January 09, 2006
10. Conclusions
.
Depending on the value one places on the U.S. News & World Report rankings presented earlier, of all the information culled from the survey results, it seems to me that the most meaningful may be found in the bottom set of graphs of the "Top" Schools section of the report. Here, we find a set of averages among what may be our most effective institutions compared to averages found nationwide.
Depending on the value one places on the U.S. News & World Report rankings presented earlier, of all the information culled from the survey results, it seems to me that the most meaningful may be found in the bottom set of graphs of the "Top" Schools section of the report. Here, we find a set of averages among what may be our most effective institutions compared to averages found nationwide.
To recap, here is another presentation of the information as pertains to notation applications:
From these values, it's clear that Finale leads Sibelius in all four college categories. However, the disparity is noticeably greater among all U.S. schools than it is within any category of the "top" schools. Nationwide, there is a 35 point difference (83% to 48%) between the adoption rates of Finale and Sibelius. However, in the "Top Music School" category the difference is essentially half that: 17 points. In the "Top College" category, the difference is 19 points; in the "Top University" category the difference is 20 points. Without considering the U.S. News & World Report rankings at all, the numbers seem to reflect that, as a group, prominent music schools have adopted both applications in strong numbers. When one factors in the roughly 10-year market lead enjoyed by Finale* before Sibelius was introduced, it seems clear that Sibelius, too, has made firm inroads as a professional notation application among academic musicians.
Here is another presentation of the information as pertains to computer operating systems:
As in the software application category, there is a clear leader in platform use as well. Here, the Macintosh OS leads Windows in all four college categories. However, the discrepencies in platform use are essentially reversed in comparison to the 'application use' category. In this case, the smallest difference in adoption rates between the two platforms occurs in colleges nationwide, with a disparity of 19 points (76% to 57%). The greatest discrepancy occurs in "Top Music Schools", with a difference of 44 points, more than double the nationwide gap. "Top Universities" show a 39 point difference, and "Top Colleges" a difference of 34 points. Once again, even without consideration of the U.S. News & World Report rankings, it would seem to be an inescapable conclusion that the Mac OS is the preferred platform among prominent American music schools.
* Finale first came to market in the mid-1980s. Sibelius became available for Windows in 1998 and for Mac in 1999.
Here is another presentation of the information as pertains to computer operating systems:
As in the software application category, there is a clear leader in platform use as well. Here, the Macintosh OS leads Windows in all four college categories. However, the discrepencies in platform use are essentially reversed in comparison to the 'application use' category. In this case, the smallest difference in adoption rates between the two platforms occurs in colleges nationwide, with a disparity of 19 points (76% to 57%). The greatest discrepancy occurs in "Top Music Schools", with a difference of 44 points, more than double the nationwide gap. "Top Universities" show a 39 point difference, and "Top Colleges" a difference of 34 points. Once again, even without consideration of the U.S. News & World Report rankings, it would seem to be an inescapable conclusion that the Mac OS is the preferred platform among prominent American music schools.
* Finale first came to market in the mid-1980s. Sibelius became available for Windows in 1998 and for Mac in 1999.
# posted by Scott Fessler @ 9:53 PM 
