Posted: 09 May 2006 at 11:50am | IP Logged

I too

Paris, Tue 9 May 2006  17:50:25 +0200

Posted: 09 May 2006 at 8:02pm | IP Logged

Hey everyone,

Here's the update on SATALERT...

In order for some of you to understand my decision, you may need to first understand a little about the software business...

When writing a "custom" (vertical market) software program, you usually only have one potential customer (the client who hired you to write the app for them). So, the cost for such a program is usually very high - like $20,000 to $50,000 or more if it takes months to complete. The price is this high because the developer needs to sell the program at a cost that pays for the entire time it took to write it.

But, when writing a mass-appeal software product, it has the potential for many customers. So, instead of charging $20,000 for a program that took two months to develop (which no normal person would ever pay anyway), you would only charge a small fraction of that and hope that you sell enough copies so it will add up to the $20,000 worth of time that it took to write the app.

Writing programs is my main/only business - I don't have another job and just write apps in my spare time. So, when I spend time writing software, I need to make a profit for that time so I can pay the bills, ect. Otherwise, I will go out of business if I spent time writing software and not getting paid for it.

Programs that depend on a third party's data, like SATALERT does (it relies on data from NASA) will rarely run correctly forever, due to format changes that inevitable happen over time, or maybe even the third-party goes out of business.

So, if the format of the data changes, the app that depends on that data needs to be modified so it can understand the new format of the data. But, doing a modification takes a significant amount of time (coding and testing).

It would be unreasonable to expect a software maker to work for free to modify their app to work with a new data format, when it was not the software maker's fault that the data format changed.

In the past, I did offer FREE updates to ALL of my customers (even 3-year old customers!), even though my stated ‘free’ update policy was only 3 months (http://www.omnisoft.com/satalert/news.asp). But, when faced with bills that need to be paid, work that makes money tends to take priority over any "give-away-for-free" work. And the delay in getting the next update for SATALERT out the door is a direct result of this prioritization.

So, to justify spending the time needed to update SATALERT, I now need to start charging an update fee when NASA changes their format. This fee will probably be $5, but I can not guarantee that. You may say that this $5 update fee is kinda close to the $6.95 retail price of SATALERT, and you would be right. It's just that the online shops charge me a whopping 45-50% commission to sell my stuff. So, a $5 charge is really just $2.75 by the time I get it. If I made any less, then it wouldn't be worthwhile to spend any more time to update SATALERT. Sadly, it's that simple.

Keep in mind that my update policy still stands! The NASA webpage format changed on Feb 1^st, so three months before that is November 1^st, 2005. So, if you purchased SATALERT on or after 11/1/2005, the forthcoming update will be FREE to you :)

NOTE: I am currently working on one of those pays-the-bills-for-many-months “vertical” projects, so I hope to have the update to SATALERT ready within 3-4 weeks. I am sorry for this delay, but please understand that it was not my fault that NASA changed it’s format, and the timing of their change hit me during a very busy schedule.

Posted: 10 May 2006 at 6:07am | IP Logged

John,

it's not necessary to make such a long explanation. Everyone understand that you are not NASA's boss. But your customers aren't either, and none forced you to advertize and sell SATALERT as a working solution - as you are unfortunately still doing today, after 3 months of non-working, at the top of your own product list, at Handango ($6.95), and apparently in numerous other places (I notice after Googling for this, that PocketGear judiciously removed it from advertizing).

As I pointed on Fri 17 Feb 2006 above, « This can be a $6.26 after try scam, it remains a scam » - and continuing it after 3 months is still worse.

As I pointed the same 17 Feb at 14:07 (GMT), I think you are building a bad image of yourself and of your work (that I appreciated both), and you should better do something like what I proposed in that post - I mean, post no long argumentation but only a clear, short and true announce of the situation, and meanwhile work more if possible (everyone will understand if not), and more silently.

Meanwhile I hope, as you, that the Satalert update will come about 1-10 June ($5 for me who bought it Fri 30 Sep 2005) - and again, I will understand if you can't.

Paris, Wed 10 May 2006  12:07:25 +0200

Posted: 10 May 2006 at 7:42am | IP Logged

Yes it is in my product list, but if you would have bothered to notice, the "Registration Screen" doesn't allow you to buy it. In addition, if you would have also bothered to go to handango and type "SATALERT", nothing will come up as a result. I disabled ALL product sales of SATALERT months ago, so it's a bug on handango's site that it is still allowing you to view and possibly purchase that product (using that direct link) even when I specifically disabled it, so that's not my fault. Also, Handango, Pocketgear and Smartphone.net and my own website are the ONLY sales channels for my products, so if you try to buy SATALERT from ANY of those links you listed from google, you will notice that you will not be able to - because ALL of those links will end up going to one of the sites I just mentioned, and thus the products are disabled.

Michel Merlin wrote: As I pointed on Fri 17 Feb 2006 above, « This can be a $6.26 after try scam, it remains a scam » - and continuing it after 3 months is still worse.

I take it VERY personally when you claim that I am still running a scam even when I disabled ALL sales of SATALERT months ago! I really try to please every single customer...I previously offered you a refund even though you are outside the refund period, but you refused. So, nothing seems to satisfy you .

I don't want any customer to be unhappy with my products and/or service. But, I also don't want a customer making totally false statements about them either. So, please do NOT purchase the upgrade when it is released because your order will be immediately cancelled and refunded.

Posted: 10 May 2006 at 8:29am | IP Logged

JohnCody wrote: I disabled ALL product sales of SATALERT months ago

Good. Would be still better if it appeared clearly to all people interested - which didn't appear to myself.

JohnCody wrote: nothing seems to satisfy you .

Don't know how you built that image of myself. See for instance:

Michel Merlin wrote: ...of yourself and of your work (that I appreciated both), ...

JohnCody wrote: I offered you a refund even though you are outside the refund period, but you refused

Right

JohnCody wrote: I also don't want someone making false posts about {my products}

Restraining myself to my own posts, I feel they not only contain nothing false, but are particularly accurate - if this is or isn't the reason for your upset, I don't know.

Given the precedents, I still hope better from you. And I wish you spend more time on making Satalert work again, than in discussions that essentially mislead people about its (good) quality and its (broken) current condition (whatever and whoever broke it, NASA or else).

Paris, Wed 10 May 2006  14:29:40 +0200

Posted: 12 May 2006 at 11:29am | IP Logged

Hi John,

I am upset that you are being accused of scamming.  Maybe a little disclaimer on you products page under the SATALERT saying under construction, not yet available, would help.  I have to say that I too thought that you were selling this product as functional. However, since I have had SATALERT for a long while I know that NASA has messed things up for you.  I guess from your web site the preception is that this application works.  I hope this helps.

Have a good day!

Posted: 12 May 2006 at 11:37am | IP Logged

Thanks piperheidi for you support and comments.

I do say that on the "Registration" page of SATALERT:

http://www.omnisoft.com/satalert/registration.asp

That I would think most people would end having to see if they try to buy it. But, I guess it won't hurt to put it on the first page too.

Posted: 25 May 2006 at 6:02pm | IP Logged

aetoole wrote: John, I am willing to wait however long it takes for you to update Satalert. You have always responded immediately to my email requests for assistance (and there have been a few) and kept the free updates coming.  I consider the extra $5 I'll spend for the coming update to be small compensation for the amount of viewing pleasure I and lots of friends have gotten from your ingenious little program. Keep up the good work. Elina

Thanks Elina for your kind comments - they are very much appreciated!