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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:16 pm

I had a fascinating conversation with an online connection of mine on Twitter today, Raymond Negron.

He shared a photograph with me and AmigaBill of The Guru Meditation that shows a very clean looking 1010 Amiga floppy drive.
driveprototype.jpg
Early 1010 prototype. Note the logo in the corner of its case. Photo by Raymond Negron‏

At first glance it looks fairly unremarkable - until you notice the logo. My neck nearly cracked as my eyes snapped to attention. The logo isn't the classic Amiga checkmark we've all grown to know and love. It's actually the iconified logo of the legendary boing ball demo, which was shown to the world at CES in Las Vegas in January, 1984, after a late night of feverish coding.

According to Amiga lore that I remember having read, the boing ball logo was a favorite of the original Amiga team - and it was one of many logos that had been considered for the official final version. But the logo was changed to the rainbow checkmark after Commodore acquired the company in August of 1984. I don't believe any products were ever sold to the public with the boing ball logo.

Another interesting twist for this prototype boing ball logo is the coloration, as it it black and red, not white and red, as seen in the demo.
bb-prototypelogo.png
Unique early prototype Amiga logo which has different colors in the boing ball than in the original demo. But it does look rather cool, doesn't it?

What's also interesting is a sticker found on the drive stating it to be the property of Commodore, and that it was not for retail sale as it had not yet been FCC approved.
drivesticker.jpg
Prototype 1010 drive stating it to be "Not for sale". Photo by Raymond Negron‏

That's how early this piece of hardware is - pre-retail Amiga days. I love the rainbow checkmark. But damn, this boing ball mark is really cool!

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ArtstateDigital
Wales, United Kingdom

Posted Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:43 pm

That's a great piece of computing history. The Amiga team were extraordinary computer designers, but they weren't good graphic designers! That logo just doesn't work, especially with those colours and it looks incredibly dated. I'm so glad that Commodore settled on the classic rainbow tick.

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mattsoft

Posted Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:00 pm

Very cool. There have been a few 1000s floating around on the forums with boing ball logo on them and the keyboard. curious if they were prototypes or maybe early units Commodore sold? would be cool to reproduce the logo (with relief, not just a print) as a replacement for 1000s -- just for kicks.

Looks like it has happened once before.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:52 pm

UPDATE: The drive still works, too.
DMSgCzuVoAAhuOs.jpg
Prototype 1010, working and hooked to an Amiga 1200. Photo by Raymond Negron‏


User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:57 pm

And a gentleman on Facebook, Folkert de Gans, shared a photo of his own early-model 1000. Note how his has a red & white boing ball, vs the black and white one on the 1010 above. Really sweet!
Screen Shot 2017-10-16 at 2.55.03 PM.png

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LambdaCalculus
New Jersey, USA

Posted Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:52 am

The checkered Boing Ball would be a really cool replacement case badge for retail Amigas. I'd certainly put one on my A4000. :)





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