I'll never forget my first Heritage 3000; actually it was the first in the US. My friend George Relles saw it introduced at the 1999 Los Angeles NAMM show, pulled out his checkbook and told Bob Doyle he would buy one if they'd take off the handles and end-caps so it would turn it in a 90-inch wide bob-tail truck. It first appeared at a festival where I was mixing monitors for four bands, with no warning, no manual and no time to study it. Each band fit onto a 24×8 section of the console, which I simply routed through the matrix, with side-fills on L/R, so I didn't have to chart a thing. It was love at first sight.
Diffusion of Innovations (Everett Rogers, 1962) observes that every industry has types of customers who differ in their adoption of new products and the adoption spreads out in overlapping phases. The typical pattern begins with "innovators" (1 out of 50), who are often well funded, sophisticated, highly educated risk-takers, who are attracted to change and new experiences, using multiple information channels in their purchase decisions. They read all the magazines, check out forums, go to trade shows and enjoy manufacturer-sponsored educational seminars. Does this sound like you?
Next are the widely sought "early adopters" (one out of seven) who are well educated and choose carefully, while also relying on intuition and gut instinct. For new products (and ideas) to succeed, they must quickly move into the early-adopter phase, so that their acceptance can continue to spread by moving into the third phase. The "early majority" (one-third) wait to see if new ideas are successful in practice before accepting them, but are an important link in the later stages of the process.
The later half is comprised of the "late majority" (one-third), who aren't swayed by advertising and rely mostly on recommendations from friends and associates, followed by "laggards" (1/6), who are older, dislike change and accept new things only when forced. Sound like anyone you know?
We can't all be innovators, but there are distinct advantages to getting new products early on. Without new gear, some jobs will be out of reach from not being able to meet the spec. Or equipment must be cross-hired, helping someone else pay for the latest gear. There might not seem to be enough gigs to justify that new console or line array, but if not many have been sold, they have more value as a cross-hire. Conversely, if everyone else has one, it's more of a commodity, subject to lowest bid.
Once a new concept is proven, but not yet mainstream, the chance for it to have an impact on a business is huge, but as time goes by, businesses that continue to ignore the adoption lose the potential of its impact, eventually having to work harder to keep up.
New technology isn't like buying a new computer, where a more powerful model will come out six months from now. New technology is like buying an iPad instead of another laptop, opening up new modes of production. Looking at the adoption of technology over time, we can see the process has accelerated. Color TV took decades to catch on. VCRs took half that time and DVDs less than five years. And iPads? Fuhgeddaboutit.
The reasons for adopting new technology quickly are two-fold. First there's more time to use it. George paid $64,000 for his low serial number Heritage 3000 and used it about 80 times a year for eight years, until he bought his digital consoles. That pencils out to $100 a show. This July 4 weekend otherwise empty sound companies will be using Heritage 3000s to hold their shop door open to get a breeze. George reminds me that with the advent of digital desks, a mixing console's lifespan has shortened further.
The second reason is that, along with new technology, skills and service are what set a company apart from its competitors. However, the equipment in the spec is often what's compared in bids against rivals, rather than talent and assistance. New kit is the best way to differentiate one company from the rest.
I've been mixing on digital consoles for a while now, but I used a Heritage 3000 for the first time in ages for a 60-piece symphony pops show for Diane Schuur at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. There was a support act using it before us, so we only had 30 minutes to patch sub-snakes and move wedges, clear the console and re-program it, tweak the reverb and go. My H3000 was a long lost friend. I understand Prince still likes them, too.
Please say hello to George Relles at Front of House at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, OR this summer, where he's been for the last three decades. Ask him what's new. I'll be at InfoComm with my iPad, checking out the latest kit. See you in Orlando.
