Over a hundred supporters and developers for the Amiga computer have united with some of the Amiga's originators to found the Jay Miner Society for the Advancement of Personal Computing. As a vehicle to facilitate communications between Amiga users, developers, dealers and manufacturers, the platform's new owner Gateway 2000 Inc., and the nascent Open Amiga Industrial Council, the JMS hopes to draw on the talents of Amiga enthusiasts all over the globe.
The late Jay Miner designed the chipset which allowed the Amiga to boast (even in 1985) advanced multimedia strength which remains in large measure an unfulfilled buzzword on other platforms. Mrs. Carol Miner has given the JMS her blessing because it pledges to continue the vision Jay Miner and his colleagues embodied in the Amiga and its operating system: an affordable personal computer which enhances the creativity of its users and empowers them through its flexibility and elegance, rather than baffling and frustrating them with unnecessary complexity and arbitrary limitations.
The Jay Miner Society is being launched by the participants in the ARise Initiative after six months of discussion and negotiation. This discussion has at times included such 'Jay Miner co-workers' as Carl Sassenrath, R.J. Mical and Dale Luck as well as the Amiga's chief hardware designer at Commodore, Dave Haynie and his colleagues Andy Finkel and Michael Sinz.
Several of the above are also contributing to the defining process for an "Industrial Council". The IC will work for the establishment of guidelines and standards needed for future Amiga development. The JMS may help launch and provide initial support for this body, but looks forward to industry and owner support for the IC (the new owner, Gateway 2000, has expressed an interest in the ICOA proposal and JMS). Mr. F. Moss is currently serving as the JMS project manager for this, its first major initiative. The IC concept is an distillation of proposals from some well-known Amiga engineers/designers and a number of mature Amiga users involved in the Arise Initiative.
The Jay Miner Society will establish its own "round table" to allow exchanges between renowned Amiga developers, `Amiga-friendly' engineers from other computer companies, as well as technically sophisticated user representatives. This will complement the IC through "working groups", and doubtless will also draw on the skills of the trans-national "Second Wind" discussion list which the ARise Initiative has maintained for some months.
As a primarily user based organization, the JMS is deeply appreciative of the committed efforts by local Amiga user groups worldwide during a most difficult period. It aims to consult with them in days to come with regard to mutual assistance and shared interests.
The JMS was formally registered as a not-for-profit society by Amiga personality and artistic manager, Mr. Giorgio Gomelsky, in the State of New York, USA. Mr. Gomelsky will function as Treasurer. The JMS will be co-chaired by engineer Skipper Smith and Canadian Amiga enthusiast Erich Keser, while its Secretary will be a New Jersey USA digital communications specialist, Skal Loret. Systems designer F. Moss is also a trustee, and Canadian Amiga writer Steve Bowie serves as an occasional consultant. Many, many others (from at least 5 continents) have contributed to the shaping of the JMS as well.
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