jdm@gssc.UUCP (John David Miller) (10/11/90)
In article <3665@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> mbl@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Marc LoCascio) writes: >MOTU does have a NeXT machine, and NeXT at some point was advertising >Performer as a to-be-released NeXT product, but we've been waiting to see >whether NeXT becomes a viable machine for the synth music masses. at the >rate that NeXT's are selling to the music world, i would say don't expect >anything soon. Marc: While I certainly understand what you are saying - there needs to be more NeXT machines sold before you can make money selling software for it - this is a bit of chicken-and-egg: musicians aren't going to buy NeXT BECAUSE there isn't any music software for it. Now that the entry-level price is a mere $5k (try getting a Mac II for that, or even a complete 386/486 clone), I would think (hope?) we'll see a lot more NeXT units sold. So, on the assumption (uh oh) that there must have been SOME work done on the NeXT version of Performer, the fact that the NeXT is a breezy development platform (personal testimonial here), and the fact that there is NO other commercial sequencer for the machine, why not just release SOMETHING and see what happens? Standard operating procedure for software development, right? Put out an initial product, lacking some bells and whistles, just to see how many people bite. Remember folks, people buy machines because of SOFTWARE, not how cute they are. The Mac would have died were it not for the niches it found, desktop publishing in particular. Developers saw the viability of the platform and took risks to produce software. Users bought the hardware because the software was there to make it more than a doorstop. If MOTU is like anyplace else, what Performer/NeXT needs is: a CHAMPION, someone to hack on it as their own pet project. With a working product, it is usually suprisingly easy to convince management to give it a shot at making money. If they don't want to publicly market the product yet, convince them to put a crippled version on USENET (or equiv) just to see how many folks out there are hungry for the product. Just a thought. -- jdm -- John David Miller jdm@gss.com Graphic Software Systems uunet!gssc!jdm 9590 S.W. Gemini Dr. (503) 641-2200 (voice) Beaverton, OR 97005-7161 (503) 643-8642 (FAX)