I'm afraid I have to disagree. An acoustic instrument is a "done deal" - like a piano or violin - what you get is the finished product with no possible upgrade route.aminco wrote:When developing any products , you have to make compromises. Leaving the I/O out is a logical decision. Glad they didn't bury the memory in plastic.
In the case of the wavedrum, the interface (drum head) is the only acoustic part about it. The internal workings are electronic. The fact that there IS a micro SD that can be changed by the user (as Freestok has so astutely pointed out), makes it an illogical decision purely from a business perspective. The reason this is illogical from a business perspective is because it opens another route in which to generate revenue. More loops could be sold by simply selling the end user another chip. Software that's capable of editing the files on the chip could also be sold. Firmware updates could be provided by providing a downloadable file that could be placed on the chip and - depending on the update - could prompt the end user to purchase yet more software that only runs with the new update.
Bottom line, there's lots of ways to generate revenue by making the chip available to the end user to remove/update/replace. However, the way things are, there's no upgrade path short of returning the unit to Korg and being without it for a while.
I'm not criticizing Korg, I love the Wavedrum for what it is.... and its an absolute marvel of technology. However, as a business person myself, I would have chosen the route I described above to keep revenue going, and to ensure more sales purely by virtue of the end user knowing that s/he hasn't bought something that's "complete" such as a piano or violin which has no upgrade path - it is what it is. With the world economies in shambles, any and all revenue paths should be explored and/or implemented.
