Anyone else feel left behind with the large LCD?

I've never said to myself: "If only this LCD were bigger...". I'm more concerned with the workflow and stability of the firmware. There's so much that could still be done. The limiting factor was never the size of the screen. Music is heard, not seen.

But all attention is on OS128XL and the big LCD. When I see new YouTube videos from 60017120, or announcements of new OS updates, it doesn't apply to me, so I feel left behind. If it were OS3, I would've bought it. But this requires hardware.

I like some things about OSXL, and am grateful JJOS exists at all, since Akai left long ago. But I'm not really happy with it. Just the other day it froze and I lost my work. There's so many little workflow inefficiencies, and peculiarities that shouldn't be.

I just wish development was focused on polishing what we've got, and reorganizing things for more efficient workflow. Just something like fixing audio tracks to not have random delays would be more useful to music creation than a big LCD.

Do you think this is just a phase, like JJ Sequencer, and eventually focus will come back to OSXL or OS3? Or do you think attention will continue to be on the big LCD, and if you don't buy one you're left behind with no real updates to OSXL 3.X?

I wish instead of a big LCD it was a CPU upgrade or something. I'm not against people experimenting with this though. I just, am not interested right now, and think whatever is done on OS128XL could've also been done on the original LCD.

Just think about it, if the CPU/RAM/HDD is the main limiting factor, then really what is the best that can happen from making the screen bigger? It's like if you're tweaking your race car, but then move focus to the dashboard. It's neat, but, won't win races.

I don't want to discourage mpcstuff.com or JJ, but, part of this does feel like businesses trying to manufacture relevancy first, and provide something that'll actually benefit the customers second. It's still good to have options though.

Who does the big LCD benefit more, MPC users who are just trying to make music, or mpcstuff.com and JJ who are trying to make money from MPC users? It benefits both sides, but it could be argued that this new twist mostly benefits them, not us.

I think I'd prefer if JJOS website had a bug tracking system, where you could pay for feature requests. Then they could get paid without having to keep searching for new ventures. Just continue to mutate and refine the firmware, and I'd pay to support.

I think OSXL users are getting a little confused over this.

This is a modification 'project' that MPC Stuff came up with, a piece of cool innovation, like the extra thick pads. JJ was asked if he could create a free OS for it that took advantage of the bigger screen, which he did. Job done (bar tweaks and bug fixes - just like the standard free JJOS 3.13).

MPC Stuff now offers this screen to anyone who wants it. You buy the screen, it comes with a free OS that's been tweaked to use the larger display size. So, if you hanker for a bigger screen for your MPC like a 4000 or 5000, you now have an option. If you don't want a larger screen, then no big deal, stick with your small screen.

While working on the free OS for the bigger screen, JJ decided to create an XL version for people who had bought the big screen and wanted some more advanced features. Again, just an option. This is NOT meant to be a replacement for the standard screen OSXL. Development of OSXL will continue as always. JJ has shown he is more than capable of working on multiple projects.

As I have said in previous topics, this large screen is not primarily aimed at the small % of OSXL users out there, it's really aimed at Akai OS and free JJOS users. It's just another option, take it or leave it.

I really don't see why you should feel left behind by all of this. This is a really positive development in the MPC world, JJ and MPC Stuff are trying to push the boundaries of what's possible with an MPC. It's exciting stuff and can only lead to more cool projects.

OSXL will continue to exist and be developed, so if you don't want a big screen, just continue as you were, the XLCD project won't affect you.

Except that it does and has affected me. Prior to JJ development focusing on it there were frequent updates to OSXL with new features, like patterns, 5-track view mode, pad status mode, cut and move, track mute groups, pad cycle, etc.

JJ hasn't proven being able to work on multiple things at once. There seems to be a single developer, and whenever one thing has focus, everything else is mostly put on hold. The recent additions to OSXL were after a previous distraction period.

It doesn't seem to matter who the big LCD and accompanying versions of JJOS are for. Fact is, there is only enough attention for one main focus of development at a time, and for the past months it's been all over there, in that direction.

Maybe it started out just as a fashionable mod for people using the stock or free OS, but OS128XL is the new OS in development. The last addition to OSXL was 4 months ago. How are we to know that this won't continue to become the prime focus?

They certainly can. If I were coding JJOS all these years, I'm sure I'd want to focus on the fun new project of designing for a big screen. From a developer's perspective, it freshens things up and provides new little puzzles to solve.

I'm not trying to whine that there's some injustice. I'm not against the big LCD or OS128XL. But fact is, for months now, everything new coming out from the JJ corner has been all about this big LCD. I don't have one, so am left out.

If the big LCD didn't exist, then there'd be more available attention that might've been focused on OSXL, or OS3. So it's not that I'm upset the big LCD exists, it's just that, there absolutely are consequences, and I'm not exactly thrilled about them.

No one owes me a single update to what I have. It's just, nice when there are, and I miss them. There was the recent addition of a bug and feature sub-forum, and it's full of lots of stuff, that hasn't been attended to, because development moved on.

Maybe in a few months the big LCD OS will be mature enough, and focus moves back to OSXL. I'm not saying it won't. But it's also possible that OS128XL becomes JJ's favorite codebase, and all the innovation is focused over there. I don't know.

In the meantime, take a look at the YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/60017120). See how all the latest videos have been about OS128XL? Before that were ones relevant to OSXL users, 4 months ago. That's why I feel left behind: 4 months of big LCD focus.

If someone bought the big LCD, then all those new developments would be relevant to them, and exciting new updates. They wouldn't feel left behind, because all the focus is in stuff they care about. That's great. I'm happy for them.

But for me at least, there's stuff I wish were fixed and added to JJOS, that hasn't progressed in months. Even this forum seems to have slowed down. It's okay, but, it does affect us, and I felt like talking about it. That's all. No big deal.

MPC-Tutor wrote:I think OSXL users are getting a little confused over this.

This is a modification 'project' that MPC Stuff came up with, a piece of cool innovation, like the extra thick pads. JJ was asked if he could create a free OS for it that took advantage of the bigger screen, which he did. Job done (bar tweaks and bug fixes - just like the standard free JJOS 3.13).

MPC Stuff now offers this screen to anyone who wants it. You buy the screen, it comes with a free OS that's been tweaked to use the larger display size. So, if you hanker for a bigger screen for your MPC like a 4000 or 5000, you now have an option. If you don't want a larger screen, then no big deal, stick with your small screen.

While working on the free OS for the bigger screen, JJ decided to create an XL version for people who had bought the big screen and wanted some more advanced features. Again, just an option. This is NOT meant to be a replacement for the standard screen OSXL. Development of OSXL will continue as always. JJ has shown he is more than capable of working on multiple projects.

As I have said in previous topics, this large screen is not primarily aimed at the small % of OSXL users out there, it's really aimed at Akai OS and free JJOS users. It's just another option, take it or leave it.

I really don't see why you should feel left behind by all of this. This is a really positive development in the MPC world, JJ and MPC Stuff are trying to push the boundaries of what's possible with an MPC. It's exciting stuff and can only lead to more cool projects.

OSXL will continue to exist and be developed, so if you don't want a big screen, just continue as you were, the XLCD project won't affect you.

You are not answering the question and at this point just shilling.I believe you wold feel different if the O.S. you depend on was left with unworkable bugs.
Abandonment is to reminiscent at this stage.

TYPO wrote:You are not answering the question and at this point just shilling.I believe you wold feel different if the O.S. you depend on was left with unworkable bugs.
Abandonment is to reminiscent at this stage.

Shilling?

Which question would you like me to answer? I think I answered the question of the post - no I dont feel left behind, because there's nothing to suggest JJ has 'abandoned' anything. I have no idea what he does during his day, but for all I know he's been working on OS128 in the morning, OS3 in the afternoon and trying to work out OSXL bugs in the evening.

Or maybe he did the 3.20 update, then OS128 took him a few days to develop, and for the past 2 weeks he's been on holiday....people do that sometimes.

Yeah, I don't think this is something that deserves hard emotions. All the excitement is over in the big LCD thread though, so it's something to talk about. All you have to do is look at the latest posts in there and you can see why they're excited. There's new stuff happening, pictures, videos, etc. I saw they changed the hardware now to get rid of that dangling or drilled contrast knob, which is a smart move and makes it more appealing.

But when it comes down to it, none of that matters if the OS isn't stable and as optimized and fully featured as possible. Some people like to decorate their MPC, but the thing is, all the past mods have kept it a MPC. This is fundamental, even beyond cosmetic surgery, because it's like an eye transplant, where in order to use your new bionic eyes you need a brain mod. That's serious. It isn't simply just a new way to decorate your MPC, it's fundamental.

It's true that we can't know really what's going on with JJ behind the scenes, but we do know that as far as releases with additional features go, they've all been for this new eyeball. Regardless of what happens, I've been quietly waiting for months, and I'm sure others have to. It's not like the MPC can't be used until it's updated again, it's just, JJOS development is always so up in the air. You never know what's going to happen next.

But right now, the party isn't over here, it's in the customization thread.

if there are bugs in os2xl, reproduce/report them and they will be fixed.

I believe you wold feel different if the O.S. you depend on was left with unworkable bugs.

this must be in reference to some other OS.

How about, the only people allowed to post in this thread are those who do not own the big LCD. It sucks when you just try to express yourself, from your own little sliver of the universe, and have a bunch of people gang up on you to say you shouldn't feel that way.

Anyone else not interested at this time in buying a big LCD, and are waiting for focus to get back to the stock MPC?

No one is ganging up on you. I simply pointed out that people seem to be jumping the gun. There was an OSXL update 4 weeks ago, it's not 4 years like the MPC5000.

IMO, it's making something out of nothing. Some people are excited about the new LCD, so there's some talk about it in a couple of topics; people are having some fun with a new toy. JJ spent a couple weeks off his normal schedule to produce an OS for it.

I appreciate that for you, there may be some things that need attending to in OSXL. That's fair enough - as Nym says, send a bug report and history has shown you that JJ will fix it. There's no reason to suddenly believe JJ is abandoning OSXL users, not after all he's done previously.

If me trying to help by giving a little perspective on the matter is deemed to either be 'shilling' or 'ganging up' then I'm sorry people feel that way, but I can assure you that it's neither.

I didn't mean to imply you necessarily were, but it seemed like that's the direction the thread could go. I didn't think it'd bring up any controversy.

Part of my own interest is that I setup JJOS.net to email notices when there's an update, and I was enjoying them a couple times, but then they stopped. So I haven't been motivated to open it up to the public, because it's not worth the effort if there's nothing new. I guess I could change it to include OS128.

But I just recently started using the MPC again, and so my attention is on it, and there's plenty of things I'd suggest to change. Finding bugs isn't easy, because sometimes it just randomly does stuff you don't know how to reproduce. But with attention on OS128 stuff, there's less motivation to bother.

It's not a problem. I was just curious what other people's perspective was.

Okay, as an original "JJ" adopter since the days of Wave Prayer who does not have the new screen or for that matter any of the hardware upgrades made for this box since it was introduced, my answer to the question posed by the subject line is a resounding "no".

Futhermore, I cannot see any difference between this thread and all the other purely speculative hand-wringing threads that start to crop up literally everytime a new JJ project (in this case a JJ assisted Mpc Stuff project) is introduced. The threads are always pure paranoia and have nothing to do with any researched knoledge into either the history of the system or the hardware that it runs on.

What speculation are you worried about? It's not speculative to say you feel left behind. Is the attention on OS128 and OS128XL? Yes, it is. I'm used to seeing notices of YouTube videos now and then, and when I do, it's some neat new feature I could have if I download the update that will run on my MPC. Now, and for the past few months, there have been 7 new videos, that show the big LCD. I see that, and feel left out, because the new stuff does not work on mine.

There's no "OMG the sky is falling here", it's just simple facts of reality. If you go to the JJOS website, where you normally can find new OS updates, there's a picture of the big LCD, as part of an embedded video. That is what I see. I come to this forum now and then, and there's very little new talk in this sub-forum. But if you go to the big LCD thread, there's people and a happening. It's neat in its own way, but doesn't involve me, so I'm left out. It's just fact. Relax peoples.

I don't feel left out. Hell, they even implemented a feature based on an obsevation I made in the LCD thread.

I'm not "worried" about anything. I say your post is speculative because you seemed to be worried that your present OS is going to be left behind but you don't offer any concrete proof of this beyond the fact that your are seeing lots of OS128XL videos lately.

there's no need to feel left behind.
right now, i'm just chilling until:

1. OS128xl matures into a powerful enough OS to make it worth getting a large screen, or...

2. OS3 is released for the regular screen MPCs.


OS3 got put on hold temporarily so that JJ could work on the large screen OS's, but i'm sure he will get back to it in the not too distant future. the regular screen MPCs have not been abandoned.

Yeah, if you're living for the future then I can see why it's all good. I hope it works out for you.