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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1594
Gibson guitars to ship with Ethernet built in
By ron carlson, Insanely Great Mac
January 27th 2003
The instrument maker plans to build IEEE 802.11-based technology into guitars, amps
and more
EE Times reports that Gibson, make of the famed Les Paul electric guitar, among other
musical instruments and widgets, intends to build "Magic" technology into guitars, as
well as other instruments and equipment from next year.
"We expect some people to say 'No thanks,' they just want their 1957 Les Paul. But
there will be a group of early adopters for this, and it will be a no-brainer for
them," Jeff Vallier, a Gibson engineer, told EE Times.
About a dozen Gibson engineers have been working almost three years to craft Magic ? a
custom digital network technology based on Ethernet ? that Gibson plans build into
future guitars, amps, speakers and other gear.
"A [musician like progressive rock guitarist] Steve Vai may be interested, but someone
like [Rolling Stones lead guitarist] Keith Richards who has played the same guitar for
20 years may not," said another engineer working on the project.
As consumer electronics undergo a historic migration to digital networked systems,
many observe the move is happening at a glacial pace as users prove quite comfortable
with their analog world. And, networked electric guitars may be no exception.
This development could open the world of traditional music to the power, pitfalls and
instantaneous "creativity" associated with computer-managed and generated music.
Editor's note: As a guitar player of some vintage, but with deep digital roots, this
is an idea whose time has come ? a natural extension of technologies such as AmpliTube
Live.
On a more sketical note, why old-world Ethernet? Is it because of TCP/IP? SPDIF or
FireWire would seem more logical choices.
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