With the release of the Bose L1™ Model II and T1 ToneMatch™ Audio Engine, there has been a lot of discussion on the Bose Musicians Community Message Boards. There has been a great deal excitement and some consternation. Some recurring themes are

• Give a price incentive to loyal customers of the first version of the L1™ (now known as the "Classic")
• It is too expensive
• It makes the existing models obsolete
• It is unfair to bundle the B1 with the Model II
  

I will deal with the first one here.

The suggestion takes the form that many tens of thousands of enthusiastic and loyal early adopters paved the way for the success that Bose has enjoyed with the L1™ so far. These early adopters should be rewarded for their faith and enthusiasm with price concessions on the new Model II and T1 ToneMatch audio engine products.

My take on this.

The enthusiastic and loyal early adopters  are enthusiastic and loyal because they received excellent value for their investments. They seem in the majority (from what I can tell from the Message Board), to be delighted with their purchase. Delighted enough in many cases, to take on the daunting task of trying to convince friends and band members to make a similar commitment to their art. So that suggests at the very least, that a fair and reasonable exchange has occurred.

So to those who ask for a discount for existing owners, I hope you get it, but it is more than  fair if you do.  You have already  gotten your money's worth. Is it fair to ask for more?

Two days ago marked three years since I attended the Music Is Human presentation by Bose and heard THE Linemen playing through the L1™s. That was it. In many ways that show ruined live music for me . Never again would I be able to do a live show without wishing for more. That didn't last long. The next day, I had my first L1™ and the day after that I joined the Bose Musicians' Forum.

Some milestones.

The Unofficial Bose L1™ Wiki quietly went live in August 2006.  This was the third version, but the first two did not reach wide publication. Today it  has over 200 articles, there have been 77,000 page views. and it is seeing 200-400 unique visits per day split nearly 50/50 with new and returning visitors.

The Sketcher has been through two major updates and it is more flexible and stable than ever. You can read The Sketcher chronicles for more details.

Bose hosted the Bose L1™ Musicians Conference Fall 2006 in Ashland MA in October. During the conference,

• Many of us went to a tour of Bose in Framingham MA.
• We got to hear Dr. Amar Bose talk about a range of topics.  
• We also heard Cliff Goodwin talk about performing with the L1™. 
• Ken Jacob honoured the Live Music Pioneers.
• This is when I made the first public announcment of the wiki.

Bose announced the L1™ Model II and the T1 ToneMatch™ Audio Engine at the end of March 2007. This is one of the reasons for the second major rewrite of the Sketcher.

A year ago I posted some numbers.
Here is the update:

		change
1,096	days since I got my first Bose System	+365
26,000	+ Posts read (according to my gmail inbox where all the forum notifications go)	+ 11,000
10,966	+ Posts on the Musicians' Forum	+4,666
2,224	+ Sketcher Sketches	+1,200
???	I never did count how many sketches-by-hand I did before building the Sketcher
∞	so many smiles as people came back to the forum to talk about successful gigs	No Change

About 35 years ago my boss at the time predicted  that when I was forty, he would be president of the company and that there was no way I would still be playing music. On my 40th birthday I sent him (president at that same company) a fax to let him know that he had been half right.  More than a few years later: I'm going out to play tonight, and in no small way - that is because of the L1™.