Apple is Doing it, Why Won't Digidesign?

[Chief Technician]

If you have not heard, Apple's next OS is going to be OS X v10.6, and has been named Snow Leopard.

Before any of you start thinking "Great! Digidesign doesn't even support Leopard yet!", I want you to consider this statement from Apple, which you can find here.

Taking a break from adding new features.

That's right! Apple is going to do something I have been hoping for for years. They are going to focus on fixing the bugs. It would appear that Apple does believe that people want software that is as bug-free as possible.

I have had this conversation with people at Digidesign (names withheld for obvious reasons), and the typical response I get is "But people don't want to pay for bug fixes. They want new features." If what Apple is going to do with their next OS release isn't a sign that people want software that is as bug-free as possible, I don't know what is.

So, Apple is going to focus on fixing the bugs. Digidesign, how about dedicating the first development cycle after v7.4.2 to a version that fixes the bugs? I have said it before, and I will say it again. I don't care if you charge $179 for the next upgrade. If you fix 179 bugs (including all the ones I have logged), and don't add any new features, I will buy it faster than I can type this post.

Can I get a +1 from everyone else that would like to see the next paid update to Pro Tools be a bug fix release, just like Apple is going to do with Mac OS X?

Thanks for reading!

[25ghosts]

you can get my +1 for bug fixes in general although I am the opinion that PT is the most bug free app available on a mac.

To apple's plan with 10.6 - I dont think they are doing this to fix bugs. they have a deeper plan. Much deeper. They are more candid than a wild cat hunting for pray. They state this and that but underneath the surface they are running a different movie.

10.6 has other reasons than bug fixes. Lets just wait n see. Probably they need 10.6 to support their newly patented "Touch screens" which will call for MANY new OS features.

Apple would NEVER release a WHOLE OS - just for the sake of fixing bugs.

They have had Logic for many years now and have FIXED NONE of the old bugs - they have only made the softare worse.

[M2E]

you can get my +1 for bug fixes in general although I am the opinion that PT is the most bug free app available on a mac.

To apple's plan with 10.6 - I dont think they are doing this to fix bugs. they have a deeper plan. Much deeper. They are more candid than a wild cat hunting for pray. They state this and that but underneath the surface they are running a different movie.

10.6 has other reasons than bug fixes. Lets just wait n see. Probably they need 10.6 to support their newly patented "Touch screens" which will call for MANY new OS features.

Apple would NEVER release a WHOLE OS - just for the sake of fixing bugs.

They have had Logic for many years now and have FIXED NONE of the old bugs - they have only made the softare worse.

Have you updated to 8.02 yet. They fixed most of the bugs with that update. So I can't agree with that but it about time they did that release.

Marc

[reichman]

+1 (thought the same thing when reading the same text from Apple! cheers to stable software!)

[uno1234]

I would pay 10 grand for Digidesign to release Pro Tools HD software that was actually truly natively compatible with OS X.

Yes. I would.

[uno1234]

you can get my +1 for bug fixes in general although I am the opinion that PT is the most bug free app available on a mac.

And you have GOT to be joking.

[jimlongo]

Considering the myriad changes that 10.6 will usher in . . . the end of Carbon and PPC, the new multicore and 64 bit transition, and QuickTime X, you might just very well look back on the current bug list with a lot of nostalgia.

[Mikey MTC]

I think it's really unfair to try to compare Apple and Digi in this way. For a start there's their size difference, but just the business they do is world's apart. Apple keep moving the goal posts for their own ends and (often audio) companies like Digi are forced to drop whatever plans they might be in the middle of, and chase new operating systems so their existing stuff will work on them.

Who knows what Digi was in the middle of doing when this Leopard thing took over. I imagine they've had to divert all sots of engineering effort to get things going. I know someone will come along now and say; "Didn't Digi have seeds of Leopard for months and months even before the initial public release?" I think the answer to that is, "yes they did," but especially in those developer build stages, the goal posts move even more frequently.

Leopard has been a right PITA for everyone by the sound of it. We were forced to move to Harpertown Mac about a month ago (chassis hell .. don't ask!) and it's been an awful experience until this recent 7.4.2pr build came along. Now things are starting to feel good again but it was Apple FINALLY releasing 10.5.3 that made the real difference. I don't know the inside story but it feels like Apple are the ones who really dropped the ball on this. Leopard's been lovely for emails and web browsing but has been a pig for many pro users. If Apple can afford to spend 12 months cleaning up their own mess, then great. Maybe a year of massive iPhone growth will bankroll that for them. I know I'm keen to help! <g>

[froyo]

Hello. Chief I believe we had a thread a few years back when we were specifically asking Digidesign to do absolutely nothing except fix bugs. I am very much in agreement with you there. What I don't understand is the post itself that you initiated here. I don't know if you really believe what Apple is selling or if you are using it for your own means, namely getting Digidesign to fix bugs.

Apple is the single best marketing company in entire world, bar none. I don't think that you are naive enough to believe every single line of marketing speak that any company prints even Apple. As others here I don't believe for one second that Apple is strictly doing Snow Leopard to fix bugs and nothing else. This is a very calculated move that achieves something else that will create money flow for Apple you can be assured of that.

Marketing speak is simply that, marketing speak. Diet Dr Pepper doesn't really taste like regular Dr Pepper, no matter how much the company tells us it does.

It just so happens that in this case the marketing speak is something that we all actually need from all software developers, not just Digidesign or Apple, but every single one of them.

[froyo]

Hello. I found the thread I was speaking of, it's from January 2005. It is this thread here that asks 'What Can Digidesign Do To Sell You A New System?'.

Here is what I wrote there so you don't have to read the whole thread

But seriously, I know my esteemed colleague, the venerable Chief Technician NYC, will agree with me on this one. Let the challenge go out to Digidesign now and I will buy a new system, maybe two. Here it is... (drum roll)...

Absolutely zero additional features. Zip. Zero. No new features. Not a single one. Spend the next year and a half releasing bug fixes. Not a single new addition. But fix bugs for the next 12 to 18 months.

I will buy a new system if that happens. Maybe two.

As a matter of fact, let this be a challenge to the entire professional audio software world.

That was January 2005. We have been asking for this for this specific thing for many, many years.