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As computers get increasingly powerful, the Avid / Digidesign / Protools business model of selling hardware to do processing becomes less relevant. It's also more expensive for users (except perhaps on the entry level) to go the Protools / Avid route.
Presently, the need for dedicated processing hardware still exists in the very top end of video + audio applications but before too long I think too will evaporate.
With unprofitability and closing of many large recording studios, Avid is losing their best and highest margin customers. Those that survive are watching their bottom line and Avid gets punched in the stomach again as high-end systems enter the market second-hand.
I wouldn't be surprised if Avid loosens its software/hardware tie-ins before too long -- perhaps reluctantly at first, probably just on the low-end -- but I think it's inevitable.
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