MOTM

As the owner of a number of businesses past and present I can tell 
you that businesses must do two things in order to survive long 
term.  They must provide what the customer wants.  And they must 
also introduce new products, (unless they sell consumables) because 
eventually the market becomes saturated otherwise.  Paul is only 
going to sell a certain number of VCOs.  I'm sure Paul would tell 
you that when a new module is announced there is an initial large 
surge of interest and hopefully orders.  After that the volume 
trickles down to a handful every so often.  There are new customers, 
but the development cost on a new module must be recovered from the 
initial surge, otherwise as the volume of a given module declines, 
the cost would have to go up.  
Having said that, one customer may really want a Pulse Divider, 
another may really want a Rhythm Wheel, but there may be 10 that 
want a uSeq.  If I were in Paul's shoes I'd bring out the uSeq 
first.  
There are other factors involved in selling a product beyond the 
design phase, so although a pulse divider may be relatively simple 
as far as the code, if the anticipated sales are lower than a uSeq, 
the cost may have to be higher and the development less urgent for 
the pulse divider.
I can also agree with Paul's reasoning in spreading out the release 
of new modules.  It takes a lot of work to gather together parts, 
bag them up and assemble them into kits.  There is also a lot of 
work in writing the manuals and of course in assembling finished 
modules for those that want them.  Have you ever done PCB design?  
Especially for surface mount?  Can you imagine how much legwork it 
takes to even find the lowest cost vendor for quality parts?  Try 
multiplying that times 100 or more.  If all the new stuff came out 
in January, Paul would have to hire 25 people for one month and then 
lay them all off for the other 11 months.
Although Paul may announce a bunch of new products in December and 
accept orders, so far as I know he doesn't charge anyone until 
shipment.  I certainly haven't been charged for the two 480s I 
ordered last January.  He is not using your money to fund his 
development costs.
Paul is one of the hardest working guys I know of and we are the 
ones that benefit from his hard work.  He could quite possibly 
charge more for his modules, look at the new Buchla stuff expected 
to come out.
Although I will certainly order the Pulse Divider when it comes out, 
in fact I'll take two of them, I am quite content with the stream of 
modules coming from SynthTech.  I may needle Paul privately from 
time to time, but I am quite satisfied.
If I really want a pulse divider by February 1st I'll build my own.
If anybody thinks what Paul does is fun and games I'd suggest they 
try it themselves.  I'm sure Stooge Larry would concur.
EOR (End of Rant)

At 10:20 PM +0000 12/6/02, paulhaneberg wrote:
>
>There are other factors involved in selling a product beyond the
>design phase, so although a pulse divider may be relatively simple
>as far as the code, if the anticipated sales are lower than a uSeq,
>the cost may have to be higher and the development less urgent for
>the pulse divider.

While that's all well and good, my main point is that if a module is
already planned, it shouldn't be pushed back for all eternity as new
modules are announced.

>Although Paul may announce a bunch of new products in December and
>accept orders, so far as I know he doesn't charge anyone until
>shipment.  I certainly haven't been charged for the two 480s I
>ordered last January.  He is not using your money to fund his
>development costs.

If he wants to use my money to finance his development costs that's fine by
me.  I'm willing to send him the cash for the 510, 520 and 600 right now.
Considering today's interest rates, that might be the best investment I can
make :)

>Paul is one of the hardest working guys I know of and we are the
>ones that benefit from his hard work.

I couldn't agree more.  If I didn't respect Paul and believe in MOTM, I'd
be complaining about some other brand of modular :)

>If I really want a pulse divider by February 1st I'll build my own.

Could you build me one?? ;)

>If anybody thinks what Paul does is fun and games I'd suggest they
>try it themselves.  I'm sure Stooge Larry would concur.

No one has implied otherwise.  Their efforts are so absolutely astounding,
it's almost evidence of human cloning!!

Yet, that is sort of my point.  It takes a massive amount work to actually
produce so many modules.  I'm sure stuffing parts into little bags and
scolding suppliers isn't nearly as fun as exercising his creative genius.
While I'm all for brilliant new designs, having a dream of the modules I
might someday own doesn't help me to exercise my own half-assed creativity
in the studio right now.  And I'm sure I'm not alone.  So not to put too
fine a point on it, perhaps Synthesis Technology should catch up on its
design backlog before drawing up anything new.

At 5:00 PM -0600 12/6/02, Paul Schreiber wrote:
>
>I was going to include it in this 'batch': it was between it and
>the MIDI-CV converter. I called Tony K. at Encore and flat-out asked him
>if the Expressionist II was 'real' or not. We concluded
>that due to his schedule, it was not. So, I decided to delay the
>Pulse Divider for a MIDI-CV in a MOTM format.
>
>The reason THIS decision was made is to attract *new* customers.
>I figure 95% of current customers have a MIDI-CV or CV out keyboard. In
>>fact, I commented to the SW team that "I'll be lucky to sell 20" to
>>existing customers.

Thank you for your explanation.  It's just after considering that it wasn't
even mentioned, I fell off of the tree wondering how "real" the VC pulse
divider was.

>Knowing FULL WELL that I could easily sell 50 VC Pulse
>dividers to existing customers. An the design is 5X easier.

Hence part of my previous point.

>Lastly, I have been blessed with a loyal customer base this year, through
>>layoffs and downturn. I still have to occasionally *ship something* and
>>thats the "work" part.

I understand, and that work is more than appreciated.

>I have said this 10 times, and here is 11: I rely soley on the fact my
>>customers are willing to wait for my product. I am slow. I sometimes
>>promise X and deliver Y and by mistake Z.

We are willing to wait, or we wouldn't be here.  I decided I wanted a VC
pulse divider almost a two years ago -- back when I was planning on a small
system with a very select group of modules.  Now, due to space and
reliability issues, I am planning to build a system almost four times
larger.  In that time, many new modules have been added to MOTM system.
Most of them are excellent designs that I have ordered or are planning to
order when available.  Still, it seems as though certain modules,
especially the VC pulse divider and SEM filter, keep getting pushed back in
favor of these newer designs.

>I am VERY LUCKY to have such an understanding customer base.
>This very moment, there are close to 470 modules on back order. It beats
>>having 4 modules on back order :)

This is true :)

At 10:20 PM +0000 12/6/02, paulhaneberg wrote:
>
>There are other factors involved in selling a product beyond the
>design phase, so although a pulse divider may be relatively simple
>as far as the code, if the anticipated sales are lower than a uSeq,
>the cost may have to be higher and the development less urgent for
>the pulse divider.

While that's all well and good, my main point is that if a module is
already planned, it shouldn't be pushed back for all eternity as new
modules are announced.

>Although Paul may announce a bunch of new products in December and
>accept orders, so far as I know he doesn't charge anyone until
>shipment.  I certainly haven't been charged for the two 480s I
>ordered last January.  He is not using your money to fund his
>development costs.

If he wants to use my money to finance his development costs that's fine by
me.  I'm willing to send him the cash for the 510, 520 and 600 right now.
Considering today's interest rates, that might be the best investment I can
make :)

>Paul is one of the hardest working guys I know of and we are the
>ones that benefit from his hard work.

I couldn't agree more.  If I didn't respect Paul and believe in MOTM, I'd
be complaining about some other brand of modular :)

>If I really want a pulse divider by February 1st I'll build my own.

Could you build me one?? ;)

>If anybody thinks what Paul does is fun and games I'd suggest they
>try it themselves.  I'm sure Stooge Larry would concur.

No one has implied otherwise.  Their efforts are so absolutely astounding,
it's almost evidence of human cloning!!

Yet, that is sort of my point.  It takes a massive amount work to actually
produce so many modules.  I'm sure stuffing parts into little bags and
scolding suppliers isn't nearly as fun as exercising his creative genius.
While I'm all for brilliant new designs, having a dream of the modules I
might someday own doesn't help me to exercise my own half-assed creativity
in the studio right now.  And I'm sure I'm not alone.  So not to put too
fine a point on it, perhaps Synthesis Technology should catch up on its
design backlog before drawing up anything new.

At 5:00 PM -0600 12/6/02, Paul Schreiber wrote:
>
>I was going to include it in this 'batch': it was between it and
>the MIDI-CV converter. I called Tony K. at Encore and flat-out asked him
>if the Expressionist II was 'real' or not. We concluded
>that due to his schedule, it was not. So, I decided to delay the
>Pulse Divider for a MIDI-CV in a MOTM format.
>
>The reason THIS decision was made is to attract *new* customers.
>I figure 95% of current customers have a MIDI-CV or CV out keyboard. In
>>fact, I commented to the SW team that "I'll be lucky to sell 20" to
>>existing customers.

Thank you for your explanation.  It's just after considering that it wasn't
even mentioned, I fell off of the tree wondering how "real" the VC pulse
divider was.

>Knowing FULL WELL that I could easily sell 50 VC Pulse
>dividers to existing customers. An the design is 5X easier.

Hence part of my previous point.

>Lastly, I have been blessed with a loyal customer base this year, through
>>layoffs and downturn. I still have to occasionally *ship something* and
>>thats the "work" part.

I understand, and that work is more than appreciated.

>I have said this 10 times, and here is 11: I rely soley on the fact my
>>customers are willing to wait for my product. I am slow. I sometimes
>>promise X and deliver Y and by mistake Z.

We are willing to wait, or we wouldn't be here.  I decided I wanted a VC
pulse divider almost a two years ago -- back when I was planning on a small
system with a very select group of modules.  Now, due to space and
reliability issues, I am planning to build a system almost four times
larger.  In that time, many new modules have been added to MOTM system.
Most of them are excellent designs that I have ordered or are planning to
order when available.  Still, it seems as though certain modules,
especially the VC pulse divider and SEM filter, keep getting pushed back in
favor of these newer designs.

>I am VERY LUCKY to have such an understanding customer base.
>This very moment, there are close to 470 modules on back order. It beats
>>having 4 modules on back order :)

This is true :)