I remember you on the tango talk list when I was a fledgling. And Jess
also.
--
Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
VP Application Development - eventpix.com
13653 West Park Dr
Magalia, Ca 95954
ph: 530.645.4040 x222 fax: 530.645.4040
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/
On Oct 21, 2008, at 3:45 PM, Stephen Smith wrote:
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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