the maths and graphics in real-time. The book mentions ray-tracing, but not the concepts behind it. Ray-tracing is complex because of the "recursion" technique used. The author doesn't even allude to this. A simple mention of the big problem would have made the reader better appreciate the demo.

In some chapters, I lost interest because I didn't know about the exact technology discussed. This made me more like a layperson, and most probably other readers will struggle also.

Once the author got to the topic of game programming, about 1/2 way through the book, I couldn't put it down. This is because I had always dreamed about making games, and have made a couple myself, but long after the days of the Amiga. I was unfortunate enough not to have had enough technical knowledge to make an Amiga game. Now that the author has explaining technical details, I wish I was back in those old days but armed with my newfound knowledge.

Unfortunately, the author only alludes to both Assembly Language and C. Actually, there is no C code demo, and the small Assembler demo leaves a lot to be desired. When describing a great game, it is clear that the author is a programmer, and not just an historian. For example, he has written his own C version of a game originally written in Assembly Language. For those who don't know anything about these languages, or computer languages in general, the read will most likely be boring and intimidating.

From my point of view, the book would have been better if it were more technical, and for those who aren't computer literate, the book will be too complex as-is. The author had to compromise. I'd take half a star off the book's rating for being too technical for a layperson, and another 1/2 star for it not being technical enough for me. Otherwise, it's a great book. It could have been improved by having an appendix for those who don't know about "bits and bytes", and another for further explanations of the technical tricks used by game programmers.

The author explains the history of Commodore and the Amiga's demise, and this was news to me. I knew the Amiga had vanished, but never knew why. This history lesson is readable by anyone, both computer scientists and historians. This a a good book, well-written and with apt examples.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jeremy Moskowitz
5.0 out of 5 stars This book needed to be written.
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2012
Verified Purchase
If I had unlimited time and resources in my life, I would have written this book. It is exquisitely detailed, but not overly so. There are working examples from the author if you care to take a deeper dive. The facts are accurate, and the "positioning" and analysis is thought out and well reasoned. In short, there's a lot to like about this book if you were an Amiga enthusiast. But the more important reason that this book should have been written (and now is) is for when future historians want to take a reasoned approach to understanding why things unfolded the way they were. IN 50 years, this book will hold up with the technical accuracy, attention to detail, cited references, and "just enough" detail to tell the story in an accurate and easy to read way. Thanks Jimmy for the book, and more importantly, future historians of the technology will thank you too.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Ali son of Khalil
5.0 out of 5 stars Amiga Forever!
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2012
Verified Purchase
The Amiga was the second computer that I ever knew after the programmable John Sands Sega SC3000H. I fell in love with my Amiga 500 as a child so it holds a special place in my heart. In all honesty no computer has ever left such a profound lasting effect on me.

Jimmy Maher, thank you for explaining away the mystery. I have always known that the Amiga was a beautifully designed and built machine, but I never knew the technicalities of what made it so superior to the Macs, Ataris and IBMs of its time. I have always wished that the Amiga never died, thanks for nothing Commodore.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Alex
5.0 out of 5 stars Et pourtant tout était là...
Reviewed in France on January 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
Ce livre en anglais, relativement facile à lire, retrace l'histoire d'une machine mythique qui a succombé à l'incompétence commerciale des dirigeants aveuglés par les profits immédiats.
Chaque chapitre aborde un sujet particulier, et se base sur des exemples, parfois techniques, ou des témoignages de l'époque.
Un très bon livre pour se remémorer cette époque de l'informatique où tout était encore à inventer.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Cliente de Amazon
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantástico.
Reviewed in Spain on December 21, 2017
Verified Purchase
Es un libro cuyo autor se documentó bien antes de escribirlo. Aparte de estar muy bien escrito y contener montones de datos interesantes, aporta una visión ciertamente interesante sobre una máquina que merecía más.
One person found this helpful
 Report
ColinD
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book, superbly written.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
Absolutely superb book on the Amiga. The book successfully matches history of the platform and what Commodore failed to do with it to detailed technical information. For example, the in depth information on DPaint and reconstructing Menace show exactly how the custom chips could be used to the Amiga's benefit, but ultimately how that same custom hardware design would be a limitation of the platform later on,

Well recommended to all Amigans.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Helladog
5.0 out of 5 stars A good read for an Amiga fan
Reviewed in Canada on June 4, 2012
Verified Purchase
The book is written in a way that demonstrates the technical aspect of the hardware and software that made (makes) the Amiga so unique. The author does manage to let loose and share a few stories, enriching the text. He covers pretty well all aspects of the Amiga experience of the 80-90's while remaining unbiased for the most part, and keeping a technical tone. I was glad to see many of the known people who influenced the Amiga mentioned.

It does become a bit laboured to read some of the more technical stuff, but in doing do, gives a lot more info that you may have known before, unless you were a programmer.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Gernot Kieseritzky
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling and thorough overview of the Commodore Amiga system
Reviewed in Germany on May 31, 2012
Verified Purchase
"The Future was here - the Commodore Amiga" is neither a dry reference manual, nor a nostalgic fanboy's review of his beloved computer platform at the time of his adolescence. In nine chapters the author covers all important aspects of the history of the Commodore Amiga home computer: The first prototype showcasing the famous Boing! demo on the 1984 WCES and the people behind it, over its rise to success as a supreme gaming machine (especially in Europe) and a video art tool in the late eighties, to its fall after the bankruptcy of Commodore.

It includes a technical account of the custom chips that made the Amiga platform so unique (meet Paula, Agnus, Denise and its friends) with a focus on its graphics subsystem guided by a review of DeluxePaint and a tutorial about the making of the popular shooter game "Menace". Other chapters are devoted to the sound capabilities of the Amiga and for its time revolutionary multitasking operating system.

Written in a rather technical tone that becomes a little comical when the author describes the juvenile subculture that was the Amiga cracker and demoscene, the book provides nevertheless a compelling read for anybody seriously interested in the origins of our modern multimedia computer world.
9 people found this helpful
 Report