I HAD ENOUGH-yet again a ADC thing

[JMS40]

Pro Tools Limited Edition. Limited. Limited. Limited

Problem with that is that LE is competing with products that aren't crippled.
As overly simplistic as this may sound, the real issue in my view is that the LE/HD model is based upon a bygone era.
How Digi responds to the current native landscape going forward is going to tell the tale.

[froyo]

Hello. Well actually JMS40 you are actually making my point for me. The fact is that Digidesign is having their cake and eating it too because the market place lets them. It's not that the LE-TDM model is from a bygone era, the LE-TDM business model was never a good one at all from day one.

As you say LE has always competed with products that are not crippled. It always has. Since the very day it was created. All the competing products were always full versions. All of them. This is as true today as it was 10 years ago. Digidesign has always been allowed to compete without actually having to.

It's the exact same analogy of the cheating girlfriend. Just like the cheating girlfriend, Digidesign has never played 'fair'. Ever. They have always offered an arbitrarily crippled software. They even gave it a name. Limited Edition or Pro Tools LE. It's not their fault the market place has not called them on it. They get to be top dog and they don't even compete. You name any other product and they all have a universe of more features than LE. And this has always been the case.

Why would now be any different than 1999 when LE was announced? Now many of you may say that that was then, this is now, times change and this time Digidesign really will disappear if they don't step up. What I am saying to you is that it was exactly the same 10 years ago, 8 years ago, 5 years ago, 2 years ago and 2 months ago. LE has always been a joke compared to the rest. Always. Since day one. Why is LE still the top dog after all these years in spite of the fact that they offer so little in comparison? Not only are they still top dog, but they are thriving. Why? LE is so crippled and incomplete compared to the rest, why do people still buy it and use it every day?

The only way Digidesign and Pro Tools LE would be forced to truly 'compete' feature to feature with all the other software products is if their user base left them. The same way the cheating girlfriend would be forced to stop cheating if she wanted to be with you after you left her.

[The Weed]

I just posted this in the ADC thread. Since you're talking about people leaving Digidesign because they're not satisfied with the product's capabilities, I thought I would post it here too.

Cheers,

[phobia]

What if the cheating girl friend was bisexual?

Cheers,
- J

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by froyo

It's not their fault the market place has not called them on it.

Is it not retaliation that provoked version 8.0?






filosofem

[AlexLakis]

Okay, Shane, I'll humor you, ol' buddy.

Well, it's 2009, and we have two options:

1. Pay ~$2000 for a shoddy hardware interface with unusable preamps and sub-par A/D D/A conversion partnered with software that is intentionally crippled and doesn't contain basic functionality that all other DAW software on the market has (even FREE ones.) Oh, and did I mention the software is ridiculously finicky and buggy as hell?

2. Pay ~$10,000 for out-dated PCI cards that aren't 1/100th as powerful as the video card I just bought for $30 with software that has delay compensation that doesn't even work right (Hmm, do you think the company has covered their R&D costs yet? Way to pass the savings on, bros.) Did I mention the software is ridiculously finicky and buggy as hell?

The only reason these guys are still in business is the same reason why Disney can release "Little Mermaid 8: The Search for Ariel's Hair-Tie," why Skittles can release "Chocolate Skittles," and why you sit at home at night watching the same crappy TV shows in between bombardments of soulless commercialism and, despite how unentertaining it is, you do it again the very next night and every night for the rest of your life. Cuz it's there. And nobody cares. Guess what, Digi? People are starting to care. I hope (for all our sakes) that you figure out how your OWN software works soon. Good luck!

[JMS40]

Originally Posted by froyo

Why would now be any different than 1999 when LE was announced?

Hi ya Froyo-
The difference in my view is the power available to native systems.
When you and I first started hanging out here with our 800mhz Pentiums, native systems were handicapped equally across the DAW spectrum.
It didn't matter that we were limited to 24 tracks in the software because most of us couldn't archive those track counts anyway.
Once CPU power exploded, other DAW packages were able to surpass LE limitations.

2 cents

[froyo]

By filosofem

Is it not retaliation that provoked version 8.0?

Hello. The context I was referring to is that Digidesign is allowed by the so called 'native' market to compete without really doing so. If people called them on it, LE would have been a phenomenal flop from day one. As it stands they are allowed to dominate the native market without having to play by the 'rules' the others do. And while they add functionality bit by bit as time goes on, they never give you the full version of Pro Tools do they?

By JMS40

The difference in my view is the power available to native systems.
When you and I first started hanging out here with our 800mhz Pentiums, native systems were handicapped equally across the DAW spectrum.
It didn't matter that we were limited to 24 tracks in the software because most of us couldn't archive those track counts anyway.
Once CPU power exploded, other DAW packages were able to surpass LE limitations.

Well at first thought that is a point that makes sense. However computers very quickly surpassed the limitations of LE. By 2001 or 2002 you could very easily do much more than LE could do in just about any other software. For sure by 2004 computers could do much, much, much more than what LE was limiting you to. The power of computers has surpassed LE's limitations for the last 5 years at least. And let's also consider that with all the additions of toolkits available now LE is getting closer to the capability of the TDM versions, but there are still some very significant differences. And you still end up paying close to 5 thousands dollars to get less than what you would get from other software vendors who offer it to you at the same or much lower price.

AlekLakis I suppose the options you delineate are strictly contained to Digidesign land. Because the obvious third option in your list is to simply use other software.

Now phobia if your cheating girfriend is bisexual and allows you to participate on the fun with other women, you really don't have a problem now do you?

[TOM@METRO]

C’mon Digi. He solution is rather simple. Give us your very best attempt, with no artificial limitations and we will stand by you. Time is of the essence the wolves are at the door. Work with your allies while they remain your allies. We all need to offer our clients what they perceive to be the best there is. This has been Pro Tools for many years. Let me say that this is beginning to change. Clients that use the name Pro Tools to be synonymous with digital recording in general are becoming fewer. Please give Pro Tools native users a reason to be proud again. It doesn’t make sense for this to become just another mediocre DAW.

Native is the future, please lead us into it with all you can offer.

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by froyo

The context I was referring to is that Digidesign is allowed by the so called 'native' market to compete without really doing so. If people called them on it, LE would have been a phenomenal flop from day one. As it stands they are allowed to dominate the native market without having to play by the 'rules' the others do. And while they add functionality bit by bit as time goes on, they never give you the full version of Pro Tools do they?

No though would you not call this an intelligent free market strategy? Not only are they competing externally but they are also competing internally.







filosofem