Re: Looper development and production costs?

["Jon Wagner" <jondrums@hotmail.com>]

I would like to propose a theory of mine:

"The aesthetic of a tool or instrument greatly determines the way a user 
will interact with it"

The dictionary defines aesthetic this way:

aesthetic adj :1. relating to the philosophical principles of aesthetics 
2. 
sensitive to or appreciative of art or beauty 3. pleasing in appearance

But I like to constantly remind myself that aesthetic is the antonym to 
anesthetic or lack of feeling.  Therefore, I define aesthetic in the 
context 
on how something affects your senses - ALL your senses.  Something can be 
aesthetically pleasing, or bland, or smelly, or dissonant, or disturbing.

Nobody on this list can tell me that they are not affected by what their 
senses tell them about the world around them.  You cannot tell me that you 
will play the same on a pristine perfect steinway concert grand as opposed 
to a baldwin upright.  That is because the steinway grand has an 
astonishing 
effect on your senses, it feels smooth to play, it looks extremely 
dashing, 
putting your hand on the wood gives you a cool, smooth feeling, and best 
of 
all it pleases your ears because it sounds so good.  It is likely that you 
will play very well on it, but it is also likely that your playing will be 
more reserved and less risky. You might not think to reach inside and 
pluck 
the strings for effect the way you might on a baldwin upright missing its 
cover in your living room.

what am I getting at:  I'm not sure, but I know that the EDP has a very 
functional, simple, and "down-to-business" aesthetic.    This has affected 
how I use the instrument.  It is not a toy, it is a professional quality 
looping tool, that isn't fooling around.  Other machines that most would 
call aesthetically pleasing look like toys in comparison. The EDP 
faceplate 
clearly broadcasts a signal which deters people who just want to fool 
around 
with "laying down a loop and endlessly noodling."

Now is it good business practice to limit your sales to a select group of 
die-hards?  No.  If what you want to do is make money, you have to fool 
your 
customers into buying your widget.  Then ideally to make more money you 
need 
to keep fooling them into being happy once they've bought your widget, so 
they tell their friends to buy your widget.  the single best way to fool 
consumers in America is to make it look and feel better than your 
competitors.    The common consumer in america has NO IDEA what is inside 
any of the widgets they own, they have to judge everything on what their 
senses tell them. In fact most common consumers aren't really even in 
touch 
with their own senses, they need to be told what to like by the mass media 
(but that's a whole other story).

If you want to make a quality product whose few owners are incredibly 
happy 
with their purchase, you have to do what you have to do. Often this 
doesn't 
include bending over backwards for pleasing aesthetic design - and none of 
US care, in fact its kind of endearing...

Jon

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