Monome

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:13 pm

this isn't directed at you so take no offense. it's just that a lot of people on the net have this smug attitude toward the us and often make comments about things they know nothing about. there are plenty of things to hate the usa for for sure but if someone is gonna be pissy toward us I'd at least prefer they know what they are talking about you know? thats not directed at you thats just kinda a rant, happens to me online all the time and it pisses me off.

kristoffer1989 · Post by **kristoffer1989** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:22 pm

GOD i want a monome!

http://www.vimeo.com/1145061

chalkline · Post by **chalkline** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:31 pm

kristoffer1989 wrote:GOD i want a monome!

http://www.vimeo.com/1145061

Edison is very good, he has some really nice stuff out.

Sorry aboout the non profit thing, I am sure I read that somewhere, but I am probably wrong. But the rest is right I think, I am not against them making profit, why shouldn't they? they Have made a product that alot of people want to be part of, they should reek some benefit from it. I can't see them making alot of profit though, especially with the small amount of units they put out, the amount of time alone put into the software such as mlr must mean that the money Brian makes to the time he puts in must be minimal!

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:35 pm

chalk - never have so many failed so hard with so little effort. just stop.

it's a for profit venture.

it's the only job they have.

there's a waiting list.

chalkline · Post by **chalkline** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:38 pm

OK its for profit, like I said earlier my mistake!
I just can't see that they makes much money out of it thats all.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:43 pm

volume pricing on parts.

have you ever costed out a PCB with a Bill Of Materials? I did it once for the monome, yes their margins are modest but apparently they can pay the rent and airfare to geek fairs.

do you argue with water that it's not wet?

I'm totally being a smart ass btw.

chalkline · Post by **chalkline** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:47 pm

Thats fine, my point was never that they were doing everyone a favour and shitting and in their own shoe, but think maybe I got a little overstated!
Hey if I could spend my life flying to geek fairs or paying for more tattoos without it killing my credit card, I would be happy
And also giving people something that they liked!

And water is greasy not wet!!!!!!!

No wait there???

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:59 pm

Tone Deft wrote:volume pricing on parts.

have you ever costed out a PCB with a Bill Of Materials? I did it once for the monome, yes their margins are modest but apparently they can pay the rent and airfare to geek fairs.

do you argue with water that it's not wet?

I'm totally being a smart ass btw.

let me think of a ballpark figure here.... I'll pull one out of my ass...

they make something like 2 or 300 monomes a year right? they probably pull around 300 profit on the 64, 450 on the 128 and around 7 or 800 on the 128 (insane ballpark assumptions of course) so lets see....lets make that an average offfffff 516 in profit per machine depending on what kind it is I'm thinking averages. so 300 x 514 would be 154,200. dollars profit a year if they were to make 100 of each unit in that year. factor in all the labor and the fact that they are splitting it a few ways they aren't really getting rich but they certainly aren't in the poor house either.

I know thats an extra ass pulled figure but it's just a brainstorm to get an idea. that doesn't factor in the kits they sell.

landrvr1 · Post by **landrvr1** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:18 am

Johnisfaster wrote:this isn't directed at you so take no offense. it's just that a lot of people on the net have this smug attitude toward the us and often make comments about things they know nothing about. there are plenty of things to hate the usa for for sure but if someone is gonna be pissy toward us I'd at least prefer they know what they are talking about you know? thats not directed at you thats just kinda a rant, happens to me online all the time and it pisses me off.

Ouch. This is ME. Mr. USA around this forum. Captain America! Uncle Sam! Mom, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet! The guy who hates America but isn't afraid to raise the flag when some Euro Douche gets all uppity.

Man. My Ego! My Ego! Bruised! Bruised!

*landrvr1 hangs his head in humility and shame*

Okay, let me clarify my earlier statement then.

It's cool that they don't want to exploit workers in other countries, support controversial governments - and be sensitive to the environment by not using labor in a country that dumps raw sewage into the water systems.

Cool.

But.

When one wants to take such a bold position (that verges on finger-pointing), one needs to be very careful. People in glass houses.....

We may not exploit our workers (except the illegals, of course), but

...support controversial governments

and

...leads to destructive environmental practices

Plenty of those 2 items to go around here in the USofA.

Well, 1 out of 3 ain't bad I suppose.

I applaud their business model. I just find that verbiage to be a bit self serving and bizarre. It's like Uber Liberal Flag Waving - if there is such a thing. God Forbid.

...

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:30 am

like I said it wasn't directed at you it was just a rant on the all too common finger pointing at the usa with nothing to back it up. you just reminded me of how much that bothers me. if you're going to say we exploit our workers then be a little more specific with it and maybe I'll back you up.

all governments are controversial. they all have a little bit of shadiness going on. I'm not saying that makes anything we do okay I'm just saying don't just point the finger at us without first considering it.

now if I was to say "the us government is pretty controversial" I would follow it up by pointing out "slavery, genocide, concentration camps for the chinese, how many questionable wars?, the only country on the planet to drop the A bomb" just to name a few. and that would make my point valid

thats all I'm saying, back up what you say.

but once again the rant wasn't directed totally toward you, it was just a rant on a sore subject for me.

landrvr1 · Post by **landrvr1** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:13 am

Johnisfaster wrote:like I said it wasn't directed at you it was just a rant on the all too common finger pointing at the usa with nothing to back it up. you just reminded me of how much that bothers me. if you're going to say we exploit our workers then be a little more specific with it and maybe I'll back you up.

all governments are controversial. they all have a little bit of shadiness going on. I'm not saying that makes anything we do okay I'm just saying don't just point the finger at us without first considering it.

now if I was to say "the us government is pretty controversial" I would follow it up by pointing out "slavery, genocide, concentration camps for the chinese, how many questionable wars?, the only country on the planet to drop the A bomb" just to name a few. and that would make my point valid

thats all I'm saying, back up what you say.

but once again the rant wasn't directed totally toward you, it was just a rant on a sore subject for me.

It's like I'm lecturing myself. God. I'm standing in a mirror and lecturing myself.

This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I would say.

Freaky. Scary.

Am I in the Twilight Zone right now?

...

...

landrvr1 · Post by **landrvr1** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:16 am

Anyway, I haven't read much about programming the Monome, but isn't it kind of a bitch? Don't you have to have a working knowledge and own a copy of MAX/MSP?

I mean, you Pays Your Moneys and....does it work right away? Create sounds? MIDI sync?

...

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:02 am

....and I'm back

Let me throw another card in the speculative hat. Obviously these are creative people and when I took creative aptitude tests in my brief brush with college "repetitively soldering shit" was second to the bottom of the list of enjoyed creative activities, beat out by "making a marriage last". I bet they hate building these things. Imagine if you wrote a hit song but had to mix it from scratch 100+ times every few months because of consumer demands. This is why they released the Fuck This, Build It Yourself Kit. So why don't they just sell the Fuck This, Build It Yourself Kits from now on? Because "just packing shit in boxes" was the third least enjoyed creative activity on the list.

With a little more effort and can do attitude they could be the Myspace Tom of controllers.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:32 am

that might explain the limited numbers of devices produced a year. "fuck this, we'll do 1,000 a year (~3/day), we scored too high on the marriage test to do more."

very unique situation they're in, music geek pop stars. if ya gotta have a job might as well be a business selling/making/packaging something you made.

how much do you think they've spent on marketing? nothing? kewl.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:42 am

I know at least 10 Nguyens that could build 15 of those a day. Lazy Americans.

I'll completely change sides on this argument in October when I'm doing live shows slicing up "This is art, assholes" voice loops with my monome.