Analog Digits

Outstanding new iPad synth

2011-06-08T12:28:00.000-04:00

iPad synth alert - NLog Synth Pro is the single most comprehensive iPad synthesizer that's NOT the Korg iMS-20. It's also a heck of a lot easier to program, and sounds absolutely warm and analog. $14.99 for a synth that would cost a couple of thousand as a standalone hardware device. WOW.

Back in Black

2011-06-07T08:55:00.001-04:00

Yowza, Facebook can do a blog damage - almost a year later, and I'm back, ready to get this blog going again. The reason? I've been selected to be a Technologist for the upcoming BYTE.COM, the venerable computer magazine from the golden age of computing. I'm thrilled and honored to have a voice in this important journal, and it made sense to get this blog rolling again to accompany my efforts over there, where I'll be doing a regular column dubbed "The Realist". LOTS more to come. :-)

41 Years Ago

2010-07-20T17:17:00.002-04:00

I'm lucky enough to have been alive for the single most important moment in human history, the first time humans stepped out onto another celestial body.

41 years ago today, July 20, 1969, we made it to the Moon.

This mind-boggling technical - and human - triumph never ceases to amaze and astound me, and bring up a sense of pride that I find almost impossible to muster any other way. It makes me truly sad to hear teens and 20-somethings address this amazing event with a combination of snark and apathy; in their lives, they've never known something so momentous, unique, a few minutes that brought all humanity together with the deepest sense of connection and pride. To those bravest souls who faced the unknown with fierce determination, and in some cases, gave their lives, I salute you for your courage and sheer chutzpah. Just try to imagine what it felt like, hurtling through the darkness of space, all sense of reality skewed, knowing that one bad decision could strand you and your crewmates to the coldness of the infinite. It just takes my breath away.

This Amazing Planet

2010-07-15T11:28:00.005-04:00

There's an important interview that Bill Moyers did with famed biologist E. O. Wilson a few years ago, dealing with the issue of the diversity of life on this planet. Like all Moyers' work, it's a truly insightful interview, but there's one particular point that really opened my eyes when I first heard it - right at the beginning, Wilson emphatically states that we've yet to discover the majority of species of life on this planet - perhaps 90% of the life on this planet is unknown to us. And this isn't some wild-eyed lunatic from the fringes of society making this claim, we're talking about one of the most respected and capable scientists alive today.

Given these facts, I was fascinated to see this news item today, about the discovery of a variety of species of life thought to be extinct, or new lifeforms altogether, at the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.

I've been saying it for years - the true history of life on this planet is still mostly a baffling mystery, and every day, we discover how much we've yet to learn about the nature of reality, the Universe, this planet and ourselves.

Australian report on Gulf disaster

2010-07-06T11:08:00.002-04:00

Apparently, the criminals over at BP had this video removed from the web already, so watch this while you can:

History of Life on Earth in Stop Motion

2010-07-05T19:21:00.003-04:00

Prepare to be astounded.

More about the creator.

NASA Images of Gulf

2010-06-26T12:02:00.002-04:00

This is scary, and makes the situation a little, um, clearer:

Take note that this image sequence reflects just the first month, we're already into the second month of this disaster, and these pictures show just what's near the surface of the water. I've also read some estimates that this particular field might have up to 50 billion barrels of crude oil, and no one knows when - or if - the situation can be remedied.

Totally terrifying, to say the least.

The Gulf Disaster

2010-06-25T14:37:00.004-04:00

Here is yet another clear indication that we're not being told what is really going on down in the Gulf:

Absolutely horrific.

SUNDAY, JUNE 27 - The video has "been removed by the user". Huh, that's odd. VERY odd.

HERE is a link to a CNN story about her husband...

Dave Berry is The Tourist

2010-06-24T14:47:00.003-04:00

An old, close friend of mine, David Berry, happens to be an amazing filmmaker and animator, and this is one of his outstanding creations, a tour-de-force of time-lapse photography and sheer creativity.

The Tourist from David Berry on Vimeo.

I was present as a helper with the footage shot in New York City - that was a fun day, it's interesting how New Yorkers almost never seem surprised at anything on the street, even a couple of guys shooting some wacky video.

The last movie I worked on was with Dave, we got called in to do some visual effects work on David Arquette's directorial debut, The Tripper.

It was a blast, we were referred to Arquette by Dave's old friend Paul Ruebens, who was in the film, and who also has a thing about the craft services tent - Paul is truly one of the most gracious, fun people you could ever hope to hang with, and it wasn't the first time I had spent time with him.

Oh, the stories from those days on set. And the evenings - that one night we made the resort where the "A-list" folks were staying, keep the clubhouse open so the cast and select crew members could get sloshed late into the night (I normally don't do alcohol, but, well, oh boy)...

Good times.

Your Favorite Dinosaur Sucks

2010-06-24T14:19:00.002-04:00

This is NSFW, so be warned, but it's very clever. Enjoy.

The Perfect "Robot" Movie

2010-06-23T12:23:00.018-04:00

Years ago, my brother Barry told me how much he adored the often overlooked Robin Williams film, "Bicentennial Man". Released around the same time as some other questionable Williams vehicles (like Patch Adams), it was basically a financial flop, and has essentially been forgotten. Realizing that it was available on Netflix streaming services, I decided to finally watch it, and I was floored. It's nothing short of a masterpiece of storytelling, a rumination on the nature of humanity and empathy, and the relationship between people and the technology we create to make our lives better.

Originally marketed as a comedy, it's a serious, engaging and well-written fable, a modern Pinocchio, perfect for these times and technological trappings. Adapted from a story (The Positronic Man) written by one of my favorite authors, Isaac Asimov, the dialog is intelligent and thoughtful in a way that few commercial films can ever aspire to, and the cast is just wonderful (I adore Oliver Pratt as the engineer who keeps upgrading Andrew over the years). While there are certainly very funny moments, this is not a comedy at all, but a drama with comedic touches. The robot, Andrew, undergoes an evolution that mirrors that of the thoughtful mind, an increasing awareness of the human environment he inhabits - yet is separate from - and the understanding that reality is what we make of it. This might be one of the best adaptions of an Asimov story to the screen - if anyone reading this cares to challenge this opinion, show me the frames.

Not a great trailer, but it'll give you the general gist of the film

By the end of the movie, I was in tears. Very few movies are this fulfilling, uplifting, capable of making me feel more alive and in the moment. The Bicentennial Man is a modern classic, and anyone doubting Williams' acting range, should take a couple of hours and immerse themselves in a film that's pretty darned close to being nothing less than awesome. The ending might be one of the most moving, romantic and satisfying few minutes I've ever seen in any film, and left me swooning. It's a wonderful "date film" - at least, for the kind of woman I'd like to watch it with, who would appreciate it as much I as do.

A footnote - one of the movie reviewers I usually agree with, Ebert, gave this movie two out of four stars, and he apparently felt that the movie started strong, and ended weakly, essentially coming to the conclusion that, "Bicentennial Man begins with promise, proceeds in fits and starts, and finally sinks into a cornball drone of greeting-card sentiment". I have to respectfully disagree with Ebert, I felt tremendously satisfied, especially towards the end. To each their own, I suppose.

The Wright Brothers & Apollo 11

2010-06-19T20:23:00.009-04:00

I've been reading the excellent biography of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, "First Man" - it's the only authorized book about Armstrong's life in existence, and it's only been out a few years. Anything dealing with the space program has always deeply fascinated me - one of my main "comfort food" DVDs is "For All Mankind", a stunning montage of moon mission footage and shimmering Brian Eno music that I can watch over and over, engaging and uplifting my spirits like few other things. I feel so very lucky to have been alive to witness this event, the moment we first stepped onto another celestial body.

In the book, I stumbled upon a detail I had never heard about before: each of the three Apollo 11 astronauts had a small, lunch-size bag sized pouch called a "Personal Preference Kit" (PPK), a teflon-coated bag that could weigh no more than 5 pounds, contents included. These were meant for the astronauts to be able to bring personal momentos to and from the Moon. The discretion about the contents of the PPKs was left completely to the astronauts, and while some have even auctioned off items they took on the journey, very little is known about the contents of Armstrong's PPK. In "First Man", a detail jumped out at me, and literally brought a tear to my eye: Armstrong apparently made an arrangement with the National U.S. Air Force Museum, and had been given a small piece of wood from the propeller of the Wright Brother's famous 1903 flyer, as well as a 8x13 inch piece of muslin fabric from the left wing, to include in his PPK.

The deeply touching symbolism of taking those pieces of the first flying machine to the Moon and back, just leaves me with a huge grin and a soft glow in my heart.

They also left some interesting items on the moon (at the very last moment before shutting the hatch - they almost forgot, according to the book), including a pair of Soviet-made medallions honoring Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov, as well as patches for Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who had all died in a tragic launch pad fire incident.

Reverbalicious!

2010-06-18T23:35:00.004-04:00

AudioGeeks, rejoice: MVerb an astounding little reverb plugin, pro quality sound, fairly extensive controls, low processor draw and did I mention it's free? And open source? GarageBand, Live, Logic, Mac, Windows, it seems to work everywhere.

Obligatory public service announcement: with any reverb, you should always try to set the mix ration of dry/wet signal to 70/30, and tweak from there. On this little wonder, start at a setting of around 0.25 for the Mix knob, and adjust down, to less reverb. It's like salt - a little goes a long way. Reverb is an easy way to add a little virtual "air", or space, around any sound, but especially those generated artificially, like drum machines and synthesizers, as well as close-captured vocals. This thing sounds really, really good, it's a gem of a tool.

No Surprises

2010-06-18T23:04:00.001-04:00

A gorgeous cover of a wonderful Radiohead tune, No Surprises.

:-)

2010-06-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

No, it's not Monty Python. Yes, that's Marty Feldman. Made me smile. Enjoy.

My Paracast theme music

2010-06-08T10:52:00.001-04:00

So there's this podcast show I co-created, and left this year... and recently, it seems like the audience has been less than thrilled with the new theme music the show is using - and I generally agree, the new stuff is corporate and bland - much like the new direction of the show. I had decided that I no longer wanted my music associated with the program, but given that folks seem to really like the original tune, the whole, unedited theme is up on the MetaFilter music page. I rarely share my music with anyone - it's definitely a personal quirk of mine; as public as I make my writing and podcast work, my music is another matter entirely, and besides a couple of close friends, this stuff was never meant for public consumption. I don't consider myself a very good musician, I just really enjoy making noise. No excuses.

The song, called "mizderE", was recorded in a couple of hours, using Ableton Live and a slew of plugins, some long-discontinued. Paracast fans, this is for you, as a show of appreciation for listening to my former podcast!

Raymond Scott, Sequencing, Numerology and Musical Magic

2010-06-05T15:56:00.000-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of attending a screening of the captivating documentary "Deconstructing Dad - The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott", lovingly created by Scott's son, Stan Warnow, a resident of the Hudson valley (the screening was sponsored by my friends over at Rivertown Film). The film is deeply personal, compelling blend of Scott's considerable talents in musical composition, electronics, audio synthesis, engineering and recording technologies. I've known about Scott for years - The Music of Raymond Scott: Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights, and "Manhattan Research, Inc." are longtime parts of my collection, and are required listening for anyone who appreciates uniquely eccentric music.

Check out his very first hit song, Powerhouse, and ask yourself, why does this sound familiar?

Think Warner Brother cartoons.

Here's the trailer for the documentary:

In many ways, Scott was very much the Frank Zappa of his era, in that he worked with some of the top session musicians of the time, but reached the point where he seemed to feel that technology was the only way to recreate the complexity of the music running through his imagination. Scott hired a young Robert Moog right out of school, to help build early analog synthesis and sequencing hardware, culminating in a audio workstation called The Electronium.

Sequencing is what Scott ended up devoting a major portion of his creative efforts to later in life, and his elaborate electronic studio was the most powerful sequencer on the planet for some amount of time, an impressive achievement in any era. The Sequencer is essentially the tool for arranging the musical notes that are used to trigger sounds - in a player piano, the punched paper was the note sequence used to trigger the actual mechanical hammer assemblies.

While most DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) hardware and software is designed around the idea of combining MIDI sequencing with sampled-audio tracks (live, mic'd instruments and recorded vocals), there is one particular program that goes far beyond the typical sequencing capabilities found in most programs - it's a Mac-only marvel called Numerology, and there's absolutely nothing like it on any other platform. It uses the flexibility of software to deliver sequencing potential that literally blows my mind... and it would have made Raymond Scott smile ear-to-ear, no question. I did a review for Mac|Life that merely scratches the surface of this addictive wonder, and it's just one of those situations where it's hard to clearly explain the amazing depth of this uniquely creative, deeply fascinating musical production tool.

Watch this movie, and you'll start to understand the possibilities.

There are plenty more demo movies that show off some of what you can accomplish with Numerology, check them out.

It uses any Audio Units synth and effects plugin you have installed in your Mac (and there are LOTS of those floating around), and there's no question that it's one of my desert island picks. It's the fruits of the mind of an amazingly talented creative programmer/musician, James Coker, who has come up with something so special, he deserves a MacArthur Award for his efforts. For $119, you can enjoy the same level of potential that took Raymond Scott many years, and thousands of dollars, to cobble together. If ever someone's soul could haunt a piece of software released years after his passing, well, I'd be willing to bet there's some Scott lurking somewhere deep in Numerology.

The new Audio Recorder to Beat

2010-06-04T18:29:00.000-04:00

Anyone who does any type of field recording already knows about the very popular Zoom H2, which I reviewed for Mac|Life some time ago. Overall, I thought it offered an amazing value for the money. Well, Samson Technology has just announced the H1, which is supposed to deliver the exact same microphones and basic specs for, get ready, $99, which is just nuts. I can't imagine it's built any worse than the H2, and it looks like they've really simplified the interface, which some felt was a bit overwhelming in the H2 (I personally have had zero problems figuring out the controls, but then again, I'm me). I can't wait to get ahold of this thing, I suspect it's going to sell like gangbusters. Just one thing, though - Samson, we'll all survive without the 2 gig card bundled with the unit, feel free to donate mine to charity.

Photoshop CS 5 Content Aware Fill

2010-05-20T13:32:00.000-04:00

Much has been written about the rather cool new Content Aware Fill mojo in Photoshop CS5, but as you might expect, it's not exactly foolproof. This video, which I did for Mac|Life magazine, is the first in a series I'll be putting out independently on Photoshop CS5, as well as other software goodies that I think are worthy, and that often fall under the radar of the mainstream software world.

Far Too Long

2010-05-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows how life has a tendency to take over, and distract someone away from their blog. I stand here before you today, guilty of the crime of being overwhelmed by life. But it's time to take the reins again, and get my analog digits busy, so here we go! And what better way to get started, than share a very cool concept animation which popped up on my screen thanks to the ILM Alumni listserve, check this out:

I'd love to see this movie, wouldn't you?

In Memory of Jim Ludtke

2008-12-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

This animation was done by a single artist, my dear friend Jim Ludtke, who left this planet far too soon. I miss you, Jim, and think about you all the time. You were a true creative genius, a one-of-a-kind human being. Jim did this all in Macromind 3D, one of the coolest 3D rendering and animation tools you probably never heard of, it wasn't around very long, but Jim made the most of it. From the Residents' "Freak Show" album and CD-ROM.

I Love the B*TTH**LE SRFRS

2008-12-21T19:39:00.001-05:00

This just makes me happy. That is all.

The Black Hole

2008-12-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

The simple effects are the best!

MacWorld Minus Mac

2008-12-16T19:06:00.000-05:00

In a stunning turn of events, Apple today announced that 2009 will be the last year that they participate in the the venerable MacWorld Expo, held in San Francisco in January each year since 1984. This means that Apple will no longer attend any major computer tradeshow - they've bailed out of CES, NAB and the European shows, and outside of their own Worldwide Developer Conference which usually takes place in the spring/summer, they have no presence at any other technology conference of note. Also announced was the fact that Apple CEO Steve Jobs would not make his yearly keynote this January, another surprise that is stoking further rumors of undeclared health issues. What really takes the cake for me is that January 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Macintosh, which had many of us hoping for something exciting in the wings for the Expo. Rumors of an update to the Mac mini are setting the tone, and it ain't grand.

The New Television

2008-12-16T17:49:00.000-05:00

Because of the reality of video on demand on the Internet, I was able to watch this absolutely wonderful episode of the classic Twilight Zone show, one that I had never seen before, and which left me in tears. I know I've had some truly positive affect on my students, perhaps helped them become better thinkers.

Death of a Library

2008-12-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

The Donnell Library in NYC was an excellent resource, including a vast video and film library. The real estate gods of Manhattan know no mercy, so it's been closed and will reopen as a luxury hotel, because we all know that there aren't enough places to stay for $1000 a night in New York City. Here's a great blog posting by Igor, who works for Archive.org. They were in there digitizing a bunch of the library's collection. Very sad, but the pictures are captivating.

To Space and Beyond

2008-12-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how I'm going to end up feeling about the new flick "The Day the Earth Stood Still", as the original is one of my all-time favorite films, but from what I've seen, it might not totally suck. Today comes news that Fox has decided to put the movie on the GalacticNet, beating lowly Internet-based media pirates to the punch. If you're on a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system, you'll be able to watch Kean..., er, Klaatu and Jennifer Connolly sometime in 2012.

Rough Rider

2008-12-10T12:49:00.000-05:00

I did a writeup on the geniuses at Audio Damage this last summer (yeah, I know I've been slacking at updates on this blog, but hey, I'm putting one of my New Year resolutions into effect early here), and since then, they've put out a wonderful free plugin dubbed Rough Rider. It's a slick, potent audio signal compressor, capable of adding a lovely vintage bite to rhythm tracks and just about anything else you care to run through it. It adds heft and presence to recorded electric guitars, and it's great on saucy synth lines as well. Audio Units and VST, Mac or Windows, pick your poison, this is a great addition to anyone's rig, and it's more economically viable then the Big 3.

Google Magazine Search

2008-12-10T09:54:00.000-05:00

The wonders of the Google world never cease - they've been busily scanning scores of magazines, letting you search the archives and relive past glories. I discovered this article from New York magazine, back in 1985, covering the nascent Mac graphics market. The piece opens with coverage of the animation project I worked on with musician/performance artist Laurie Anderson for the opening of the Palladium nightclub that same year. I was a ripe old 23 - exactly half my life ago - and I spent many nights in Laurie's apartment at the west end of Canal Street, fastidiously chopping up Thunderscanned Rousseau paintings into discrete elements, and adding animation with Macromind's fantastic VideoWorks software (which later morphed into Director). We were able to output the results down at Barry Rebo's video studio, and add some color with a high-end paintbox system. Laurie & I both blew off the grand opening of the Palladium, after consulting with each other on the phone, and sadly, we gradually lost touch over the years. Ah, memories!

Photoshop CS4 First Look

2008-12-09T16:59:00.000-05:00

While it's billed as a "first look", my recent Mac|Life article on Photoshop CS4 is fairly in-depth, and a decent overview of the new features. You can also watch my screencast demos of Content Aware Scaling and nondestructive layer masks, two very cool new additions to CS4.

Vox Populi

2008-12-09T16:13:00.000-05:00

Iceland Says... is the sister blog to Iceland Eyes, consisting of essays from Icelandic college students. A fascinating read.

Iceland Eyes

2008-12-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

Iceland Eyes is a captivating blog, with thoughtful words and gorgeous images. The U.S. mainstream media has had little recent coverage of the situation in Iceland, I found this gem while searching for updates on their dire economic meltdown.

I'm on MacVoices

2008-06-27T09:52:00.000-04:00

If you're interested in Audio Units plugins for expanding Apple's GarageBand software, take a listen to the latest episode of MacVoices, where I talk with host Chuck Joiner about the vast realm of third-party plugin manufacturers, mentioning some of my favorite software instruments and effects.

Roll Your Own Web Pilot

2008-06-13T16:33:00.000-04:00

I'm a contributing editor for Mac|Life magazine, and a recent feature article I wrote for them has been posted on their website. Make Your Own TV Show is a look at the basics of putting together a pilot for a web-based episodic program, and covers the whole affair from a guerilla-videographer angle, from low-end cameras through some of the essential theory and practice of editing, and my picks for some of the websites you'll want to consider for distributing your show. Enjoy!

A Fair & Balanced Universe

2008-06-07T21:24:00.000-04:00

So there's this planet, and on this planet, there's a guy who made a lot of money beating people up.

What kind of money? Well, he has a home described as follows:

"The 54,000-square-foot home has 109 rooms, including 17 bathrooms, three kitchens and a bowling alley."

Yes, all that for punching people.

And he's apparently delinquent on paying his $3000 monthly child support.

If the asteroid hits tomorrow, it'll be a day too late.

Damage can be good

2008-06-07T10:35:00.001-04:00

In my eternal quest for cool audio plugins, I've come across a bounty of wonderful, inexpensive goodies from the fine folks at Audio Damage. They make excellent-sounding effects, and I'm particularly taken with their DubStation, which is a fantastic simulation of an old bucket brigade-style analog delay - twist the delay time knob, and thrill at the recreation of the pitch-stretch artifacts that are just sooo much fun. It reminds of when I first laid my hands on an original Electro-Harmonix Memory Man delay, in 1975 - it arrived in an order I had placed from when I was a dealer for them in Caracas, Venezuela (and that's a whole 'other story from my youth), Mike Matthews had them send me a prototype (he was thrilled that he had a teenaged authorized dealer in South America). I plugged my guitar in, and was blown away by what came out of the box. The DubStation took me right back to that time, and it's only $39, the best delay deal on this planet. Their Reverence reverb is just perfect, sporting a slick sound and just about zero processor footprint, which boggles the mind. It's $39 as well, which is just ridiculous, given that the closest hardware counterpart will run you well into the hundreds of dollars. Vapor is a gorgeous, shimmering choris effect which works wonders on guitar tracks, and is subtle enough to be useful on all sorts of tracks - vocals, keyboards, drums - and it's $29. There's a bunch of other amazing plugs that these maniacs make - Dr. Device is likely to make your head explode - and they all represent a truly astounding value for the price. I can only imagine what would happen if these folks decide to make a softsynth.

Perfect Pitch

2008-06-05T21:23:00.000-04:00

There's an excellent article about Antares Auto-Tune in the current New Yorker Magazine, with a detailed look at how this venerable pitch-correction tool gained an ancillary following based on what essentially boils down to a quirk in the software. Good reading.

Cool Online Art Toy

2008-06-04T20:48:00.000-04:00

I just adore weird little graphics programs, and bomomo is a really nice example of what can be accomplished via a web browser. It's a ton of fun, just click on the tools and drag them around the canvas, and prepare to be delighted. I wish there was some control over colors, but hey, it's free. The closest thing I've seen are the particle brushes in Studio Artist, which are just too much fun.

Then there's Groboto, which has some similar types of fun procedural drawing abilities, all in glorious 3D. If you don't about this wonderfully creative, fun application, you should check it out, especially if you have kids who want to play with 3D and are daunted by the complexity of a typical 3D modeling program.

So why doesn't anyone build a standalone 2D painting application with this kind of functionality? Bomomo is a nice toy, but it makes me want something more substantial. Where is Mark Zimmer when you need him?

And I'll try to update this blog on a more regular basis. Sorry about the delay between the last entry and this one... life gets in the way of blogging.

I am speechless

2008-04-16T20:21:00.001-04:00

Bruce ServicePack and the Vista Street Band.

U-He is da bomb

2008-04-13T20:46:00.000-04:00

So if you're into software synths, then you need to take a look - and give a listen - to the rather amazing Zebra software synthesizer. Another example of a great software instrument engineered by one primary creator, Urs Heckmann, Zebra is a smooth-sounding software synth supreme, with extensive modulation options (almost as intricate as an actual analog patchcord synth) and an absolutely gorgeous sound. It's almost a desert-island software synth, and at $199, it's a steal. In fact, if you have an old hardware synth laying around, you can get $50 off the price of Zebra by sending in a picture of your old gear with a "Retired by Zebra" sign - it's called the "Dinosaur Crossgrade", and it's got to be the coolest upgrade policy in the industry.

I should also mention that their MFM2 (More Feedback Machine) effects plugin is probably the most insane echo/delay device that you can plug into a signal path. It's got 4 separate delay lines with extensive modulation options, and is capable of producing a staggering range of effects, including chorusing, compression, filter-combing, distortion, the list goes on and on. It's $79, and it makes most of my hardware delays sound downright stupid.

We love small developers, and Urs is really cranking out gold. Must be the German beer. If you want a taste of the genius of U-He, and you're a Mac musician, check out the free Audio Units synth from these guys, Rumblence:zoyd. A simple interface, but the sounds that emit from this thing are just juicy.

Perian CODEC for Mac Users

2008-02-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

If you're a Mac user, you've likely run into the frustration of dealing with AVI files.

Here's the answer: The Perian Quicktime component.

It's free. Download it, install it and forget about your media codec problems.

You're welcome!

The Aural Holy Grail

2008-02-06T07:13:00.001-05:00

In the realm of visual effects, no one has yet been able to create a CG human face that can blend in transparently with live action and withstand extended closeup shots. The closest anyone has gotten is the Gollum character created by the folks at Weta Digital, and the fact is that while it's a play on a human face, it's not an actual human in the film, it's just a fictional character. The primary problem with this issue is that we are all very aware of the nuances of facial expressions and details, as we spend a large amount of our life interpreting these cues from the people we interact with on a daily bases, whether in person or through our consumption of television. We're still waiting for a synthetic human face that can convince us that we're not seeing CG.

In the playground of musical technology, there's been a similar avatar: the simulation of an acoustic piano. Up until recent times, the best you could do to approximate the sound of a piano, was to employ instruments made of up samples of actual acoustic pianos. This approach has worked to some degree, with virtual sampled pianos including Synthogy Ivory, Akoustik Piano, Virtual Grand Piano and a host of other offerings. Part of the problem with these products is that they consist of many multisampled files, in order to convey the difference between notes struck hard and those played softly, and these samples tend to make the supporting audio files eat up anywhere from 15-35 gigabytes of hard drive space. On top of that, many players claim that they just don't feel right when played, that these sample-based instruments lack the responsiveness of a real piano, the entropy of the interactions between string, hammer and wood.

In the last year, this crucial milestone has been reached, and the very first software-only modeled acoustic piano has appeared on the market, and man, it's just stunning. It's called Pianoteq, and it's a true breakthrough that has caused huge ripples throughout the music industry. Created as a labor of love by a team at the Institute of Mathematics of Toulouse, Pianoteq absolutely nails the sound, response and dynamics of an actual physical instrument, and offers a deep level of control over a myriad of modeling and playback parameters, to the point where the average pianist will likely be somewhat overwhelmed. No matter, just load it up and play to your heart's content. Because it does not use any kind of sampling technology, the whole plugin weighs in at less than 15 megabytes, which is nothing less than astounding. Put this in a laptop, attach a nice 88-note weighted key controller to the computer, perhaps a pair of foot controllers (for the sustain and Sostenuto pedals), and you have the best sounding piano you'll ever be able to lug to a performance, for a whopping $360. While I'm primarily an electronic musician, the sound and playability of this marvel makes me glad that I'm alive at the moment in history when true innovations like this one exist. My hat's off to these folks, they've made something truly groundbreaking and uniquely special. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it awesome, with respect to the true meaning of that word. Check out the sound demos, you will not believe what your ears are hearing.

Is Software Innovation Dead?

2008-01-21T20:42:00.001-05:00

This was one of the first years that I did not find myself in San Francisco in January, for the annual MacWorld Expo. I figured that I would be able to go on the web and get a sense of the kind of cool software & hardware gadgets to show up on the show floor, the one or two things that would knock my socks off and give me hope for the world of creative software.

Well, it looks like I didn't miss anything. Outside of the Apple announcement, there was precious little to see on the floor at Moscone that folks didn't already know about.

I can think back to years past, taking a trek through the Developer's Pavilion and scoping out the one or two neat software hacks that no one know about, and sharing the discovery of those cool toys with my fellow expo-goers back at the infamous "Office" (if you have to ask, forget it, I'm not saying anything else about that moniker). I clearly remember gazing at the very first version of Cinema 4D ever shown publicly, and to see it running on a dual-processor Mac G4 was quite the thrill (unlike trying to get Infini-D to work properly on a multi-processor Mac, which almost drove me to madness). When we first laid eyes on Todd Rundgren's FlowFazer screen saver, my friends & I thought we had died and gone to heaven - no one had seen anything like it on a microcomputer. Hanging out at Todd's house, messing around with all those outrageous FlowFazer modules that never did see the light of day, was just too much fun.

There were lots of gems that we would seek out, and nothing made me happier than to let people know this stuff existed, that the world of applications was bigger than word processing, spreadsheets, databases and all the other well-worn software categories. How many different ways can you move words around on a screen? Once you learn Microsoft Word, that's about as far as you go in the realm of writing, and let's be clear, the vast majority of folks who depend on the Microsoft Office, haven't explored the majority of tools, command and menu options that are in the programs that make up the suite. It's not like Photoshop is very different in this regard - I'd like to have a dollar for every Photoshop user who has never taken the time to even open the Calculations command, much less the Custom filter. Most of the program remains a mystery to everyone except the most devoted users.

When it comes to software development, Photoshop plugins are an excellent example of how much of the third-party development world has largely dried up - if you doubt this, step back and think about what cool Photoshop plugin you've seen released in recent memory. If you've been using Photoshop for awhile, consider what it was like 10, 15 years ago, with wild new plugins being released on what seemed like a monthly basis. I'm not trying to downplay the excellent work that companies like Alien Skin Software are doing, but in many cases, companies produce plugins which essentially duplicate Photoshop functionality, predicated on the lack of knowledge many Photoshop users have about how filters and other commands work together to produce complex results.

In the case of the recent MacWorld Expo, the biggest software release was... Microsoft Office 2008 (and in a rare exception, it was even available early in the year that makes up part of the name). OK, if you're an Office user, this was good news, but seriously, how many ways can you type a word? Is there anything earth-shattering about this software? Did Microsoft add Keynote-style cool transitions, is there a 3D confetti effect? I suspect that anyone happy with running earlier version of Office in Rosetta is not likely to jump at the chance of giving Microsoft more of their hard earned greenbacks. Good enough is, well, good enough.

I wonder if Apple had a dedicated demo station showing off Logic Studio, and the amazing thing which is the Sculpture synth, of the luscious sonic sweetness of the Delay Designer. I am fully aware that MacWorld Expo is a consumer show, but there are lots of people who would probably consider themselves professional media creators, who attend the show hoping to find something they didn't know about, some hidden gem that would open new creative possibilities. Based on the coverage I've seen on the web, I'm going to guess that the majority walked away from the Moscone expo hall somewhat less than blown away.

The most interesting software for doing creative stuff on a Mac - Studio Artist, MetaSynth, ArtMatic Pro, Groboto - could be seen nowhere on the show floor. The rather amazing Cheetah3D - a full-fledged modeling, rendering and animation package, Mac-only and priced at $129, was not there. I won't go into the issue of all of the music software companies which chose to pass on Expo this year - I'm gonna guess that they were all headed to NAMM instead - but the fact that most of them did not even bother to have any kind of representation at the show is telling.

I've always felt that the audio industry presented an opportunity to learn about how innovation works in high tech in general, and the fact is that the excitement and innovation these days remains quite healthy in the sound software biz. In fact, the rate of release of new software synthesizers, effects and audio libraries so far outpaces just about anything happening in video or imaging, that it's a little scary and very frustrating. Computers have more processing power than ever, to the point where we no longer lust after faster and faster processors - most of us are fairly happy with dual-core Intel Duos, and while I would personally love to have a top-end Mac Pro tower, I'm surviving quite well without it (of course, if I had to edit a bunch of uncompressed high-def video, I'd be sure to build one of these monsters into the budget). Has the software kept up with the harware? I think not, and this trend shows no signs of changing anytime soon. Who will release the next amazing, mind-blowing visual effects package? How about an image editor that takes the prowess of Photoshop and harnesses the largely-untapped CPU power to implement a next-generation interface that will do the heavy lifting?

Or are we doomed to a future of Photoshop 18.1 and Microsoft Office 2012?

And on a completely different note...

2007-12-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

James Brown didn't have a drinking problem - no, it was more like an alcohol solution.

An Innovative New Interface

2007-12-30T14:28:00.000-05:00

This is a fascinating, original approach to taking audio synthesis in a new direction, utilizing a set of physical instrumentation devices that interact with their host surface. Learn more about the project and team.

A True American Hero

2007-12-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

Some of us long for leaders that sound like this man, a true hero, a thoughful, intelligent human being with absolute integrity and honesty.

The Z axis

2007-12-30T12:50:00.000-05:00

I have to remind myself that writing a blog does NOT mean that every post requires a specific word count, brief entries can be as useful and interesting as long ones.

Ah, hell, I'll remember that for the next post. This one has more than a few words, 'cause I have more than a couple of thoughts about, well, color.

The last couple of times I appeared on the Tech Night Owl Live, I brought up a topic I've been thinking about a lot lately - the unused "Z Axis" of current computer displays.

Back in the dark ages of the beginning of multimedia, 8 bit color palettes kept artists and programmers awake at night - the art of making color images look good with a constrained set of up to 256 colors, was the difference between the average designer and the one who got the sweet gigs. Around 1989 or so, I plunked down $10,000 on a Howtek flatbed scanner which sported an optical resolution of 300 dpi and needed a GPIB interface plugged into an original Macintosh II. I used this boat anchor to scan a series of 8x10 chromes of cars for the Oldsmobile Consumer Computer, an ambitious touchscreen kiosk project that was one of the highlights of my NYC multimedia career. In order to make the images look as good as they could with the "Mac II system palette", we tested a variety of color imaging software, including Color Studio, PixelPaint and some other obscure dithering applications. In the end, the software that provided the absolute best color reduction was a very early Photoshop, 0.36 if memory serves me correctly. It didn't have a tool palette yet, just some rudimentary menu items, but it did an amazing job of reducing the 24 bit scans to 8 bit images, which we then loaded into Hypercard using the VideoWorks II player software. Full color Hypercard, yesiree, which even fooled John Sculley (not a huge achievement in and of itself) and Jerry Pournelle (of Byte fame) into thinking that we somehow magically endowed Hypercard with glorious color.

I'll devote a future blog entry to the trials and tribulations of the "Netscape palette", "Mac & Windows system palettes" and the "web-safe 216 colors", the bane of web designers up to recent years, but now largely forgotten, and for good reason.

The main point is this: every computer that has shipped in the last, what, 6 years or so, has at least 16-bit color, but more likely 24 bit color graphics. That means that everyone has a full range of deep, rich colors for displaying images and video. Good stuff.

Meanwhile, the often neglected side of this situation is that every computer has lots of color available for interface design and implementation. But you would never know this by looking at the interfaces for most applications software, which mostly look like they're stuck in the mid-90s.

24 bit color is now the lowest common denominator. 24 bits of memory for each pixel works out to be 16,777,216 colors, and is usually rounded off to "16.7 million". What's 77,216 colors when you've got millions, right? What are we doing with all these colors? Anything? Nothing?

Look at the desktop of your computer. It's got icons for applications, documents and folders. It probably has a cool - or dorky - image loaded as a backdrop. It's a flat, two-dimensional construct, with X and Y dimensions. If it's anything like my desktop, it's cluttered with all sorts of stuff, not unlike many real desktops.

Apple releases a new version of OSX and one of the major new features is that the dock can now contain "stacks" of icons, which looks like a software rendition of the leaning tower of Pisa. This is the best that Apple can do for expanding the amount of virtual real estate for icons?

It's time that we turned on the Z Axis of the screen. While the X and Y dimensions of the screen are fixed, the Z dimension - depth - is wide open. You can move into the screen endlessly, without ever hitting the back of it, if software was designed to let you explore the virtual terrain. Imagine using the 24 bit color display in a way that takes advantage of the fact that files are time/date stamped by the OS. You've got documents on your desktop, and as time goes by and the documents remain unused, they start to recede into the background, getting smaller and dimmer until finally, they either vanish or are automatically placed in an "inactive file" folder, which softly blinks when it's starting to get too full.

Imagine editing a video clip by moving around it in 3D, and creating looped video by wrapping a clip back onto itself, Moebius-style. How about storing your files in a virtual representation of the world's deepest file cabinet, organized chronologically. Look at the Time Machine component of Apple's Leopard to get a good idea of what I'm talking about, it's a somewhat crude - but workable - version of what I've got in mind, but instead of being implemented in a modal fashion, I want it to always be there. I want to be able to store groups of related digital photos in clusters that I can push back "into" the screen, and where they can be retrieved by holding down a modifier key while scrolling on my Mighty Mouse ball. It works for Google Earth, why not my desktop? With the proliferation of virtual worlds such as Second Life, the essentials metaphors are in place. Let's see how we can use the virtual depth of the screen as an organizational tool, as the equivalent of the Hole in the Pocket that Jeremy gives to Ringo in Yellow Submarine.

24 bit color means that every shade of every color is there for the taking. We've yet to see true color coding at the OS level - a handful of color labels is nice, but we're talking transparency, subtle shading and true dimming, all used to clean up our acts.

And don't get me started on all that CPU power sitting there unused most of the time, and how it could make itself useful by keeping a watchful eye on you and how you interact with those files crowding that desktop.

We'll delve into that topic shortly.

The Mozart of Creative Software

2007-11-04T20:34:00.000-05:00

In a hundred years, when historians look back on the early development of computer technology, they will see things very differently than we do, and will likely appreciate things that don't appear on our current radars. When Van Gogh was doing some of his best work, it was the support of his brother that kept him from completely losing his sense of self. History has treated Van Gogh far more kindly than his contemporaries, and it's quite possible that he would have been both deeply gratified and furious at the way that the value of his artwork skyrocketed - not that it had any impact on his own rather frugal and difficult life. Like so many great artists, Van Gogh was only truly appreciated after he left the planet, and while this is sad, it's an unfortunate way to treat creativity. My buddy Paul Mavrides suffers from the same reality - his visual work stands alone. He is the single most amazing artist I've ever had the pleasure of calling friend, and his impact and talent will be truly appreciated two hundred years from now. It makes me sad beyond words.

The world of software development is often a relatively anonymous one, where teams of people gather together and work with one another, while being managed by other teams of people who in turn, must answer to other managers, account executives and other assorted power players. Lots of software ends up being designed by committee, and let me tell you, it shows. But you already knew that, if you've ever launched Microsoft Word.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course, usually involving pairs of personalities, two humans bound together by serendipity and circumstance. As far as bitmapped graphics software, there are three pairs of deeply talented geniuses that, in essence, created the industry for image editing software on personal computers. Mark Zimmer and Tom Hedges produced The Realist, which later became ImageStudio and ultimately ColorStudio. They also cooked up the original version of Fractal Painter. Then there's Keith McGreggor and Jerry Harris, the dynamic duo behind the rather wonderful PixelPaint. It all culminated with the brothers who changed the world, Tom and John Knoll, and their historic garage project, Photoshop. I'll be writing about these folks in future blog posts, as I was an integral part of all three efforts. Lots of stories, some good, some great, and some which will leave you scratching your head and wondering why certain people made amazingly bad decisions.

But this entry will look at one single person, someone who has never really been recognized for his awesome (and I don't use that world lightly) contributions to the software industry. When future software engineers look to the past for inspiration and understanding, they will all talk about the one crazy Frenchman who could only march to the beat of his own drummer.

His name is Eric Wenger. He is the Mozart of the software world.

You might not know the name, you may not be familiar with the fruits of his coding prowess. If you're a friend of mine, you've heard me sing his praises. And for good reason - Wenger has consistently been the lead vision behind some of the most creative applications to ever see the light of day. He is a one-of-a-kind, simply unreal genius, an artist, musician and tool maker unlike any other. His creations have been a large part of the reason that I stay interested in the field of software design.

I first encountered Eric while I was at the original MacUser magazine, back in the days when Felix Dennis ruled the roost and Steven Bobker locked himself in his office for days at a time. A box arrived at the office, with a cryptic cover and the words "Art Mixer". As I was the resident graphics guru, it was dropped on my desk without any explanation. I opened that box, installed the software from the multiple floppy disks, and spent the next few hours clicking, grinning and gasping, absolutely and totally amazed by what I was seeing. Art Mixer could do things that remain unmatched by any software - 3D paintbrush strokes with depth prioritization, nested graphics documents with realtime, dynamic links, 3D image mapping (in 1986!), and lots of other totally unique and utterly wild stuff. I proceeded to spend some of Felix's money on a long distance call to Paris, and spoke to Eric at length. His English was better than my French - an easy thing to accomplish - and we spoke for a couple of hours. He was pleased that I understood what he had done with Art Mixer, and I was blown away by his creativity. We stayed in touch over the years - mind you, these were the days before the Internet, so email was not quite as universal as today, but I resigned myself to big phone bills, economic considerations thrown to the wind.

I first met Eric in person at a MacWorld Expo, and it was instant friendship. He is a charming, brilliant and irreverent individual, and that last attribute deeply endeared him to me. I think he appreciated my enthusiasm and interest in his work. He mentioned that he was dipping his toes in serious 3D for the first time, and mailed me a disk with an early version of his first 3D modeling and rendering package.

It was called Bryce. His first 3D program, and it was a planet builder. It was clear that Eric was on another planet, a better one than ours.

I fell into Bryce instantly and completely, and the thing that really hooked me was the Deep Texture Editor. I had never seen anything quite like it, the power behind it and the range of bizarre and luscious textures it could produce blew my mind wide open. I would place a camera inside of a semi-translucent sphere, spend hours tweaking the ABC components of the procedural noises, and stare at the rendering process with a child-like wonder that made happy. I was hooked. This was fun in a way that software doesn't often feel like - I wanted to wrap my brain around it for hours, days if left to my own devices. And I'll tell you a secret - Eric has a version of Bryce that renders images way faster than the commercial releases, and lets him attach sounds to objects in a scene, and render animations with the surround sound audio tracks, complete with corresponding Doppler effects - as you zoom by objects, they increase and decrease in pitch. Very cool stuff.

A year or two later, I met a guy named Kai Krause at the Ted 3 conference in Monterey (Adobe had invited me to do some demos in a room they had at the event). He introduced me to a longtime hero of mine, Roger Dean, and in exchange, I told Kai about this amazing guy I knew in Paris. That's how Kai got ahold of Eric, ironically. It was my fault.

Bryce was released by Kai's software company, and that provided Eric with an income, and the inspiration to head off in new directions. The thing about Wenger is that he is the kind of person who does not want to learn anyone else's way of working, he's too impatient to master an interface that does not work along the lines of his own thoughts and creative process. He'd rather make his own tools. He's an artist who makes his own brushes, mixes his own paints, finds canvases that are made of exotic materials, coming up with stuff that no one else has ever considered.

From this mind, we have MetaSynth. And ArtMatic. Then there's VTrack. And Videodelic. And others which may or may not come back to life. Only Wenger knows.

Eric does not make software that falls squarely into existing categories. He creates entirely new metaphors, original and innovative approaches that no one else seems to ever consider. In the world of sound design, MetaSynth is a secret weapon. No one will admit to using it, for fear that their competition will find out about it and add it to their own arsenals. At the most basic level, it converts images to sound, putting an original spin on the player piano roll and extending it into other dimensions. It's a synthesizer that looks at a 2D image and considers every pixel a discrete oscillator. Most synths have one, two, maybe three oscillators. MetaSynth has infinite oscillators. Just about anything can be an oscillator: complex wavetables, samples, granular audio generators, jelly sandwichs, anything. The Image Filter is an Ultimate Audio Monster, terrifying and gorgeous.

MetaSynth is totally unique, capable of conjuring sounds like nothing else on this planet, and there is absolutely no equivalent, no competitor, nada. You've heard it in movies and music, but you'd never know it. It's an 8000 pound invisible gorilla. It stomps on the terra and emits the most outrageous aural entities that anyone could ever imagine.

Inspired, Wenger decides that he needs a source of wacky, complex images to feed to MetaSynth, something designed to make procedural textures that he can convert to sound. Forget Photoshop plugins, Eric wants something that fits his uniquely warped mind. He comes up with the most single terrifying, mind-bending, immersive visual synthesizer ever conceived, ArtMatic, and adds its insane, phase-modulated animation abilities almost as an afterthought. Ever since first touching this algorithmic beast, my life has never been the same - Artmatic is the one program I can absolutely lose myself in at any moment, it's the ultimate high in software psychedelia, and there's nothing like it anywhere else in the galaxy of applications. It's become one of my own secret weapons, and I'm happy to admit it on this blog. I've rendered High Definition animation with it that looks like nothing else you've ever seen, and I've cooked up a luscious procedural texture that is 32,000 by 32,000 pixels in size. At 72 dpi, it's a whopping 45 square feet.

People buy Macintoshes in order to run Wenger's software. He's never bothered to port his code to Windows, and it seems like he never will, or let anyone else do the port. Apple barely knows who he is, and has never tried to support his coding efforts in any serious fashion. It's not like Wenger is concerned about Apple's lack of interest in his creative output - he doesn't seem to care much about commerce, he could give a damn about publicity, he's a terrible businessman. I know that his business partner will likely send me a scathing email if he reads these words, but it's the honest, unvarnished truth. Eric makes tools for himself, and if you want to go along for the ride, great. But don't expect software design by focus groups here, Eric knows what he wants and that's all he really cares about. If you can't figure out his software, it's not his fault. You'll need to look at the world through his eyes in order to get the best use of his software.

Eric is Van Gogh with a mouse, he's Mozart with a MIDI keyboard. He's the most talented software artist in the world, and the implications of his work will only truly be understood many years from now. Without his contributions, the world of creative software would be a much poorer place. You won't find much about this man on the Internet, but I suspect history will treat him better than we did. One day, I will visit him in Paris and be amazed at whatever he's made since the last time we laughed together. Eric, thank you for your creativity and your wonderful mind. You made the fields of graphics, animation and audio creation more interesting, and you've shown us what software can be when it's the product of a single, strong creative vision.

First Post - Long Live the PC!

2007-11-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

My first post on Analog Digits will serve to set the stage and tone for this blog, as I have had a longtime fascination with the ineptitude of the "technology press", especially as it exists in mainstream media. The folks who are paid to cover the tech beat seem largely clueless when it comes to actually understanding any kind of objective reality regarding how and why people use specific forms of technology.

The Associated Press released a story about how PC sales are in decline in Japan, supposedly due to the continued proliferation of dedicated devices such as cell phones, video game consoles, camcorders and other vertical digital gear. The assumption is that the recent slowdown in the volume of new computer purchases is indicative of the upcoming demise of the desktop computer.

According to an IDC "analyst", Masahiro Katayama, it's game over for PCs.

"Consumers aren't impressed anymore with bigger hard drives or faster processors. That's not as exciting as a bigger TV," Katayama said. "And in Japan, kids now grow up using mobile phones, not PCs. The future of PCs isn't bright."

Here's my take on this: for the average consumer, the current generation of personal computers has reached a point where the speed is simply good enough for the kind of things they're like to do - cruise the web, word processing, digital photograph editing, listening to music, and anything else that falls under the umbrella of consumer applications. Folks who enjoy video games have long known that dedicated hardware circuitry - such as chipsets devoted to 3D rendering - are always going to provide a superior gaming experience than a PC, and the best games are typically released for dedicated gaming systems.

The notion that a mobile phone is somehow going to displace or replace a PC is patent nonsense, and for one simple reason - applications. People don't use computers, they use the applications that run on computers. Is there a possibility that Photoshop will one day run on a handheld device, and deliver all of the power and flexibility that can be achieved on the desktop? I don't think so. Screen real estate is already an issue for folks trying to do image editing on smaller laptop screens, and we're not even going to discuss the concept of video editing on anything smaller than a 15" display. Anyone who has ever spent time in Adobe After Effects knows that the best single addition to getting the most from that software, is a dedicated display for the timeline window (and folks involved in the days of creating interactive multimedia with VideoWorks/Director probably remember the joy they felt when they saw the Score window on a separate monitor for the very first time). The power that can be put into a handheld device is constrained by scale, and this means that for the foreseeable future, we're not going to have applications on mobile devices that can vaguely match their desktop counterparts.

All of these cool miniaturized gadgets are great, but let's remember that they are all designed using CAD software, on the fastest desktop machines money can buy. If you create music, spend time rendering complex 3D animated sequences, edit and create HD video or build websites from scratch, you already know that there will never be enough power in that CPU to truly make you feel satisfied and complete. You already need a faster machine, and it's quite likely that you'll tap that next machine out within a year, after laying down 15 tracks with Logic Studio and the Sculpture synthesizer. You freeze tracks all day long, and it makes you wonder when they'll be able to put a 20 core chip in your desktop without emptying out your bank account. Musicians want more tracks, more inserts, more instances of digital delays, reverbs and instruments. There is never enough processing power for making music.

The world needs producers as much, if not more, than consumers. Someone has to write, orchestrate and record all that music that you download from iTunes. Someone is busy right now, as you read these words, coming up with the next 3D animated creature that will make you drop $10 on a movie ticket and another $10 on popcorn and a drink (and ultimately, another $20 on the DVD). The next great miracle drug that will save your life one day, is going to be the result of great minds using powerful computers to model the molecular bonds and interactions that make up a specific compound that will heal the sick cells in your body. Medical researchers may use cel phones to talk to their peers, but they rely on their computers to sift through the CAT scans and MRIs images.

The great promise of technology is that we can all take charge of our destinies, and become active producers instead of passive consumers. Many years ago, Alvin Toffler came up with the idea of the prosumer, which has now come true to a good degree. The principle idea behind "Web 2.0" is that the content of a site is generated by the actual community, creating a productive, positive feedback loop. The loop is essential in a healthy technology ecosystem - the producers drive the innovations, and the consumers provide a venue in which the usefulness and potential success of said innovations can be judged by the marketplace.

The consumer world is indeed ruled by an internal set of assumptions and parameters that are different from the realm of the producer. Regardless, it's the producers who will guide the future, with the consumers falling into line based on the marketing manipulations that create the desire for products that will make them happy (or dimply distract them for a few moments). I'm not really happy about this particular state of affairs, and deep down inside, I want people to realize that there's an amazing array of opportunities for them to express their creativity with the truly awesome power of the applications which exist on desktop computers. In future blog entries, I'll be writing about many of these applications, and hopefully, anyone reading about Groboto on their iPhone will run home and download it for use on their iMac. Should we set our sights for a future where we'll be able to use fully-loaded applications on handheld devices? Sure, but that will require an entirely new type of display technology that looks like nothing we have today, as well as input devices which tap directly into our minds. None of this is likely in the near future. Someday, possibly, but not soon. And by that time, the amount of sheer power that will live on a desktop, well, now there's a compelling thought: perhaps we'll have an operating system that watches us, learns about how we work, and anticipates what we'll be doing in the next minute, or next hour, and filters out everything that's in the way. Most of the power of your computer lies dormant at any given moment - it'll be interesting to see how that unused power is put to work, behind the scenes, to make your computer truly easier to use.

The desktop computer is here to stay. It's an infinitely configurable, highly flexible, insanely customizable symbolic manipulation device, capable of blending together all relevant forms of human communications media. A mobile phone might let you listen to music and watch television, but if you want to actually make the media being consumed by the masses, you'll need the real deal, the desktop computer. Accept no substitutes.