Why are DAW version updates so upsetting?
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- KVRAF
- 3374 posts since 2 Oct, 2004
Today we've had yet another DAW update and its not looking too good. In the past 12 months (with the exception of Logic Studio Pro X) we've had new version updates of all major DAWs including: Reason, Acid, Ableton, Fruity Loops, Studio One, Cubase, Pro Tools, Tracktion and Mixbuss. Normally when an update is announced you'd expect users to be happy, but instead they're up in arms just read the Ableton or Studio One update threads. The common themes I'm seeing are bugs not being fixed, requested features not being implemented, unhappyness with the pricing model and new features being aimed at a younger EDM crowd. It's like we've became so attached to our DAWs that we all have a sense of entitlement.
Orion Platinum, Muzys 2
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- KVRAF
- 6159 posts since 4 Dec, 2004
Good question. No idea tbh but I can speculate below as others will as well later I guess. Take the following as being expressed as perception, not fact.
Part of it is probably just the Internet. If say, 300 people on the net say something sucks, we perceive that it sucks, while (possibly) 3000-5000+ others are liking it and/or also don't Tweet everything they feel on the net. We tend to confuse the Internet with reality, when in reality most people using anything are not posting their daily thoughts about everything on the web.
Another part of it (and "managers" here will understand this) is managing expectations. A skill that many apparently never learned, how to manage their own expectations. Spending months being "stoked" about something that doesn't even exist and then after it does exist, it almost never meets their expectations. It's somewhat reminiscent of the movie "10".
Anyway, I come from a time when there were only - for the most part - three good daws, PT, Cubase, and Cakewalk and despite the limited choices and very high prices nobody had any trouble making good music. Did those apps at times disappoint? Sure. Disappointment is an ordinary part of life and (apparently) some have trouble managing it on a regular basis. This is what consumers do however, and all of these are consumer products now and I would defy anyone to suggest that the vast majority of users are working professionals that actually need any of them.
My personal pet FR list for most music products I own is 10-15+ years old and for the most part, unfufilled. I never lose any sleep over any of it and none of it has ever stopped the show.
Lastly, when the economy kinda sucks and/or people maybe aren't making a good wage, they complain about anything that costs a few bucks. Music production can be an expensive hobby. It doesn't "have" to be, but apparently even the hobbyists want the expensive cool stuff, instead of just making music with the less expensive or free stuff.
Part of it is probably just the Internet. If say, 300 people on the net say something sucks, we perceive that it sucks, while (possibly) 3000-5000+ others are liking it and/or also don't Tweet everything they feel on the net. We tend to confuse the Internet with reality, when in reality most people using anything are not posting their daily thoughts about everything on the web.
Another part of it (and "managers" here will understand this) is managing expectations. A skill that many apparently never learned, how to manage their own expectations. Spending months being "stoked" about something that doesn't even exist and then after it does exist, it almost never meets their expectations. It's somewhat reminiscent of the movie "10".
Anyway, I come from a time when there were only - for the most part - three good daws, PT, Cubase, and Cakewalk and despite the limited choices and very high prices nobody had any trouble making good music. Did those apps at times disappoint? Sure. Disappointment is an ordinary part of life and (apparently) some have trouble managing it on a regular basis. This is what consumers do however, and all of these are consumer products now and I would defy anyone to suggest that the vast majority of users are working professionals that actually need any of them.
My personal pet FR list for most music products I own is 10-15+ years old and for the most part, unfufilled. I never lose any sleep over any of it and none of it has ever stopped the show.
Lastly, when the economy kinda sucks and/or people maybe aren't making a good wage, they complain about anything that costs a few bucks. Music production can be an expensive hobby. It doesn't "have" to be, but apparently even the hobbyists want the expensive cool stuff, instead of just making music with the less expensive or free stuff.
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- KVRAF
- 5229 posts since 13 Jul, 2004 from Earth
My guess is that with the Digital age we have been transformed to spoiled brats.
People are getting more interested in the technology instead of what it already offers and use things for what it is instead of what it might be.
Wonder how they managed to make music back in the old days with the limited synths that loved to get out of tune and the technology back then
People are getting more interested in the technology instead of what it already offers and use things for what it is instead of what it might be.
Wonder how they managed to make music back in the old days with the limited synths that loved to get out of tune and the technology back then
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- KVRAF
- 2357 posts since 24 Nov, 2012
I doubt any industry in history has hyped what it offers more than the IT industry - for years we have been told about amazing new whatevers and revolutionary something or others we never knew we needed but would be utterly unfit for the future without. Paradigm shifts and ruptures with history - a hip new youth that parents cannot ever understand etc etc Not surprisingly people - after more than a decade of this rubbish - are finding that expectations are not met and are not happy about being let down by a promise unfulfilled.
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- Beware the Quoth
- 35517 posts since 4 Sep, 2001 from R'lyeh Oceanic Amusement Park and Funfair
check out the 'health' (ie non-medical) and cosmetics industries some time.woggle wrote:I doubt any industry in history has hyped what it offers more than the IT industry.
An idiot on Set Theory:
"In some cases there is an object called red that contains everything that is red. In much the same way a pot is a plate."
"In some cases there is an object called red that contains everything that is red. In much the same way a pot is a plate."
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- KVRAF
- 2357 posts since 24 Nov, 2012
so many assholes to choose fromwhyterabbyt wrote:check out the 'health' (ie non-medical) and cosmetics industries some time.woggle wrote:I doubt any industry in history has hyped what it offers more than the IT industry.
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- KVRAF
- 6159 posts since 4 Dec, 2004
I personally think that it's all the same as it's always been, for consumer products of any kind. The only difference now is the reach of it, the Internet, and the ability of people from the four corners of the world to express their subjective disappointments to each other at a moments notice.woggle wrote:I doubt any industry in history has hyped what it offers more than the IT industry - for years we have been told about amazing new whatevers and revolutionary something or others we never knew we needed but would be utterly unfit for the future without. Paradigm shifts and ruptures with history - a hip new youth that parents cannot ever understand etc etc Not surprisingly people - after more than a decade of this rubbish - are finding that expectations are not met and are not happy about being let down by a promise unfulfilled.
I mean, in 1950 some housewives probably saw a TV commercial about a revolutionary new mop during the Ed Sullivan show or whatever and 40,000 housewives bought them and x% were disappointed, but could only tell their neighbors and friends. Now you can blast that out to the entire planet.
People - human behavior in general - doesn't really change, only technology and methods change. That is to say, the behavior never changed, what changed is our ability to see more of it faster.
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- KVRian
- 890 posts since 9 May, 2005
No product (DAWs included) can be, "all things to all people".
Everyone's wants/hopes/expectations are different.
ie: If the latest ______ ___ upgrade didn't tick-off your "checklist", then it's a bit of a let-down.
Speaking strictly for myself, Studio One 4 added a lot of cool features.
I would like to have seen priority given to some other areas... but development goes where it goes.
Everyone's wants/hopes/expectations are different.
ie: If the latest ______ ___ upgrade didn't tick-off your "checklist", then it's a bit of a let-down.
Speaking strictly for myself, Studio One 4 added a lot of cool features.
I would like to have seen priority given to some other areas... but development goes where it goes.
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- KVRAF
- 5391 posts since 25 Jan, 2014 from The End of The World as We Knowit
Yes. To put it another way, people buy the marketing message that they are imperfect without a product, so they identify with the product. So when the product does OR doesn't meet their ideals, they take it personally.
F E E D
Y O U R
F L O W
Y O U R
F L O W
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- KVRAF
- 2110 posts since 5 Oct, 2015 from Swedish / Living in Hong Kong
Personally I like the updates because it can give nice new options, tools and functions. The part of updates I don't like is all the messing around that can happen. File locations move, maintenance tasks such as plugins scans can change in the most drastic ways. It's like when you finally know where every item is located in your local supermarket, and then they decide to redecorate the place 
There will be a new learning curve but in the end of the day I prefer the benefits that updates gives
There will be a new learning curve but in the end of the day I prefer the benefits that updates gives
Win 10 -64bit, CPU i7-7700K, 32Gb, Focusrite 2i2, FL-studio 20, Studio One 4, Reason 10
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- KVRAF
- 12106 posts since 2 Dec, 2004 from North Wales
I love updates, the teasers, the marketing - its show business! After all of that, update/buy it or don't - As has been said so many times ALL of the major DAWS are great and you could (if you had the talent) make a commercial grade track with any of them.
Not that anyone asked, but here is my recent upgrade history!
Bitwig 1-2 I upgraded, absolutely no regrets- In my opinion from 1 to where we are now is the best upgrade I have ever paid for on any DAW.
Ableton 9 Suite I didn't upgrade to 10, not even tempted. The speed BWS is improving (see above) I may get rid of it at some time but I have some great packs!
Studio 1 3.5- 4, I just did
Looking forward now to 3 years of free upgrades and pretty happy with what was included- shop around and its sub 100 quid....
Cubase- caved in and went from 8 to 9.5 on one of the discount deals but don't use it much- may get rid of it now S14 has the chord track which was pretty much all that was unique to Cubase for mew.
I don't have or use FL or Reaper, but I have never ever felt the need to go on to their threads and say why I don't use/like the software...some people seem to hang out on threads for software they don't want or use just to put it down- what a waste of their time!
Not that anyone asked, but here is my recent upgrade history!
Bitwig 1-2 I upgraded, absolutely no regrets- In my opinion from 1 to where we are now is the best upgrade I have ever paid for on any DAW.
Ableton 9 Suite I didn't upgrade to 10, not even tempted. The speed BWS is improving (see above) I may get rid of it at some time but I have some great packs!
Studio 1 3.5- 4, I just did
Looking forward now to 3 years of free upgrades and pretty happy with what was included- shop around and its sub 100 quid....Cubase- caved in and went from 8 to 9.5 on one of the discount deals but don't use it much- may get rid of it now S14 has the chord track which was pretty much all that was unique to Cubase for mew.
I don't have or use FL or Reaper, but I have never ever felt the need to go on to their threads and say why I don't use/like the software...some people seem to hang out on threads for software they don't want or use just to put it down- what a waste of their time!
X32 and 24C mixers, S88MK3, Live + PUSH 3, Osmose, RedShift 6, Pro3, S4, Tempera, Syntakt, Digitone, OP1-F, OPXY, TR-1000, Eurorack, TD27 Drums, Guitars, Basses, Amps and of course lots of pedals!
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 37262 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from Scottish Borders
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- KVRAF
- 6159 posts since 4 Dec, 2004
This thread and these kinds of questions in general always boil down to one single word... sociology. Professional people and academics get paid very well to study and/or analyze it and the Internet has proven to be pretty rich source for that, the social sciences in general...
Sociology is the study of social behavior or society, including its origins, development, organization, networks, and institutions. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, disorder, and change.