案例库 · 产品与设计 · 战略决策 · 1981-1983
这条还没译成中文，下面是英文原文。
MIDI let every synth talk to every synth, and the industry agreed to share it
Sequential, Roland and rivals published MIDI 1.0 in 1983, one simple open serial protocol, ending proprietary synth interfaces and creating a 40-year standard.
Sequential Circuits · Roland · MIDI Manufacturers Association
那一手
From the start of voltage-controlled synthesis, each manufacturer used its own control-voltage and trigger standards, so a Prophet could not drive a Jupiter and a Yamaha could not talk to a Roland. In autumn 1981 Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits outlined a Universal Synthesizer Interface (USI) to fix this, as the music press reported at the time.
At the January 1982 NAMM convention, representatives of Sequential, Roland, Oberheim, Yamaha, Korg, Kawai and others debated a high-speed serial interface; the result became MIDI. The first public demonstration came at Winter NAMM in January 1983, connecting a Prophet-600 to a Roland Jupiter-6, and the MIDI 1.0 specification was published later that year.
MIDI 1.0 defined a core data format for messages and a serial transport over 5-pin DIN connectors, and the organizations involved kept it open to the public; the Japanese committee insisted MIDI should remain open. The MIDI Association describes it as the outcome of collaboration between various manufacturers and still maintains the standard today.
为什么管用
- One shared interface grew the whole synthesizer market instead of fragmenting it.
- Keeping the spec open meant no maker had to fear a competitor's licensing veto.
- A simple serial transport was cheap enough for every instrument to implement.
可以搬走什么
A standard wins when the incumbents agree to compete on instruments, not on connectors: sharing the interface grew the whole market, and openness let every manufacturer adopt it without fear.
后来呢
MIDI became the universal language of electronic instruments, sequencers and computers. The MIDI Manufacturers Association still maintains MIDI 1.0 and has extended it with MIDI 2.0, and four decades on, the 1983 protocol remains the industry's connective tissue across hardware and software.
资料来源
- MIDI 1.0 (specification overview, first published 1983)
- Enter the MIDI! (Electronics & Music Maker, April 1983)
- MIDI History Chapter 7: MIDI Associations (1983-1985)
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