ajxs
Joined 8 years ago
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683
Member since
Jul 12
Recent submissions
Comment · 13 days ago
> ...we would be working with plugin based browsers rather than built-in to the hood...
How is that different from sites using Java applets, which were pretty much universally loathed when we had them?
> ...Tcl...
How is Tcl better than Javascript?
> ...Flash...
I'm not sure I really understand what point you're making here. Are you saying that the native browser APIs evolving to make Flash obsolete is a bad thing? If I'm reading you correctly you're saying that websites being free to use their own proprietary plugins is somehow better than HTML5/Javascript?
Comment · 14 days ago
Is that really accurate? In a world where HTML5 never happened, how would XHTML/XSLT solve the same problems that modern front-end Javascript frameworks do (interactive data-driven websites)? I say this as someone who thinks XSLT is a really useful technology, and doesn't want it to be deprecated.
Comment · 1 month ago
You're right. NED's Synclavier I (1977) was on the market before the Yamaha GS1, but unfortunately for them, Yamaha had already licensed the patent four years earlier (1973).
Check out how complex the design of the Synclavier is: http://www.studiorepair.com/gallery/misc/NED_Synclavier_II/ (and this is the more modern Synclavier II!) It's huge, and cost a fortune. I'd totally understand a company not wanting to manufacture and market it.
Comment · 1 month ago
> Is this really the "official" reason, or your interpretation?
Stanford did reach out to the American synth manufacturers looking for a company to license the patent. If I recall correctly, the problem wasn't that they didn't get it, the problem was that they weren't interested in, or capable of, building digital synths^1. At that time manufacturing LSI chips for synthesisers was absolutely cutting edge, and Yamaha had taken a major gamble in developing their in-house semiconductor manufacturing capability. Because of that, Yamaha were pretty much the only synth company capable of doing it.
1: The prototypes for the first-generation Yamaha FM synths were built with discrete components, and were enormous. It's understandable that it wouldn't be economical unless you could manufacture your own LSI chips.
Comment · 1 month ago
Pardon me. I actually pronounce it heitsh, but I don't think there's a concensus among Australians about that.
Comment · 1 month ago
I'm Australian, and I say 'A Hotel', and 'A Herb'. Until very recently, I'd never heard anyone ever say it differently.
Comment · 1 month ago
If you think that's surprising, what about the fact that they're still maintaining ColdFusion? https://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion-family.html
Comment · 1 month ago
Around the time this page was written I was still building enormously graphic-rich websites in Adobe Flash, which was my first introduction to real programming. For whatever reason, despite most of Flash's functionality being incorporated into (and deployment issues being resolved by) modern Javascript, I've done a complete 180 and gone in the other direction. All of my hobby web-design is completely Spartan in comparison. Almost as a rebellion against the excesses of the modern web, so many developers now pride themselves on how minimal we can make our sites!
Comment · 2 months ago
It's a really good question why Casio didn't continue making synths after the 80s. It's possible that the entire CZ-line was intended to be a one-off response to Yamaha's breakaway success with the DX7. After the CZ-line, it looks like Casio tried to keep up with Yamaha for a few years, but exited the market after Yamaha launched the SY-line. From what I understand, the CZ-series were great sellers then, but even with all of the nostalgia they'd never move large numbers now.
For what it's worth, Yamaha aren't particularly nostalgic about their cult-classic synths either. I guess that from their perspective, the DX7 and CZ-101 were already obsolete within a few short years. By 1990 the sound had already become quite dated, and technology had moved on. Now that they've become popular again as a cult-classic, the margin just isn't there anymore because of the market share of software, or cheap independent FM/PD synths.
Shameless plug, in case anyone is interested, I've done some work reverse-engineering some of these synths:
- https://github.com/ajxs/casio_cz101_rom_disassembly
- https://ajxs.me/blog/uCOM-87_The_Strangest_Architecture_Youv...
Comment · 2 months ago
Here's an article about this: https://www.michaelgale.dev/blog/releasing-an-album-on-flopp...
Comment · 3 months ago
In case you want a webring, but don't feel like setting up your own server to run it, I run a webring hosting service that you might find useful: https://webri.ng/
Comment · 4 months ago
Thanks for sharing! What was your role at Hyde Field?
Comment · 4 months ago
The Sequential Prophet X is another modern synth with a full-blown x86 PC running inside it. You can see the mainboard in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8QDCocnt0M
Comment · 4 months ago
Really awesome work! A simple OS for retro x86 hardware is a really cool project! I wish I still had some era-appropriate hardware I could test-drive it on.
Comment · 5 months ago
When the author says 'I tend to run older hardware', how old do they mean? I'm typing this message right now on my Thinkpad x220 from 2011, which is unfortunately too old to run Zed because its internal Intel HD graphics card doesn't support Vulkan. I'd be an everyday user if not for this.
Blog: https://ajxs.me