In Response to Pro Tools HD 10 Feedback

[Ke productions]

Originally Posted by wrachilla

Barry, congrats on the 300 subordinates. You are FUNDAMENTALLY flawed in your thinking!

A company is in business to perpetuate its MISSION (please see "Business Management 101"). What happens, and I've seen it happen again and again, is that the entrepreneur who filled the need because of his passion sells to a large corporation. Then, the managers (who have NEVER been in the position of knowing what it's really like to realize that what they decide today dictates whether the doors open tomorrow; because they came directly out of college and never have had their own money at stake) who take over the company/product feel the purpose is to make money, not fill the need that provided their very existence.

That turns into bad decision making that inevitably alienates good customers. And the excuse provided is "It's just business, not personal." THAT, my friend, is incorrect. It is what was PERSONAL that began the entire thing in the first place.

Yes, sometimes layoffs are necessary. And I don't necessarily disagree that they are necessary here. But the issue is the complete disregard of the customer base...companies who have put thousands into business-critical systems produced by Avid. They are being pushed to pay for the layoff costs...HOW is it that Avid's management was not prepared with reserves for layoff costs? Or is it that the greed has gotten to a point that nobody's thinking beyond 3 months?

One can read book after book about the fall of this company or that company. There is ONE element that is ALWAYS common in them: disregard for and deviation from the Company's mission.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Netflix debacle, or the fact that Bank of America made a bad decision, but because of their client base, reversed that decision to keep their company growing. Netflix nearly went bankrupt from one stupid decision; and to this day are on the ropes now!
BOA decided to rescind their atm card fees because the PEOPLE had spoken.

I'm not saying we need to revolt against AVID, cause God knows I don't want to change to a different DAW. I been with PT since the digi001! But I must say, I am very concerned with this low stock price of Avid's.

Times are very hard right now and people are just trying to make a living the best way they can. If AVID goes under, we will have no choice but to switch to a different DAW in order to survive.


I just hope AVID is listening to us and decides to make some type of change.
Remember, AVID; You are in control, and You can do whatever you want; including LOWERING THE UPGRADE PRICE!
My two cents...

[necjamc]

It was mentioned a while back on a few threads.


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[maarvold]

Originally Posted by wrachilla

...A company is in business to perpetuate its MISSION (please see "Business Management 101")...

Thank you for articulating something that has seemed fundamentally wrong with much of the business world in recent years for me.

IMO, the idea that all there is to business is making money is EXACTLY the same as the idea that--to a person that likes cheesecake--all there is to life is eating cheesecake. If that person, for example, wants to eat the most and varied types of cheesecake imaginable during the course of their life, they have to have certain other aspects in place to balance that desire. Without balancing aspects that counteract their 'cheesecake love' they will almost certainly have severe health problems.

Originally Posted by Ke productions

...BOA decided to rescind their atm card fees because the PEOPLE had spoken...

"We the people" are the sleeping tiger. On a global level, much of what is in place now is there because we have not banded together and stopped it (or tried to alter it). But I get a sense that "The times they are a-changin' " in this country--at least there are glimmers of it.

[Ke productions]

Originally Posted by necjamc

It was mentioned a while back on a few threads.


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My bad. I guess I read too fast, huh? LOL
THX

[WernerF]

Originally Posted by necjamc

It was mentioned a while back on a few threads.


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It was mentioned but it's probably a good thing that it is gently mentioned again so that it can stay in the front of a few folks minds as a friendly reminder that bad decision's can and sometimes should be reversed.

[wrachilla]

Many years ago, I consulted with a company that had a similar situation as Avid. They were having issues with getting behind, tried to squeeze the customer base, etc...they were in the typical mind set of "How can we get back to where we were?"

The VP was having "Back to Basics" meetings on a weekly basis. LOL I wonder just how many "Back to Basics" projects are under way at Avid.

Certainly, it was getting the company two things: 1) decreasing revenues (even though they raised the price) and 2) customer base attrition.

This continued until they realized that they weren't asking themselves "What is our mission? The market has changed, what can we do to adapt, adopt and improve?" When that finally got through the President's head (and he cleaned out those that would not support this thinking), they were able to turn their company completely around in 8 months.

The suits at Avid are going through the same typical reactions. Unfortunately, the majority of companies that take this route either fold or are taken over (those guys get let-go in either case). The driving factor here is that the product (PT) is behind in the market from a technology perspective...that's not good and does not support a continuing life-cycle. Rather, it supports a take-over scenario with absorption into another product (Logic, etc.).

[noizgirl]

not to digress ... or get back on track ... or whatever ... BUT where and when is the PTHD10 14-day trial posting?

[dccarson]

I am trying to look at this from both sides. I know if I were a competing software company, I would be offering a crossgrade right now for around $150. On the other hand if I were AVID, if I had to keep my price, I would offer some soft synths or plugins for free. Bundles would be the name of the game. Anyway, I dont have PT10 and I have already stood on my soapbox as to why I am not getting it. But I have heard some GREAT reviews on it and I am impressed. I would LOVE to see a channel strip with heat already built in. Also, the softsynths could use an upgrade. Boom is a great idea but I would like to see a few more kits added as well as the ability to apply some type of tape saturation built in as a sound edit parameter. Also, just go ahead and do away with the PT vs MPT vs PTHD liscense and just make it all PTHD. Odds of selling anymore CPTK are going to be slim. Not to mention it appears greedy (not saying it is). Finally, make a port for us to use omni via firewire, thunderbolt or USB 3.0.

[Chingy]

Pro Tools 10: $599 (intro price, don't know what it will be after Dec. 31st. Upgrade is $299)
Logic 9: $499 (upgrade was $199)
Cubase 6: $499 (upgrade was $149)
Studio One Professional: $399 (upgrade was $99)
Ableton Live 8: $399 (upgrade was $189)

Now, in order to get things like more tracks (not unlimited), full input monitoring, automation trim, etc. you would need to pay $1995 for CPTK2. The other DAWs include many (but not all) of the CPTK2 features included in their base price. Additionally, most people would say to get the virtual instrument performance that Logic, Cubase, S1 offer, you would need something like Vienna Ensemble Pro ($289 - but yes, it offers additional functionality like networked computers and epic orchestra).

So, to really get on "par" with the features that other DAWs offer with Pro Tools, you would need to spend around $2883. I put "par" in quotes because PT offers functionality that other hosts don't (disk cache, clip gain, etc.) and similarly, other hosts offer functionality that PT doesn't (freeze, offline bounce, region effects, etc.). I figured that the unique features to each host probably cancel out in terms of value (but maybe they don't in which case the question becomes are the unique features for PT worth the huge difference in cost?).

[hollaback06]

Originally Posted by noizgirl

not to digress ... or get back on track ... or whatever ... BUT where and when is the PTHD10 14-day trial posting?

+1

Also avid support, guitar center does not have the avid support plan listed in their system. My sales rep has contacted you several times but said he gets no answer back. I was hoping to take advantage of their $100 off sale that ended today. Please respond