It'd be a shame for that to go to waste in future products, wouldn't it? :)

But the really scary part is... it could.

As explanation by example... the most recent corporate takeover of the radio station where I work was by the corporation that owns the greatest number of radio stations anywhere in the world -- nearly 1,000 by last count. The corporation also owns one of the better-known radio automation companies. (This is the hardware/software that is kind of like empeg/emplode on steroids -- it manages and plays all the music, the commercials, the announcer voice tracks, and accommodates the live announcer stuff as well.) At the time of the takeover, we had considerable money (hundreds of thousands of dollars) and time (several man-years) in a competing automation system which, by any objective standard was superior, both in capabilities and ease of use.

Guess what we're using now. Maybe in the long run the Corporate dictators will be proven correct, and the benefits of standardization will outweigh the disadvantages of reduced capabilities.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that things change when other people with different agendas start calling the shots.

And by the way -- I fervently hope that all you guys@empeg are getting absolutely, filthy rich over this! You have worked so hard and done such an extraordinary job over the last couple of years, nobody deserves it more than you. Hugo, get rid of that Miata and go get that Ferrari you've always wanted. Give the Miata to Rob -- I get the feeling he doesn't like Ferraris. "(PS. I'm at home, I'm not officially representing the company right now, and I'm in a bad mood because Michael took Mikka by 7/1000ths in the last 3 minutes of qualifying)." Isn't it amazing how your words can come back to haunt you?

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"