I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"


Seriously, I think George and Frank are spot on with their MOTL and TOTL arranger sales being the norm...Tyros3 and now, the S910, are doing quite well in my district...I sold (indirectly) three 910's this past week, and a Tyros3, and interest in the new 5-series CVP is very high.

You may be right about Yamaha almost never adding features via upgrade, but, in any case, their strategy must hold some serious merit, as they are still making MOTL and TOTL arrangers, whereas, Roland, for one, has been reduced to a BOTL arranger (well, perhaps, a Low-Mid, to be more accurate).

Perhaps Korg isn't in much better shape...it's hard to make profit on free upgrades...it certainly hasn't boosted their sales by enticing PA owners to look at a new instrument.

We can speculate all we want, but you have to sell new instruments to make money...it applies for other things like cars, phones, personal listening devices, Televisions...we are dealing in electronics, and that field seems to thrive on new products.

It's why Chas wants a new VP...no free upgrades available for the old one, so instead of wasting time and bemoaning that fact, he gets a new VP...one that has the features he wants.

It also gives customer allegiance some kind of set-back, when a company drops it's flagship product(s), whether it be a G-70 or a Big Mac, especially when McNuggets (or a McPrelude ) just won't stop that hunger, and you have nothing else to replace it, in spite of the fact that the discontinued items were too heavy in fat, and expensive to make.

I hope Roland stays healthy enough to continue with MOTL and TOTL arranger instruments...as I said, competition always improves the breed, but I just can't see Roland arranger aficionados being happy with VIMA products, although, maybe Cassp is right, and it is Roland's future.

"You deserve a break today", may mean playing that "break" over VIMA technology.

Time will tell.