The Smooth DJ

Even though there's been an unofficial deathwatches for the OS for at least 5 years (probably 10), the MSM has picked up the meme now that Google is proudly marching out their new Chrome browser.

Chrome is a smart play by Google. It's a natural extension of organizing information, which is what Google strives to do. And Chrome is getting raves for it's speediness and neat features like incognito mode.

So, are OSes really obsolete? I've been pondering this question for some time. In a sense, relinquishing our computing entirely to the clouds with a mix of surfing and rich internet applications isn't a technical leap. And for most of us, email-surf-post-IM-streaming are 95% of our activities anyway.

But that's personal computing. What about corporate or power computing? And privacy? There's quite a few situations that benefit greatly from having an OS controlled microprocessor on your desk - you need "oomph" to edit video, photos, play games, and if you're an engineer, to code, run simulations, etc. Let's not even talk about the bandwidth requirements of an all-cloud ecosystem. Yikes.

So sure, there will be a market for thin-clients that connect to the clouds with essentially just a browser on it, but microprocessors and the OSes that sit on them will be here to stay. And while Windows is a horrid OS that the world can do without, efficient, light, or highly vertical OSes (optimized for gaming, multimedia, etc) will likely stick around.

For now, this will serve as the course blog. View the course description and register here.

Check out our syllabus here [pdf].

I predicted 18 months ago that gaming would be a part of Apple's competative strategy, and I was right. In fact, I called Apple "Sony 2.0" before the first iPhone was even announced.

Now I'm wondering if Apple will go full console like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. If they are presenting the App store as a gaming marketplace, it would make sense to have console like experiences in the home through AppleTV.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for a great first class. I think we're off to a good start. So, next class is next week, October 4th.

First week assignment - play around with importing your own music to Ableton, and "warp" those markers so the songs are lined up with the master tempo. Then look for interesting loops in that song, cut and paste that track down one vertical "Audio Track", and find other loops that you like (this is deconstructing the song into loops). Now you can trigger a bassline or vocals when you're DJing.

Remember, with Ableton we're always DJing with loops.

Next bring in another track (or 2 or 3) and do the same thing. Play with how and where you introduce these songs into your mix. That's it. If you like what you have, play it for the class. We'll talk more about mixing techniques and monitoring next class, as well as how to use physical controllers.

Also, don't forget our "Breakers" segment - that's where you break new tracks/artists that you have dug up, or your own music or compositions. This is part of your grade, so don't forget. Ideally, it's new stuff, but it doesn't have to be. If you've dug rare stuff, you can drop that too.

Just use the comment section of this post to post questions, and Al and I will respond to them.

-G