WiFi Fender strat?

[M19]

http://on.wsj.com/2vBy3Ue

[muscmp]

i don't have a WSJ account to view it.

sounds like they are just taking modeling and eliminating the cable. but, i'm guessing since i can't read the article. i'll have to google it to read elsewhere.

play music!

[M19]

Try it now. Used their share link.

[jaybones]

Still wants me to sign in...

Can you cut and paste from the article?

My guess is that they're coming out with amps that will be able to connect with the intraweb for downloads instead of using a USB cable.

And the guitar would be able to play wirelessly over a LAN or Bluetooth.

But then we'd blame out lack of tone or skill on latency, or even worse we'd get hacked and end up sounding like a guyagem through the amp.

[M19]

From the WSJ:

Fender Amps Up Its Digital Play
By Angus Loten
Jul 24, 2017 12:01 pm ET
6 COMMENTS

'Fender at its core is a tech company,' says Ethan Kaplan, director of the instrument maker's tech unit, Fender Digital.

Fender Musical Instruments Corp. has tapped cloud computing, data analytics and other digital capabilities to launch a personalized guitar learning platform, its first revenue-generating digital service, the company said.

Best known for its iconic guitars, the 70-year-old Scottsdale, Ariz., company is following other firms in a range of industries that are leveraging digital technology not merely to revamp internal processes, but to create and drive entirely new revenue streams.

The platform, dubbed Fender Play, collects data provided by users, such as preferred instruments and musical genres, to develop a customized curriculum of personal learning “paths” that focus on song-based teaching methods, core techniques, and a catalog of hundreds of songs arranged for players at different skill levels. It can be accessed on desktop computers, smartphones and other mobile devices.

Users can track their progress in real-time via a dashboard, with access to high-definition videos, a glossary of terms and chords, and other resources.

“Fender at its core is a tech company,” said Ethan Kaplan, director of Fender Digital, a tech unit launched two years ago, citing company founder Leo Fender’s background as radio repairman.

None of the learning platform’s features would be possible without cloud storage, deep level analytics, and data and content management, which were “all built from scratch” – though supported by the company’s existing IT infrastructure, he told CIO Journal.

“Every day we work with the CIO and IT team” who manage an “IT infrastructure and a global supply chain with over a thousand-person logistics machine that can take a small plank of wood and spit out a guitar,” he said.

Fender sells guitars, amplifiers and other products through a network of about 13,000 independent music retailers, as well as online sales and through national music stores.

New digitally-driven revenue streams offer a key area of growth for the company. Five years ago, it withdrew a planned initial public offering of up to $200 million, citing poor market conditions. The company at the time was looking to repay debt and build working capital.

Launched July 6, Fender Play is a subscription-based model that enables recurring revenue, Mr. Kaplan said. It is part of a growing suite of digital products and services, he added.

Among these is a cloud-enabled amplifier that connects to Wi-Fi and provides automated updates for digital music samples and effects.

“The world is going in a digital direction and we wanted to keep up with that,” said Mr. Kaplan. “The music space is evolving and we’re evolving with it,” he said.