Intresting post on JJ in the 500 forum

This could really change the way things are done. It reminds me of the early days of the computer. It really shows what these companies are capable of doing with their Operating Systems in terms of bug fixing and upgrades. I can't help but comment on this, though I seriously fear for JJ's, as well as our, future. I have been putting off buying OS 2, just because I have had to save every penny for a vacation, but I now I will not feal comfortable until I have it. I was at work today imagining if JJ were forced to shut down. Seeing Mp1k's on ebay with OS1 for 1500. OS2 for 3000. As soon as I get paid... Hack on JJ! Hack on!

fritzifratzi wrote:I co-sign that. Would not have bought the 1000 without jj os. I give Akai credit for making good hardware and they should just concentrate on that and make the softwares open platform. I think that would increase their sales. I guess that people with a more powerful 500 would still get hooked onto a bigger mpc eventually. JJ's updates beat everything I have ever encountered in terms of service.

-CoSine

akai held back on the features, intentionally sold a crippled unit.
JJ turned the 1000 into an incredible machine, if AKAI would have given the public the good features and made it stable, than there would have never been a need for this discussion.
BIG UPS TO JJ!

basically what happens when you put people who know nothing about music in charge of management at a pro music manufacturer....they cut corners with hardware, lower the costs, lay off high-paid engineers crucial to product stability and development, and voila! : they have an increased profit for the first year, then they move on to another job, leave the mess for later on.... modern capitalist managment techniques...

...you know its possible to build light bulbs that dont burn out for 10 years for almost the same cost as the ones we have now..but its not such a capitalist idea in todays environment of planned-obselence...

Dahkter wrote:akai held back on the features, intentionally sold a crippled unit.
JJ turned the 1000 into an incredible machine, if AKAI would have given the public the good features and made it stable, than there would have never been a need for this discussion.
BIG UPS TO JJ!

So from what you are saying is that companies have no right to make an LE versions of their products?

Askia Shaheed wrote:So from what you are saying is that companies have no right to make an LE versions of their products?

No, but offer an upgrade path. As things stand now with Nukai, the next step costs almost twice as much.

Askia Shaheed wrote:So from what you are saying is that companies have no right to make an LE versions of their products?

no, however it seems to me that you're saying that companies should build a new unit with the same CPU, different software, and charge three times the price (meaning the MPC 2500 when it was released).

Don't forget all of the missing functionality of the 1000 upon release.

When I owned the MPC2000 back in 1997, one of the updates offered the ability to load wav files. Another update added a track mute function. It was incredibly lame of Akai to give up on the 1000, and I am ecstatic that JJ picked up the slack and worked on the OS to bring the 1000 up to it's potential.

Pre JJ I'd give the machine a 4 on a 10 scale.

Post JJ I'd give it a 9 on a 10 scale.

And finally, software is one thing, but what's the deal with Akai shipping defective pads to thousands of people, forcing them to buy replacement pads, and then quietly in the middle of the night sneaking out a new pad assembly with no press release, and no offer to provide to current owners for free or at a discount?

Akai's PR and marketing reallly is some of the saddest I've ever seen.

how about this - put your consumer before the buck. Make your customers feel loved, and maybe they'll love you back.

Since that hasn't been the case IMO, JJ gets my full, utmost, complete respect. He's an artist with his software, and he has effectively turned an entry level crippled toy of a drum machine into a serious "production center".

= LE.
by all means, akai can limited-edition away!
product crippling, however, gets more than a wagging finger from me, it gets a shaken pitchfork/burning torch.

imagine if the 2500LE had a whole bunch of extra software features that weren't allowed on the "vanilla" 2500. i would be so pissed, so so pissed. to a less visibly evident extent that's what we had when the 2500 was dropped (with all 1000 internals).