|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
JO (or <A title=no_reply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
href="">manohohman) probably works in
the software industry but I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume that anybody
who writes with some knowledge of the software industry is automatically an
Equis employee who is defending Equis.
I also work in the software industry.
I also use various shrink-wrap packages which from time to time are
very frustrating. Hopefully I can see both sides.
There are 3 variants of software sale that I am
aware of.
1. You buy the full intellectual rights to the
software, which gives you the rights to on-sell, licence, lease, source codes
etc. You are the new owner and no other person has any ownership right. Expect
to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a commercially attractive
package.
2. You buy a license to use the software in
perpetuity. The licensor can set whatever terms he wants on the license. You
decide if the terms are satisfactory or not, and then you choose if you want to
use the software under those terms or not. You hold very little negotiating
clout in the shrink-wrap end of the market, so unfortunately it's like it or
lump it. (Aussie vernacular, not sure if it translates). You may or may not get
any support included in the price. You will probably get preferential pricing
for upgrades to new versions.
3. Lease or right to use license for a fixed
period. Similar to 2. At the end of the period, you must pay again for the next
period. Most of the same comments as 2 apply. Support tends to be built into the
price, as are new versions.
If you understand what you're getting before you
hand over your hard-earned, then you will help to ensure that the market favours
those vendors who provide the most favourable license terms. The best outcome
for consumers is when they are well-informed, and they perform their research
thoroughly.
If a vendor
allowed licensees the right to transfer a licence to someone
else, one of two things will occur:
a) the vendor's administration
costs in changing ownership details and validating support rights
would be passed on in some form to all buyers of the software.
b) the vendor would charge a fee
to perform the transfer to cover administrative costs.
In the shrink-wrap end of the market, I
suspect no vendor is interested in the administrative overhead, and no
buyers are interested in paying for this ability.
I personally favour purchasing trialware or
software leases. If you don't believe you're not up to the task of turning the
software into a useful tool within a reasonable period, then either it's a piece
of crap, or it's OK but you're not yet advanced enough in your trading career to
make good use of it. Either way, you've found this out at little or no
cost.
Peter K
<BLOCKQUOTE
>
----- Original Message -----
<DIV
>From:
<A title=rjmods@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
href="">R.J.Mauchline
To: <A
title=equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
href="">equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 1:15
PM
Subject: Re: [EquisMetaStock Group]
Secrets to Getting your stuff on Equis's Development List
<FONT
face=Arial size=2>
Hi,
May I point out just one
inconstistancy with your article. However before I go there it would
seem to me without you saying so that in fact you do work in some form for
Equis. The statement which you make and I would like to take to task is
where you say we (individually) BOUGHT the program MS - did not lease it but
BOUGHT it. Seems to me from what has been previously said that in fact
we did not buy it ( we were hoodwinked into thinking we had bought it) but in
fact we are leasing it - why - because we cannot sell what we purportably
bought - seems then we are in a leasing situation and in this case all
upgrades improvements etc should be supplied free as part of a leasing
aggreement. Just food for thought.
rjmods
<BLOCKQUOTE
>
----- Original Message -----
<DIV
>From:
<A title=no_reply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
href="">manohohman
To: <A
title=equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
href="">equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 10:06
AM
Subject: [EquisMetaStock Group] Secrets
to Getting your stuff on Equis's Development List
How software gets updated
is an interesting process and based on a priority list I'll tell you
about. Then I'll give you some clues as to how to get on the priority
list and how to move up. Read all of the post, the secret is at the
bottom.First you have to understand how the list is made up. Here's
the list of priorities for upgrading software.1. Technical
problems that impact the use of the software. OS conflicts, hardware
problems, crashes, etc.2. Changes being forced on the developer by
other companies who are constantly changing protocols, moving from 16
bit to 32 bit real time applications (speed issue, and Metastock needs
more speed), data vendors who don't follow published protocols,
etc.3. Changes that need to be made to keep up with changes in the
market. Other companies don't sit on their asses. They add things
that help sell their product so you've got to keep up in some kind of
way. The feedback here comes from the marketing department.4.
Changes that serve the long-term strategic business objectives of the
company. Example: Microsoft incorporated and tried to integrated
Internet Explorer into their OS. 5. Technical support issues.
Tech support defines a list of issues that they get called about most
often. These need to be fixed because tech support costs money and
doesn't make you any, so the fewer phone calls, the lower the
cost.6. Customer suggestions ranked in the order of what has been
most requested. This one is the lowest priority. Do you know why? Think
about it.Before the entire upgrade planning process takes place
a budget has been set. It's usually a percentage of the revenues from
that the software generates, but sometimes it's more because there's a
strategic purpose to the software that goes beyond the sales it
creates by itself. The budget dollars translate into programming time
and resources. Everything on the list is prioritized and the priced
out in terms of those resources. The list is evaluated with various
people in management and the process begins.About 70 to 90% of
the way through the process, various managers come in and say they need
more changes and each change is life and death. Now the release is
delayed while the systems people and management figure out what can and
can't be done and what it's going to cost. After that gnashing of teeth
is completed, the program is finished and goes out for beta testing. Of
course, beta testing turns up many new surprises that have to be fixed
before the final release.So where's the established users in all of
this. Equis wants to keep you happy, but just happy enough not to
complain too much or to switch products. That's as happy as they need
you to be because you've already bought the product and invested a huge
amount into it in terms of time and emotional energy. Those are big
barriers to switching. You know it and Equis knows it. TradeStation has
a better programming language so why aren't you switching instead of
complaining? As for the new customers, the vast majority of
Metastock's new customer's don't have a clue why they're buying the
software or what it can and can't do. When I read these posts I can tell
that a lot of you still don't have a clue. A few people buy Metastock
because they're switching from some other package that some of you say
will do "anything and everything I need" except it didn't so something
those people thought their lives depended on that metastock does
better. And finally, there are a few traders who actually know
Metastock and are buying with their eyes open. The list of items
under #6 above is decided on by how many questions, phone calls, tech
support time, etc metastock gets about an issue. Your list of stuff is
already on the bottom of the funding. If Equis gets three calls
requesting X be changed out 100,000 calls a year, I don't think those
three requests are going to get on the list.Fib boy are you hearing
me! Powerful ain't the problem. Listening ain't the problem. It's about
money and selling more product, period. Where do you think those bonuses
come from? Are you sending them extra money every year? If you leased
the software, turnover would be a problem, but you didn't lease it you
bought it.Why did you buy it, because you would have bitched to high
heaven about leasing it. Get it.I used to have customers call me
asking me why in 2000 we didn't make a DOS version of our software.
You've got to be kidding. I'll be those customers said we weren't
listening or responding to the market. We had another guy call and want
to know why we only made the software for Windows and not Apple OS.
Well, because out of the last 20,000 copies we've sold we've only talked
to one customer who had an Apple computer trying to run his cal
lab--that's why. Everybody thinks that everybody else wants chaos theory
formulas, Fib everything, Gann out the rear, but the truth is it's a
small minority of customers who want that stuff. Equis tries to
satisfy this need by producing the add-ons for the Gann boys or Chinese
cycle freaks. That way they can get someone else with the expertise to
write the code and they can do the other stuff higher on their list.
I'm sorry to say there just isn't much money in writing books or
programming tools. If there was, do you think all of the smart boys
and girls in the TA biz would pass up this opportunity. Of course
not!I just hope Roy makes enough from his work to feel like it was
worth his time and effort because if he doesn't it's going to be even
longer before someone else comes along and tries again. The
secret to getting anything on Equis's list is to round up several
hundred to several thousand Metastock users, get them to agree on the
ten things they most want to see fixed in Metastock, have them either
call individually or email with the same list of ten items. If there
are enough of them Equis will put the items on the priority list and
they will get fixed. It's that simple.Here's my bet. You
couldn't get 25 Metastock users on this board to agree on a list of ten
things that need fixing much less several hundred to a few thousand, so
don't plan your complaints getting addressed anytime soon.We
don't make a DOS version, we aren't going to turn back the clock and
make one next year either, and it's hundreds of thousands of dollars
cheaper to give the one Apple user a free Intel computer with their
software purchase, than to write even a basic version of the code for
Apple users--unless of course Apple users are willing to pay $800,000 a
copy.JOP.S. I'm not sticking up for Equis. They've got some
problems they need to address if they want to keep on going on, but I
haven't seen any of those problems mentioned in these posts. As I
remember Eduardo was asking about plug-ins---he didn't send out a
venting invitation, did he? I know you all feel like you have real
gripes, but everything runs on money, not emotion.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:equismetastock-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxYour
use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the <A
href="">Yahoo! Terms of Service.
To
unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:equismetastock-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxYour
use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the <A
href="">Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
equismetastock-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
|