I too agree with John and Mark and others. When I bought this computer, I
was entitled to and received free updates for 1 year. The initial price was
more than twice the price of the Pegasus and Jupiters radios. Now, more
than a year latter, I pay for computer updates. This all seems reasonable
and fair to me. Oh yes, there are and I still receive the "free" bug fixes
but there are no free enhancements.
73
Bob K4TAX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Erbaugh" <mark@microenh.com>
To: <johnclif@ix.netcom.com>; <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Paying for updates... YES!
> John,
>
> I agree with you. I think people should expect free updates for some
initial
> period, the cost for which would be rolled into the initial purchase
price.
> After that, a fee that would support the development effort. After all, I
> would rather pay $25 a year and get a 'new' Pegasus every quarter or so
than
> shell out $1K or more for a new radio.
>
> However, I wonder how many Pegasii and Jupiters have been sold and what
> percentage of those users would be willing to participate. I would bet
that
> it would take at least $200k / year to keep an update program going. That
> equates to 8000 subscribers.
>
> You also have the problem of how would you keep the updates out of the
hands
> (and radios) of non-subscribers?
>
> Mark
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Clifford" <johnclif@ix.netcom.com>
> To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 22:11 PM
> Subject: [TenTec] Paying for updates... YES!
>
>
> > I guess I started the 'pay for updates' idea on this list... and I still
> > stand by it.
> >
> > I can understand why Ten-Tec gives away updates... it is a
> selling/marketing
> > feature. Buy a radio and know that it won't be obsolete. I'm sure that
> > some firmware development costs are associated with new radio sells as a
> > means of keeping TT competitive, e.g., AM transmit. I would be willing
to
> > bet that, if TT discovered that offering free updates had absolutely no
> > positive effect on sales, it would be discontinued.
> >
> > I think that paying a very nominal annual fee (and $25 is very nominal)
> > would allow/inspire TT to offer even more features. Things like
waterfall
> > spectrum display (a great CW tuning aid, as well as generally useful for
> > finding weak signals), a much better looking UI, etc.,... features that
> > someone who is getting PAID specifically to think up features could come
> up
> > with, rather than someone who is told "Just do this amount of work since
> > that's all of the R&D budget we have allocated this quarter."
> >
> > I can't understand hams (or anyone) who isn't willing to pay a little
bit
> to
> > get a lot. I know, FREE is a very powerful marketing word (perhaps the
> most
> > powerful). But paying for something is not a bad thing! You can't
> compare
> > this with taxes, payroll deductions, etc., because those are INVOLUNTARY
> and
> > besides, we should be THANKFUL that we don't get all of the government
we
> > pay for! If you were getting washes and waxes on your new car for free,
> > would you pay an additional $25 per year to get free oil changes, too?
> > Would you be upset if, having given you free washes and waxes for a
couple
> > of years as an unexpected bonus the car manufacturer announced that it
was
> > discontinuing this free service for cars older than one year, but
> > instituting a new service for $25 yearly that included washing, waxing,
> and
> > oil changes?
> >
> > I say, vote with your dollars! If you like a company and want it to
stick
> > around, be willing to pay it for its goods and services. That's why I
> > decided to bite the bullet and completely populate my Omni VI with
filters
> > direct from Ten-Tec... plus the coffee mug.
> >
> > Re the usual Msft bashing... products succeed in the marketplace because
> > they meet or exceed customers' needs and expectations. Most customers
who
> > purchased Msft products liked them enough to keep on doing so, and liked
> > them better than the competition. That's why Lotus lost their #1
position
> > in the software business, and why Ashton-Tate, Novell, and Wordperfect
> also
> > were eclipsed. As bad as some people dislike Msft, many more disliked
the
> > competition even more and bought Msft products.
> >
> > I hope that the Orion is as good to Ten-Tec as Windows was/is for Msft.
> > How's that for a wish?
> >
> > - jgc
> >
> > John Clifford KD7KGX
> >
> > Heathkit HW-9 WARC/HFT-9/HM-9
> > Elecraft K2 #1678 /KSB2/KIO2/KBT2/KAT2/KNB2/KAF2/KPA100
> > Ten-Tec Omni VI/Opt1
> >
> > email: kd7kgx@arrl.net
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TenTec mailing list
> > TenTec@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
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