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> What I don't understand is why you'd ∗want∗ to make MIDI act like TCP/IP...__________________________________________________
>
> TCP/IP messages are, if I understand / recall correctly, broadcast to all
> machines on a network. You send a packet with a target address, that
> message gets sent to ∗every∗ other machine connected to the net, and ∗each∗
> machine must figure out whether it cares about the message. And if there's
> a collision-- throw your hands up and try again after a random delay has
> passed. And every machine on your network having a unique ID (which is
> handled by the network card at present)...
>
> I can just see it! You get your brand new Korglandsoniq Groteous2000, and
> you want to have it control that old Memorymoof machine in the corner... but
> damnit! What what the 'moofs ID again? {285a-829b-dc9a}? Or was it
> {82b9-285b-dc9a}? (And you thought setup was a hassle NOW!)
>
> MIDI is point-to-point. No collisions. No IDs. If a messages reaches a
> target, it was intended to get there. You have a MIDI box to route messages
> to targets. Its MUCH easier to centrally configure.
>
> The big problem with MIDI isn't that its not distributed like TCP/IP-- its
> that its ∗slow∗. Damned slow. Slow enough that it uses those crappy serial
> interfaces on your computer. A faster version of MIDI is what's called
> for-- still no collisions to worry about, and you could route to more
> machines than possible today.
>
> Besides, I don't want my toaster talking to my Waldorf Pulse. ;)
>
> --PBr
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:The Old Crow [SMTP:oldcrow@...]
> > Sent:Friday, August 11, 2000 9:31 AM
> > To:motm@egroups.com
> > Subject:Re: [motm] MIDI sucks (get your attention?)
> >
> >
> > Analog control woes notwithstanding, the main reason I view MIDI with
> > some considerable criticism is that for a networking protocol, it ∗blows∗.
> > I never will understand why they didn't go with some Manchester scheme to
> > provide collision and drop error handling. It is not that difficult to
> > implement: the Apple Desktop Bus used on Macs to this day (and nearly as
> > old as MIDI) achieve it.
> >
> > These days, (starting in 1990 or so) plenty of sources of cheap MII
> > transcevier chips to fashion ethernet connections exist: it would cost
> > next to nothing to cram one in a keyboard and use a ∗real∗ network
> > protocol like TCP/IP to run the show. You don't even have to abandon the
> > MIDI message structure--just encapsulate it in the IP packets.
> >
> > I hope that one day a true network physical layer like ethernet makes it
> > into new instruments. And for the millions of old instruments--an
> > ethernet to MIDI-hardware adapter (which are cheap and easy to make, look
> > at the dinky little thing from www.picoweb.net!) is no problem.
> >
> >
> > --Crow, dreaming of the day they put real LAN hardware into the gear
> >
> > /∗∗/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>