MarioD
Will those of us off-line be able to participate?

 
Thats an interesting question. The answer is yes but only if you choose to go online to submit the analytics data. SONAR will cache the data and only send it when and if you go online. So you could certainly turn on analytics and then work on your machine for days. The next time you connect it will transfer the cached analytics.
This could also be used when travelling with no internet.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

VariousArtist
The default should always be opt-out.  Decide my decision above, I dislike software pre-empting my opt-in stance

 
Peter it defaults to opt in with anonymous data. However there is a sticky clear toast notification that tells you this so its not done without your consent at all.

I'm perfectly fine with sharing my usage and will definitely opt-in.  I will most likely not need mine to be anonymous either.  I think this is a great move for Cakewalk and I want my usage to count :-) 
 
But...  I just have a negative connotation to any software I install that makes the presumptive move to opt-in as default.  It won't affect me in this case, but perhaps others might feel the same but you may not hear it from them. 
 
Aside from that, I think you might get a clearer, more meaningful picture if the user is deliberately opting in.  That's purely me guessing, but just my sense of what might transpire... 
 

rcklln
 
Thanks for trying to make Sonar an even better DAW.

By using analytics you can do your bit to directly help make SONAR a better DAW :)
If you do sp non anonymously, we can even reward you for your help. For example, imagine seeing a free prochannel module or plugin show up in your account one morning as a reward for helping us figure out something we wouldn't have otherwise!

John T
An achievements system doesn't appeal to me. I use Sonar to get work done. I'm not interested in earning badges, and the thing that would send me running for the hills almost immediately would be any kind of nag or notification telling me I could get some digital trinket for using EQ a certain way. I struggle to imagine anything more irritating and distracting, and I know a lot of guitar players.
 
More generally, and more seriously, the idea of rewards for participation sounds totally reasonable. But incentivising certain behaviours is not only annoying, it's the exact opposite of analysis.

Well first of all, I agree - but I hope everyone got the humor in what I bolded!

tenfoot
Another thought is that there is a problem report section of your forum stacked with posts from users who took the time to analyse and report bugs. That might be a good place to start if you are looking for relevent feedback that will vastly improve Sonar!

That's a completely different kind of data and we have a bug tracking system dedicated to that already. Analytics doesn't collect info about bugs (even thought it could as a subset), rather it collects other data that gives us direct insight into how users use the software. Other than by manually interviewing and observing thousands of users around the world there is absolutely no way for us to learn this.

As usual, a lot of blather and backbiting... Beep saying he doesn't have time to get into detail cause he has a lot of stuff going on then camping out on the thread and commenting on every utterance, offering nothing new, and a bunch of people just really wasting time saying stupid things about something that's been announced.
 
Craig made a bunch of lucid points, as usual... a few others too...
 
My feeling is if you don't think it's for you, don't enable it.  Shut up, go away and actually HELP on another thread.  I could care less that YOU don't like it because your mamma wears red shoes... mind you, whatever "it" is is very unknown at the moment... but that never stopped humans... look at Trump.
 
On almost every level our species is wanking and wasting precious energy on utter garbage while things REALLY fall apart.  10 comments, quoting something and agreeing is just wanking...about something you know absolutely NOTHING about yet.
 
I'll go away now.  Google analytics my breathing, as does the entire interweb these days... so this "oh NO!" discussion is pretty stupid.
 
People are becoming very sick creatures...extinction seems inevitable.  It's everywhere and makes me very sad...I need more therapy to cope...
 
 

VariousArtist 
Rewards?
No!
Worth asking, but I think it'll backfire.  You want people to opt-in because they see value, and my guess is that you'll attract the "right kind" of information that way

 
I asked Cakewalk about that. My understanding is this is not about rewards for "right" answers, but for constructive contributions. If some power user identifies six weird intermittent bugs and the analytics contributed make for easy fixes...why not give them some tangible thanks...like a free Gibson Bass Collection expansion pack . 
 

Anderton

John T
An achievements system doesn't appeal to me. I use Sonar to get work done. I'm not interested in earning badges, and the thing that would send me running for the hills almost immediately would be any kind of nag or notification telling me I could get some digital trinket for using EQ a certain way. I struggle to imagine anything more irritating and distracting, and I know a lot of guitar players.
 
More generally, and more seriously, the idea of rewards for participation sounds totally reasonable. But incentivising certain behaviours is not only annoying, it's the exact opposite of analysis.

Well first of all, I agree - but I hope everyone got the humor in what I bolded!

Lol I agree especially with the bolded text :)

yeah-- you suck Noel :) 

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
rather it collects other data that gives us direct insight into how users use the software. Other than by manually interviewing and observing thousands of users around the world there is absolutely no way for us to learn this.

^^This. I call it the "looking over someone's shoulder" effect. As some of you know I've written a lot of manuals in my time. As part of "proofing" a manual, I find someone who doesn't know the gear, hand them the manual, and watch them go through it. Granted it's a very primitive form of analytics, and not very complete to say the least, but "watching over the shoulder" has resulted in major improvements in those manuals over the years.