> Reading your post is one thing -- I could read it but I don't understand > your bringing Kafka or Kubrick into the discussion.
Dear Mr. Bailey:Both references are easy to understand and were completely relevantto the discussion. Frankly, it's absurd that you don't get them.I will explain them to you: Kafka's CASTLE: I'm sure you've heard of Kafka: if not, you've got somegreat experiences ahead of you should you choose to read his work. His last, unfinished, novel, THE CASTLE, is often invoked in discussionsof entrenched, impenetrable bureaucracies… which is why I chose it as a metaphor. The reference is focused on a frustration often aired on this list in the past --that the Finale companies were unresponsive to its user-base. This was much morethe case when Coda Music was the company one dealt with;I'll be the first to say that they've improved ENORMOUSLY in the past 5 or so years, just as MakeMusic has generally in that time. It used to be like pulling teeth to get them to help with even simple problems. One of the major Hollywood copyists found himself sending a resumé to the CEO of Coda and explaining that he, and his staff, would abandon Finale if they didn't get answers to their questions in a timely manner (which resulted in an apologetic call from said CEO, along with a personal direction that one of the developerson the Coda staff would respond to him personally). This list has brimmed withinsightful, shrewd commentary on this software and the problems it aims toaddress: what better guide could developers ask for than this crew?When years go by with the same complaints being made here, I can't helpbut feel that there has been either a lack of commitment, or a lack of adequateresources, or developers who are (perhaps willfully) out of touch with musical practice.This is why I invoke Kafka: progress, and circumstance, are both opaque and mysterious.I was happy to see Sibelius come along because it meant competition, which seems tohave shaken Coda/MakeMusic out of their torpor. In any event, those earlier timesare very hard to forget, and lingering shortcomings only rub salt into those sores. Which brings me to my other cynical reference, Mr. Stanley Kubrick. Surely you've seenat least one or two of his films? Have you not come away crushed by the sterile, bloodless,utterly hopeless mood that is the awful sauté for stories that are usually absurd to the pointof pain -- Dr. Strangelove is the customary reference, and fits beautifully here. A sports companybuying Finale? Does it get any more ridiculous? So much so that it seems comically surreal?!Especially when we're talking about software whose development we've tracked in our workwith painstaking attention for a quarter of a century?! However remarkable Steinberg'sachievements may be (I'm especially familiar with the SMuFl effort to define an OpenTyperange devoted specifically to music characters), I can't imagine we're at all close to seeingwhat they will offer. I've seen other great apps murdered out of expedience or neglect(I maintain a computer running System 9 just to use FoxBase), and definitely don't want to seethat happen to Finale. You've all read the press release, right?! I don't know about you, butI've known one or two SuperGenius "grow their business" UltraDorks and can pick upon the lip that sinks ships without having to scratch my head, so I'm feeling edgy about thisflabbergasting news. And I've read some of you saying the same things. SO… what's so hard to understand?! May I recommend PATHS OF GLORY, gentlemen? If only for the shocking turn brought on bythe folk song at the end, which some cone head critic (probably Bosley Crowthers) complained was'sentimental' -- surely one of the more obtuse reactions anyone has had to Kubrick, or anyone else, for that matter.It's great stuff. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] https://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale To unsubscribe from finale send a message to: [email protected]
