ampfixer
The guy has an opinion. You don't have to agree, but you also don't have to make the guy feel like an idiot. Been taking HR training with Alex? I hold you to a higher standard than the civilians.
Jeez, the guy said as a fact (not an opinion) "Cakewalk has stated that musicians and composers are not a large part of their customer base" and talks about how they're happy to dumb down music, but does anyone really think those are even remotely true statements? I didn't call him a liar or anything, I tried to inject some levity into it and point out that it was kind of preposterous to think that Cakewalk's user base consists primarily of non-musicians who don't compose music.
It took some effort to find really off-the-wall examples of gigs so I could be suitably absurd and people would understand I was trying to be funny. Well, at least two people did. There was a lot wrong with the post from which I quoted, but I refrained from taking it any further and chose to be funny instead...frankly, though, it bothers me a lot when people present speculation, especially unfounded speculation that impugns the motives of good people, as fact.
It was bad enough when someone stated Cakewalk would never fix staff view (there have been several fixes), it was not on their to-do list (obviously it was), and Studio One Pro 3 would integrate notation (it doesn't). All of that was stated as fact. All of it was B.S. I have no patience for that kind of thing. I have no patience for someone who says hosts falsify posts - without providing a shred of evidence, despite claiming there were "many many" instances of it. But I have
lots of patience for people who are trying to contribute something positive to a discussion - and that certainly includes people who have complaints or problems, as long as they're more interested in
solving the problem than
complaining about it.
If others want to express their thoughts, that's totally fine but it should be with the understanding that they are subject to have someone enter into a dialog with them. The nature of that dialog will be shaped by how they choose to open it. Ampfixer, you decided I was trying to show he was an idiot and gave a response you thought was appropriate to that motivation. JSG and Bluzgbog decided I was trying to be funny and gave responses they thought were appropriate to that motivation.
In a way, you're both right. I thought his post was absurd, but just thought I'd make a joke about one specific statement rather than bear down and call him on all the things that were wrong with his post. I half expect he'll come back with "Yeah, I actually can't show where Cakewalk said that, and it does make sense that musicians are the target audience for SONAR."
Then we can enter into a
fact-based dialog about what part of the customer base uses loops, what he thinks would prevent Cakewalk from "dumbing down" music, the issues involved in open sourcing large amounts of SONAR that expose the MIDI engine, why SONAR is not just a hardware sequencer replacement (digital audio recording and all that), and if you're going to diss something because it was from the last century, then music notation must REALLY suck because four lines on a stave is about 10 centuries old. Does that make it invalid?
I'm the kind of guy who got up in front of the New Music Seminar last week and said the industry was in denial and all the talk about streaming and such didn't address the devaluation of music - in terms of sound quality, monetary returns, and impact on society - that's happened steadily for the past 15 years. Some people didn't want to hear that. Some did. Some agreed, some didn't. But at least I got them to think about it.
I'm really getting sick and tired of this world. Honestly, I look forward to departing it but want to contribute as much as I can before I go. I have no patience for people who have nothing better to do than start a dialog that tears others down without justification, or bends a dialog in that direction. I never
start a dialog that tears anyone down. But I'll damn well respond to one that does, because I have just as much of a right to an opinion as anyone else. Until Cakewalk, or people here whose opinions I respect tell me to get lost, I'm going to keep expressing my opinions.
And you're entitled to tell me my opinions suck. I've been a public figure for 50 years, and have had everything from awards to death threats. Just be aware that at this point, I don't really care that much what other people think about me. I do the best I can, and I'm comfortable with what I contribute. Could I be a better person? Sure. Who couldn't?