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The digital bottom line

9K views 68 replies 16 participants last post by  jonny s 
#1 ·
The bottom line is that digital products help to answer the biggest barrier to growth of the slot car hobby. Slot car track has 2 lanes and that in itself presents a barrier for a lot of people.

Digital products and solutions answer the age old concern of "I want to have a race but I am on my own. Slot car racing is no good for me because I have nobody to race with"

Or the other concern of "I am getting bored as there are 6 of us here and only 2 can race at a time. I don't like waiting for my turn".

This is how kids think! You were all kids once so you can all relate to this.

Slot car retailers will now have the answers to give Jonny and his mum and dad when they turn up at the shop to try and work out if the hobby is a good thing for Jonny who has no brothers or sisters, or whether it is going to be an investment in a 5 second wonder. Dad cannot always be there to help Jonny with his hobby and Jonny wants 100% race action!

Digital products and solutions will help to retain interest among the newbies for a much longer period and proportionately more will retain their life interest in the hobby.

And remember that slot car racing begins in the home and interest has to be fostered in the home. Club racing comes later for a great proportion of new entrants.


Moped
 
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#3 ·
Okay, who wrote that and signed Moped's name to it?


Seriously, I agree with what you wrote here. I have never argued that digital didn't have a place, only that it wasn't the future of organized racing. You have (correctly) stated it from the other perspective, showing where it does have true value.
 
#4 ·
Sorry, but it's only half right.
This half is totally wrong.
QUOTE Digital products and solutions answer the age old concern of "I want to have a race but I am on my own. Slot car racing is no good for me because I have nobody to race with"
If you have no one to race with, the ability to have more cars than lanes is of zero value.

The other half, painfully self-evident, is offset by the hugely increased incidence of deslotting and it certainly doesn't need a duplicate topic to beat it to death with yet again.
 
#5 ·
I don`t know where the bottom line is but I know where the start line is so on with the racing! I`ll give anything a go. My experience based on organising racing for on average 150 kids per week is that Moped is right. They will grasp this and take it on board much quicker. I also believe they will still attend Phoenix cos what i`m offering is different,i.e. social interaction (tuck shop, trophies and loan of all the kit!) etc. It all has a place and I`ll incorporate the lot of it into Phoenix cos it makes sense. Anything to race!
 
#6 ·
QUOTE If you have no one to race with, the ability to have more cars than lanes is of zero value.

I think he was referring to Sport World - the ability to race slots via the net. This is the one use I see for online racing. It will never replace head-to-head, live racing but does have a place in situations like this.

Good lord, now I'm even replying FOR Moped!
I'm getting scared..
 
#11 ·
Add to earlier points regarding kids, of course they enjoy the darker side of human behaviour, which dates back to the gladiatoral arena. No blood but plenty of despair,tears and tantrums, teenage angst as they fail yet agin to take glory and win a medal on a Saturday morning. Oh well back to the lonely bedroom where they can look up the cheats and convince themselves they truly are great!

Don`t you just love it!
 
#12 ·
QUOTE Slot car track has 2 lanes and that in itself presents a barrier for a lot of people.

Mope, I see where you've been going wrong, and thus losing your enthusiasm for the old vanilla slot racing - the barriers go at the edge of the track, not across it.

Cheese.
 
#13 ·
We can have various and different thoughts on digital, but it is here to stay; see our cars : gone are the carburettors and other mechanical stuff, all is digital; and home entertainment ? all CD, Mp3, digital broadcasting. And digital photo? I have heard that Kodak will soon reduce, and finally stop, the manifacture of films. In the past years I have heard many and many words (and fears) about digital among Hi Fi and photo hobbists but it has run as a train that nobody could stop.
One last word : digital ( in every land ) is less expensive to manifacture in the long run, so we will see heavy changes, like it or no.

Ciao
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
QUOTE digital ( in every land ) is less expensive to manufacture in the long run
You have a good point, Sprint, but only in some fields - many but far from all.
Interesting that you describe digital as a train that no one can stop, because . . .
For instance, this doesn't seem to have happened with model trains and digital control has been around for many years in that field. There are not many starter sets supplied with digi control and they still cost significantly more than standard sets. The same applies to all the model train digital equipment - it's horrendously expensive and it doesn't sell well. There is no sign of it becoming the standard and I suspect that it never will.
OK, maybe not 'never', but not in my lifetime!
 
#17 ·
The bottom line is that digital products help to answer the biggest barrier to growth of the slot car hobby. Slot car track has 2 lanes and that in itself presents a barrier for a lot of people.

Nico:


Digital products and solutions answer the age old concern of "I want to have a race but I am on my own. Slot car racing is no good for me because I have nobody to race with"

Or the other concern of "I am getting bored as there are 6 of us here and only 2 can race at a time. I don't like waiting for my turn".

Nico:


This is how kids think! You were all kids once so you can all relate to this.

Slot car retailers will now have the answers to give Jonny and his mum and dad when they turn up at the shop to try and work out if the hobby is a good thing for Jonny who has no brothers or sisters, or whether it is going to be an investment in a 5 second wonder. Dad cannot always be there to help Jonny with his hobby and Jonny wants 100% race action!

Nico:


Digital products and solutions will help to retain interest among the newbies for a much longer period and proportionately more will retain their life interest in the hobby.

Nico:


And remember that slot car racing begins in the home and interest has to be fostered in the home. Club racing comes later for a great proportion of new entrants.

Nico:


Does that answer your question on where my thumbs up are??!!??

Nico

Grenzlandslot
 
#19 ·
Hi Meco, I think that model train market is different from the slot car one;
as a newbie you don't need exotic materials to move a little model in a simple layout on your table;
there is also an ample collector's market of people
that don't run their high priced models on a layout but only, if ever,
on a simple straight line to see the complex mechanics of loco wheels at work.
At the end there are a few lucky ones who have ample and complex detailed layouts, on which real life is recreated,
with multiple trains that run at the same time, and only them take the benefit of digital. I think also that the price of
digital trains and related stuff is way too high, and related to the market of
wealthy adult hobbists. However in the slot car world, also a newcomer
would benefit and take more pleasure from cars more driveable with digital
controllers ( I hope ); none of the conventional ( or analogic ) controllers
you can buy with Ninco, Carrera and Scalextric sets work well, and the first
thing that people do is buy another ones, as Parma and PM. Moreover Hornby
says that digital chips to upgrade previous cars will cost a few euros,
so I think that the market will follow the digital way.
I have yet to try "hands on" racing with the lane changes that digital
could offer (also all of you I believe); until then we can only think and speak ( and I like it too!)

Ciao
 
#20 ·
Nico never fear you don`t have to wait long for a reply from me...I`m no wall flower my friend.

Thanks for clearing up where the thumbs go. I was taking the rise a little and you seem a tad intense?

No I have not used Digital but as soon as it appears here I will have it installed at Phoenix. I have a responsibility to over 200 club members to update the club as soon as something new arrives. If you have used Digital then I suggest that you share your experiences with us. Also be aware it`s always good to go over past threads and read all the posts as I have already indicated that I have a positive attitude to Digitall. It would make a change to hear a view from someone who has experience of the kit.

Put into plain Anglo Saxon ,I`d rather listen to someone with their thumb on the pulse rather than someone with their thumb up their `Back Eye`!
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
Jon S
I am pretty sure that Nico has quite a lot of experience on Davic circuits and is very well placed to comment on that aspect! I am sure he will, too and I look forward to it, genuinely.

However, a highly organized, large, club type track is worlds away from little Johnny playing on his tiny oval at home. There is NO comparison whatever.

There is no getting away from the simple fact that more cars than lanes DOES produce more deslotting and THAT overwhelmingly outweighs any and all advantages that digital control might present.
It's the biggest single turnoff there is - bar none.
The second biggest turnoff is not having enough space for a layout that can handle the traffic.
These are fundamental facts.
But certain people sweep them under the carpet and carry on waffling.

As always, some enthusiasts bound dementedly from one sub-division of the subject to another, NEVER making a coherent argument that holds together, simply keeping the ball rolling but never actually arriving anywhere. Confusion reigns, while fundamental common sense is swamped by the sheer volume of smoke. If one thread looks like a loser, then hey, let's just start another.

We have a saying in my business,
"Bull**** baffles brains"

The REAL digital bottom line will be the company balance sheets in one and two years time. That will separate the BS from the brains very effectively.
 
#22 ·
BBB`s is a phrase I am very familar with and it`s right in my experience but there is another phrase "don`t bull**** a bull****ter" which goes hand in hand.

In my own way I have already agreed with you, look back at the last threads where we have left the debate and appeared here instead! there is no bottom line we are a Forum!!!. I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I fear Nico believes I am being negative, when the opposite is true. I have to grasp and understand Digital because I run Phoenix. For myself I am also genuinely interested.

I understand the basic concept and agree that as things stand there are lane differences, we use 6 lanes so I`m well aware. However, there are some things you can do to overcome this prob. Firstly build a track that has the running length in each lane as close as can be, the addition of a `Bus Stop` helps. Secondly run the race format so that each racer goes on all lanes. BUT with things as they are at least the cars start the race alongside each other which is perceived as being fair. As I understand it at the start of a digital race on two lanes, two racers are gonna be third on the grid? I`m interested in how that`s dealt with.

Once again I underline my positive attitude to Digital, I`m trying to learn and not to detract. An informative debate with people who know what they are talking about thru experience is what I`m after, hence the final comment in my last post about where yer thumb is. I also apply this attitude to other threads regarding `insights` into a hobby/Industry etc etc.
 
#24 ·
Many thanks Nico.

Shame on you I`m no `Hamshank`! I`m a Tommy mate in good old England. I have lived all over the world and I love Austria. Spent many happy days skiing.

An event in your part of the world is not out of the question as the Phoenix boys are mad enough to go anywhere for a race. I`ll catch up on the article and e mail you afterwards. Thanks again my friend.
 
#26 ·
QUOTE There is no getting away from the simple fact that more cars than lanes DOES produce more deslotting and THAT overwhelmingly outweighs any and all advantages that digital control might present.
It's the biggest single turnoff there is - bar none.

Do we have to start all this again?

'Overwhelmingly outweighs any and all advantages'? I have yet to hear from 1 person that has actually raced digital that feels that way - maybe you just dont appreciate the advantages, and many who loved it.

Secondly - inevitably producing more deslots: not necessarily. Dont shout yet, listen!!!

Racing on 1 lane is new. It takes peoplke at least weeks if not years of practice to get good at analogue racing, how to take curves, when to watch out if someone is taking the curve at the same time as you and their back end might swing out...

People just havent learnt to drive digitally yet - careful throttle control to use the car in front for braking. Or alternatively, if its just vital you aint up the guy in front's ass, then better protocol to stay on the track. Happens in real racing, you just need practice! Or maybe there is just more driving skill involved....
 
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