AMIGAphile Survey (part II)
AMIGAphile Volume 1 Number 2 (AUGUST 1992)
In the last issue, it seems I neglected to comment on the types of people who filled out the AMIGAphile survey. Most of the surveys came from users of the Internet network. These people come from a variety of professional backgrounds. Many of them are commercial developers and professionals in other computer related areas. The other large percentage of the repliers are students at a college or university working toward a degree. Many of the numbers are not so surprising when these facts are taken into account. Most of the respondents had what I would call an above average knowledge about their systems and other Amiga related subjects. Since many of these users are programmers, I believe that accounts for the large number of A3000 systems as well as WorkBench 2.0 users. I believe that these numbers do indicate a trend, especially in average hard drive size and average memory per machine. Overall, I think this sampling of owners/users is a bit above average but as more surveys are filled out, the numbers will tell what trends are in and what trends are out.
MODEMS
The trend in modem speed is obviously toward 14.4 kbps but it seems that everyone is running at 2400 bps or higher these days. This is especially true with the abundance of 2400 bps MNP-5 modems. The numbers do not reflect the difference between 2400 bps with or without MNP-5 but, from the surveys, I know that most of the people specified when they had MNP-5 and there were a lot of them. 88% of the survey respondents own a modem. Of the modem owners, 16% don't know if they have a BBS in their area. Some of these use other BBS services such as Portal, CompuServe, or Genie. I asked the BBS questions to see if there was a need for a BBS listing. I think the numbers indicate that there is a small need so that everyone can make the most out of owning an Amiga. Some of the best software is shareware and only available from a BBS or a service such as the Fred Fish collection.
Hayes 8 % ********
Supra 34 % **********************************
USR 10 % **********
Zoom 6 % ******
Other 42 % ******************************************
1200 bps 9 % ****
2400 bps 71 % ***********************************
9600 bps 9 % ****
14.4 kbps 10 % *****
Have a local BBS
Yes 71 % ***********************************
No 13 % ******
Unknown 16 % ********
Local BBS User
Yes 61 % ******************************
No 39 % ****************PRINTERS
More than 84% of the respondents own a printer. Since many of the computers belong to students, I can understand why this number would be very high. As a student myself, I find my printer to be indispensable. Some of the more often mentioned printers include the Panasonic KX-P series, Hewlett Packard InkJet and Laser printers, and Star NX series.
USER'S GROUPS
Local User's Group?
Yes 80 ****************************************
No 10 *****
Unknown 10 *****
Member of local User's Group?
Yes 34 *****************
No 66 *********************************It's good to see that so many people have a local user's group but I find the number of people who are members to be shamefully low. I have to admit that there is a local user's group here in Columbus but I am not a member because I just don't have the time to go to the meetings or be an active member. I hope this is the reason many of you are not members. User's groups are an excellent way to get support.
Local Amiga Dealer
Yes 80 ****************************************
No 16 ********
Unknown 3 *
Do you buy mail order
Yes 73 ********************************
No 26 *************Most people (80%) have a local Amiga dealer. I suppose this is a good thing but I've found that most people don't support them because they stink. All the dealers I have talked to blame Commodore for poor support. You'd think Commodore would support their dealer network but it appears that the dealers know about as much as the owners. I think this is poor policy and evidently so do most of you. The figures for people who use mail order are large which I think shows the independence of Amiga owners. It is true that most users have to be loners because the support just isn't there.
MAGAZINES
The way Amiga magazines have been dropping out of sight, you'd think the number of magazine readers would be low but 52% of you read one or more Amiga magazines. The numbers do indicate the reason that .info magazine is no longer around as it only had 13% of the readers. Magazines in the other category consist of European magazines such as Amiga Format and Amiga Shopper which I failed to include in my list.
Amazing Amiga 17 ********
AmigaWorld 55 ***************************
.info 13 ******
other 15 *******...Next month, part III - AMIGAphile Survey - the final chapter.
