3 ms·

I think their target audience are well-heeled Apple customers who like to imagine that they are musicians. Hacker culture doesn't have a "collector of expensive

I think their target audience are well-heeled Apple customers who like to imagine that they are musicians. Hacker culture doesn't have a "collector of expensive African originals" role, so "amateur who collects equipment far out of proportion to the time they invest in using any of it" has formed to collect the same psychological energy. It's about the combination of the creator fantasy on the surface backed up by the collector's motives beneath. It is a very common way to present as a consumer in hobby markets, but it has elaborated itself to a great degree in this case because hobbyist musicians aren't surrounded by retired session artists the way, for example, woodworkers are surrounded by retired tradesmen.

jahewson 2y ago
Seems a bit harsh. There’s surely more dimensions to their market than this?
- sandspar 2y ago
  He has developed a theory and would like to share it for kudos.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- whatshisface 2y ago
  I glossed over the "Apple" dimension of elevating plastic stuff to luxury goods by being amazingly careful about injection molding marks etc, but I don't know a lot about it. I think the daring fireball guy is the recognized expert on the consumer experience side of it.
  - 8note 2y ago
    The apple dimension would include selling injection molding marks as a luxury feature, if that's what their products have
- yungporko 2y ago
  there genuinely isn't, it's all overpriced shit.
jdgoesmarching 2y ago
I don’t think they make cranes tall enough to get you off that high horse. This thing is cheaper than my crappy middle school beginner trumpet was and professional musicians don’t have a monopoly on making or experimenting with music.
- whatshisface 2y ago
  I know it might come across as spoiling the fun, but I think the real story at least should appear somewhere in the threads.
kstrauser 2y ago
You’re not totally wrong, just mostly. I use Apple stuff. I bought an EP-133 at launch. That part was true. I also spent thousands of hours with a MIDI setup on my Amiga when I was in high school, teaching myself how to program the little FM synth my parents bought me for Christmas, and learning the theory of what makes a drum pattern sound good. I don’t have thousands of hours available anymore. I still want to dabble sometimes though. Those are skills I worked very hard to learn, I enjoy exercising them, and I don’t want them to atrophy. That specific Teenage Engineering device has all the things I want to play with in a single portable box that also manages to be dirt cheap for what all it does. Some people drive BMWs because they want to be seen driving them. Others drive them because — get this — turns out they’re nice cars to drive. At $300, my EP-133 isn’t exactly the BMW of musical instruments. It still does a hell of a job of scratching my musical itch. I couldn’t care less if anyone else ever sees me playing with it. I hope they never do. I got it for me, to enjoy, to make (bad) music with so I can get songs out of my head and into my ears. Sorry-not-sorry if that’s not “real musician” enough for some. I don’t care. I’m still having fun.
- rigonkulous 2y ago
  Yes, fun is the key value. It is fun to play with a music toy, with a near-useless interface, and still get 'something' out of it. That is a key factor in their design principles - make some expensive whimsical toy that GAS-afflicted punters will invest in. Meanwhile, you can spend the money on even more powerful devices and avoid the frustrating UI experience for which Teenage Engineering are infamous. Sure, you can make music with a toy - thats the beauty of music, not the toy.
- uncivilized 2y ago
  Your comparison of TE to BMW is apt. As is OP’s comparison to Apple. For those of us who have raced cars on a track, we see the BMW E36 M3 (90s) as the last proper race worthy vehicle. People who drive BMWs now just want a “nice car to drive” and spirited drivers don’t want anything to do with them. Likewise, people who use TE instruments want to feel like they are making music, even though they are not using the hardware or software conducive to do so.
speedgoose 2y ago
I don’t know, I got an OP-1 to play with many years ago and I seldomly recognise presets or effects when listening to music from talented and successful musicians. Which makes me realise that I have some skills issues when I compare with the noise I make. So they do sell to "real" musicians too.
tayistay 2y ago
Blasphemy! Thou shalt not present such claims without the proper scrolls and ledgers of sales to substantiate. Ist thou not acquainted with the more-expensive instruments of musical synthesis available?

jahewson 2y ago

Seems a bit harsh. There’s surely more dimensions to their market than this?

sandspar 2y ago
He has developed a theory and would like to share it for kudos.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
whatshisface 2y ago
I glossed over the "Apple" dimension of elevating plastic stuff to luxury goods by being amazingly careful about injection molding marks etc, but I don't know a lot about it. I think the daring fireball guy is the recognized expert on the consumer experience side of it.
- 8note 2y ago
  The apple dimension would include selling injection molding marks as a luxury feature, if that's what their products have
yungporko 2y ago
there genuinely isn't, it's all overpriced shit.

jdgoesmarching 2y ago

I don’t think they make cranes tall enough to get you off that high horse. This thing is cheaper than my crappy middle school beginner trumpet was and professional musicians don’t have a monopoly on making or experimenting with music.

whatshisface 2y ago
I know it might come across as spoiling the fun, but I think the real story at least should appear somewhere in the threads.

kstrauser 2y ago

You’re not totally wrong, just mostly. I use Apple stuff. I bought an EP-133 at launch. That part was true. I also spent thousands of hours with a MIDI setup on my Amiga when I was in high school, teaching myself how to program the little FM synth my parents bought me for Christmas, and learning the theory of what makes a drum pattern sound good. I don’t have thousands of hours available anymore. I still want to dabble sometimes though. Those are skills I worked very hard to learn, I enjoy exercising them, and I don’t want them to atrophy. That specific Teenage Engineering device has all the things I want to play with in a single portable box that also manages to be dirt cheap for what all it does. Some people drive BMWs because they want to be seen driving them. Others drive them because — get this — turns out they’re nice cars to drive. At $300, my EP-133 isn’t exactly the BMW of musical instruments. It still does a hell of a job of scratching my musical itch. I couldn’t care less if anyone else ever sees me playing with it. I hope they never do. I got it for me, to enjoy, to make (bad) music with so I can get songs out of my head and into my ears. Sorry-not-sorry if that’s not “real musician” enough for some. I don’t care. I’m still having fun.

rigonkulous 2y ago
Yes, fun is the key value. It is fun to play with a music toy, with a near-useless interface, and still get 'something' out of it. That is a key factor in their design principles - make some expensive whimsical toy that GAS-afflicted punters will invest in. Meanwhile, you can spend the money on even more powerful devices and avoid the frustrating UI experience for which Teenage Engineering are infamous. Sure, you can make music with a toy - thats the beauty of music, not the toy.
uncivilized 2y ago
Your comparison of TE to BMW is apt. As is OP’s comparison to Apple. For those of us who have raced cars on a track, we see the BMW E36 M3 (90s) as the last proper race worthy vehicle. People who drive BMWs now just want a “nice car to drive” and spirited drivers don’t want anything to do with them. Likewise, people who use TE instruments want to feel like they are making music, even though they are not using the hardware or software conducive to do so.

speedgoose 2y ago

I don’t know, I got an OP-1 to play with many years ago and I seldomly recognise presets or effects when listening to music from talented and successful musicians. Which makes me realise that I have some skills issues when I compare with the noise I make. So they do sell to "real" musicians too.

tayistay 2y ago

Blasphemy! Thou shalt not present such claims without the proper scrolls and ledgers of sales to substantiate. Ist thou not acquainted with the more-expensive instruments of musical synthesis available?