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Subject: Re: [AN1x] Re: Sysex error messages

From: "Ed Edwards" <edward.edwards@...>
Date: 2002-05-26

> 1 computer ∗ 40 apps/variants ∗ 20 MIDI interfaces ∗ 50 synths/modules ∗ 1 hr.
testing
> = 40,000 hours!!!

Holy crap, Bruce, that's the best "in a nutshell" explanation of the difficulty
of engineering products for computers I've heard in a while!

And so here goes a plus for the Mac, due to the proprietary and tighter design
interface --- this assumption of mine comes from personal near ignorance of
Macs, but from what I know OF them. For starters - I mean like the base root
foundation of the system - all motherboards on a particular Macintosh model will
have essentially identical chips. Not so for a PC - no way at all.... There
are so many vendors and clones and competitors whose design has been merely
SOMEWHAT tested for functionality out there that it makes you dizzy. I own a
Gadget Labs Wave 8/24 digital recording system that was darn good for the money,
and can do 24 bit, BUT --- it's really finicky about what chipset is on the
motherboard. And, due to Murphy's Law, I own a motherboard that it's not very
friendly with.

I'm not here to fight religious wars about computer systems. I'm just thinking
out loud (on paper) about how hard it is to design a product that is compatible
with the widest number of system variables and therefore has the fewest number
of "bugs" from a user standpoint. ...it boggles the mind how many things could
go wrong.

Ed Edwards
Leader: Ezekiel's Wheel »»»»Retro-Progressive Rock««««
http://www.untiedmusic.com/ezekiel
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/227/ezekiels_wheel.html
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