Is digital racing dying?

[DaveKennedy]

[BARC 1]

[Burrell]

I don't think digital is dying, but I definitely think that it is stagnant.

I am curious as to the business decision behind not making the Carrera digital track compatible to run analog cars. A simple switch between analog and digital would be all it would require. There are instructions out there to do this yourself. You wouldn't get all of the bells and whistles when running digital, but at least racers wouldn't have to chip all of their old cars. Because that seems to be a big hold-up for people who have lots of analog cars. They don't want to chip all of those cars and they don't want to have 2 tracks or to not be able to use their analog cars. Then those racers can convert to digital and start slowly buying just digital cars and make the transition. I know this wouldn't do anything for wood racers, but it seems like it would make it easier to convert plastic track analog racers.

[mattb]

Might be something I haven't noticed, but what is the difference between digital and analog track? I have both and use them at random. They work fine together. I run analog. I don't see why that track can't be mixed with digital track. If all it requires is a second terminal track for analog plugs, that seems easy enough. Is there something in the switch tracks that would cause a short if it is mixed with an analog control system?

[BARC 1]

[Burrell]

[Cincyslots]

That's the only reason I agreed to go digital 7 years ago. To be honest, the majority my cars NOW are Carrera digital. It's just too awesome. This is nothing new to most of us but a lot of people have 10-1000 analog cars. Obviously you can't chip them all. A friend of mine said he could set it up so I could run analog with the flip of a switch and change controllers. Of course I was in then. I agree, if Carrera wants to totally dominate the market I think this would surely help do it. Hopefully one day one day they will entertain this idea. I totally understand there are big costs involved. Still, fingers crossed so people that don't have a friend like mine can one day run digital and analog together "separately".

The problem with Carrera, and they are hands down my favorite don't get me wrong, they see their product as toys for kids. I much as I hate to admit it, 99% of my customers are adults over 30. Most of the tweaks we do don't cost a dime and could be handled in production.

AGAIN, this is in no way a Carrera bash. Dave knows how big their fan base is in Cincy.

Bruce

[DaveKennedy]

You mean dominate the hobby market Bruce... all of this discussion is based on the basis that the hobby market is the largest part of the "slot car market", it's not. I don't take any of this as "Bashing" guys.

Ok as plainly as i can put it...
This idea that somehow making a digital to analog conversion will really change anything is a fallacy. Because when you really talk with most analog racers they don't want the features that digital offers them in the first place. They don't like the idea of having to deal with actual traffic (they want a clear lane in front of them). They don't really care as much about lane changing or fueling (there is software for analog racing that offers that-seldom used in club racing) or wireless (Slot It offers that).

So I'd push back at this hand-wringing about why doesn't Carrera have this switch/box... I think if we did it wouldn't change much. And BTW doesn't Scalex already have this? Has it changed much for them? Check out their earnings reports (they're publicly held so you can see how their business is these days) I have....

And as it's been shown here you can do it if you're really up to doing it.

[BARC 1]

Some of the reluctance to digital is because of lack of experience with what you are getting.

After my experience with digital and lane chipping, I would never go back to building a straight up analog track. Lane chipping gives you all the neat features of digital racing including adjustable voltages and brakes. Forget the lane changing and fuel management part of it. Add the fact that it comes with an inherent timing system means you don't even need to spend money on a timing system if you choose to run digital cars in analog fashion. Just because you have lane changing doesn't mean you have to use it, and the actual cost of going digital is not that much. Ie a digtal Carrera car is what $10 more then the same analog car

Edit (Forgot to mention working lights and brakes lights as well that come with digital that allow you to turn off the headlights if you wish)

Honestly if you want to run digital track and race just like analog you can. I have 6 digital cars and probably 75 analog ones. Most of the time I am running my analog cars, but the versatility of digital is just too much to ignore IMO.

I too don't want Dave or anyone else to think my opinions are anyway bashing Carrera. Seeing the state of digital in the hobby I made my bet and purchased Carrera believing they would be the one left standing, and I would have the longevity I was looking for on my money spent in this.

What us enthusiasts have to remember is that we are the fringe. Carrera probably makes more money selling GO at Christmas then any other single part of their slot car business. That is just the reality of this. What 500 guys want is really irrelevant in the big picture. That is another reason I push for open architecture. It allows the cottage industry to fill the void the big manufactures just haven't got time for.

Cheers

Dan

[Burrell]

[buspor63]

I went to YouTube and searched Carrera digital slot cars. There were bazillions of hits in many languages, I think digital is doing okay. I've barely scratched the surface of what my track with the Yingling software can do, much less gotten tired of it. Because of the competition the racing brings, it has slowed my need to buy more cars, sorry Dave.

[BARC 1]

[mattb]

Dave, the ability to switch from digital to analog may not make a big difference for the market, but it would certainly be an advertising point and another feature to be touted. If you got a digital set and the kids were slow to learn it, it would make it still a toy they might play with more if they could switch to the simpler analog system.

I went thru this scenario last week. I put together a bunch of track and half dozen cars for a grandsons birthday. We set up a small oval and gave him and his dad some pointers and warnings about assembling and using the track. A few days later he had another party and some of his friends were trying to run cars with him. He had used every bit of track I gave him and it looked like somebody threw spaghetti on the floor. None of the kids could hardly run a lap and most finally just sat back and watched, skipping their turn. Later I talked them into a lazy "8" setup using #2 banks at the ends. Once they had an easier time staying on the track. it was fun for most of them. I can see how this switch to analog could make sets easier for new kids to play with and then switch to digital as they got more experienced.

[vonsirius]

[DaveKennedy]

I do just want to say something clearly to directly answer the thread topic. Digital. Is. Not. Dying.