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First Cakewalk, Now This!


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First it was Cakewalk that stopped development and are now in a transition stage. Today, I see that Hobbico is filing for Chapter 11. In addition to music, I also like to build models. That includes model rockets, plastic models (mostly airplanes but some cars) and an occasional balsa airplane. Hobbico is the parent company for Estes Model Rockets (which they are supposedly trying to sell), Cox models, Hasegawa, Monogram, Revell and Top Flite among others. 2017 ended on sour note with Cakewalk, and 2018 is starting off on a sour note with Hobbico.

 

Hobbico Announcement (for any interested hobbyists in the group)

https://www.hobbico.com/company-news.php

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Hobbico is a bit like Gibson - it owns a bunch of companies including Revell, Estes and others (but not Testors which is part of Rust-Oleum). Unfortunately we often don't realize that companies like Revell, Estes and Cakewalk are part of a much large corporate umbrella as they keep their small company identity. It is only when the mega-corp fails that the smaller ones get sweep up in the downfall. Reading the Hobbico announcement was very similar to the Cakewalk one - same corporate-speak about how they are the leading "whatever" in their field, but have to much debt to stay open for business.

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So is Cakewalk dead forever, will they be sold off or dealt with in some other fashion? I always liked Cakewalk and used it for years dating back to MSDOS but when I starting using computers at live gigs I switched to Macs and DP for the obvious reasons people here would understand.

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So is Cakewalk dead forever, will they be sold off or dealt with in some other fashion? I always liked Cakewalk and used it for years dating back to MSDOS but when I starting using computers at live gigs I switched to Macs and DP for the obvious reasons people here would understand.

 

History says no, they pretty much hang on to technology until it's obsolete.

 

A few of the companies have resurfaced, Oberheim synths, and Standel amps, but companies like Opcode withered away.

 

Most software developers will not depend on musicians for their career.

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ACK! When I was a kid I musta built well over a hundred model Planes, Cars, and Boats ....Mostly Revell. had Cox gas planes and cars...I still have Estes rocket motors in the garage that my boy and I used when he was a youngun.

 

Sad News!!! smiley-sad

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Carvin bit the dust, and my beloved Parker guitars are now orphans as well. Master Tracks Pro is gone and I still use an old version on an old computer. Radio Shack has turned into a phone store and the mega-malls are biting the dust.

 

I don't miss the mega-mall but Cakewalk, Master Tracks Pro, Carvin Audio and Parker Guitars are things I wish were still here.

 

The convenience of stopping at a local Radio Shack and getting parts in a hurry is gone, but they were often not the best quality anyway. But in an emergency they worked.

 

What disturbs me most is that paying gigs for musicians seem to be headed that way. DJs, Open Mic Night, TV-Land (sports bars), Karaoke, and at home Cable TV with theater sized screens, surround sound, and a monthly ticket price of up to $300 is killing the live entertainment industry.

 

But that's life I suppose.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

 

 

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ACK! When I was a kid I musta built well over a hundred model Planes, Cars, and Boats ....Mostly Revell. had Cox gas planes and cars...I still have Estes rocket motors in the garage that my boy and I used when he was a youngun.

 

Sad News!!! smiley-sad

 

Same here - when I was a kid I built a ton of Revell models (I was a "Master Modeller" in their club - anyone else remember that?), had a couple of different Cox gas planes and I built and flew a bunch of Estes rockets too.

 

I don't know if kids today are as into those hobbies as we were back then, but I had a lot of fun with those things.

 

I'm sad to hear their parent company is having to file for Chapter 11. :(

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I don't know if kids today are as into those hobbies as we were back then, but I had a lot of fun with those things.

 

 

My grandson is 9 and I have tried to get him interested in model building. He will start something, then after 15 minutes he is off to do something else. He's a smart kid, but today it is harder to get them to do anything that does not involve a computer screen.

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My grandson is 9 and I have tried to get him interested in model building. He will start something, then after 15 minutes he is off to do something else. He's a smart kid, but today it is harder to get them to do anything that does not involve a computer screen.

 

That's pretty much what I figured. Maybe Revell can come up with a model that you design yourself using a computer, and then print out the parts using a 3D printer? And maybe Estes can have a launching and trajectory mapping app...

 

I say that only half in jest... ;)

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And maybe Estes can have a launching and trajectory mapping app...

 

There are actually a number of software programs dealing with rocketry that you can buy or find for free. One of the best is OpenRocket (http://openrocket.info/). It is a free open source project that allows you to design a model rocket, determine whether it is stable, and conduct simulated flight testing under a variety of conditions. It is very well done.

 

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The issue seems to be having the patience to actually do the building. The software they get and understand, but then don't want to take the next step to actually build and fly and see if the rocket flies as well in simulation as under real conditions. There is always a difference. But today, it seems there are few willing to take that next step.

 

The ironic thing is that back in the 70s and 80s we had the formulas available to do the stability and performance calculations. We would sit down and do the math with pencil and paper (if we were lucky we had a calculator). It could take a while to run the calculations. Today, as long as it works on the computer they are satisfied.

 

It seems we see the same thing in music. Fewer seem willing to take the time to learn an instrument. Instead they use loops, etc. Just like few folks learn to try any programming, but instead rely on others to do it for them - even simple things like macros or functions in spreadsheets.

 

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I was in the rocket club in high school (1958-1960) at a time when amateur rocketry was becoming popular. I joined because it had absorbed the ham radio club the year before I entered that school. It was kind of fun.

 

We had two well tested (by club members) solid fuel designs that members could build in the school shop after school, and had built a test stand out behind the football field. Three or four times a year we went to a nearby (but not TOO nearby) army weapons testing facility and fired off our rockets. I built a miniature radio transmitter with a temperature sensor that we sent up, but the rocket didn't go up high enough before the fuel ran out to measure much change in temperature.

 

We also constructed an Operation Moonwatch station on the roof of the school and were the first in the area to track the first Russian satellite, Sputnik. Life magazine did a big story on the club, and there was a film of once of our rocket firing on the local TV news.

 

 

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