Willy Jones [Cakewalk]
Hi All,
The boxed version does not include DVD's. It has a Redemption Code that activates your 12 month membership.
Why No DVD's?
1) The pace at which we are delivering updates means that by the time a DVD gets to a shelf it will already be obsolete.
2) It's a huge resource and time sink to be managing shipping DVD's to dealers, swapping out stock when they have old versions and honestly its a bad customer experience to buy a 'new thing' and have it actually include something that is 6 months old.
3) The number of users that actually purchased DVD's the last few years is really, really low to the point where printing a large pile up front doesn't make much sense.
4) Less and less computers are shipping with DVD drives, especially laptops.
My Internet is miserable and DVD's would make my life not miserable
We understand and hear you loud and clear. We are working on making DVD's available through our online store. They will be made 'on-demand' with the latest ISO and we are working on a plan to make sure that the DVD is always within 2 months of the latest SONAR builds.
Interesting. Might I make a suggestion ("no Beeps, but we're sure you will anyway...")? Since the boxed versions were usually the initial release that needed to be patched anyway why don't you guys save yoursleves (and everyone else) unnecessary confusion and just take an annual or bi-annual snapshot of the current version (of course timing it so the boxed versions are going to be a snapshot of a solid/stable release) and sell that instead of "on demand" or screwing around with doing it over and over again throughout the year?
That way it doesn't change much from the old way. You buy a box, you get the media for that year's release, then the user can update/patch at their leisure. It would be less stressful all around, less costly for you guys (and us because ultimately the end user pays for increased costs), would be easier on the retailers, less potential crud going into landfills, etc, etc.
And considering many Cakers are resistant to epic change (as am I) it could keep those folks in more familiar territory and reduce possible ranting, raving and general gastric distress.
Just a thought. I'm kind of of the opinion that the new model should attempt to retain as much similarities to the old model as possible for those who choose to keep things the same while still offering all the extra options and benefits of the new way. I think you guys have done an excellent job of acheiving that. This seems to be the one exception. I mean ISO snapshots on a "per request" basis actual seems like it would be better in many ways but I think it could quickly turn into a mess... mostly for you guys. Also there ain't nothin' quite like walking into a music store, buying your brand spankin' new DAW and hearing those discs rattlin' around in there ready and waiting to be installed.
JMO