ChucK is for smart but lazy people who coast on their intelligence and don't care if they never make a difference in the world.

Guilty as charged. Well, ok, one shouldn't call oneself "smart", especially not when one makes as many stupid mistakes as I do... but still, laziness is supposed to be a prime virtue for programmers and I'm really quite lazy. I take lots of smoking breaks (some quite long, I've got tabacco pipes within reach), stare ahead of me, maybe scribble on a paper (in a way too lazy to care whether anyone will be able to read it) and then type as few lines as I can get away with. I tend to try to type them to cater to my laziness; Ideally I don't want to have to change them but if that should come to pass I hope it'll take as little efford as possible. ChucK is a great language for smart but leazy people, I hope this guy sends all such people our way, I read there are many.

And well, making a difference in the world.... Very few people ever do (at least on a worldwide scale), and I kinda suspect that those who did/do were doing what they liked so setting out to "make a difference in the world" speciffically seems like a recipy for disapointment to me. Personally I'm happy to make a difference to a few people on a dancefloor for a hour or so, or perhaps provide with a new idea or two at a "listening concert". I'm content with that.


Fuck ChucK.

Let's see; I've got this feeling ChucK and me understand eachother quite well, we've been together for a few years now, spending many emotionally intimate sleepless nights, and probably will be for a at least a few years more... I'd almost wonder why we don't! It's probably my tendency to point out ChucK's weaknesses, that never goes over well in relationships... aside from this one, so far.

This writer has another great point about MIDI; MIDI in ChucK could be made more accessible and more like the HID interface with more explicid ways to deal with MIDI clock and other non-three-byte-messages... It does seem a bit behind on the rset. But then again, I don't consider myself much of a "working musician" so perhaps I'm not allowed to speak. I may get paid but I tend to look at myself as a "playing musician" more then a "working" one...

Great points all 'round and with a nice video of Plasticman as a somewhat unrelated bonus. I wasn't so much into this piece but I've got a soft-spot for the "concept" series so it was interesting to see what he's up to.

I hope this guy (or gall) writes more on this subject, (s)he seems quite insightfull to me. Personally I've been "wanking my stick" while fantasising about music quite a lot, I even got to write a small text about it; http://leonardo.info/lmj/lmj18contribnotes.html (scroll down or search for my name). It's great! I wouldn't have it any other way. typically in the spur of the moment I don't love it, that comes with time or trusting in feedback but I don't see a problem with that, that seems borderline universal in artists.

Cheers,
Kas.