Gibson axes Cakewalk /Sonar

[ATS]

Here a post I wrote for the steam sonar guys.

“Theres really no reason to believe that Sonar wont keep working for quite some time. They have explicitly stated that the servers will remain online and all your assets available to you. They've set up a dedicated team to keep things operational and presumably see to customer needs.

Its even possible that they have retained some devs to deal with any fixes that might arise due to changes in Windows or whatever.

The only thing they have really said, is that Sonar will not be developed any further. That doesn't necessarily mean that they wont be maintaining operability. Honestly, they have a responsibility to do whatever they can for Cakewalk customers, no doubt they are not oblivious to that. The main reason being that they could likely be sued for reneging on the lifetime thing.”

-Cheers

How exactly do you sure a bankrupt company?

[Zombie Queen]

I'll believe it, when I see it. After Adobe lesson, I'm dusting off Sonar 5 box and brace for impact.

[pekbro]

You have to remember, cakewalk was willfully shut down by the owner, it didn’t go bankrupt. It’s not like there is no target for a class action suit.

Gibson, no doubt will try to skirt liability by keeping Sonar working as long as it’s conceivably possible.

[kb420]

You have to remember, cakewalk was willfully shut down by the owner, it didn’t go bankrupt. It’s not like there is no target for a class action suit.

Gibson, no doubt will try to skirt liability by keeping Sonar working as long as it’s conceivably possible.

It was shut down, but it was a subsidiary company. Are they still liable? We live in a world that's only concerned with the bottom line. It's the corporate mentality. They shut it down because it was a loser. It's time to let go and move on. C'est la vie.............

[ATS]

You have to remember, cakewalk was willfully shut down by the owner, it didn’t go bankrupt. It’s not like there is no target for a class action suit.

Gibson, no doubt will try to skirt liability by keeping Sonar working as long as it’s conceivably possible.

It was shut down, but it was a subsidiary company. Are they still liable? We live in a world that's only concerned with the bottom line. It's the corporate mentality. They shut it down because it was a loser. It's time to let go and move on. C'est la vie.............

I am no lawyer by any means but my guess is they probably set it up where Gibson can't be sued for what that company does even though they own it. And if they are sued the lawyers will make a lot of money on both ends and the end users will get a check for like $20 3 or 4 years from now.

[pekbro]

Bankruptcy is pretty much the only way to be relieved of responsibility. Just like it’s assets, they assume it’s debts.

[djanthonyw]

So I guess that Mac version of Sonar isn’t happening?

[ATN69]

It's stupid that Gibson doesn't sell it to someone else who might be prepared to take Cakewalk further. It's not like Gibson have other DAW's and software in their portfolio that would compete. Cakewalk as a brand name is well established and they are just throwing it in the dust bin?! It's a waste.

My feeling is that Cakewalk would still have a future without Gibson holding them back.

[SparkySpark]

It's stupid that Gibson doesn't sell it to someone else who might be prepared to take Cakewalk further. It's not like Gibson have other DAW's and software in their portfolio that would compete. Cakewalk as a brand name is well established and they are just throwing it in the dust bin?! It's a waste.

My feeling is that Cakewalk would still have a future without Gibson holding them back.

Hej!

As others have pointed out, in the crazy financial world, Cakewalk may be more worth to Gibson as a write-off than if sold to another party. I guess the same was true for Opcode, hence their reluctance to provide us with the source code to Opcode Music System (OMS). Don't know if Gibson has done this on more occasions (anyone?).

[ATN69]

It's stupid that Gibson doesn't sell it to someone else who might be prepared to take Cakewalk further. It's not like Gibson have other DAW's and software in their portfolio that would compete. Cakewalk as a brand name is well established and they are just throwing it in the dust bin?! It's a waste.

My feeling is that Cakewalk would still have a future without Gibson holding them back.

Hej!

As others have pointed out, in the crazy financial world, Cakewalk may be more worth to Gibson as a write-off than if sold to another party. I guess the same was true for Opcode, hence their reluctance to provide us with the source code to Opcode Music System (OMS). Don't know if Gibson has done this on more occasions (anyone?).

I guess it's true what you say. It's just a shame when you see a well established name being dragged to the grave because some corporate * * * * think they are smart. It is however easy to understand that for a company who made their name making guitars and hardware, Gibson probably didn't care all that much for software. Buying Cakewalk was probably another investment that didn't pay off as well as they hoped.

[dreamkeeper]

Crap, crap, crap... I don't care so much for the updates, but this means in couple of months probably I won't be able to reinstall it, as it needs online activation. Sucks big time. I have no hope they will come with some elegant solution like Camel did...

http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3692602

[Zombie Queen]

The Cakewalk guy can say that, but they are in no position, but they may be fired off together with the servers. We'll see.

[Hink]

The decision was made to better align with the company’s acquisition strategy

could include future acquisitions as well

[tunafish88]

I feel bad for the employees especially because this is the holiday season. Hopefully they find employment and move on with their lives. It's sad to see one of the very first DAW programs head into the sunset

[ATN69]

From a consumer perspective, there is no other service or product that offer the consumer so little protection as software does. It's actually quite amazing how the software industry keep getting away with what they do. If you buy anything else out there you will own something and you will have a warranty. There are regulations to protect the consumer. Also if you hire a handyman to fix your house, or use any other service. They must give you warranty and there are laws and regulations to protect you as a buyer. Software industry however can just slap the customer in the face and totally get away with it. I wonder how long governments around the world will let this behavior go unpunished.

Having said this, there are many software companies who are honest and good, and that take very good care about their customers.