Disklavier

This seems to me to be "much ado about nothing".  
 
I have an vintage wagon C3 disklavier.  I purchased a DSR1 and have setup my
old stereo receiver with speakers.  The controller that I use is an ancient
laptop computer into which I have put every Yamaha disk, midi and karaoke
file I have. The laptop offers complete back up, internet and  networking
functionality.
 
If you are a computer kind of person nothing that Yamaha does will ever
satisfy.  But the fact that they have built in a midi in and out is all I
need to enjoy almost every feature that is resident on the newest model.
(And if I should ever see the value of a DCD1 then I would be as close to
full featured as the Mark IV).  But I think that it is safe to say not
everyone is a computer person, thus a proprietary system is very useful and
necessary for these folks.  
 
I also think that to say that a company should not expect to make money on
software is somewhat contrary to the success that a company like Microsoft
has had (didn't IBM think that long ago), and omits the need to remunerate
the artist whose work is made available to the public.
 
I worked for many years for Hitachi. The unit I was a part of had no clue
how to market the product they were selling, but what they did have a clue
about was how to make a product well.  Hitachi and Yamaha Piano seem to be
very similar. 
 
The 11 year old disklavier that I have is remarkable, no problems, holds a
tuning for up to a year (yeah I know I am cheap), and is just the bees
knees.  Even though it was made over eleven years ago I have been able to
update it with DSR1 etc. and continue to be as current as its physical
limitations will allow. 
 
I will take "well made"over "well marketed" any day.  I do agree with those
who say that the the approach to selling pianosoft music is antiquated.  I
think that it is only a matter of time until Yamaha goes to the I-Tunes
model of buying the song you want.
 
Cheers
 
Dan

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From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Carl Youngblood
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 12:55 PM
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [disklavier] A Christmas Wish List for the Mark IV - a
different view point


One thing that Yamaha should really do with this (Please let us know
if somebody at Yamaha is reading this) is open-source the software
portion of the Mark IV.  The software is, after all, pretty much
useless without the hardware.  What that would do is allow hackers and
tinkerers to post bugfixes and new features without Yamaha even having
to lift a finger.  This is the genius of the open-source model--any
single company just doesn't have enough resources and expertise to
improve their product as much as the combined knowledge and expertise
of their loyal fans.  By befriending the community they actually
enrich their own product for free and mark my words, they will see a
big increase in sales because of it.  This kind of collaboration is
especially effective for companies that sell hardware, because they
make their money off selling the hardware, not the software.  So it is
in the best interest of both company and consumer to collaborate in
improving the software, since it will sell more hardware and make the
consumer happier.

Carl

On 11/22/05, Glenn <G.SMUTNY@...> wrote:
>
> Just my 2 cents, but I think we all need to keep in mind that Yamaha
> probably had two choices.
>
> One to wait until some unknown point way down the road, to completely 110%
> perfect the Mark IV and everyone of its features and attributes, and then
> introduce it.  Of course the downside of that is that none of us would be
> enjoying our pianos.
>
> Or on the other hand they could bring out the Mark IV and put it into
> eveyones hands and over a period of time, enable it's features one by one
as
> they perfect them through software updates.  The Mark IV is not a step
back
> from the Mark III. Yamaha has made vast improvements over the Mark III.
And
> the cost difference between the two was minimal.
>
> I grant you the fact that there are a few yet to be enabled qualities that
I
> wish my Mark IV had - many of which are noted by Tom Wheeler, but I do
> believe that Yamaha is well aware of all of these items as this site has
> seen numerous similar requests over the past year.  I think instead of
> trying to "make sure all potential buyers are aware of the pianos
> shortcomings" we all need to be a little more patient and forgiving.
>
> Yamaha will get it right. Besides, who else can we go to to get a piano
> system of this caliber with a library of music of this size.
>
> I feel sorry for people like Robert that put their purchase "on indefinite
> hold until the Mark IV's basic development has been advanced further".
The
> piano playback quality of the Mark IV is nearly the equivalent of the Mark
> III PRO.  The system has a fabulous human interface - a little slow but
none
> the less a 1000 times better the Mark III.  And I would believe that until
> some future date when the Mark V comes out, which I will bet will be
> everybit of 5 years from now, they know that they have a system that is
> setup with as much future technology as they could possibly forsee. And
keep
> in mind that the only thing that you all are waiting for is new software.
> Software that they will send you for free.  And of course as time passes,
> the cost of the piano will go up. So my thinking is that they will never
be
> as cheap(?) as they are right now.
>
> One other note that I know for a fact is that even if the hardware is able
> to be upgraded, all they have to do is change out the I/O Center or the
> Media Center and you have a new piano with all of the new updated
features.
> I will also bet that the future Mark V could be nothing more than just
that.
>
> Odds of the hardware changing is slim. From what I have been told, until
> Intel or AMD comes out with a processor faster than 350MHz that doesn't
need
> a cooling fan, we are all stuck with the speed and features that currently
> exist. I may be wrong, but I don't think the USB port is even a 2.0.
>
> Yes, the system is not 110% perfect, but I would not be without mine.  I
> know that while the Roberts of this world are waiting for perfection, I
will
> be enjoying my Disklavier Mark IV.


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