RP>This issue of long-standing bugs being fixed points up a feature
listed on the website that greets me with dismay. That is the "Studio View &
Powerful Mixer" feature. Some on this list are already salivating at the
thought, but for all its possible value, I believe it is a rueful step.
I'd not label it "rueful" though I'd love to see all the existing bugs
fixed...I'd consider this move to be expected and evolutionary.
RP>That is because it is a step out of the notation world into the
crowded sequencer market. If Finale tries to be all things, it will be none. MM
is a tiny company. The introduction of sequencer features risks the possibility
that most of their resources the next few years will be devoted to enhancing
those.
That's what I'd call the evolutionary part of the move. Competing
products already have this. The two technologies of notation and playback are
merging. (Notice that I call it "playback" and not "sequencing") The clients I
have are becoming sophisticated enough to demand not only a printed score but
also a better-than-GM mockup so they can peddle their wares. They have grown in
sophistication, so must we, and so must the products we use.
FWIW< I would have made this set of changes a while AGO, instead of or
BEFORE the Rhyming Dictionary and the auto-sorta-harmonizer
RP>I am extremely concerned that we may have seen the virtual end of
notation-related enhancements for a long while. The 2006 release already
apparently provides essentially none, at least based on the new features list
at the website.
That's what I'd call the expected part of the move. The notation
technology is MATURE--there simply isn't a great deal of advancement or
enhancement left to do. As to bug fixes, a software vendor that squashes every
single bug has nowhere to go, so much as I may hate it, I live with it
RP>The new plugins look like they could be moderately nice, but plugins
by definition cannot add new functionality. At their best, they automate the
old functionality.
If it makes my job easier, it's worth it to me, whether it is a new
functionality or an automation of something old. In my "other life," a
spreadsheet merely automated tasks I'd been doing for years. Sure did make my
life easier!!
Conclusion: I had moved away from Finale and become very involved with
a competing product, beyond just using it...this set of improvements will bring
me back to Finale alongside the "competing product."
As to notation, there is probably a "Bruno Bettelheim" phenomenon at
work--there is a level of notation that is "good enough" for publication and
performance. While I may not love that, I can live with it to some extent
without feeling compromised, and I'd say that all the notation products realize
that to some extent or other.
Just some random thoughts to stimulate discussion...
Jim
<<winmail.dat>>
_______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
