Hi Jacob,
Also, to clarify, I wasn't speaking of changing the price of
katieplayer. We're committed to keeping the price of the Basic
version of katieplayer at $20 or less for the life of the product. I
included the following link to our "Price Matters" blurb in one of my
posts:
http://www.kafkasdaytime.com/2005/11/price-matters-important-part-
of.html
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 4:31 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Hi
I'm going to jump into this conversation here. My opinion is that a
software daisy player should cost significantly less than the
hardware players. I'm curious, though, as to why this has come up--
if RFB&D books require such "draconian licensing costs" as I
believe you've put it, how was the current $18 cost possible? I
think I might've missed something. I have no problem paying for
software as long as it's priced reasonably--in fact, that's one
thing I like about Mac software, to be honest, most of it is priced
reasonably. As far as how much I'd be willing to pay, I'd say keep
it towards the lower or middle end of the double digits, if
possible, say from the current price to around $50. But that's just
my $0.02. Costs of development may not allow this, I don't know how
much some of the licensing costs are.
On Apr 8, 2006, at 12:52 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
OK. What if RFBD removed katieplayer as an affordable option for
new purchasers and only offered higher priced Mac software
options: $120+. Would you stick with the old version of
katieplayer or go with the higher priced option? How much do you
think is too much to pay for a DAISY player?
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 3:43 PM, Jane Jordan (gmail) wrote:
I wouldn't like that. I prefer having everything in one
application if possible.
Jane
On Apr 8, 2006, at 2:36 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
Thanks Jane. Duly noted. What if you had to use the existing
version of katieplayer (or an upgraded version of similar) to
read RFBD books and the katieplayer Cocoa version to access
Bookshare books i.e. two separate applications?
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 2:21 PM, Jane Jordan (gmail) wrote:
Hi, Joe.
I would hesitate to upgrade KatiePlayer if RFB&D books were no
longer supported. That was the only reason I bought it in the
first place. Of cours, now I know that it does much more, and
yes I would want to be able to listen to Daisy books from
Bokshare when I get that subscription renewed again. But I
would hate to see that particular part of KatiePlayer go away
in a new version. I like the fact that I can carry the
comptuer with me and listen to books from RFB&D whenever aqnd
wherever I like, so taking that way would be a bummer.
The rest of it I don't fully understand, so won't comment on it.
Jane
On Apr 8, 2006, at 12:56 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
Hi Scott,
There was a bit of discussion about this on the list a few
weeks ago. We still have to complete testing of katieplayer on
Intel Macs before we make any changes required and issue a
public statement about katieplayer running on the Intel Macs.
We require a license (BASIC: $18) for each machine on which
katieplayer is installed. If it is a replacement machine (and
you won't be using katieplayer on two separate machines)
please send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] including
your new Hardware Fingerprint. Again, we expect to have
compatibility/update news in the reasonably near future. I'll
be sure to post the new information to the list. Sorry for any
delay/inconvenience. We'll get there. Also keep in mind the
Cocoa version of katieplayer is under development in parallel.
Incidentally, I have a question for all on the list - or at
least those interested in DAISY. - regarding the forthcoming
Cocoa version of katieplayer. How would you feel if the new
Cocoa version of katieplayer were to support only Bookshare/
DAISY 3 books and DAISY 2 content which does not use "live"
Digital Rights Management (DRM) (unless the standard is not
obscure and is available to any developer without draconian
licensing fees/requirements)? RFBD books, for instance, would
- under this scenario - *not* be supported (though we'd
probably keep the legacy version of katieplayer available).
We're also considering moving away from the 'text + audio'
flavor of books and concentrating solely on 'text-only' (e.g.
those books provided by Bookshare). My own humble personal
view is that it seems less and less wise to distribute audio
with a talking book. There is the advantage of the human
reader - but the prompt availability and small file sizes of
the 'text-only' books (rendered 'live' by synthesized speech)
- seems to me to trump the advantages one has in the human-
read audio. Further, Bookshare's content collection is getting
bigger and broader and I think we're going to see it continue
to grow (recent addition of the O'Reilly technical series was
very nice and kind of a big deal). (RFBD offers a fine service
- I'm simply wondering about the best way for us to proceed
with katieplayer based on the needs/wants of our audience).
BTW, the katieplayer Cocoa version would come in at the same
$18 price point for the BASIC version i.e. affordability is
still a basic goal of the effort. Finally, think of
katieplayer in a broader, accessible media player sense. No
promises, but what would be in your feature wish list? Again,
would love to hear some thoughts from those who are interested.
Thanks in advance,
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 12:04 PM, Scott Howell wrote:
Joe, just got myself an Intel-based Mac. I used disk target
mode to move all my stuff to the new Mac. I didn't expect
everything to go perfectly and well Katieplayer isn't working
any longer. That would make sense do to the different
hardware fingerprint. I tried just running the app and
putting the key, but that didn't work. Matter of fact, if I
switch to another app while its in the registration dialog
and then switch back, I loose speech from Katieplayer and
can't navigate around. So, I wanted to pass that along, but
also how do I register Katieplayer to work on my new Mac.
tnx
Scott
