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And yet they work on some of the most complex, hostile environments and typically operate safely.

I was consulting at BP back in 2002 - even back then the health and safety environment inside their offices (I was all over the world with them) was the same as their oil rigs ... no trip hazards go unreported, always hold the handrails, always cover a hot drink, no calls in the car even with handsfree, very low speed-limits (with cameras) on-site etc - it's lived with me all my days and is very valuable safety advice TBH - none of it was theatre.

Also, every meeting would start with a safety announcement, all fire exits would be noted etc. I've also worked for BHP in Oz and it was exactly the same - drill this into everyone and the risk of an accident is reduced

There were lots of I, Robot cabinets in the UK. I loved it - was mindblowing! Was also ported to various home computers

Chris! So lovely to see you here - I love not only your plugins, but your attitude and videos. Thank you!

Exactly! Great for the kids - my 9 year old son loves it. Even though he's got all the hardware here as well, he much prefers giggling away sitting in front of the computer, so much easier entry point!

Not sure on how much use it is without Ableton, sorry - I'll need someone else to answer that

Ableton's online tutorial is also wonderful! https://learningsynths.ableton.com/

Ableton Push is absolutely fantastic - the original v1 device is pretty inexpensive as a used purchase, and it's still masses of fun. Very well built as well

Good call out - I was also going to make a comment about the importance of effects, but as the article is trying to keep things simple, I didn't want to complicate matters!

The Valhalla DSP effects are fantastic value, and SuperMassive, my absolute favourite, is also free as in beer. I suspect Sean reads HN https://valhalladsp.com/

I met the founder(s) of ArchiPro at a cloud event in Wellington in either 2013 or 2014 - it is wonderful to see their idea not only be sustained but thrive, bravo!

I had a cynical face on when I clicked this, but I found it a great article and I'd agree with all of the advice in it. It's pragmatic.

The one part I am on the fence on is on being able to play in notes, as opposed to just sequencing them on-screen. The reason I am on the fence is that, for me, there is an important question missing from the article and that is "What style, or genre, of music are you trying to create?". The reason that is important is that it can have a big influence on the tools you use to create your music - whether that is playing by keyboard then using a computer to tidy up your playing, or sitting with a blank piano-roll or step sequencer and creating loops ... I'll put that on a rough scale from Vangelis-style arrangements epics on the left, to synthwave in the middle, to electro and techno on the right, with the scale labelled "suitability of drawing patterns on screen"

Something I always agree with is that not doing it sitting at the computer is important. Not all the time, but it's nice to be able to use your gear and a sequencer without using the keyboard and mouse - if you are reading HN there's a fair chance you use a computer all day, and it's nice that when you are being creative you can put the computer to one side and treat it as a giant digital recording studio / tape recorder, as you create and make music on your synths/grooveboxes/drum machines

My perspective is written as a 50YO who has been making electronic music (acid/electro/techno) since I got my first Amiga at 17! I still can barely play the keys, but I am master of the sequencer. I have most of the classic Roland drum machines and analogue synths - I sequence the synths on Ableton mainly but program all the drums on the machines themselves as it's so much fun, using them to trigger sequences on the 101 and run the arp on my JP6 and Poly61. On the flip side, I sometimes wish I could play the keys as it would help with variations and chords for strings, so I understand the counter argument that I often hear from those classically trained

I was wrong - initial section I meant starts "For internet connection, please access the following code ...."

https://youtu.be/_8SBdkru4IY?t=128 At 2:26

As a Future Sound of London fan, I was so proud to be an early Demon dial-up customer when they name-checked their email address on Demon on their ground-breaking ISDN radio transmission on Radio 1. (To be read in a monotone female delivery) "For further information, please access the following code ... F S O L .. ACK ... F S O L ... DEMON ... CO ... UK"

Good times - they were a wonderful company, thank you

Zoom in until the names appear on the map, you don't have to select each vehicle - sadly they don't all have names.

icy-freeze-thaw is perfect for ski resorts, but sadly it's rare that it happens. It rarely happens in the lowlands where most of Scotland's population lives. We do get frosts in the morning, but it's quite rare for sub-zero C temperatures thanks to our lovely Atlantic-influenced maritime climate. Never that cold in winter, never that warm (sadly) in summer.

Remember most of these "major" routes are single track A road at best, apart from our small motorway network. Once you are north of the central belt, where Glasgow and Edinburgh are, your main road can be anything but. This means they don't cover as much ground as you might expect, hence we do need quite a few of them. https://trafficscotland.org/livetrafficcameras/

That is correct - "trunk" as in body, so the main roads are trunk roads. The vans spread rock salt (which we call grit), hence called gritters! We Scots always get confused in the states when offered grits for breakfast .... Sadly it does mean you have to look after your car in winter, as that salt does wonders for chassis rust - you have to keep the car clean!

I loved this article. It is beautifully written, given both the hacking curiosity on display as well as the real-world privacy impact it demonstrates. Most of my family use whats-app and would be mortified if they actually understood most of this. Not saying they would stop using it, as the trade-off is a great social app, but it would make them think more broadly about how the world is changing.

I'm sorry but you will have to do more to explain your point on black cab user experience being horrendous. Whilst it can be hard to get a hold of one at times, in my experience of 20 years of using them, the user experience is great - the drivers are typically friendly and get you there as quickly as they can. I have used Uber many times in London and abandoned it months ago, as the drivers don't have the local knowledge required to quickly move across what is a very busy city. SatNav isn't everything - give me driver experience every single time.