This also (at least for me) is the joy of esoteric and weird programming languages!
Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
31–40 of 207 posts
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#32I too would live in a pinterest-ready castle filled with toys but i dont have the stomach to rip off customers as shamelessly as TE is. The B&O of our generation.
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#33I too would live in a pinterest-ready castle filled with toys but i dont have the stomach to rip off customers as shamelessly as TE is. The B&O of our generation.
But, people pay for it. They want the whittled down, inspiring experience without any of the effort or trouble. I sympathize with those people, but Teenage Engineering's products are like the Disney Star Wars hotel of audio equipment. It's a one-of-a-kind, pretty-looking, dumbed-down, expensive scam. Some people will defend it, and particularly affluent guests might even say it's worth the money. Undeniably though, much like every Disney park, TE's product line is built to fleece the customer.
I've got half a mind to chew Moog out for the same thing, but they have legitimate excuses for why their instruments can't be mass-produced. Teenage Engineering doesn't.
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#34Reminds me about my neighbor who designed and then sold a batch of portable modular synths: https://www.modernsounds.co/pluto amazing work and so cool that that sort of thing is possible from a solopreneur these days.
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#35I too would live in a pinterest-ready castle filled with toys but i dont have the stomach to rip off customers as shamelessly as TE is. The B&O of our generation.
Value has no objective correlate: it is a construct agreed upon by the seller and buyer.
"Overpriced," "rip-off," and their ilk seem to me ad hominem attacks by people who don't meet at "sold."
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#36I play my OP-1 during meetings and while waiting for things to compile. It’s one of my favorite objects, I often get lost with it.
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#37I too would live in a pinterest-ready castle filled with toys but i dont have the stomach to rip off customers as shamelessly as TE is. The B&O of our generation.
Yep. Ostensibly there's nothing wrong with making pricy hipster audio equipment, but the rampant success of their marketing just makes me facepalm. People out there genuinely think the OP-1 is a $1000 product in 2023, which should inspire riots in the street. The OP-1 Field raising the price instead of lowering it is the last nail in the coffin for me. $800 is a pricy toy - $1500+ puts you in brand-new Octatrack terr…
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#38The photography of this is interesting. I'm not sure I'd know how to approach this assignment (I might start with rapport and portraiture in the space), but some things I noticed on different photos: * Warm vintage color cast on the '70s-looking gear wood panel. * On-camera-flash-like directional lighting, with harsh shadow (maybe to separate person from gear background, but both in focus?). * Contrast and saturation…
All of which says "stylised and arty" and is a look much used in The Wire and similar publications. I'm kind of irritated by this. TA are legendary for super-expensive toy-like products that must have insanely high margins. So somehow the "I was never into money (but now I collect antique synthesizers with four or five figure price tags)" line doesn't ring entirely true.
Just goes to show that you can take pretty much anything, market it to relatively affluent and bored tech workers and make a killing.
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#39I play my OP-1 during meetings and while waiting for things to compile. It’s one of my favorite objects, I often get lost with it.
Your coworkers don't have a problem with you being distracted and wearing headphones during a meeting?
Re: Interview with the founder of Teenage Engineering
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep. Ostensibly there's nothing wrong with making pricy hipster audio equipment, but the rampant success of their marketing just makes me facepalm. People out there genuinely think the OP-1 is a $1000 product in 2023, which should inspire riots in the street. The OP-1 Field raising the price instead of lowering it is the last nail in the coffin for me. $800 is a pricy toy - $1500+ puts you in brand-new Octatrack terr…
shouldn't there be a normally priced equivalent product on the market? it's not like we're talking about cutting edge silicon here
I could name a dozen grooveboxes that can be had for under $300 today, but it's all sorta besides the point. People want the OP-1 because it's what they see on YouTube, not because it makes music. Considering how long the product has stagnated, I see no reason that it should cost as much as it does today.