Fairlight-CMI

Hi Lars,

Thanks for the link !!! This TV show is really strange. I watched
the one about the Fairlight where they say the sound was crap and
mainly talk about the ridiculous "dog" sound from the first CMI.
They talk about the expensive price and technical issues... But
are very short on the positive aspects and don't talk at all about
the later models.

So I decided to watch the AKAI S1000 show to have another feeling.
Well. When you listen them it's the best invention, no issue, best
product...

So for a TV show made in 2001, I think it's rewritting a little bit
the history. They focus on certain aspect and don't give a global
view. And they go in this popular direction which is: you can buy
today (for nothing) better technology than these old dinosaurs
machines which were so expensive and always out of order...

Personaly I don't agree with this position. I believe some expensive
technologies which did exist in the 70-80s were replaced by cheaper
ones in the 90s. Or disapeared and will never exist again.

I have seen this in the computer industry when I worked with Sgi & Cray.
It's also the case for music instruments but in many other domains.

When I try to explain this to friends who are not familiar to the domain,
I use two simple examples:

- How do you fly today from Paris/London to NY in 3 hours since the
  concorde was retired ?
- Why people would pay a fortune for an old violin when you can buy
  a yamaha one for 500 Euros...

Well, it's because you have to admit that some old technologies were
better. And that new one are sometime the best but it's not always
the case... So the Airbus 380 is maybe a great product, but it will
never replace the Concorde.

But I may be wrong...

Best regards.

     Laurent.