Roy Follett

Exchange versus User Group

Now that the first issue of AMPLINEX is out I would like to pen a few words why I felt, together with Kevin Doyle, that there was a need to 'talk' to other owners of Music 500/5000's. I have spent many hours sat in front my monitor struggling with a particular aspect of AMPLE and thought - someone out there must have been down this path already, and found a satisfactory answer. If only I could get together with other users.

This is when the idea of an 'exchange' first emerged. Quite by chance I was put in contact with Kevin who had had almost parallel thoughts, and we pooled our ideas on how to make it work.

I would like to try and explain what I feel is the difference between a 'User Group' and an 'Exchange'. I am, like many others, a member of Beebug, and I feel that this organisation is run (commercial considerations apart) by a group of very knowledgeable people who have a greater awareness of computing than I. Therefore, I have nothing to offer; I can only take from them. In other words I am 'using' them.

AMPLINEX, in contrast, is run by three people whose understanding of AMPLE has been learnt in exactly the same way as has its members': by struggling through the User Guide and cribbing programming techniques from other's music pieces. So, unless we have personally encountered your problem, you will not get 'expert' answers from us - only from other members who have had the same problem and have, by hard work, sorted it out for themselves. With the advent of AMPLINEX, this information can now be passed on to others in the exchange.

So don't feel that anything that you may have to offer is too trivial or that your compositions might not be up to some sort of standard. Let's have them - if only one member finds your contribution useful then THERE HAS BEEN AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS!