For those of you that don't know me, I may possibly be the person with
the longest history with Witango/Tango that is still currently reading
the list. If I don't have the most seniority here, I am in the top 2
or 3.
I started as the first official Tango Technical Support person in
November of 1995, thirteen years ago next month (anyone
superstitious?). It was Tango 1.0 for the Mac only. It would only
connect to Butler, and that was through Butler's native connectivity.
ODBC and the Windows version would not come until the spring of 1996.
In my collection, I still have a set of the original Butler install
floppies that included Tango 1.0.
I was with EveryWare then Pervasive in a variety of roles until the
announcement in June of 2000. I worked for another company after that,
then launched Oakbridge in late 2001 but continued to use the product.
In fact my first reaction when we were given the news by Pervasive
wasn't that I was out of a job, it was that I was losing the
development tool that I had come to rely on. I was grateful that With
picked it up. During my time with EveryWare/Pervasive, I was support,
a sales engineer, support again, alternate trainer (I helped create
the original training course with Mike Young), and finally
Professional Services. For the almost 5 years, I lived and breathed
Tango. I was also the "list Mom" for the original Tango Talk for a
number of years.
I haven't posted to the list in months. I have done nothing in Witango
for at least a year now, having switched my focus to consulting on
Daylite, and developing solutions using FileMaker. I have continued to
follow the list as my own site is still running under Tango 2000 and I
do still receive a couple of calls per year from orphaned users who in
most cases have inherited a solution from someone else in their
organization. I'd love to get back into Witango Development but...
In my opinion, the product is in almost the same state as WebObjects
was a couple of years ago, when it still required licensing fees. It's
not dead. It's worse, it is in limbo.
It would be very difficult to objectively spend any money on new
Witango licenses, either the current version or a new version, given
the current lack of any news and failed promises. I feel both sympathy
and anger towards With. Sympathy because if most of the people added
up what they have spent in the form of sales revenue, (that has gone
to With since 2001), it is probably not enough to support one person
for a year. I have bought one developer license, and that was when I
was a reseller purchasing through a distributor. A few hundred bucks
total. I am sure that some of you have spent a few thousand on server
licenses, etc. but I would be very surprised if the total sales made
to all of the members of the list amounted to $100K.
Yes we have been a very vocal group but how many have opened up our
wallets and if so, was it enough to allow the company to earn a
profit. But...
This is where the anger comes in. I have asked repeatedly for at least
a year about version 6 because I don't want to spend money on the
current version, only to see a new version come out that required
upgrade fees. I'm quite prepared (or at least I was) to spend money to
upgrade both my Development Studio and my Server but I'm not going to
spend money now, only to be told that there is a new version 6 months
later. Sorry but it is just common sense from a business perspective.
So I wait, and wait, and wait. I'm fortunate, I don't need to change
anything, but I'd like to.
My gut feel is that With is now in way over their head. My guess is
that there is little if any Witango license revenue coming in. Which
brings back the sympathy side, how can a company be expected to
continue to develop a product that is not making any money? But the
anger side says how can they expect to sell any product when they keep
their customers in the dark?
I expect that this discussion will die down over the next few days or
weeks, then start back up again in 3-4 months.
Steve Smith
Oakbridge Information Solutions
Oakville Office: (416) 628-0793
Cambridge Office: (519) 489-0142
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: www.oakbridge.ca
Certified DayLite Master Partner
FileMaker Solutions Alliance Member
MoneyWorks Consultant
LightSpeed Authorized Reseller
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