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Software: How do we know when we are there?

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written by: dannyf

mikemilton said:
Standard and Pro are possibly not the best way to divvy things up but it seems that there is room to stratify a SW suite. Lots of folk are quite happy with the more basic versions of photoshop, for example.


A large part of the reason why they're happy with basic versions of Photoshop is that the full version is a lot harder to use, too. Standard and Pro may not be the best names but a reduced feature set in favour of usability is certainly not the worst I could imagine to be using with my Pico. Compared to the stable branch, Stage in 1.3.8 is almost halfway there, delivering an easy to use interface (as long as you use pre-defined tabs) that's not lacking too many options for normal usage. Once that's working, in theory the extra bits that can't be controlled via Stage could be ripped out of a Standard/Home/whatever version if that's necessary for some reason.

With the stable release, it seems it's easier for me to use the Pico than it is for my wife - but she's the one with the formal musical training; I'm a software engineer. For a musical instrument with only a handful of buttons, the Pico seems to have this backwards...

written by: mikemilton

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 18:57:54 +0000 GMT

A lot of discussion has occurred on the topic of the state of EigenD.

It seems to be generally agreed that it is not quite 'there' yet but there also seems to be varying ideas of what 'there' entails.

I'd be interested in hearing various peoples views on this and, to kick this off, here is my own thinking.

Being there, btw, strikes me as implying that getting beyond 'there' represents a next step (distinct from the first step of getting 'there')

"There", to me, Implies a stable platform (with all the MIDI, AU, samplers etc fully functional); all the tools that have been historically discussed working and available; and all this (and the factory setups) are fully documented. I would expect that the result should be supported with respect to OS evolution for a reasonable amount of time.

The implication (given the reasonable assertion that near term changes make it unproductive to document the current setting fully) is that this will likely happen sometime next year.

Further, I do not think that stage or workbench are necessary to being 'there' but they may be the cheapest / fastest way to get to that point (in other words if everything works and we are able to / have the docs to use belcanto effectively; stage and workbench go beyond 'there'.

I think performance / studio distinctions are contextual not functional and hence do not bear on being 'there'. Lots of folk will want to integrate the harps with their existing performance platforms and many will just want to play them 'as is' in a studio context. From what I've seen via the webinars, this level of functionality is close to being there but not documented adequately.

To be clear, I want to get there and feel strongly that this should not be at additional cost. I also want to go well beyond there and will be happy to be part of funding that or providing any other assistance I can.

Finally, none of this seems to have a lot to do with 'support'. It has to do with establishing a final release and pursuing subsequent upgrades.

So - Opinions??

m

PS: I'm not at all adverse to having EigenD being released as a standard and pro versions but that is another topic


written by: natcl

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 20:25:44 +0000 GMT

In my opinion what should remain free is the base system (The AU/VST Host, Stage and Workbench) What I would be willing to pay for are optional add ins which could be physical models (strings/guitars etc) or sample banks. That would seem logical to me.

As for support, I see no problem paying for telephone/email support after a certain amount of time but as was said earlier, forums should remain free, even if the developers don't post there. You could have a paid for ticket system to communicate with the support staff while having an open user forums where users can share tips and ressources.


written by: carvingCode

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 21:33:01 +0000 GMT

Mike has summed up my thoughts on this. We should have a complete, working and documented instrument (hardware and software make up this instrument). Agreed that live, studio, or basement/garage usage is irrelevant to having a fully functional instrument to work with.

The further development of software/hardware (via addons and enhancements to the base system) should be at addon cost. I have no problem paying for additional features that I feel would benefit, after I have a fully functional and documented instrument.

Whether 'Stage' and 'Workbench' are part of the complete system, I don't know, as I don't know that much about them. 'Stage' (pretty much a alpha/beta version as most of its listed params aren't functioning yet) is not useful to me in its current state.

Standard and Pro versions of EigenD? I think this is already established in the price points and feature sets between the Pico and Alpha, isn't it?

Randy


written by: mikemilton

Fri, 3 Dec 2010 22:01:05 +0000 GMT

Actually, the pico - all the units (presently) have the same SW and I really don't see this as typical of such products. When I bought my Pico I was floored at the value delivered

Standard and Pro are possibly not the best way to divvy things up but it seems that there is room to stratify a SW suite. Lots of folk are quite happy with the more basic versions of photoshop, for example.

I also think that it is reasonable and necessary to institute a program of upgrades. This is not to say people should be left behind but simply a pragmatic observation that a revenue stream is needed to fund ongoing work.

The venture that is Eigenlabs needs to depend on its customers not just their own pockets.


written by: dannyf

Fri, 7 Jan 2011 12:45:19 +0000 GMT

mikemilton said:
Standard and Pro are possibly not the best way to divvy things up but it seems that there is room to stratify a SW suite. Lots of folk are quite happy with the more basic versions of photoshop, for example.


A large part of the reason why they're happy with basic versions of Photoshop is that the full version is a lot harder to use, too. Standard and Pro may not be the best names but a reduced feature set in favour of usability is certainly not the worst I could imagine to be using with my Pico. Compared to the stable branch, Stage in 1.3.8 is almost halfway there, delivering an easy to use interface (as long as you use pre-defined tabs) that's not lacking too many options for normal usage. Once that's working, in theory the extra bits that can't be controlled via Stage could be ripped out of a Standard/Home/whatever version if that's necessary for some reason.

With the stable release, it seems it's easier for me to use the Pico than it is for my wife - but she's the one with the formal musical training; I'm a software engineer. For a musical instrument with only a handful of buttons, the Pico seems to have this backwards...



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