paulodeon

Those flashing lights are simply the way the device communicates with the user. (Presumably) in the absence of haptic feedback on the controls the device needs to feedback what it is doing to the user visually. Without screens the current method of doing that is through flashing lights. Controlling pretty much anything complex and electronic will involve some flashing lights.

It looks as if some serious thought has been given to the usability of the device for music production. If the device succeeds in allowing the musician to produce more complex, interesting and diverse sounds, everyone will be playing one, and you'll be eating your hat ;)

What this is and what's exciting about it is that it's a new human-computer-inteface designed solely for producing synthesized music.

Think about what we had before: Midi keyboards, Midi guitars, keyboards and mice, a few more interesting control surfaces and not much else.

Sure the keyboards and guitars would be good for producing keyboard and guitar sounds, but what we needed was a way to control the gamut of sounds that can be produced by a computer in a unified way. This could well be it...

Agreed, their demo was poor, but Les Paul was no Jimi Hendrix either.

I would be interested to see what sort of software comes with it and how reprogrammable it is.

While this makes perfect sense from an intellectual standpoint, pragmatically speaking it won't help you much in day to day life.

Self-centrism, while no doubt obstructive in the search for a cure to cancer can be quite useful when say, asking for a raise or deciding whether to ask that girl out.

I find it quite useful, when unsure about something, to assume the option that is most beneficial to you.

This positive self-centrism could also come in quite handy when starting a startup.

When in London, visit the British Library in Kings Cross. Free wi-fi, desks with built in sockets, pretty inspiring environs. There are a limited number of seats though, so get there early!

Of course all this has been discussed at great length by PG, not specifically to London but generally SV vs anywhere else.

The fact is that London has most of the ingredients to be a successful startup hub: capital, talent, location, and plenty of potential exit targets. What it needs is some sort of catalyst.

AFAIK London has never claimed to be some sort of startup mecca though, so I really don't know what his point is.