This is exactly it. The reason people’s feature requests go unanswered most of the time is because, technically speaking, they’re just fanciful requests. That is to say, there’s nothing broken per se (nothing major anyway), it’s just that they would prefer something be changed or augmented about the existing functionality, based on their personal workflow or (sometimes misguided) expectations. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with aspiring to greater things and voicing an opinion in hopes of being heard - and certainly limitations, if only perceived rather than actual, can be frustrating - but that has little to do with product development from a logistical standpoint.
I was successful, for instance, negotiating for bug-fixes on behalf of the Tempest community, only because I was staunchly focused on fixing bugs (and there were A LOT of them), not adding new features. Anything that wasn’t in the original Manual was simply not a priority, unless it was directly causing problems with basic functionality. In fact, I wanted several features removed, not fixed. The community, however, shot themselves in the foot, so to speak, because they made so much noise about what they thought the Tempest should have been, rather than focusing on what it was: i.e. user samples come to mind… Ahem! Hell, I remember a guy who kept derailing the conversation with requests for an audio input (rolling my eyes).
By contrast, I’ve been using the MPC Live for the better part of a couple months now, and aside from a corrupt project (which, to be fair, was surely the fault of my SD card), I have experienced nothing that I would consider a show-stopping bug or broken feature. That’s not say that I don’t see room for improvements, but I’m not about to hold Akai accountable to my vision of their box.
People have asked me (here and elsewhere, both publicly and privately) to take up this fight with Akai, but I honestly don’t feel as though there’s a fight to be had. I was also solicited, a couple years ago, to campaign for features in the new Electribes. Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m humbled and flattered that people would want me for the job (grin). However, I also own an Electribe 2, and I personally think it’s a very capable groovebox; especially considering the price point. There’s simply nothing wrong with it; nothing worth kicking up a fuss about anyway.
My favourite thing to say, with regards to the perceived “limitations” of modern tech (and how people feel impeded by said limitations), is that far greater music has been made with far less. A good craftsman, as they say, never blames his tools (wink).
Anyway, I’m just making conversation…
Cheers!
*Edit: Sorry, nothing changed, just clicked on the wrong post (smirk).