Faithful to her name, the Amiga wasn't just a machine to me, but a precious childhood friend. Looking back at days past, I also see her as a wise and Loving mentor.

Whenever I think of Amiga, this thought runs through my mind:

"The Amiga had soul."

We had an Amiga 500; complete with an external floppy drive, 2 megs of additional memory and a decent monitor.

Although nowadays my mother happily types away hours writing emails, at that time she saw it as a complete waste of money: "Another computer?! Why do you have to buy such expensive toys? It's useless waste of time!"

Thankfully, my father won the argument - a sincere and playful grin may not appeal much to reason, but it has quite a power nonetheless.

I can almost recall the awe I felt when the Amiga arrived.

"The Amiga had soul."

I was, and I still am, a Gamer at heart. I admit, I hadn't used the Amiga for much else than playing games.

Those ancient games had soul as well!

My best buddy and I spent days in front of the computer, with our jaws open.

We rendered joysticks inoperational - we repaired joysticks again.

My father fabricated a converter to the parallel port. It was massive; it worked! We could plug in two additional joysticks!

Two people using the keyboard, two people using the normal ports, and two people using the parallel port.

Can you say 'multiplayer'?

It's a good thing we had a large bed in the room. We tested it extensively: it was surprisingly resistant to all the jumping and excitement that went around in there.

"The Amiga had soul."

The Amiga taught me the Love of Game. Besides being a Gamer, I also consider myself to be a Hacker.

I Hack to be able to breathe.

I need Hacking more than I need air.

It's not really 'need' - it's an essential part of 'me'.

The flow of ideas, of beauty, of perfection, of openness - I thrive on it.

It makes me powerful - it makes me beautiful.

Is this still computer related? Yes. No.

"The Amiga had soul."

In hindsight, I can appreciate what the Amiga did for me:
All the things I've learned... and I was just playing.

(I was so happy when I learned to make a ramdisk and copy a diskette into it! Less disk-swapping - more fun!)

Admittedly, I've learned strange stuff from strange places.

Computer programming taught me one big thing:
Don't write crappy code!

Simplicity. Transparency. Clarity. Usefulness. Attention to detail.

Are you familiar with 'go'? You know, black and white stones? The famous game from the east? Like chess, only more simple and more complex?

Playing go also taught me important things:

Flexibility is important. Make decisions in the NOW; don't follow the currents of past blindly. Care for the big picture - care for the small picture. Don't be afraid of change.

"The Amiga had soul."

Just what does that mean? How can a machine have a soul? What is 'soul' anyway?!

We extol the virtues of being connected, of being close, of being fast.

'No pain, no gain', though:
We also bear the consequences.

Nowadays, the Network as a whole is infected, diseased. On the cyber level, that is easily seen:
We are bombarded with malware, bloatware and stupidware in general.

Psychologically, on the human scale, the 'six apart' effect also kicks in:
Greater closeness - greater demands.

The 'quickening' effect is also present:
Greater speed - greater friction.

Unless one learns to burn and Hack consciously and effectively, the collective consciousness drags one into disease.

Just take a look at 'the greys' (and I don't mean aliens).

A human can be less than a machine:

Colorless thoughts, colorless feelings, colorless lives, colorless aspirations. Colorless dreams of hoarding colorless riches.

"The Amiga had soul."

The Amiga taught me:

Balance.

Balance, presence, a successful integration of many aspects.

wHoly, even.

A friendly accessibility; something beyond when 'things just work':
Not only do they work, but have a meaning, a purpose - a purifying presence.

It lets you breathe.

It is possible to integrate hardware, software and user experience to create something greater; a healing, radiant connection.

Not just a connection between user and machine; a connection between user and other users, developers, community - beautiful, fearless, empowering ideas.

LOVE, really.

"The Amiga had soul."

You think I'm full of shit? Maybe.

What kind of computers and computer programs do you wish to see in the future? Your choice.

I'll opt for ones with soul.

Like the Amiga.