[Duardo]

True - the issue is not unique to Digidesign - but it is unique to software products. The difference between them and "free standing products" is that you can still use these above-listed products because they were never "outdated by OS upgrades".

You can still use the Digidesign products as well as long as you're using them with a compatible computer and Pro Tools version...which plenty of people still have.

I wouldn't so much say that the issue is unique to software products, but more to digital products in general. But Digidesign's control surfaces are probably more future-proof than most because, unlike digital mixers, they're not limited to specific sampling rates or data formats. If Digidesign decided that their next system would be a DSD-compatible system then their control surfaces could go right along with them, but the digital mixers on the marketplace couldn't (at least, not digitally)...

What are these systems worth now? MORE THAN NOTHING! And they can still be used professionally. (I would love to have a NEVE Capricorn, BTW - or the Studer console). Are these bad investments? I am sure that Warner Brothers, Paramount and the other studios who bought these consoles paid them off. I still can't afford them even used!

Sure, they're worth more than nothing, as are Digidesign's control surfaces...but they're not worth much. Everything you say about them holds true for the control surfaces as well...there are tons of Pro Tools III- and Mix-era systems out there, and even if Digidesign does abandon support for certain control surfaces at some point (which they haven't yet) they'll still work with the older systems, which will still be around, just like your Synclavier (but didn't I hear that Sony couldn't give their DASH machines away at their recent liquidation sale?). And I'd imagine that the Digidesign products bought by most commercial facilities paid for themselves quickly. Why else would they have bought them? Not to hopefully resell for a profit five or ten years down the line.

This gets right back to the original issue - a GML mic pre is a better investment than a software product from a strictly business investment standpoint.

If you're thinking about it retaining its value down the line then sure, I'd agree...but if you're talking about generating income and paying for itself over and over before resale even becomes an issue then no, I'd disagree.