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Making the Sounds of Vista
Bengt writes "The sounds of Vista took 18 months to get right for Microsoft. Artist Robert Fripp recorded hours of sound, and assisted Steven Ball in choosing between several different options. A clapping rhythm was rejected for 'sounding too human', and a techno beat was removed from considering because it was just the opposite." From the article: "If it seems like overkill to go to all that trouble for a few seconds of sound, consider this: Microsoft estimates that the clips such as the e-mail alert will be played trillions of times in years to come. That's a lot of opportunity to annoy, offend -- or, if the job is done right -- please or appease computer users the world over. One major concern was that the startup sound not grow grating after a time. You want a sound that people will love the first time they hear it, but it's a paradox to also say, 'Oh and by the way, we need people to love it the tenth, or the hundredth, or the thousandth time they hear it,' Ball said."
This seems to underscore Microsoft's focus on flashiness over function, to me. I would hope that far more development would go into security, efficiency, and reliability. Adding new and exciting sounds is pretty far down the list of what would make me want to run out and buy a new OS. Especially since we've had the ability customize the sound scheme since what, Windows 3.0?
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Actually, it's nice to know that MS is paying attention to the details.
Now, whether or not they've paid attention to the right details is another question entirely... and one which will be answered shortly.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
I would recommend reducing the volume by a tiny little fraction each startup, so the more annoyed people get with it, the lower at least the volume will be...
And the investment would be wasted anyway -- startups generally happen only when you ask for them.
(That sound you hear when you turn on your Mac is NOT the operating system starting.)
you had me at #!
While I'm most likely never buying this OS, I've been a big fan of Robert "Bob" Fripp for quite some time. For those who don't know who he is, He founded one of the premier "intelligent rock" bands, "King Crimson." He also worked heavily with Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel in the 1970's, creating some of the more brilliant music of the time. His solo work (and duo) relies on something he and Eno invented called "Frippertronics" which later evolved into "Soundscapes" in the 90's. I really can't wait to hear what he's come up with on this project, creating very short sound pieces seems a bit harder than the much longer pieces he normally plays.
The title of this post is a bit of a Lark, of course it can.
My choice for the startup sound of course would be the opening section of the song "Discipline" from the "Three of a Perfect Pair" album. And perhaps a good error noise would be Belew singing, "I repeat myself when under stress I repeat myself when under stress I repeat!"
But enough of this banter.
Is there heaven? Is there Hell? Is that a Tuna Melt I smell?-Primus
We see this often with computer and programs. Thinking about how long it take a computer to boot up or wake. Thinking of how many key clicks it takes to get from one place to another. Thinking of the opportunity costs of forcing users to enter 30 character validation keys at every turn.
As long they have funded the sound as additional work, and not just redirected the effort from another project, I see this as a good sign. It could mean that MS Windows will be a tool that people like to use, and not just one they have to use.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
"One major concern was that the startup sound not grow grating after a time."
How about getting rid of the sound? What else does a startup sound inspire other than the sour feeling of having to restart the PC all the time?
The car manufacturer could hire competent mechanical engineers and cut costs in the fabric design department instead. Which might lead to a drab but technically superior car. I think that kind of decision tells a lot about a company and its priorities. Back to computers:
In the OS world, you can have
-a non-userfriendly (at least not beginner-friendly) but technically superb system. Think of classic UNIX as an example.
-or as the other extreme, a pretty, newbie-friendly but unreliable system, like Windows 9x.
Of course the differences are smaller these days. Microsoft is getting better on security and reliability, while modern Linux distributions make getting started a lot easier. But the underlying difference in philosophy still seems to be there, and my trust in Microsoft is still limited.
C - the footgun of programming languages
Microsoft missed a chance to build hype for Vista -- they could have posted all of the candidate startup sounds and then let users pick by majority vote. It would have driven a ton of traffic to their Vista promotional site. (Heck, they could have even pretended like we had a say kind of like the way management does in most of corporate America).
To me the sound they picked kind of evokes an emperor with no clothes - it is four notes long: sol-do-re-sol. Kind of sounds like a rip off of the beginning of the Gates of Kiev.
Now if you really want a cool startup sound, check this one out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt1bgsvsWms
Now that is a startup sound to make one proud.
"You can't just throw more bodies at the problem. That just makes matters worse."
The Mythical Man-Month covered this issue. Apparently some here haven't read it.
Now two things. One what MS is doing makes perfect sense when you think beyound just one person (usually the poster). Two the complaint that the OP makes sounds suspiciously like the "Those KDE guys are wasting their time. They should help with Gnome instead" argument. In which case the same counter-argument applies to this situation as the other.
why wouldn't the last step of the install process just ask you to pick a sound scheme out of a set of 10 or so different styles.
Wow.
That comment so totally captures the Linux vs. Windows desktop mindset. Yes, why not add an option in the install process to pick a sound scheme from 10 different styles? And why not also ask them what key they want it in? And what the volume should be? And whether they want it to stay at a constant volume, or whether over time it should fade down? And they may want to choose the "random sound and key" checkbox as well. Oh, and we should be sure to have an option for which device to play it through. And then there should be some radio buttons for playing only on weekends and holidays vs. work days...
Eyes on the code, hands off :)
You're talking a totally different model there. Even so, you're not throwing bodies at the problem, bodies voluntarily go looking at the problem, then if they find something, present it to the benevolent dictator to cherry pick patches. There's no real project management involved (except for the core project developers). Many of the changes just fall in their lap when someone submits them, without anyone knowing the work was even being done.
Most corporate development can't work that way.
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