Tyler Turner wrote:
--- On Mon, 7/28/08, Robert Patterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
What augers worst for me in this attitude is the clear
Sibeliusation
trend. Sibelius always took knocks because it wasn't as
flexible as
Finale. When the Finn brothers were in charge Sib was
willfully
inflexible. Now MM seems to want to throw away their
competitive edge
with both hands and embrace the Finn brothers' ideas
about
flexibility.
Sibelius' lack of flexibility is really the thing that allowed it to survive
and make it in this market. Flexibility only works in Finale's favor if the
implementation always makes it clear what the BEST method is in a given
situation. And that is the single largest problem Finale has faced all along.
Finale's flexibility is really only attractive to a fairly small (but
important) percentage of its users - for the rest, it has served as a stumbling
block that makes the program take longer to learn and slower to use.
Inevitably, people end up using less than ideal tools for completing their work
in Finale, and that goes for people of all experience levels. I've never seen
anyone who truly uses the best tool for the job in Finale 100% of the time.
Sibelius isn't perfect that way, but having fewer ways to accomplish most tasks
has definitely helped them funnel people into techniques that are often more
effective than the ones people stumble upon in Finale.
Sibelius' lack of flexibility (especially early on) may have given it a slow
start with engravers, but it was exactly the thing that brought it success with
college students and other new users that join the market each year.
Starting in an inflexible mindset has allowed Sibelius to
gradually become more flexible, allowing more and more user
control (they do still have a ways to go to match Finale's
flexibility in every aspect) and thus looking more favorable
as each new version has come out. This has given Sibelius
users the impression (valid or not) that Sibelius is
responsive to the concerns of the end-user, that the company
listens and cares and does something about it.
Being flexible as Finale has been means that when it makes
what appear to be arbitrary decisions to limit that
flexibility it only antagonizes current users who may have
grown accustomed to depending on that very flexibility that
Finale is removing. It appears as a product which is no
longer concerned very much with its user base. Was there a
huge outcry on the official Finale forum from users that
having so many staff lists was a hindrance and should be
restricted? I doubt it. So who exactly were they listening
to? People they were already paying. Instead of listening
to people who are paying them. I guess the folks in charge
of running the business at MakeMusic were asleep during that
class at business school where they should have learned that
a company should ask its employees and contractors about
improvements in running the company but they should ask
their paying customers about changes in the products the
customers are paying for.
Finale is still more flexible than Sibelius in a lot of
areas, yet the perception is that Finale is becoming
inflexible, which is something that worries long-term users.
What's next for Finale to remove from our toolboxes?
And more importantly, what was the reasoning for the
limiting of staff-styles? If it isn't a programming issue,
then they could have kept the larger number it had. If it
is a programming issue, then why are they continually
forcing ever-more-rigid versions out the door too early in
an effort to keep their annual-upgrade cash flow going?
Isn't SmartMusic holding its end of the company up? If not,
then why did they take developers away from Finale and why
are they pushing SmartMusic so much more than Finale? If
SmartMusic *is* holding its own, then why can't MakeMusic
stop the annual "shove it out the door, ready or not"
process and take a bit longer between the upgrades for Finale.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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