Fairlight-CMI

Just to address what I see as the key issues here... 

 

a)      If I knew where to get lightpens I'd be happy to share that
information.    I haven't actually been looking as they will only work with
CRT displays and the new CMI uses an LCD, so I have not been looking for
lightpens that would work with a CRT.  It would be possible to make
alternative electronics that would fit inside the case we're having made for
the new "lightpen" (which isn't an optical device at all) to replicate the
original lightpen. This would cost, at a guess, $5,000 to make say 20 of
these. If I could sell 20 at $250 I would recoup costs. So anyone who's
interested in buying a lightpen for $250 please email me and if I get 20
orders I'll do some more investigation. Alternatively, if someone else would
like to provide the electronics, I'd be happy to sell them the casings.

b)      I'm by no means the most knowledgable person on how to keep CMIs
operating.  I never owned a CMI, and still don't (although I am finally
buying a SIII and would like to buy a 2X if a good one is for sale?). I have
not used or repaired a CMI since 1989.  When I needed to find out how to
read 8" floppies on a modern platform, I consulted Google.  I doubt there
are any 8" drives available, but there is quite good information out there
on how to adapt a 3.5 or 5.25" floppy to work in place of an 8".  There are
also floppy emulators that use memory sticks - e.g.
http://plrelectronics.com. Again, Google is your friend. If there is no
drop-in replacement available, let me know. Again, if there is sufficient
interest to cover costs, I'll look into building something suitable.  I
guess this one would be $500 apiece.

c)       I try to reply to every email I receive, which is quite a large
task.  If I have failed to reply to someone, they are free to follow me up.
I must be one of the most contactable people in the world.  Anyone in the
world can find my direct office phone number in  10 seconds and my home
phone number might take 30 seconds.

Best regards,

 

Peter

 

PS

 

Does anyone have anything to contribute to my history project?

From: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Andrew
Sent: Sunday, 6 February 2011 4:17 PM
To: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Fairlight-CMI] We need your help!! Iconic Fairlight sounds

 

  


Hi, Peter. Thanks for your reply to my email. I think you come across a 
lot better in this one.

My own impression of Peter Vogel is that he does care about the Fairlight 
and its history. If he didn't, he wouldn't have replied to my question 
about the dog sample with details of the original dog and who she belonged 
to. And his presence in this group predates his decision to go back into 
business making Fairlights, which also seems to confirm his genuineness. 
Indeed, when he originally started the company, he did so to market an 
instrument that was radical and didn't fit into any existing niche. That 
suggests someone committed to the instrument and not to the market.

I think it's an unfortunate fact that as soon as someone's in business, 
their motives begin to be suspected. It's also a fact that if you set up in 
business by identifying a need, you very quickly have people clamouring for 
the thing you're selling, which is good from a business point of view but 
only when you're sufficiently far developed that you can supply the demand.

At this point the new Fairlight company is at a very early stage and 
presumably financially precarious. Also there are only a couple of people 
trying to do everything.

Regarding the floppy drives, you wrote:

> The current solutions are simply not good enough. At the moment I do
> think that Peter has the most insight and knowledge on this matter,
> please correct me if I'm wrong........

I don't have any priviledged knowledge on this, so I can't correct you if 
you're wrong, but I'd be inclined to agree, of course, that Peter's 
knowledge and experience would clearly be spot-on when it comes to the 
original instruments. Whether he'd be as knowledgeable as anyone else here 
about different solutions using later technology I have no idea. He'd 
obviously be an authority, though, however things are looked at.

The important point, to my mind, is the question whether the new Fairlight 
company is going to be in the spare parts business for the older 
instruments. As I don't work for Fairlight I have no more idea than anyone 
else, but it seems logical that if new components would be compatible with 
the old instruments it would be in the company's interests to sell them. If 
they can get hold of light-pens and drives that people want, common business

sense would suggest they could either act as a supplier or else supply 
someone else who'd then do the necessary marketing and admin. The question, 
therefore, is whether parts sourced for the new instrument would be 
compatible with the old ones.

Presumably that question will be answered in due time. The sooner the 
better, of course, for people who need the parts, but at the moment Peter 
and co are working hard to get the company up and running, and there may not

be a simple answer to the question. Logically we'd all want the answer to 
the compatibility question to be `yes,' and that would include the company 
as it would be in their interests to make a profit selling the parts. So 
I'd expect some information on this before too long. If I had a Fairlight 
that was in desperate need of parts I'm sure I'd be as keen as you are to 
know what the situation is.

> There was a time that I liked everybody. Peace, love and happiness....
> Flower power.......... However, when you get older, you learn that not
> everybody is so nice and honest.

Yes, I'm old enough to have found that out, as well. :D But I also see 
nothing negative about Peter or the new company, and I'm inclined to remain 
positive unless something negative emerges.

> Well, what if it's all just about the money and there is no love involved
> for the actual instruments? That doesn't make Peter a bad person.......
> However, if it would be so, and he would pretend to love the instruments,
> just to make money and in that process uses this community, perhaps giving
> them false hope on future support.... Now, that I wouldn't like so 
> much...........

Yes, I can appreciate that. That's anxiety talking, I think? And I'm sure 
I'd share the anxiety in your position. But for the reasons I've mentioned 
I'm inclined to believe Peter does care about the instruments and the music 
made with them. And maybe the false hope point you've made indicates 
precisely why there's been no information yet on parts for the older 
instruments? It would give false hope if statements were made about 
supplying parts before it had been determiend whether suitable parts can be 
supplied. As far as I can see, Peter hasn't given anyone false hope by 
promising something he may not be able to deliver.

> However, I would like to give the whole new company a word of advise:
> "Don't forget about customer support and take customers seriously. Don't
> make empty promises"

I think that's good advice. I see no reason to believe that Peter or the 
new company think otherwise, though. Time will tell, but at this point it 
all looks hopeful to me.

> At last for those who think I should always be nice to Peter:
> In my opinion, you should always speak up if you think something
> is wrong. If a person can't take some criticism, that that's his or her
> problem. A wise person learns from it...........

I think that's true. Your original message did read more negatively than I 
think you intended, and to my mind all of this seems to be coming from your 
understandable hope and anxiety about an instrument you care about and want 
to be able to maintain. But as yet there seems to be no reason to think 
anything IS wrong. There's plenty of time yet to take Peter to task if he 
makes promises and fails to deliver - which is all the more reason why he'd 
be cautious about promising too much.