tubatimberinger wrote:The ipad is a toy and progression is an entry level program. The ipad will be a toy for several years to come. I cannot see any professional use for it unless you are only doing pop/commercial music.
From a high-level perspective, I think it is reasonable to suggest that there are at least as many opinions on computing devices as there are on electric guitars, where in the latter category I like the Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, albeit with a few custom modifications . . .
The iPad is a new computing device, but the general concept is something I have been studying and pondering for several decades, and the reality is that it takes a while to understand, since for the most part everything is very different . . .
Youngsters understand it instantly, but this mostly is the consequence of their having no preconceived ideas about it, which is very different from older folks who have become accustomed to using keyboards and mice . . .
I learned to touch-type on a manual typewriter, and the reality at the dawn of the early-21st century is that at least half the people on this planet have no idea what a "manual typewriter" is, let alone what they might do with one, which in some respects is the same case with the abacus and slide rule, but so what . . .
So what!
There are several very important realities:
(1) The iPad is not a toy . . .
(2) Excluding the quite unlikely possibility that every current Notion 3 user is ready, willing, and able to pay at least $10,000 for a new version of NOTION, Notion Music needs to have a steady revenue stream to continue engaging productively in the digital music universe . . .
(3) The iPad is the "goto" computing device for the future, and while this might not make a lot of sense to everyone at present, it is a fact . . .
(4) At least 75 percent, if not considerably more, of what is done on the iPad in the iOS application development universe maps directly to Mac OS X application development and its universe, which is another fact . . .
(5) I think that it is reasonable to suggest that the customer base for Notion 3 (a) has been established and (b) has reached its practical level of maturity or saturation, which in terms of Economics maps to being pretty much what it is, although there certainly will be new customers appearing every so often . . .
(6) As much as I appreciate and enjoy Classical music, another fact is that it was the Rock and Roll music of the 18th century, which is fine with me, since I like all genres and styles of music, but the fact of the matter is that "Bad Romance" (Lady Gaga) currently has 386 million YouTube views, while most of the stellar musical bits by Amadeus Mozart have 10 views . . .
(7) In the early-1990s, I worked on a Windows software development project with a fellow who had a Doctorate in Artificial Intelligence and was highly focused on designing advanced algorithms for real-time computer graphics, and based on this experience and some fascinating discussions, I am quite amazed by the way Notion 3 works visually. I have a degree in Computer Science and over three decades of experience working on virtually mind-bogglingly advanced computing projects, including the NASA Space Shuttle Simulation System, and consequently it is not so easy to impress me, but I am very impressed by Notion 3 . . .
(8) Continuing in business requires a company to sell products, and this is where the iPad is vastly important, because it is a new market that has great potential for generating a significant revenue stream . . .
(9) The first generation iPad has a 15 million customer base, and current estimates are that Apple will sell approximately 30 million second generation iPad2 devices this year (2011), which from the perspective of mathematics maps maps to a geometric trajectory . . .
Summarizing, it is fine to express the belief that Notion Music should focus all its efforts on Classical music and folks who are more comfortable with keyboards and mice, but unless everyone is ready, willing, and able to pay $10,000 for an upgrade to NOTION, then the reality is that the money to pay for software engineers, designers, testers, and so forth needs to come from somewhere, and at present the iPad application market is the "goto" market, which is a fact . . .
tubatimberinger wrote:Notion 3 primarily is an orchestral library and as such Notion Music should focus on that niche while it still has the market cornered (are there any other sample libraries which use notation as their interface yet?) Sure, start developing now. I get it, but not at the cost of your flag ship product.
While I understand the logic, this is not the way I view Notion 3 . . .
From my perspective, Notion 3 is a music notation program that does an excellent job of generating audio using virtual instruments, and from this perspective the fact that Notion 3 comes with a set of bundled virtual instruments is interesting but mostly is secondary or tertiary at best . . .
I started by purchasing Miroslav Philharmonik (IK Multimedia) without having any idea what it did, since at the time all I knew was that I needed some orchestra stuff, but very soon an email arrived that had some information about Notion SLE for Miroslav Philharmonik, which I purchased immediately, and then a week or so later yet another email arrived with information about upgrading to Notion 3, which I also did immediately . . .
I suppose it is nice to know that there are some bundled virtual instruments parked in the Notion Music folder, but other than the Electric Guitar (a personal favorite), I rarely use them, since I prefer Miroslav Philharmonik . . .
Summarizing, the reality here in the sound isolation studio is that after a year of diligent work, I can do this in a day or two on the Mac with Notion 3, SampleTank 2.5 XL (IK Multimedia), and T-RackS 3.5 Deluxe (IK Multimedia):
"Sparkles" -- MP3 (4.1MB, 291-kbps [VBR], approximately 1 minute and 55 seconds)
If I could do this on an iPad2, then I think I would be so tickled that I might wet my pants, which is fabulous . . .
Fabulous!