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In the beginning
Yamaha started developing mLAN FireWire Music Networking 10 years ago as the music network solution for audio and MIDI over IEEE 1394/Firewire.
 When we took our initial work to the 1394 TA for standardization, it became apparent that other companies were interested in an industry standard for digital audio over Firewire. Some of these companies were not music companies, but consumer audio companies. They did not need intelligent musical networking, but simple connectivity. So Yamaha contributed the work they had done for core digital audio and MIDI connectivity to the 1394 TA. That work (primarily done by Yamaha) is the basis of the AM (Audio Music) protocol used in many of the current peer to peer Firewire audio interfaces on the market.
Flexible structure needed
 However Yamaha also realized that there was a need for a feature rich networking solution for the music production market. Simple peer-to-peer connectivity is not enough for many music production situations. Customers want to connect different devices from different companies together in flexible configurations. Only a full implementation of mLAN connectivity management could achieve this goal. Yamaha also realized that it would take a concerted and focused effort to develop the infrastructure and software to make mLAN technology successful. An intelligent music networking standard would need to be guided by a company that understood the specific needs of this music production market. It would involve getting the cooperation of OS developers, Chipmakers and other music industry manufacturers.
Proof of the pudding
So Yamaha continued to invest in the development of mLAN connectivity management. We developed first generation products as proof of concept, created mLAN evaluation boards to make it easier for mLAN partners to develop mLAN products, worked with OS companies to develop streaming drivers, enlisted chip companies to develop mLAN capable chips and developed the ancillary software needed to enable connection management. We also developed a royalty free mLAN-licensing program. This licensing program was necessary to insure the specifications were adhered to and to create the infrastructure for an active alliance of mLAN partners.
Developing for the future
 Yamaha has never charged a royalty to companies who adopted the mLAN protocol. We did sell mLAN capable chip sets, but our intention has always been to encourage chip companies to develop lower cost mLAN chips so we could focus on developing products. Yamaha has invested a lot in mLAN development. We did this because we believe that an industry wide standard for music networking over Firewire will expand the market for the computer music products we intend to build. Our goal has always been to compete on a level playing field with other companies using mLAN in a vibrant and competitive marketplace for mLAN products.
Allied forces
At the Winter NAMM show, an mLAN Alliance meeting was held that was well attended by current licensees. At that meeting Yamaha introduced second-generation products, TC and Bridgeco announced plan for new chips that will support for mLAN and Apple demoed the first versions of OSX support. So huge strides have been made in the last six months in mLAN's core infrastructure in the market.
 The mLAN Alliance partnerships have been successfully developed and reached critical mass. However there still remains one barrier for the complete adoption of mLAN as an industry wide standard as you pointed out. That is the perception that mLAN is still a Yamaha only technology.
We are looking at ways now to change the basic way that mLAN is both perceived and also handled in terms of
Firewire Vs mLAN Firewire
At the Winter NAMM show there were 13 point to point (one device to one computer) Firewire products.  Many of these (but not all) were based on the A/M 1394 protocol. This is the same core that mLAN is based on. That means that if we were able to find a way to put the mLAN networking protocol over the already existing A/M streaming protocol in those devices, those devices could potentially become mLAN compatible and be seen on an mLAN network.
Although we understand everyone is a little impatient, we can see where things are headed and think the future for mLAN looks very bright. Everyone will be very surprised at how quickly things start to move now that mLAN has gained some momentum in the industry.
In the end, there are only two choices. A world where there are lots of Point-to-Point devices that do not communicate with each other or a world where there are lots of mLAN devices that can be connected together with intelligent networking.
Once we get our 01X, i88x and mLAN16e in the market and people can add other mLAN products from other companies (Presonus, Kurzweil, Apogee and others coming at the Frankfurt MusikMesse), we think people will be able to see the real benefits of mLAN and why we worked so hard for so long to make it a reality.
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