"We're looking for feedback"

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motet
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Post by motet » Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:28 pm

I got email from MM with the subject "We're looking for feedback." "Oh good," I thought, "they care what users think." But. All it was was a vote on what to call a few menu items they're obviously adding (File->Share or File->Share Music?). Some feedback.


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miker
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Post by miker » Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:19 am

That’s right up there with, “Please hold. Your call is important to us...”
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Post by Anders Hedelin » Wed Apr 14, 2021 11:35 am

Everyone is looking for feedback these days.
"How likely is it that you would recommend our products to others?"
Honestly...
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miker
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Post by miker » Wed Apr 14, 2021 1:01 pm

I won't participate in anything that has a letter or number or stars rating. If they want my opinion in words, I may share it. But nothing that reduces me to a data point.
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motet
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Post by motet » Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:17 pm

I wouldn't have minded a "how likely are you" type survey if it really provided feedback. This this was just designed to help them name their new menu item. The least of their worries!

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:21 pm

If they really want honest and very valuable feedback about anything "Finale", all they need to do is follow this Forum (not their own). Here they will not only get valuable feedback, but they might even learn things about their product, especially things which are broken and need fixing. That should come before and bells or whistles.

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Post by Anders Hedelin » Wed Apr 14, 2021 6:22 pm

Back to the original post: I prefer File > Share Music. It's more clear (ruling out car, flat, wife etc.)
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motet
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Post by motet » Wed Apr 14, 2021 10:15 pm

Hah!
zuill wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:21 pm
...all they need to do is follow this Forum (not their own)
They're fools if they're not doing that.

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Post by BuonTempi » Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:53 am

"Sharing Music" is of course what Smart Music is all about. https://www.finalemusic.com/music-sharing/

So this new feature is likely to be a means of adding your document to your Smart Music account directly.

Of course, like any Tenor, I'm disappointed not to have been asked. :lol:

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Post by ebiggs1 » Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:28 pm

IMHO, MM has thrown all its resources in Smart Music right now. They seem little concerned about Finale except how it might interact with Smart Music.

We used Smart Music a while back, years ago, but most of the kids and parents became uninterested in using it so we abandoned it. When the virus struck we began using SM again. The new and improved SM. And, yes it is much better! However, I don't see it continuing when we get back to normal. If that is true MM is making a mistake in developing it to such a degree. At least that is our experience other districts may have different results.
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Post by ebiggs1 » Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:31 pm

As far as file or music sharing if I want to share a piece with someone I will send a pdf. I can already do that! It is unlikely I will send the mus file. But if I want to, I can already do that, too.
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Post by ebiggs1 » Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:35 pm

... they might even learn things about their product, especially things which are broken and need fixing.
IMHO, I don't think MM can fix them. If you could, why wouldn't you? I believe it is either beyond their ability or it will cost too much. One or the other perhaps both.
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Post by miker » Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:10 pm

I’ll say money. I’m sure that the current ownership is just biding their time until the profit/loss/tax situation makes it more advantageous to get out.

If they wanted to, the code could be fixed or rewritten. But it would cost major bucks. Maybe they need to hire Elbonian hackers...
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Post by Anders Hedelin » Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:23 pm

miker wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:10 pm
If they wanted to, the code could be fixed or rewritten. But it would cost major bucks. Maybe they need to hire Elbonian hackers...
Anyone heard what happens to the rewriting the code promised by MM a while ago?
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Post by miker » Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:43 pm

I suspect it got more complicated (expensive) than they expected. And since the people who made those promises are no longer around, the promises aren’t, either.
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Post by Anders Hedelin » Sat Apr 17, 2021 6:00 pm

miker wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:43 pm
And since the people who made those promises are no longer around, the promises aren’t, either.
That's sad news. I hope Finale will last as long as I will.
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Post by Anders Hedelin » Sat Apr 17, 2021 6:32 pm

ebiggs1 wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:31 pm
As far as file or music sharing if I want to share a piece with someone I will send a pdf. I can already do that! It is unlikely I will send the mus file. But if I want to, I can already do that, too.
I quite agree. I've heard that a benefit of this kind of "sharing" is that the recipient could make changes in your files, "directly". Why now would that be better than simply picking up the phone, or open up Skype, or use the old-fashioned e-mail as I do, and discuss it, before changing it? I simply don't understand. Real viruses don't contaminate through phones or the internet as far as I know.
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Post by motet » Sat Apr 17, 2021 7:08 pm

"Cloud" sharing of documents is a hot item right now. If that's what MM has planned, there's really no need for Finale to do it. It would invariable do a worse job that the specialists do.

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Post by miker » Sat Apr 17, 2021 7:11 pm

Once again, they're selling the sizzle, not the steak. I fear it will come around and bite them sometime in the future.
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Post by ebiggs1 » Sun Apr 18, 2021 3:35 pm

I hope Finale will last as long as I will.
What Finale you have should always work as well as it does right now. I suppose MM could mess up the registration system and cause all our Finales to stop working.
MM isn't a tiny company but it is small. It is worldwide. It is a $10-12 million+ dollar per year and 50 to 60 employees private company. How many are music people and programmers or coders is up for question. Sometimes I think none are!

It still brings me back to the, it costs too much to fix or they truly don't know how. I do believe MM is throwing all its resources into Smart Music and file sharing. This leaves little resources to work on Finale updates let alone fix bugs. My 2 cents and worth every penny.
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Post by zuill » Sun Apr 18, 2021 6:40 pm

They did a great deal of code modification to make file sharing almost impossible. With percussion Maps and Layouts, if you send a file to someone without your Maps (Maps don't save with a file), then you're not having a useful sharing experience. If by sharing they are only referring to SmartMusic, then maybe that is okay. However, I still think they have a long way to go to make sharing a really significant part of the Finale experience.

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