Bouncing Back- The origins of the Boing Ball
The Amiga Boing Ball is a mythical object in the computer
industry. It was created as an example of the machines ability. The
demo showed a red and white ball bouncing around the screen and
reacting with the environment- it bounced off the walls, spun,
while multitasking in the background.
The demo that sold a million Amigas was the Boing Ball demo,
written by RJ Mical during a break at a trade show. In a time when
other computers were only just managing colour display, the Amiga
was displaying smooth animation in full colour. It was adopted as
the official logo, showing the products' distinctiveness. When
Commodore bought the Amiga the symbol came with it. For a time
Commodore were planning on using it as the official symbol,
creating a metallic logo for the A1000 casing (Amiga floppy disk
drives and monitors).
However, for some unknown reason Commodore decided to drop the
Boing Ball and replace it with their own rainbow checkmark.
Fortunately, the old design was not forgotten and the design became
an unofficial representation of what the machine was really capable
of. After Commodore went into liquidation the Boing Ball became a
symbol of the Amiga philosophy and power before it was tainted by
Commodore. The growth of the Internet around this period placed the
fans in contact with the people behind the dream. The likes of Carl
Sassenrath and Dave Haynie could once again make their vision
known.
When Gateway 2000 bought the Amiga technology and patents they
were searching for a recognisable symbol for the Amiga and came
across the Boing ball. The design was rendered in 3D and a light
source was added. For the second time in the Amigas history the
Boing Ball became the official Amiga logo.
So it would seem that the Amiga has come full circle. While they
can never create the same community or excitement of the original
Amiga, they have attempted to go back to their philosophical roots
by breaking away from the past. Many existing Amigans consider it a
betrayal of the Amiga name, but as they have made it clear many
times. Amiga Inc. own all rights to the Amiga and can do anything
they like with it, without the permission of the community.
Related Links
Creating the Amigas Corporate Identity-
Amiga Technologies create a new logo
The Amigas image through the ages
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