and yet there's no hope of SB actually fixing it.

Is that 100% true? I have seen some resistance to the idea of vertical menus, but have they categorically said they aren't going to do it? Maybe we just haven't pushed hard enough?

The only concrete argument I've seen against vertical scrolling is Tony's assertion above that it's difficult to know which direction to spin the knob... I don't agree, because there are many other devices which use knobs to scroll vertical menus. I've seen several on-screen displays on monitors that do this. I've also seen jog wheels on CD jukeboxes and VCR's that do the same thing. But I can see how someone who isn't familiar with the "clockwise = down, counterclockwise = up" paradigm might go the wrong direction a few times before figuring it out. However, being able to fit four items on the screen at once (instead of one) makes up for this limitation, and then some.

Your points about the limitations of horizontal scrolling are all quite valid, and I think we should lean a little harder on this issue. If enough respected voices in the Empeg community make this a big deal, I think we might get our friends in Cambridge to at least entertain the idea.

My apologies for wasting this space If you guys have already lost this battle.