The 1990s And The Weird Set-Top Box Era.

[@HoldandModify]

My A570 overview for those wanting a quick link kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZO8o2OJhqqbo5Ysi=8AuOvBO8oS0RsJ0D

[@mchenrynick]

Btw, if you want to test/play CDs on your videos, you can always burn songs from the KZbin library onto the CD (as ordinary audio tracks -- not as MP3s). This will avoid copyright strikes.

[@HoldandModify]

what? really? that’s cool, thanks!

[@DavePoo2]

They specifically left the Amiga branding off these to distance it away from being associated as a computer. I think later on when it totally flopped, they reintroduced the Amiga branding and added keyboard and floppy drive peripherals. Seems like the CDTV was just a little too far ahead of its time.

[@HoldandModify]

Yes it was aimed to a new market. That was the hope anyway.

[@mark12358]

@@HoldandModify yup, so bad that they didn't know how to marketing it properly. It was really a new market, in a time when nobody knew it.

[@kyle8952]

I can't see how it was "ahead of it's time", really nobody wanted to use CDs on the living room TV to look at encyclopedias or whatever, in any time period.

[@DavePoo2]

@@kyle8952 By ahead of its time, I meant that some form of computer would be integrated into the living room environment. Later that was games consoles with CD/DVD/Blu-ray and more recently smart TVs now have a computer built right inside. Amazon and Google smart speaker style technology is also an example of this, they can act as an encyclopedia and exist in the living room environment.

[@CarsandCats]

I've been an Amiga guy since the A500 first came out. I still have two A1000's, two A500's, and two CDTV's. One of the CDTV's I bought new from a home audio store on clearance for $99. They had a pallet full! I almost bought two that day. Then the second CDTV I bought a year later from a friend who modified it to 1 Meg RAM and added PS2 ports so it could use PC mouse and keyboard. I connected an external floppy to it so I could load workbench and used it as a PC. I've been thinking about selling these CDTV's since they've been in boxes for about 20 years now! I think they have the coolest CD player animation that I've ever seen.

[@HoldandModify]

$99!!! Oh man. Yeah I really wanted a “retro” CD player and it was great how the last of the Amiga’s I was looking for just happened to be one.

[@005AGIMA]

Best looking Amiga ever. Mine sits in a Hifi stack :)

[@HoldandModify]

yes, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna take it downstairs and stick it in the cabinet

[@easyerthanyouthink]

I remember living next door to a man who always doing burnouts in his car in front of the houses, then one day i heard a familar noise coming from his front window . I went over and knock on his door and said i heard a noise like a game called silkworm on the amiga. He said yes thats exactly what he was playing and proceeded to show me his cdtv with keyboard and mousenand external floppy 😁. I was over the moon and could.not believe how.this ruff looking guy who was a car hoon , had a complete cdtv setup and loved it. 😂

[@HoldandModify]

That could’ve been me. lol

[@protox07]

Awesome the CDTV has midi

[@HoldandModify]

I wish someone who knew what they’re doing would show using it! :)

[@magnustveten492]

18:52 thats the nature of HAM, you set your base, you modify it next bit, and then some more. In graphics its colour… on KZbin its computer parts :)

[@boydpukalo8980]

CDTV is a really beautiful system, but it was too early for multimedia (video) and underpowered. It was just a further sign of Commodore languishing the architecture and recycling a 1985 system in 1991, when technology was advancing at a blistering pace. I would like to get a CDTV someday (Atari Falcon also) but prices are insane. Cool video.

[@SledgeFox]

James Sachs is such an outstanding artist, he did the graphics. Also if I remember right, he did the CD-32 too and Defender of the Crown and so many other. On my PC I still use his Serene Screen screen saver. 👍

[@HoldandModify]

Yeah the dude is a legend!

[@V3ntilator]

I still own 2 x CD32 consoles including Elsat Promodule, Communicator II etc. I also still own A690 which is the same thing as A570.

[@SockyNoob]

I feel like Commodore could've lasted a least a few more years if not for their countless failed attempts to turn their computers into game consoles or set-top boxes. They should have just targeted the kiosk space if they really wanted to make money. The CD32 is obviously what ultimately killed them, but none of these other products helped either. Most of them are considered some of the worst commercial failures in gaming and computers in general.

[@studioxxswe]

The best part with CDTV is actually not the CDTV but instead the awesome black keyboard you could buy as well. A friend of mine bought one but didn't care about the keyboard so I could borrow it. I swapped the internal of it with my Amiga 4000 keyboard (they are the same) and I got a black keyboard in a white case - the only one in the world..

[@HoldandModify]

That black keyboard, mouse, floor drive are pretty slick. Especially back then.

[@brufnus]

Albeit you can't know for sure whether it's the only one in the world... ;-)

[@OverDriveOnline7921]

The thing that always made me smile with the CDTV was that Nolan Bushnell was in charge of its marketing, while the Tramiel’s were in charge at their competitors! I remember reading all about the CDTV during holidays in Wales back in 1990, but despite it being a multimedia system, was sold alongside regular CD players, at least here in the U.K.! No one wanting a CD player would consider it, but computer people who could be interested couldn’t find it! Most of the ones sold were sold though Amiga dealers through the post as a result, which hurt the devices exposure overall. Several revisions were made to reduce costs, and I think if yours is a 1991 model, will be a second gen model. Crazy times

[@HoldandModify]

Yeah I should check its serial. The remote I bought as NOS from Amikit. I believe it’s a second gen remote. Since it has that actual slide switch for MOUSE/JOY.

[@Scaze74]

Got 2 CD32 and TF330. Know the CDTV only.. is a 500 wiht CD player. Still long for one thou.. Love me the CD32 .😊

[@HoldandModify]

CD32 is a great one to mod.

[@V3ntilator]

@@HoldandModify I have a Elsat Promodule for CD32 with 4.MB Fast RAM, 40.Mhz FPU, Internal 3.5" 850.MB HDD, Internal floppy etc. Supports PC Keyboards, but i use Amiga 4000 keyboard on my CD32 instead.

[@Prosonic]

i have mine setup with a cdtv terriblefire and rgb2hdmi out

[@HoldandModify]

Nice mods. Should make it pretty sweet.

[@brocka.6479]

Somehow I've missed this device, but I love the fact that they deliberately designed the cd drive to look like a larger floppy drive complete with eject button in the right place.

[@HoldandModify]

Caddy CDRom drives definitely had…a look. :)

[@brocka.6479]

@@HoldandModify They did, and I've used a few, but this is above and beyond, there's no way it wasn't a deliberate choice.

[@slightlyevolved]

​@@brocka.6479I dunno. I mean, they don't get a lot of choice as CDROM drives were designed in essentially one way. That button is going to be there, and even to this day, usually is. If anything, I think it's more mimicking a VCR. However, I do absolutely see the floppy reference.

[@slightlyevolved]

I cant fathom why they put a Genlock button on the remote. That has one VERY specific use, and only one instance where that might even be used on such a device, but it doesn't deserve a place on the remote. It essentially syncs the output to another signal device. This was used by things such as the video toaster to sync the refresh so things like titles wouldn't "bleed" across fields/frames. Just look it up on wikipedia. As for the CD/TV button did you not ever notice the similar VCR/TV buttons on VCRs? Does what you say, sets either the VCR or the passthrough RF as the output. Kind of strange on this though, since the main use was to set up and start recording, then switch so you can watch something else on the TV while it does its thing.

[@HoldandModify]

Yes that button hints at the confusion around Commodore at the time, me thinks.

[@VRStoned1978]

These always need the joystick port expansion and the black floppy drive

[@HoldandModify]

To be computers. Yeah. But for me it’s a CD player and multimedia machine! :)

[@VRStoned1978]

@@HoldandModify Still go for atleast the joystick expansion bracket… imagine playing any game at all with the remote alone

[@VRStoned1978]

@@HoldandModify I remember the trackball controller had 2 joystick ports

[@judewestburner]

Man those caddies felt somewhat exquisite. Not sure if they served any practical purpose but somehow they felt they were more than just a CD

[@HoldandModify]

yes, I forget why something about stability antivibration I’m not sure

[@Synthematix]

I used to love my Fujitsu Multitainer and ICL PCTV

[@HoldandModify]

I’ll need to look those up!

[@Traci_S_Aaron]

There's a subject that I've never seen a KZbin channel cover with Amigas and it's just a thought and a suggestion for you friend Many of the cable headends back in the day used the Amigas for their program guides for their customers that subscribed and many people didn't realize that it was just an off-the-shelf computer running a software program that they modulated on a particular channel and gave people the channel guide that people just watched and streamed music and I remember it because I was involved with Comcast engineer that I was able to visit one of their head ends and I saw it and I like to fell out on the floor I thought it was so cool

[@HoldandModify]

I volunteered for our local cable office and we used SCALA for our guides. We also had a Video Toaster setup for video shoots. Fun times!

[@CarsandCats]

@@HoldandModify Yeah our local tv station used Amigas for their information channel. I found out when I saw a Guru Mediation and freaked out!

[@HoldandModify]

@@CarsandCats Same! That's how i found out and then went there. :)

[@mchenrynick]

That CDTV reminds me of the CD-I console.

[@HoldandModify]

definitely has some similarities. It’s a far more powerful computer on the inside not that you’d know from the way it’s designed.

[@keyboard_g]

If only Video CDs caught on this would have been huge. I think I only ever “owned” 2 of them.

[@HoldandModify]

They are or were a neat idea. heck basically a built in visualizer of sorts

[@negirno]

I doubt it. Video CDs used the MPEG-1 which required a separate hardware decoder add-on (which I don't know if that was available for the CDTV, the CDi and the Amiga CD32 had it, though), and the picture quality wasn't much better than a VHS.

[@HoldandModify]

@@negirno CDTV could do mostly full screen video with Commodore’s own CDXL format. Wasn’t too terrible for the time

[@ChrisEdwardsRestoration]

I pimped my cdtv all out

[@HoldandModify]

HARDCORE

[@awesomeferret]

Heh, I paid 5 bucks for that exact same TV. Great TV for testing due to all its IO.

[@HoldandModify]

Yes it is a great find!

[@josephphillips9243]

Satan offered me one of these for my soul and I accepted. It's funny for me listening to Commodore people get interviewed after the the company died that went onto work for other companies that were trying to build an internet enabled version of the CDTV.

[@HoldandModify]

Intense. Heh. I always enjoy hearing from those who were there, later.

[@mikedefoy]

Even though MIDI had to be added separately, the A2000 blew the Atari out of the water. It was a perfect transition from the Apple IIe for me because it too had lots of expansion slots. I felt right at home.

[@V3ntilator]

It's weird that musicians chose Atari because of MIDI, when a MIDI adapter for Amiga cost only 30 bucks or something for a superior computer.

[@SockyNoob]

Looks like Sony borrowed this thing's d-pad for the PlayStation lol.

[@yay4this]

Please make this your last video. Thanks. --The Internet

[@HoldandModify]

You think this was bad? OH BOY. Man you need to check out my others. Plenty far worse than this one!

[@Madness832]

🍑💨

[@Nookdashiddole]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[@HoldandModify]

I watch my own videos to remember stuff I forget but yes also…to put me to sleep. :)