PTFree-OSX : now it's really time

[nerd513]

heres a suggestion for all u teachers. its called an mbox and imac g4 im sure the schools can cut a deal with apple and digi.im about to start audio 1 at my college from there audio 2 which is pro tools free....weak!!!!!! im like light years beyond that and i got to step backwards just to get "officially qualified".i think maybe instead of worrying about ptfree yall should get some real systems for us to learn on.i think its ghetto to be running ptfree at a college.sorry to be rude but i am highly dissapointed in my college its the only program around and it sucks i could really be making advancements and gaining knowlge from my proffesor but instead i got to do ABCs on a system that barely can run ptfree.and this is a Major college.very weak to me.and if mbox runs on emac that makes it even more afforadable.or a pc.i know u could get 10 emacs or pc and 10 mbox for $10000 or under. that is not alot.imac would be just a little more.i got a $30,000 studio upstairs and i go to learn on a hundred dollar one go figure.

[Simon666]

nerd -
Us teachers all agree wiith you ..... now ring up the people who determine our budgets and tell THEM. If you check through the posts you'll see that most of us have used PT Free to teach the basics to large numbers of people , then take the more advanced students up to the Digi002s, HD systems etc. If I'm not going to have to cancel classes / significantly cut class mimbers for 2004, then I'd need to buy 35-40 M-boxes, and that aint gonna be budgeted. Your home studio has a larger budget than my entire department. Out of curiousity, if you've got a big rig at home, why are you doing classes ?

[nerd513]

well im taking classes to try to get job placement or anything like that maybe an internship.i just said something because i hear people always blaming digi for stuff thats not really their problem.it doesnt make sense to "jump ship" because no ptfree osx support.stay with os9 for ptfree or quit complaining.its bad enough yall use it to teach college.i think 10 real systems would be better than 30-40 junky ones.students can share.anyway its the teachers job to fight for budgets so maybe the teachers should do that.im just adding my perspective as a student.i think a class that teaches on free software should be free.y should i pay close to a thousand dollars to learn on junk.i think yall should complain to whoever controls budget rather than digi its 2004 you have to keep up with times.once again sorry to be harsh but this really does frustrate me.a school shouldnt offer a program that they wont support.use cakewalk or some other generic program if they want to be tight wads.

[Simon666]

stay with os9 for ptfree or quit complaining.

That's what we've been doing - held the entire department a year back on computer changeovers just we could continue to use OS9. Now the 3D/video lecturers are screaming, that warranties are up, and we have to switch to new machines (OSX only).

its bad enough yall use it to teach college.i think 10 real systems would be better than 30-40 junky ones.

5 people on each computer? Would love to see your complaints THEN.

you have to keep up with times

yep, and so does Digi - thus the call for OSX Free

once again sorry to be harsh

You're not being harsh, it's frustration from students like you that make us follow this up.

use cakewalk or some other generic program if they want to be tight wads.

That's what we might have to do. We don't want to. Bad for us, bad for you, worst of all for DIGI who are losing a huge amount of potential student MBox buyers each year.

25 of my students went on to buy their own MBoxes last year. they all started on PT Free and progressed through to HD at the college. This year only 3 people have.

Why? because they want to try something at home first, and they're going for the many, many free or cutdown versions of software that work on OSX or Windows XP - which are quite popular and widely used operating systems, you know ? Sure Digi are still sorting out Panther on their upper systems, but the lack of an OSX free version at this late, late, late stage is a marketing disaster area.

[nerd513]

50 people for class and cant afford some mbox....hmmm sounds like a corporation more concerned about profit than quality

[Simon666]

50 people for class and cant afford some mbox....hmmm sounds like a corporation more concerned about profit than quality

Well no, it's not a company, it's a university with a media arts degree, the teachers have no profit motive here - we're talking educational standards.

I'll try to explain it to you, though it seems like you've got a bit of a determined attitiude, so maybe facts aren't part of your repertoire. Maybe hold the insults till you've got a little more knowledge? :

Anyway : we try to accomodate the needs of ALL of the students who want to learn sound, whether they've got $30,000 studios supplied at their parent's house, or whether they're self-supporting, poor and living in shared accomodation.

We have three labs - two of them have 3 x Digi001s and 17 comps running PTFree, one has two M-boxes and 8 comps running PT Free.

Plus we have two recording studios, one running an HD system and one running a Digi001 system.

Like all Protools-using educational institutions worldwide, the introduction of PT Free in 1999/2000 enabled us to expand our student numbers, as even people too poor to buy their own equipment (or have it bought for them) were able to PRACTICE skills they've learnt in a class, and actually USE the system while it's being taught. Yes, this is true for both the rip-off moneymaking private enterprises AND smaller liberal arts institutions like us.

This has been great for US (not having to deal with large numbers of students fighting over equipment, faster learning), for the STUDENTS (access to equipment outside of class), and for DIGI (a much larger international student body going on to purchase their own M-Boxes, Digi002s etc) - though as I mentioned before, the last of these is alreadty on the way down.

So, if you hadn't been "blessed" with your very own home HD setup, which would you prefer : fighting five other students for occasional access to higher-end equipment (with no other use at other times), or the opportunity to use a cut-down version of the software at any time while you line up for the opportunity to use more expensive equiipment?

[nerd513]

first of all i worked hard for all my gear.my parents didnt buy it and i dont live with them.second me personally i would rather share.i think u missed the point.pt free is not even supported by digidesign it is a bonus use at your own risk.so to be talking about switching because no ptfree for osx is kinda lame to me sorry if u dont see it.they have no responsibility to make pt free for every operating sytem.its a bonus.

[3jb]

to respond to your comment, "i think u missed the point." that happens to describe you very well. i, too, as an educator running into exactly the same problem that everyone else here has expressed, searched this board to see if there were plans for an X version of free. do you realize that everyone posting here was looking out for the best interest of the student? (AND EVEN DIGIDESIGN AS A CORPORATION)? aparently you have not even a sliver of a sense of reality of the nature of funding in academia. i think if you put away your stubborn attitude for a moment and actually listened to the comments of those on this board you would not be able to read your comments and take them seriously. i doubt that you are stupid, but your stubborn, arrogant attitude makes you appear to be quite a dolt. i was not registered to post on this board until i read the thread of your comments - i am very patient and usually too passive, your comments were frustrating enough to warrant this response

[nerd513]

im so sorry that PTFREE!!!!!!! is so vital to the sucess of a school that charges money. oh well when people graduate from ur programs and dont know [bleep] you will know y. keep the ptfree on os9. stay on the look out for those free programs so u can continue to charge students to learn on free software and macs from 1991.and dont forget to hand out assingnments that wont even play back on ur [bleep] system.oh yeah and dont forget to teach them how to mix a gigantic 8mono track session.

[nerd513]

while im on the subject it would be a little different if digidesign released ptfree as an educational tool. but they didnt. it was released as a promotional thing.so if schools and teachers want to implement it into their classrooms thats one thing but u shouldnt expect support or updates or anything for that matter.take what u get and be happy.if not oh well for u digidesign never made any guarntees of any kind for ptfree!!!!! by the way u will probably get osx ptfree in a year or three.