I am a 64-year-old artist and professional scientist, my life has always been less about being right and more about being less wrong.
More than adequate information was indicated in the title and in the original posting.
The burden of proof is NOT mine but upon any rebuttal.
Official MIDI 2.0 Specifications
MIDI 2.0 is an extension of MIDI 1.0. It does not replace MIDI 1.0 but builds on the core principles, architecture, and semantics of MIDI 1.0. A foundational architecture for MIDI 2.0 expansion is defined by the MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI) specification.MIDI-CI allows Devices with bidirectional communication to agree to use extended MIDI capabilities beyond those already defined in MIDI 1.0, while carefully protecting backward compatibility. MIDI 2.0 is not a stand-alone specification. Manufacturers and developers must have a thorough understanding of MIDI 1.0 in order to implement MIDI 2.0.
Unlike myself, @greaterthanzero made declarative statements with no evidence. Nothing in English grammar suggests what he said was intended to further the discussion, but rather to dismiss it.
My post’s title clearly and unambiguously invites discussion. Can you point to anything @greaterthanzero said that adds value to furthering the topic’s discussion?
His bone of contention:
(Tools and resources that exist are proprietary, owned by companies who are rightfully more concerned with their own future than in helping us compete against them)
As if that precludes any further discussion, presuming only one specific form of capitalism exists, a demonstrably false assertion by virtue of the wide range of capital ownership types used successfully over centuries of custom, law, and practice in the US.
Moreover, there have always been degrees of proprietary and shades of open-source, with no clear lines of demarcation, why @greaterthanzero believes that is even relevant to a discussion on the current state of the art in MIDI 2.0 remains unclear.
There are legal instruments called intellectual property pools that are designed to smooth the path to collaborative rapid development between even the most aggressive competitors.
I have worked hard to create a fair, just, equitable cooperative organizational architecture that while not perfect, goes a long way towards remediating the dysfunctional patent and intellectual property law of the US.
Our cooperatively managed property pool also serves as a vehicle for the donation or purchase of licensing from outside the community, in a word, I offer cooperative capitalism, economic democracy for social democracy as a practical alternative to a world epitomized by Steve Jobs unhinged “I’m willing to go thermonuclear.”
To learn more:
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
The global forum for intellectual property (IP) services, policy, information and cooperation. It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 193 member states, their mission, like mine, is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. An in-depth report on IP Pools, PDF format
About the original issue though, I believe in a free exchange of ideas as more than idle speculation as entertainment for idle curiosity. My studies led me to developed an organisational model of what is now called Participatory Action Research and Development within a cooperative cultural framework.
I seek out people without braces on their brains and who are willing to engage in an informed, productive discussion of how best to lead the target known as the future and contribute to our creation of tools that will serve them well.
Every minute I waste on people who don’t know the difference between being a sceptic and a cynic is a moment stolen from someone else whose imagination is capable of the heavy lifting and really deserves my encouragement and support. My question about remaining here was not about how I “feel” but a pragmatic valuing of time invested here.
“You never change something by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
― R. Buckminster Fuller
I have invested considerable time and at no small cost in the collaboration to design and building an ecosystem that is only possible with MIDI 2.0. It is a series of guitar controllers, synths, effects, and amplification all in dynamic communication.
It is intended by design to continue being a self-sustaining enterprise while offering a platform where not all, but the majority of key features relevant to artistic expression, hardware and software, remain open and hackable.