Amiga Sidecar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The A1060 Sidecar was an expansion hardware plug-in born in 1986 to be connected as a fully integrated peripheral of the Amiga line of computers.
It features a complete PC XT system mounted into an expansion case, which was attached at the right expansion bus port of Amiga 1000 model.
The sidecar integrated itself into A1000 design, as a motorcab sidecar, and this fact originated the name of the product.
The PC side of the sidecar was built around Intel 8088 processor, and whole PC depended from Amiga side to perform all its I/O Input/Output procedures.
Data exchange and data alignment between the two systems were implemented since the beginning of the project in Commodore Laboratories. The associated software permitted a comfortable exchange of data between Amiga and PC.
Using the Sidecar all I/O procedures of both computers were in common, so it became possible to work on a single monitor and with only one keyboard and mouse on two different computers at the same time.
With the Sidecar existed also the possibility (for the first time) of providing the Amiga 1000 by installation of a Filecard with a non removable disk which was usable for both parts of the bottom plate.
Contents |
[edit] Characteristics
The Amiga Sidecar was a complete IBM PC XT system, except the fact it depended by Amiga to perform I/O operations.
- Processor: Intel 8088 clocked at 4.77 MHz
- RAM: 256K (expandable to 512K + 80K Dual Bus Memory)
- Graphics Emulation: Unknown because depending from Amiga side. (can use real 8bit ISA graphics cards)
- Sound Emulation: Unknown because depending from Amiga (can use real 8bit ISA sound cards)
- One internal 5.25" drive bay normally fitted with a 360K 5.25" floppy drive
- 3 x 8bit ISA slots for using real PC cards and a pass-thru for the expansion slot.
[edit] History
The Amiga in its beginning lacked many productivity software. This special hardware permitted the use of PC software, and let any user start using Amiga being productive with PC programs.
Commodore in these times was one of the first five biggest producers of PC hardware and mainly focused at this market.
With this sidecar expansion, engineers from Commodore realised a product to let their new product Amiga to enter directly into office computing market with a certain amount of software already available.
The Sidecar was developed in the Braunschweiger Development Department of Commodore in Germany, Europe, because in the research of the PC architecture in the Commodore PC department was done in Germany.
For later Amigas with central unit and separated keyboard there were developed then the Bridgeboard internal expansion card, which would fulfill the same function.
The Sidecar was relatively expensively and it expanded notheworty the occupancy of space on a desktop than a single Amiga. As a matter of pure hardware design it was high than Amiga1000 case, so it gave to users no sense of continuity between the two products. These facts along with the launch of Amiga 500 and Amiga 2000 which has internal space to keep IBM PC emulation cards and provides also XT and [[[AT BUS]] slots for expansion cards directly into it, and finally the sudden boom of miriads of Amiga software which gives Amiga no longer any need of help by IBM PC software to became productive in offices decretated no large success for Sidecar.
[edit] Conclusions
Amiga since its beginning had a strong attitude to emulate other machines on the market such as Atari ST, IBM XT, IBM AT and Apple Macintosh.
In a world of information technology, in those times still expanding, this feature could lead a product the opportunity of conquering new spaces and new customers.
Noteworthy are products like Medusa software emulator of Atari ST, Commodore IBM PC XT Bridgeboard zorro expansion card, Commodore IBM AT Bridgeboard card, Macintosh AMax and Fusion emulators, both born as a mix of hardware and software and then evolved into software only solutions, Vortex GoldenGate IBM 486SLC expansion card for A2000, A 2000, A4000, KCS Power PC Board for A500 single internal expansion slot, just to cite some of the numerous hardware and software solutions available for Amiga to emulate other OSes and also entire alien hardware platforms.
These features really gave the Amiga enormous prestige and a serious advance over other systems on the market, in a period in which there was still not decided any winner in the long competition to conquer the leadership of the market.
Unfortunately the bad management of Commodore Business Machines Inc. which then declared bankruptcy, and its policies about the development of Amiga doomed this platform to an uncertain destiny which still it is uncertain nowadays.
