Okay how about another perspective on the devout but finite fan base of Cakewalk?

I started on Cakewalk when it was still a DOS program, complete with Greg Hendershot's name on the top page!! I followed it through normal product life cycle and watched as they patched this and duct taped that, but it really didn't change much beyond lipstick and mascara. Even when Sonar was born, it didn't do much different other than a new, fresh interface. It was still clunky to configure. But people rode it to the ground because it was what they knew and rather than (GASP!!) learn something knew that may actually (also GASP!!) be better they stuck to it. This is mindful of people who always had, currently have, and always will have a Chevy. This despite the classic failures in the brand's lifetime. The Corvair and the Vega come to mind. (An uncle was a career long tool and die design engineer, and he would not allow my cousin to drive a Corvair.) I owned a Vega, and that mismatched combination of aluminum block and cast heads. Worst design ever, but it was cheap and I needed a car.

The point of that metaphor is that Cakewalk is what Cakewalk is, and simply stated, Pro Tools is better. Without a doubt. All the horrible "Bob's DAW" level products that have their loyal following quite often have that following because they are either cheap or free. Remember, because something is YOUR favorite doesn't mean anything outside the boundaries of your yard. The logic of "It does EVERYTHING that I need it to do!" Great! But that's YOU. For the most part, people weighing in here at PG are not major players and most are hobby level players.

So Gibson acquiring Cakewalk was likely a fairly inexpensive attempt at a cash flow injection is nothing more than that. Looking around at the economy paints a vivid picture. I am not about to shell out $3500 for a product made of $200 worth of materials and labor (given that everything is batch cut on CNC machines and assembled by line level assembly workers). Used Epiphones from Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are more my speed now. And that doesn't even apply the Cheap Slovenian Quotient. In a world of "good enough" and planned obsolescence, quality doesn't matter like it did 20 years ago. Remember we are also in a time of corporate takeover and consolidation. There will come a time where Pro Tools will be the only option, and we'll be able to buy it at Best Target Buy Sears Roe-Mart with a 10% off ad we got from the News-Journal-Herald-Post-Times-Tribune. I envision a time long after we are gone that your 2 options will be a US car from RAM General Ford or an Elsewhere car from some Asian conglomerate. Excesses and repetitions tend to blend into the sameness eventually. Once the old guard who refuses to pay bills online on one of those danged computer things dies off, there will be no need for US Mail. And things like TV news and newspapers? Seriously? Everything in a newspaper happened yesterday, and I read about it 10 minutes after it happened on that new fangled invention Al Gore invented (roll eyes) called The Internet.

These mergers and acquisitions are just the current greed-based "how it is". And more of them fail than succeed. Like Cakewalk.

I STILL shake my head at people who think Epiphone is a knock off Gibson, despite Epiphone having begun production 20 years before Gibson. Amazing how little people read anymore.

Just like how you can tell someone there are millions of stars in the sky and they will believe you, but they touch a bench despite the sign that says Wet Paint.