datsound wrote:The idea of locking is sly but what prevents you from selling your modules to us as long as you trust that synthmaker users have the honesty to not give it to others, and how would locking a module make it better to sell? Access to the module is the same whether it is locked or not as long as you sell it. It would even be less versatile if it were locked. say that you sell 10-20 of a good module unlocked, for $5 that would be ok too?...
i would pay loads and loads for certain modules if they made the sound more powerful, for a resale vsti, cos some of the things in my present synth are rather insipid or thin.
Well. Writing this before I had my first coffe.......
Its not all about selling. Its about being able to upload a schematic as an example or upload a whole .osm when asking help of others in the community and so much more.
We all, except MB and Tor, have our little secrets that we have spent weeks, months or even years on developing and just giving those away feels sour.
(Just because it takes me years to develope something doesnt mean its any good. It just means Im slow but it's still
my valued time and
my effort in the product)
About asking for help:
Lets say I have an osm Im working on but I need help solving a specific part.
As it is today its often we think. "Hmm. If I upload the whole .osm as it is I will reveal all my little secrets.. Ill skip uploading it...."
Maybe we really really need help so we start taking out parts that are secret and by this we make the whole .osm non functional. Uploading a non functioning osm is not as fun for those trying to solve your problems so you will get less help.
If we could lock modules inside our schematic we would be able to upload the whole thing but lock the modules that we dont want others to look inside. Others can test the locked modules by sending in data and looking at the outputs (eg. for trouble shooting) .
This would save us the hassle of trying to remove all the secret parts and would therefor enable us to upload a fully working osm to the forums instead of a non working, hatched up osm.
Im also thinking about the future. If we had lockable modules I think popularity of SM would reach new hights.
People love to create little mini apps, which is what modules are in a way. We could trade them like baseball cards, sell them or just give them away. We would also know that this module will always work the way we intended ( bugs included) so if someone asks for help and has the "Exo Module 415b" you would know that this particular module has a bug that prevents naked ladies from entering your lair and that this is likely to be the probably the problem with the osm.
SM could even have its own little AppStore( like Apples) were we can trade, sell or give away apps and modules and also give critics and what nots.
Lockable modules are a key for this to work.
It adds a new dimension to SM ( and I guess Flowstone)
About selling an unlocked module.
Well.
Before you buy anything from me you would need to know what it is Im selling and to know that you would need to test my modules.
If I give you an unlocked module o test and you say... neeeh. That was not what I was looking for at all......
I dont mind giving those I know a little peak or even a whole idea or system but this is not about that. This is about being able to give a complete stranger access to whatever I want to trade.
Lockable modules are a big part of a great future for SM ad Flowstone but only if they are truly lockable.