Kiwi software for Amiga wanted

Press, 5 September 1989, Page 45

Kiwi software for Amiga wanted

New Zealand computer buffs are on the “most wanted list” of one of the world’s leading developers and marketers of computer software. Mr Robert Kotick, Los Angeles-based president of The Disc Company, who was in the country recently, has a particular interest in software for Commodore Amiga computers, of which more than one million are in use.

It is also one of the most popular machines in New Zealand and, Mr Kotick says, “some remarkable programs have been developed here for it.” He believes Amiga to be one of the most versatile home computers, and says there is a huge demand for new and innovative software. “The rewards for marketable product can be great,” he said.

His world-wide quest has already unearthed many software innovations including: • A sophisticated “image creation” or > paint package in Israel.

• A space research scientist in France, who, working at home in his basement on a $2OOO Amiga, created satellite simulation. He then developed the idea into a consumer product. • An Australian computer package for music composition and editing, which Mr Kotick . describes as having “fantastic market possibilities.” He says there is an international demand for new software. Ideas need not be fully developed, nor do they need to come from professional computer people. “Amiga has been very successful in New Zealand, and I am sure there is a lot of creative talent able to produce new programs.

A successful program could earn the author as much as $lOO,OOO a year in royalty payments, Mr Kotick said. They could be marketed in as many as 10 languages and 35 countries. This year he has committed SUSIM to his search for the new programs he knows are “out there somewhere.”