John Loffink <
jloffink@...> wrote:
> I absolutely agree. Moving knobs and switches around with a mouse does
> not have the immediacy of a real interface.
> <snip>
> Try feedback loops on a software synthesizer. These are virtually
> guaranteed to give you glitches or program hangs. Some of my best
> patches on modulars use feedback loops, either for control signals or
> audio.
Tactile feedback, ocular feedback, audio feedback and even olfactory feedback
(solder fumes) -> modular is the only way to go. :)
> Anyone who's been into computers over the years understands the
> fragility and short-lived nature of computer software and hardware.
> Those VST plugins that work together today may not all survive tomorrow.
> What happens when XYZ company goes under, or changes their product
> focus? Suddenly you've got Windows 2010 and half your cherished plugins
> and soft synths no longer exist. You then need to maintain a system or
> partition with an older operating system, and eventually older hardware
> as there won't be new sound card drivers for outmoded OSes. Sometimes
> just getting the current stuff to work is bad enough. I spent a year
> getting one of the major software synthesizers to work on my system.
∗∗Way OT Warning∗∗
This issue of course has ∗MUCH∗ wider scope. Content of every kind is making
it's way onto computers, in some cases, exclusively (even more so with time).
As newer hardware/software is forced upon us, we must continually migrate this
historical "ball" of data to the newer platforms to maintain accessibility. If
not, the requisit technology must be saved along with the content through time.
This situation is new to modern humanity, since for much of human history the
primary technology required for saving/learning history and carrying forward
technological acheivements was stable; paper, writing implements, language, our
own senses. We are living in a period unlike any other period in human
history, and this situation is accelerating.
Imagine your great-great-grandchild finding a video-CD of a family reunion in
your attic fifty years from now. In order to examine it, they must 1) properly
identify the media, 2) possess the necessary working computer hardware, 3) load
the appropriate operating system and device drivers, 4) load the required
application program, and 5) know how to operate all of this. Even then, the
media may have deteriorated.
But, that MOTM rig should still be accessible! (as should that World Book
Encyclopedia)
Cheers, and thanks for indulging.
George
Technology -> Exponential
Humanity -> Linear