Hefty new fees?

[Shari]

[NOTE:  I know these discussions have pretty well ended.  I wrote 
this back when we were all discussing the big changes.  But before 
sending it, I wrote to Kevin.  I did not want to open a big 
discussion, without first verifying what I read on his website.  That 
I understood it correctly.  I was hoping that he would offer some 
good news, and that I had misunderstood.  I've yet to hear from him. 
As his reply pretty much dictates whether I will have to abandoned 
Metacard, and I don't WANT to abandon Metacard, I am posting this 
belatedly, in the hopes of... a miracle?]

>I'd encourage Kevin to run with this product the best he can and in 
>Kevin style.  I think my best chance of getting the feature set I 
>want is in that.
>
>Dar Scott

This is a good point.  Perhaps if Scott had been as successful as he 
wanted, with fewer tech support issues, we'd still have MC as we know 
it.

I do not know Kevin.  I don't know what sort of fellow he is, though 
I've heard many say good things of him.  And some very big names in 
the xTalk community fully support him.

For those of us who are using MC, it comes down to something very 
simple:  What's it going to cost?

According to the licensing info on the RunRev website, to purchase a 
license that allows you to develop on multiple platforms would cost 
$1200, with renewals of $400 per year.  But what happens if you do 
not renew every year?  Is it $1200 again?  That's how it appears.

I emailed Kevin on August 8 regarding this, but have as yet to 
receive a reply.    There is a big difference between paying $400 and 
$1200 when you want to upgrade.  And what of those of us who are 
licensed in Metacard, and do not make the switch now, but wait until 
later?  Would we pay $400 or $1200?

--- Begin Shari's Rant ---

I have Metacard installed on three platforms, ONLY because I've 
discovered that the anomalies from platform to platform, are nearly 
impossible to deal with unless you can fix them on the offending 
platform directly.

I develop on ONE machine.  And use the other two to test, and iron 
out bugs.  I tried doing all the work on one machine, but it simply 
does not work well, for cross platform anomalies.  You need to be 
able to TEST while you are fixing.

Spending $400 for an upgrade license * when you need one* is 
acceptable.  When desired features have been added, or a platform 
change mandates it.  Spending $1200 for an upgrade, is not 
acceptable.  And if I am reading their site correctly, even if I am a 
licensed user, it would cost me $1200 to upgrade  if I do not upgrade 
promptly every year.

Still hoping for that little ray of hope, that the news from Kevin 
will be good news.

I don't make three times the income, for putting out cross platform 
software.  For every FOUR days I spend programming, I make the 
equivalent of ONE day's pay.  So the bottom line is, I work full 
time, but have a part-time income, and do fully support myself.  Very 
few of us start out with a full time income from software sales.  My 
sales have increased dramatically, so the future is very promising, 
but it is still the future.  And I am sure there are others in the 
same situation.

I don't wish to be limited to one platform.  This would be corporate 
suicide.   The ability to compile for all the major platforms was a 
major selling point when I purchased Metacard, but the reality is, 
unless you have it installed on each platform, you are going to have 
one hell of a headache when the bug reports come in.

I do hope that Kevin, while he is thinking all this out, doesn't fall 
into the misconception of thinking that anyone who wishes to develop 
for all three platforms, is making mucho bucks doing it, and can 
easily afford to pay for a hefty tri-platform fee.  I'd have to 
seriously consider doing what I've tried desperately to avoid... 
migrating to a "standard" language, such as C/C++.  Paying $1200 to 
upgrade simply is not feasible.

Gosh, it took a year and a half for me to finally purchase Metacard. 
I weighed the pros and cons for that long, before taking the leap. 
Metacard... or C... Metacard... or C...  I stayed with a dying 
compiler for a long time before making the leap (Hypercard).  And it 
has taken another year and a half for Metacard to even remotely start 
to earn its keep.

And now, I have to weigh this decision again?  Not a happy place to 
be.  I do not want to go down with another dying compiler.  If I do 
not at some point upgrade, Metacard as I have it will break when some 
OS change breaks it.  So it isn't like you can say, I'll just stay 
where I am and everything will be okay.  For today, it will be okay. 
But tomorrow?

I am 30+% of the way thru a big program.  It started in Hypercard, 
and I had to redo the whole thing in Metacard.  I'd hate to start all 
over again in C.

* sigh *

Still hoping for that little ray of hope, that the news from Kevin 
will be good news.

Wishing so hard....... wishing so hard....... please do not abandoned 
those of us, who work our heinies off, but haven't reached that level 
of success to be considered one of the Big Boys yet.........

And I know that I am not alone......

May Kevin in his infinite wisdom, find a place for those like me.

Shari









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