Subject: [linux-audio-dev] RE: AKAI sample CD-ROM disk format specification
From: David Whittle (david_AT_akaipro.com)
Date: Tue Dec 19 2000 - 16:25:37 EET
Dear Jay Ts,
Thanks for your e-mail. I understand the points you have made, but the
one thing you did not cover in your e-mail is exactly what you plan on
doing with the specification. Akai is not opposed to providing
assistance to developers, but we do like to know their plans since it
will certainly have an affect on our products.
That said, there is really no reason to release the disk format. Akai
typically includes access to almost every parameter of a product via a
combination of protocols.
To be honest, I don't see Akai releasing any proprietary information
into the public domain. In regards to your question about moving to a
published spec, we have already done that. The S5000 and S6000 samplers
do not use a proprietary format, but instead support FAT16 and FAT32
formats. I expect this trend to gradually continue with future products.
Best regards,
David Whittle
******************************************************
David Whittle - Product Manager
Akai Musical Instrument Corporation
4710 Mercantile Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76137
phone: 817-831-9203 ext. 146 fax: 817-222-1490
e-mail: david_AT_akaipro.com
web site: www.akaipro.com
******************************************************
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jay Ts [mailto:jay_AT_toltec.metran.cx]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 12:58 AM
> To: David Whittle
> Cc: linux-audio-dev_AT_ginette.musique.umontreal.ca
> Subject: AKAI sample CD-ROM disk format specification
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I am writing to you as a result of the response I received
> from a member
> of your technical support department (Nick Kenney) that I've included
> below. He informed me that the format for AKAI sample CDs is
> considered proprietary information by AKAI, and that s published
> specification is not available.
>
> I hope you won't mind this detour ... I feel it's important if I start
> out with a statement of purpose. Ideally, I would love to see AKAI
> publish the specification for the format of the AKAI sample
> CD-ROMs used
> with the AKAI S1000-S5000 professional samplers.
>
> Please do not get the wrong idea; my desire is not at all a
> selfish one,
> and in fact, I perceive it as being in your company's best interest to
> publish the spec. AKAI's dominant position in the market would not
> be hurt by an opened spec, and quite to the contrary, a greater
> preponderance of AKAI CD-ROM products and equipment that
> works seamlessly
> with AKAI products can only server to increase the value and utility
> of AKAI's offerings on the market.
>
> As a further aside, I've watched the happenings in the
> computer industry
> as a small, research-grade operating system (UNIX) slowly but surely
> become a dominant force in the industry, partly due to a good
> technical
> design, but mostly due to its portability (device
> independence), availability
> of source code, published interface specifications, and
> finally, international
> standards. More specifically, I've watched a small startup
> computer company
> (Sun Microsystems) use a technology they developed and for
> which they published
> the specification (TCP/IP-based NFS networking) create an
> open systems market
> that within a few years toppled the long-standing IBM
> proprietary monopoly.
> Nowadays, IBM is a company that is using Linux as a fully-embraced,
> strategic operating system. (Quite a turnaround, yes?)
> Meanwhile, the Open
> Source Linux OS is gaining on the new monopoly (Microsoft),
> and has already
> dominated Windows NT/2000 in some areas that Microsoft
> considers important
> to them.
>
> I'm mentioning this because the way it looks to me, AKAI is now very
> much in the situation that IBM used to be in. AKAI holds
> onto proprietary
> information (the sample CD format) in a way that is in it's
> own interest,
> but not in the best interest of the consumer or the market as a whole.
> History has proven many times over that although a
> proprietary approach
> may yield short-term profits, that this approach is not a successful
> long-term strategy. It will only continue to work until
> someone decides
> to create an alternative that is directly associated with a public
> interface specification.
>
> As I hope you can be aware, I've been keeping tabs on the
> development of
> Unix, Open Systems, Linux and Open Source software for a long
> time. Judging
> from what has happened in the past, and the current direction
> and momentum,
> I expect that Linux will continue to become a more dominant force as a
> desktop system. (In case you are not aware, there are
> estimates from well-
> respected industry analysts that there are now about as many
> desktop Linux
> systems as Macs, and that Mac popularity will be overtaken by
> Linux with
> the next few years.) Along with this, I also expect Linux to
> emerge as
> a preferred platform for running audio and music applications, and may
> overtake Windows at some point. I will go so far as to say that this
> may happen easily within the next 10 years, and maybe a lot less.
>
> I am mentioning the above because I want you to be clear that Linux is
> far from being a toy operating system, and that it is very worthy of
> your attention.
>
> In light of all this, I have a few questions:
>
> 1. Would AKAI consider publishing the spec for AKAI format sample CDs?
>
> 2. If not that, would AKAI consider moving towards a published spec
> in the future, and in the meantime work with Linux and other
> Open Source developers to allow support for AKAI sample CDs in
> Open Source software?
>
> 3. If not that, is there any way that I and/or Linux software
> developers can obtain the AKAI sample CD-ROM spec? And if so, how?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jay Ts
> jayts_AT_bigfoot.com
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
> Forwarded message:
> > From fetchpop Tue Dec 19 02:58:14 2000
> > Subject: RE: CD-ROM disk format specification
> > Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 16:07:35 -0600
> > MIME-Version: 1.0
> > Content-Type: text/plain;
> > charset="iso-8859-1"
> > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> > Message-ID:
> <3B9FD5B37EFC1E48A69834B9F9C1411B0373FF_AT_netserv1.amicglobal.com>
> > content-class: urn:content-classes:message
> > X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.0.4417.0
> > Thread-Topic: CD-ROM disk format specification
> > Thread-Index: AcBng3GixvE1eExLSQ2jtGedqN4jSwBuhspQ
> > From: "AKAI Support" <akaipro_support_us_AT_akaipro.com>
> > Sender: "Nick Kenney" <nick_AT_akaipro.com>
> > To: "Jay Ts" <jayts_AT_bigfoot.com>
> > X-UIDL: 28e83ee428fed4d1945179ef4d380dc0
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > The information you have requested is proprietary and is
> not available
> > for distribution. You will need to contact our Product Manager at
> > dwhittle_AT_akaipro.com to request this info.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > AKAI Product Support
> >
> > AKAI Musical Instrument Corp.
> > (http://www.akaipro.com)
> > Phone: 817-831-9203
> > Fax: 817-222-1490
> > E-mail: akaipro_support_us_AT_akaipro.com
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Jay Ts [mailto:jayts_AT_bigfoot.com]
> > > Posted At: Saturday, December 16, 2000 11:11 AM
> > > Posted To: Nick
> > > Conversation: CD-ROM disk format specification
> > > Subject: CD-ROM disk format specification
> > >=20
> > >=20
> > > Hi,
> > >=20
> > > Has AKAI published a specification for the format of
> > > AKAI CD-ROMs (and hard disk)?
> > >=20
> > > I am writing some software for Linux, and would like
> > > to have it read and write AKAI format CD-ROMs and perhaps
> > > hard disks. The idea is to allow the exchange of data
> > > between AKAI samplers and computers running Linux, as well
> > > as to generally allow the expansion of the "AKAI universe"
> > > into the Linux realm.
> > >=20
> > > Please let me know if you have a copy of the spec online,
> > > or if there is some other way to get it.
> > >=20
> > > - Jay Ts
> > > jayts_AT_bigfoot.com
> > >=20
> >
> >
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Tue Dec 19 2000 - 16:54:37 EET