Re: Computers **(MSP)**

[Dpcoffin@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/18/98 4:22:39 PM, Chris wrote:

>It's called MSP ("max signal processing")  and is an extension to the
>programming language MAX tha runs on Power PC macs.

COOOOL!.....but MAX has always looked cool to me until I start checking
deeper. I subscribed to the MAX list for about a year, and to a completely
math-free and programming-lingo-limited (even if highly motivated!) slug 
like
myself, this was like living in a foreign country without a dictionary. It
reminded me that what I want to do is plug and PLAY, not boot and DEBUG! 
So, can you get where you've described without a degree in math, 
computers, or
signal processing?? I even enjoy reading manuals, so that's not a
problem...it's not speaking the academic language that the program and 
manual
are written in or assume fluency in that can slow me down so much that I 
feel
I'm wasting my time...
SuperCollider for the Power Mac is another case in point. If you've got a
PowerMac, download the demo without delay...totally real time synthesis and
audio processing; cool sounds start pouring outta your Mac with a button
press, and the graphic controllers are pretty intuitive...but the talk on 
the
mailing list for the real program is total lab-coat; has kept me from 
tossing
$250 on it, despite how powerful it seems to be...
dpc