The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga

The Future Was Here is an attempt to put into context why the Commodore Amiga has such a legendary status among personal computers of its time. Indeed, the title couldn't be more apt. The Amiga truly was ahead of its time, but Commodore managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and the Amiga is now just another “failure” on the road to modern computing in the early 21st century.

This book dives deep into what made the Amiga great: its unique hardware architecture and the software. The author goes into depth to dissect a number of killer apps that contributed to the Amiga legend. From the original Boing Ball demo to Deluxe Paint, to the Video Toaster, Maher breaks down how the applications managed to take advantage of the Amiga's unique architecture. The black-and-white pictures and screenshots in the book do not do the Amiga any justice. Most of these applications need to be seen in action to be fully-appreciated, and Maher created a companion website to host copies of the Boing Ball demo, some artwork made on Amigas, and other Amiga-generated content. Unfortunately, that website is in serious need of updates to work with modern web browsers in 2018. YouTube will probably be your best friend if you want to see Amiga software in action.

Maher also dedicates a couple of chapters to a few special Amiga games, such as those developed by Cinemaware and Psygnosis. Another chapter is dedicated to the demoscene that sprung up around the Amiga.

As for as the history of the Amiga itself, you won't really get a straight account from this book. Maher sprinkles historical context throughout the book while discussing the software, but the reader will really have to piece things together for themselves. Those looking to see historical accounts of the politics at Commodore in the 1980s, or to see a linear retelling of the Amiga's history, will probably be better off reading Jeremy Reimer's long-running series of articles on Ars Technica.

Overall, this is a great book for computer enthusiasts who are curious about the Amiga and why it evokes such reverence from its fans. Stay for the art, but look elsewhere for the history.