Speaking as someone who is new to all of this and is still learning X2P atm... I would have picked up Platinum if there had been a deal for X2 users like there was for X3 users... even though I probably wouldn't have touched it until I had fully grasped X2.
 
Not debating the value of the deal either... love this DAW... good pricing imo... just pointing out that without some incentive, there will always be a part of the marketplace that won't touch an upgrade. I wasn't upset either, but a little disappointed there was no incentive at all. I'll upgrade eventually... but not without absolute need at this point, or some extra incentive.

Semi_Perfect
No not a troll.. I do see great benefits in Sonar and compared to other DAWs they offer the most bang for the buck.. however think about this point .. I paid $500 for Sonar 3 which according to many on here contained a lot less content and features.. vs the guy who purchased X3 for same
recently...

 
Competition increases. Companies learn more. User base increases. Prices go down over time.
 
Before Logic went to Apple it retailed for $699 and plug-ins cost $99 to $299. Now it's $199, thanks to being part of a company that's sitting on $178,000,000,000. I bet if Cakewalk had $178,000,000,000, SONAR would cost less 

I also wonder why they discount wasn't given to owners of X1-X2 as it would seem logical to include that series

As I said in a previous post: "Someone who never owned SONAR pays the most. The further back you go, the more you pay to cover all the extra stuff that happened in that time." SONAR X1 was released in December 2010 and X2 in September 2012. The update to go from X1 or X2 to Platinum is $50 more than going from X3 to Platinum. I think most users have gotten $50 worth of use out of X1 and X2 in the past few years...
 
There's always the possibility of a sale to entice X1 and X2 owners to switch. It would be to Cakewalk's advantage if the entire user base was on the current version, if for no other reason than it would simplify support considerably.
 

I remember an advertisement/story in an issue of BYTE magazine WAY back in the day - maybe 1981.  It was about a 5 megabyte hard drive.  It said that no one with a person computer at home would need that much space anyway, but that the upgrade was so pricey that the technology would never catch on.  It was on the order of $5,000.
 
How much would a drive that size cost today, assuming you could buy such a thing?  The answer is something significantly less than a penny (check me: http://www.jcmit.com/diskprice.htm).  And the amount of space it could hold would basically be useless today.
 
Of course, I know that this is hardware not software, but the scaling is not completely dissimilar.  Just some food for thought, I suppose.

Like many here I started with Cakewalk for DOS on a  floppy disc, and have purchased various versions since. At risk of stating the bleeding obvious; yes - you paid $500 for Sonar 3, but you have had use of it for about the last 10 years. The person who started at X3 has not.

tenfoot
At risk of stating the bleeding obvious

Sometimes that seems to be necessary 

I bought a 256GB SSD a year ago for $300, now it is $115. I feel ripped off!
 
 
Not at all.