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© 1997-2006
Gareth Knight
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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.

Boing Demo

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).

A1000 Boing Logo

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.

Powered by Amiga

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.

New Boing Demo

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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