crystal balls, software development, product reps & repeater

[dan mcmullen <dog@well.com>]

folks,

anyone familiar w/ software development can tell you that a product as
complex as an EDP/Boomerang/Repeater which is only now in alpha/beta could
easily take...  well, i won't even hazard a time frame.  i bet Kim,
Matthias, Mike & the other folks who have already gone through this got a
chuckle at the reported remark of the rep at NAMM that it was more complex
than they'd ever imagined: duh!  if the report that only 2 tracks & one
loop were just barely functioning at NAMM is acurate, then it could be a
long time before the firmware is solid.  usually there is a good chunck of
time *after* software is feature complete before you get all the bugs
worked out.  bottom line for me is that *no one knows* yet how long it will
take before Repeater will be solid enough to ship.

in any case, it is kind of absurd to expect Damon, or any product rep, to
divulge the internal guestimates of when a product will ship.  just look
what's happened to Damon (& Kim & co in the past) already because he
volunteered the Jan/Feb timeline: now he's getting crap because that wasn't
realistic.  bet he won't do that again.  Repeater will ship when (& if) it
ships, period.  i've got an album project scheduled for march.  Repeater's
reported feature set would be way cool for that, but if march gets here and
Repeater doesn't i'll use what i've got (& maybe try to get a 2nd EDP if my
stereo jones is strong enough).  that's just the way it is, imnsho.

hey, if you want to get really upset, just imagine what Gibson's response
will be when Repeater is finally out: remember Kim's slip way back that
Gibson would be selling EDPs quite a bit cheaper than Oberheim.  never
happened, but my guess is that the cost to produce EDPs once the Trace
Elliot folks get into full production is pretty minimal, and the only way
for them to compete w/ Repeater will be to sell EDPs at about half what
Repeater will cost.  think of the firestorm this will generate from folks
who have recently bought Gibson EDPs at the what the current market lets
them charge for it.

dan "doesn't know when to stop" mcmullen  :-)
___
dan mcmullen, ca, usa                      don't worry - pay attention
mailto:dog@well.com                                       707-485-0220
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