Sep
16
Written by:
masterblogger
9/16/2011 8:01 AM
BY CRAIG ANDERTON
1
We can all get
along. How can a
quarter-century-old
computer-based
protocol remain
relevant? Everyone
else got it wrong:
Betamax vs. VHS. Blu-
Ray vs. HD. SACD vs.
whatever-that-otherformat
was. The music
industry got it right:
Roland and Yamaha
and Sequential and
Korg and E-Mu and...
2
The Force was
with it. MIDI
appeared pretty much
concurrently with FM
synthesis, sampling,
the Mac, cheap
microprocessors, and
more. MIDI wasn’t
only in the right place
at the right time—it
led a movement.
3
No one had to fall
on their sword if
it flopped. MIDI
was dirt cheap to
implement. If it ended
up being a big deal,
cool. If it was an epic
fail, no heads would
roll at Corporate.
4
The parents
stayed involved.
The International
MIDI Association
is one of the few
bureaucracies in the
history of civilization
that did more good
than harm, as it kept
the spirit of industry
cooperation alive
to keep pushing the
MIDI spec forward
(see next).
5
It got down and
dirty with Darwin.
Like bacteria on
crack, MIDI mutated,
evolved, grew, and
changed with the
times. So what if it’s
still officially called
Version 1.0?