Posted by jan on August 02, 2002 at 01:50:30:
In Reply to: Join me in petitioning Alesis... posted by Eric on July 30, 2002 at 20:13:39:
Eric,
I like the idea! It has lots of merit, but I think it's a dead end. In these day's of cheap memory, an antiquated 8Mb PCMCIA card reader isn't going to sell. Alesis has got to get past that 8Mb limit, and (although I really like the size/convienience) maybe even the PCMCIA format.
Ideally, there should be a system upgrade that would allow expansion in the keyboard to address memory beyond the 8Mb limit. If it was a simple ROM upgrade (prefereably with a User-flashable ROM IC) great, but a "factory" hardware upgrade that replaced the PCMCIA cards, maybe to even address 128Mb 32Bit cards, would be ideal. Evne better, would be to replace the PCMICA card readers with SD card readers. (postage stamp size) Easily six SD card readers could be mounted in the space left over after a PCMCIA Card Reader-ectomy.
The sound libraries (loops) should be reworked and issued on CD or DVD and cards could be loaded by the user onto their own cards.
There could be hope, but it's far cheaper for Alesis to engineer and sell a new keyboard than do anything to update the existing, preowned systems.
: Here is a copy of an email I sent to Alesis ( info@alesis.com ):
: __________
: I am not alone in wishing I could buy a piece of QS gear that would accomodate several qcards...the more, the better!
: Ideally, a 1U rackmount breakout box with several qcard slots, that could be hooked up to an existing QS, perhaps via the serial port or Qcard slot or whatever would work. People could keep their existing QS, and buy the extra unit. Call it the "QSExpander" or something catchy.
: I am certain such a product would solidify customer loyalty, it would sell well, and there would be a corresponding spike in qcard sales as well as a demand for new qcards.
: If something like this is a technical possibility, please pursue it. I know with a ram card, the QS can address 8 extra banks, why not 8 cards of samples too? I would be willing to pay for an OS upgrade to accomodate the new unit. There could even be varying versions to accomdate varying budgets: a 4-slot version, an 8-slot version, etc.
: Even if it means making a QSR.1 or .2 that has 4 or more slots, people would buy it.
: ______
: Perhaps if enough interest in shown in a unit that has more qcard slots, they'll look into it. Please, if you agree, cut-n-paste the above message, or craft your own, and email Alesis. It only takes a minute, and if it led to something, it would be well worth it!
: Eric