On 2005-02-03 18:21, cream wrote:
...(How dare selling the sts-5000 if it contains a huge bug!)...
a well known OS supplier sells a product in which bugs are measured in the 10k number range...
I honestly second your idea of product quality and support.
But with the same honesty I have to admit that it just doesn't work anymore THIS way in THIS kind of industry.
M$ and Apple generate huge amounts of cash flow - and with what kind of content ?
Do they ever fix a version ? No - they release a sequel...
Excuse a personal example to illustrate the effect (on the balance sheets) a fairly smooth running system (almost free from disturbing (let alone showstopping) bugs) CAN HAVE.
In the company I do most of my work for we use Apple Cubes under OS9 since 1999, that is 5 years. Do we intend to switch ? NO, not as long as the daily jobs get done.
My landlord has a G3 Powerbook from the same time (the Carry Bradshaw thingy) - doing all in design and internet he needs. It's a 400 MHZ (LOL) model with both OSX and OS9. Will he buy a new one ? NO.
sidenote:
I recently booted such a G3 with an installed OSX from a G4 PB (no, it didn't complain
), it ran surprisingly well - not everyone needs to render in Maya...
All parties mentioned are totally satisfied customers , but haven't bought an Apple product since 5 years... go figure yourself.
Current trade habits just don't honor serious work and product maintainance. Too much has changed in the last decade and now the 'rules' or demands for cheaper goods at faster delivery dates are deep in people's minds. You cannot go back - you have to struggle with compromises (that's what CWA is doing imho) if you don't wanna follow the Apple path.
They need our support and we have to accept compromises as well - it's not such a bad product, is it ?
SFP is still THE core part in my (humble) setup.
Mind you once again on the Apple story - and most PC users have absolutely no idea what it means that a company like Apple artificially cuts the boot capabilities of their machines to prevent the scenario I described above.
I've mentioned it several times, but it's in no way specific to my personal preferences.
Apple gave the term 'boot block' a completely new meaning...
Meanwhile it's the 4th to 6th OSX version (dunno) with compatibility issues completely unknown to long term Mac users.
The result will be that people don't upgrade their machines any more, but aquire new ones with preinstalled matching OS versions instead - just as Apple intended.
sidenote:
to re-install any pre OSX machine is NEVER longer than half an hour - if you have to PAY someone to do the same under OSX it's probably cheaper to buy a new machine with everything already in place.
[edit]
oops, I forgot to mention that this half hour includes the transfer of ALL installed applications as well, right out of the box, with no helper a la Norton Ghost needed...

[/edit]
this post is in no way intended in any Apple OS discussion context - it's just to illustrate the process.
A strange process, as the majority of customers (obviously) accepts those (big) companies' attitude.
Even more strangely (at least part of) the same customers bash a small company like CWA who has remarkably held their position
in favour of it's customers, even though it's economically close to a fight against windmills.
cheers, Tom
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2005-02-04 08:43 ]</font>