Re: feedback to Yamaha
2006-11-09 by Tom Wheeler
Ken, Ian and Other Disklavier Owners Who May Respond, Thank you for your expressions of support. Yamaha in the U.S. and Bill Brandom in particular, have always been very supportive of the disklavier product line. The Mark IV is my third disklavier. I first purchased a DC3IIXG (Mark II model), then traded that a few years later for a DC3A (Mark III model), and in November of 2004 I purchased the DC3M4t (Mark IV) model that I now have. As others have expressed, part of my reason for purchasing the Mark IV was the promise that the Mark IV would soon be upgraded with features that it did not have when introduced. I remember being expressly assured in a personal phone from by the National Sales Manager for the disklavier product line (not Bill Brandom, incidentally) that the Mark IV would soon be able to access the internet and download music files. That was in late November 2004 when the Mark IV was introduced! I use virtually every single feature on my Mark IV since I began taking weekly piano lessons when I retired a litle over five years ago, and I have the good fortune of having a wonderful young pianist classically trained in Moscow, Edinburgh, London, and the University of Minnesota who comes each week to my home, gives me a 1-2 hr lesson and records every single one of my assignments on my Mark IV. When version 1.20 came out in late August, I was very pleased to find that overdub recording had been enabled. This allows my teacher to record both parts of duets intended for four hands. I then turn off the primo part and play along with my teacher playing the secundo part. This is a wonderful learning technique. Add to that the ability to set playback to begin from any section of a piece and end at any section and either loop the playback or simply go back to point A and await the start play button to be pressed, and you have some powerful tools for using the Mark IV as a teaching/learning instrument. I love my Mark IV. My frustration with Yamaha Japan is that they are either very slow to listen to customers in their largest market (the U.S.) or don't listen at all and do whatever they please. The potential in the Mark IV for both entertainment and teaching has scarcely begun to be recognized by Yamaha Japan. This is especially difficult to understand and swallow when you look at the very very high cost of the Mark IV instruments. I do continue to recommend the disklavier to fellow students and to teachers with whom I speak from time to time. It is a fantastic teaching instrument and a delightful piano to play and be entertained by. I do, however, also point out that it is a mistake to buy the disklavier in anticipation of future enhancements to the software. Buy it for what it has today, or don't buy it, but don't make your purchase decision on this expensive an instrument based on features that may or may not ever appear. Tom Ken Gorman wrote:
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> Tom, > > > > I wish my company's customers were like you in that they are willing > to take the time to document issues, suggestions, and needs. You > really understand the product and the feedback you give is gold. Here > at my company, our employees are mandated to take "Voice of the > Customer" training classes and our entire focus is developing products > and solutions that address customer's specific needs. > > > > Yamaha should value your insight and feedback. > > > > Thanks for feeding this back to Yamaha - hopefully your comments will > play some role in the advancement of Yamaha's products that we can all > enjoy. > > > > Regards, > > > > Ken Gorman > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com] > On Behalf Of Tom Wheeler > Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 12:33 PM > To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [disklavier] Re: feedback to yamaha > > > > Bill, > > It is good to see your response to Jason, and I am sure that all of us > on this forum appreciate your participation and for your listening and > forwarding our ideas to the engineers in Japan who do the programming > for the Mark IV. > > I would like to suggest a few ideas, some of which I have been > requesting for over two years now. > > (1) A search function. The necessity for this is readily appreciated > by anyone who has a large number of files on their disklavier and > tries to find a particular song or artist. Right now it is > impossible to do so. > > (2) A larger internal HD drive for the Mark IV. Initially an 80 GB > internal HD for the Mark IV seems like a lot of drive space, and it is > if one is only storing midi files on the HD. However, the Mark IV > stores CD's (required for PianoSoft Plus Audio and Smart Piano Yamaha > software) as ..wav files. These take up a huge amount of space, and > it is easily possible to consume all of the capacity of the Mark IV's > 80 GB HD when one begins storing CD's on the internal HD. In fact, I > have already done so, and because my internal HD on my Mark IV has > very little free space remaining, I no longer purchase Yamaha software > since I have no where to store it. Please note that it is NOT > possible to use an external USB HD to store any of the Yamaha software > that requires CD's due to copy protection issues and thus one has no > choice but to use the internal HD of the Mark IV. The Mark IV is > modular in construction and replacing the internal HD of the Mark IV > with a larger Yamaha approved HD should be possible. I would strongly > urge Yamaha to make a larger HD available for the Mark IV. > > (3) Enable the Yamaha TRC-100 tablet remote to connect wirelessly to > the Internet and download files directly to either the Mark IV's > internal HD or (if the files are not copy protected) to an external > USB HD. It is illogical that we have a fine wirelessly controlled > disklavier and absolutely no way to interact with the internet from > the Mark IV to download files. This feature is long overdue! > > (4) Since purchasing the Mark IV, I have found the tablet remote (the > TRC-100) to be of little or no use. In fact, the pocket remote > (PRC-100) has many capabilities that the larger TRC-100 does not > have. I would urge Yamaha to provide software that makes full use of > the capabilities of the TRC-100. This would not only include wireless > access to the Internet for midi file downloading, but other features > as well. One perfect example would be Yamaha's own Digital Music > Notebook software. This software, running on the TRC-100 remote, > would allow a vast range of teaching/student interactions not now > possible on the Mark IV. I am sure there are many other examples of > software that could run on the TRC-100 that I am not aware of that > others might suggest. > > I will close by pointing out several of the features I am requesting > for the Mark IV are already available on some Yamaha clavinovas which > are able to wirelessly download software from the Internet. The Mark > IV is a VERY expensive Yamaha instrument. The Mark IV should > represent the pinnacle of what Yamaha is able to do with their > instruments. Many of us purchased the Mark IV expecting features to > be added at regular intervals. While this has occurred to a small > extent with the version 1.20 software, I have been disappointed in how > slow Yamaha Japan has been to enable features clearly supported by the > basic hardware of the Mark IV. > > I hope that if others share my interest in any of the above features > (and others that I have not mentioned) they will add their voice to my > own pleas for these features. > > Tom Wheeler > > Bill Brandom wrote: > >>Hello Jason, >> >> >> >>I am responsible for product development for Disklavier in the United States. I am reading everything that goes through this Disklavier group. I welcome any ideas from our customers. I sort through them and then forward them to the appropriate engineers in Japan for their consideration. >> >> >> >>Please keep your ideas coming! >> >> >> >> >> >>Bill Brandom >> >>Senior Technical Manager, Piano Division >> >>YAMAHA Corporation of America >> >>TEL (800) 854-1569 FAX (714) 522-9301 >> >>E-mail: bbrandom@... <mailto:bbrandom@...> >> >>Web: http://www.yamaha.com <http://www.yamaha.com> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>>>>"jfoodman" <jasonht@...> <mailto:jasonht@...> 11/07/2006 3:54:13 PM >>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >> >> >>Here's an idea ... we all presumably love our Disklaviers so I mean >> >>this in the spirit of community 'helping guide' (not complaining). >> >>But what if we all drafted something that outlined say our Top >> >>10 'wish list' items for the future (and present) and we each sent >> >>that list independently to Yamaha - so they hear the same thing from >> >>a lot of Disklavier owners? Another way, of course, would be to send >> >>a single e-mail but with anyone who wanted to participates name on >> >>it. Hopefully if they heard from their loyal owners they might be >> >>moved to adapt some of the feedback into the roadmap ... >> >> >> >>Or, better yet, does anyone know who the Product Manager for >> >>Disklavier is at Yamaha, would be great to go right to the source. >> >> >> >>Regards, >> >>Jason >> >> >> >>--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com <mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com>, Carl Youngblood <carl@...> <mailto:carl@...> wrote: >> >> >> >>>Hear! Hear! If anyone from Yamaha is listening, please do >>> >>> >>> >>everything >> >> >> >>>you can to convince them to open-source the software portion of >>> >>> >>> >>their >> >> >> >>>systems and expose public APIs whereever it makes sense to do so. >>> >>>It's very common for hardware companies to open-source the drivers >>> >>>for their systems, since they make money off the hardware and not >>> >>> >>> >>the >> >> >> >>>software, and it promotes goodwill among consumers and increases >>> >>> >>> >>the >> >> >> >>>value of their product, since they are in essence getting free >>> >>> >>> >>labor >> >> >> >>>from hordes of hobbyists who have more time and resources to >>> >>> >>> >>develop >> >> >> >>>the product than they do. >>> >>> >>> >>>Carl Youngblood >>> >>> >>> >>>On Nov 7, 2006, at 12:11 PM, Mark Fontana wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>>Making the Mark IV more of an open system would benefit the user >>>> >>>>community >>>> >>>>greatly, especially a decade or two from now when Yamaha may have >>>> >>>> >>>> >>no >> >> >> >>>>desire to continue supporting the product themselves. At that >>>> >>>>point, the >>>> >>>>Linux-based control computer will be obsolete, parts for it will >>>> >>>> >>>> >>be >> >> >> >>>>hard >>>> >>>>to find, the PDA remote will have long since failed, etc. Yet, the >>>> >>>>solenoid control system and sensor "guts" of the Disklavier may >>>> >>>>still be >>>> >>>>perfectly functional, and the piano itself will be fine. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>I can easily see a third party interfacing a new front-end to >>>> >>>> >>>> >>those >> >> >> >>>>components to keep the system going, but given the complexity of >>>> >>>> >>>> >>the >> >> >> >>>>system, it may be difficult without help from Yamaha. And, with >>>> >>>> >>>> >>the >> >> >> >>>>current flurry of anti-interoperability lawsuits, by the time it >>>> >>>>becomes >>>> >>>>necessary to do this work, it may be *illegal* without Yamaha's >>>> >>>>blessing. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>Mark Fontana >>>> >>>> >>>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>To Post a message to the group, send it to: disklavier@... <mailto:disklavier@...> >> >> >> >>To Post a private message to Todd Muncy, the group's founder and moderator, send it to: >> >>disklavier-owner@... <mailto:disklavier-owner@...> >> >> >> >>To reach our group's web site go to: >> >>http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier <http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier> >> >> >> >>Todd's family web site was completely updated 012/22/03. It contains some fun disklavier content and links to midi sites among many other things, The url is: >> >>http://MuncyFamily.com <http://MuncyFamily.com> >> >> >> >>THINKING OF LEAVING THE GROUP? >> >>If you are thinking of unsubcribing because you are getting too much mail, go the the web site and change your email delivery option instead. That will fix the problem, while maintaining your access to the group. If you insist on leaving us completely send a blank email to: >> >>disklavier-unsubscribe@... <mailto:disklavier-unsubscribe@...> >> >> >> >>Know someone who wants to join? Have them send a blank email to: >> >>disklavier-subscribe@... <mailto:disklavier-subscribe@...> or give them this link: >> >>http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join <http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join> >> >> >> >>Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>To Post a message to the group, send it to: disklavier@... <mailto:disklavier@...> >> >> >> >>To Post a private message to Todd Muncy, the group's founder and moderator, send it to: >> >>disklavier-owner@... <mailto:disklavier-owner@...> >> >> >> >>To reach our group's web site go to: >> >>http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier <http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier> >> >> >> >>Todd's family web site was completely updated 012/22/03. It contains some fun disklavier content and links to midi sites among many other things, The url is: >> >>http://MuncyFamily.com <http://MuncyFamily.com> >> >> >> >>THINKING OF LEAVING THE GROUP? >> >>If you are thinking of unsubcribing because you are getting too much mail, go the the web site and change your email delivery option instead. That will fix the problem, while maintaining your access to the group. If you insist on leaving us completely send a blank email to: >> >>disklavier-unsubscribe@... <mailto:disklavier-unsubscribe@...> >> >> >> >>Know someone who wants to join? Have them send a blank email to: >> >>disklavier-subscribe@... <mailto:disklavier-subscribe@...> or give them this link: >> >>http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join <http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join> >> >> >> >>Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/ <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/> >> >> >> >> Individual Email | Traditional >> >> >> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/join <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/join> >> >> (Yahoo! ID required) >> >> >> >> mailto:disklavier-digest@yahoogroups.com <mailto:disklavier-digest@yahoogroups.com> >> >> mailto:disklavier-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com <mailto:disklavier-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com> >> >> >> >> disklavier-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <mailto:disklavier-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> >> >> >> >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=45083/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta> > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.14.0/525 - Release Date: 11/9/2006 9:45 AM > >