Quote:
Originally posted by pennscapes
Perhaps the point I'm getting too is being overlooked here. I'm not talking about 'upgradeable functions' of the program as being a problem.
What I'm talking about are the nuts and bolts of the program...........Like, I dont' know,.....drawing a line.
Its funny, but sometimes............it doesn' want to do that.
You want me to pay for upgrades to make it better in the sense of giving me new features..............ok, I can go for that.
But.................you want me to pay for upgrades to fix problems that are just flat out broken.........THATS A PROBLEM!
Here's a question. How many people out there trust their programs enough, that during a big drawing, you don't back it up and save it every 5-10 minutes in case it locks up?????
And I'm not talking about doing Iris crap....I mean, just flat out drawing.
I always try to save every couple of minutes because I know the program is going to lock up.
I'm not trying to change my program so it keeps current. I just want all the stupid little glitches fixed.
And yet, everyone here seems to think I should have to pay for this???
I guess, when i install a walkway and every 5th brick sinks, I'll tell the client that they will have to pay for a "UPGRADE" to fix them..............because it is NO DIFFERENT than this crap.
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What are the specific problems you've been encountering? I'd like to know what you're describing as 'flat out broken'. If you can't even draw a line, that's pretty serious - have you reported this to technical support? I'm not aware of any such outstanding issue, so if you are having them, please report them.
If you report issues to us, we investigate and fix them - it's part of the process. Again, due to the nature of software this can be difficult, and may take longer than you might like. Once more, I'd like to point out the possiblity that your issues may even be caused by another piece of software or hardware (even your OS!) on your system - it might not even be owned by us. (We encounter these
regularly)
And your walkway example actually illustrates how different the two scenarios are. Although I've seen some botched paving jobs, most would agree that it is infinitely easier to get the details of your paving job right than it is to write and maintain a 'perfect' piece of software. Multi billion dollar companies like Microsoft still have difficulty churning out 'perfect' products (and they mess ours up sometimes too!) even though you'd think they have more than enough resources to do so.
If every software company investigated and resolved every single 'stupid gitch' (your words) that manifested in their products, whether caused by their software or anything else, until their product was perfect for every single individual for an indefinite time period - every single one of those companies would be bankrupt in fairly short order. Software engineering is by nature an inexact science - the pace of change is unequalled in any other industry. The key here is that the
benefits of this type of technology outweigh the
drawbacks, which is why software can be a viable and useful tool, even among green industry professionals.
The plain fact is that software is difficult to build and maintain, and nearly impossible to perfect. This is a reality, like it or not. For every piece of software you can say works 'perfectly' I can guarantee there is someone else who would say the exact opposite. We have always done our best to serve our customers, regardless of what you believe - and I can assure you we have a very loyal customer base to prove it.
Your choice of words like 'stupid' and 'crap' betray your bias against us, and against technology in general. You seem to resent being 'forced' into using software, and being 'forced' into paying for upgrades and support (which often results in the bugfixes that you believe should be free forever, right?). If that's the way you truly feel, there's always a full refund if you want it - we've
never refused anyone, for any reason - it's not how we do business.
As an employee of a GTX sponsor, I visit here often, and post only when I feel I have something useful to add. Steve, I have the utmost respect for your views as a GTX contibutor and green industry pro, but I must say I find your harsh view of technology and our business to be entirely unjustified.
F.