Fairlight-CMI

In reply to Peter K:

Regarding the lightpen, Peter Vogel has commented on the difficulties 
they've had in sourcing these.  It seems likely that he didn't offer any 
help on this issue in the past because he didn't have a source for them 
without committing to buy stock in bulk.

The same with floppy drives.  Several people on this forum had their own 
solutions to the issue and were in a better position to help than Peter or 
anyone else from the former Fairlight company.

I can appreciate your frustration if you're trying to keep a Fairlight 
working, but I certainly don't have the impression of Peter Vogel as someone 
who would simply ignore people he could help.  He's actually been very open 
to this community, as far as I can see, while standing aside to give people 
with experience in finding replacement parts the opportunity to help others 
here.

I've spoken to him a couple of times, and although I wasn't seeking help 
running an old Fairlight he was responsive and genuinely interested.  He 
personally provided information on the dog whose bark was in the original 
sample set, which led to a piece of music I wrote using that sample, which 
strikes me as the contribution of a person who cares about the instrument 
and its history.

Your question does raise a point that's occurred to me whenever Peter has 
referred to problems with parts, though.  I wonder whether the company will 
be providing the opportunity for owners of old Fairlights to buy replacement 
parts.

On the whole this seems like a very healthy and responsive community of 
people willing to help each other.  And a small company like Fairlight 
probably needs all the help it can get from such a community.  That would 
benefit all of us, as the healthier the company, the better for the rest of 
us.