At 10:22 PM -0400 7/20/12, Craig Parmerlee wrote: > > >Thank you for those comments. I'm not sure that MakeMusic and their >investors are at a point that they would seek input from the user >community, as they have weighty issues on their plate,
Wait, you mean that producing a product that satisfies its target market and increases sales through quality rather than hype isn't a weighty issue?!!!!! I guess that's why I'm a musician and not a venture capitalist!! >I guess what I'm getting at is if I were a venture capital investor >(speaking hypothetically) prepared to spend $10M to move the company >forward, what are the features that would make the most difference? OK, I know that my attitude does not sit well with the kind of power users who think nothing of sitting down and writing code, so don't bother flaming me. You won't change my mind and I won't change yours! I use my computer. I don't pretend to understand it. My IT-savvy son-in-law doesn't understand how I write music, either. But as I've read elsewhere (possibly in the thought-provoking editorials in Analog), a truly elegant product is instantly usable right out of the box, requires no learning curve, requires no memorization of arcane commands or endless menu choices. and operates, oh, let's say something like years of cutting-edge research and very practical business decisions made the idiot-proof operation of the good, old-fashioned land-line telephone system developed by Ma Bell. (One of which I still own and use, because when we lost power for 6 nights and 6 days the phone still worked just fine; it does just one thing, and it does it very well and transparently. My students and my kids use phones that make coffee and change the baby, but I couldn't even figure out how to turn one of them on. My land-line phone is ALWAYS on and always works!!!) Automobiles also work well and sell well because they've been made close to idiot-proof, although if car companies keep adding electronic features just because they CAN, they'll start losing sales to non-tech-heads as well. It should not be necessary to understand HOW something works in order to use it. That's the mark of a truly elegant and mature technology. John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music School of Performing Arts & Cinema College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences 290 College Ave., Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "Machen Sie es, wie Sie wollen, machen Sie es nur schön." (Do it as you like, just make it beautiful!) --Johannes Brahms _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
