News from Pangolin

[andyf97]

Its perfectly fair guys, My points are simple, Bill is keeping many people waiting for the next Pangolin software and speaks volumes about how its going to be the best thing since sliced bread. I comment based upon project development experience in both software and hardware. Its been well over a year that we hear about Beyond and still nothing.

Our company and others try to wait to see Beyond before we make the next direction in software purchases as there are more and more options appearing, as long as Bill keeps it from us we wont buy some other system.

Its long enough and I start to feel the beyond is actually none existent and nothing more than an attempt to stop people buying other systems.

Bill I don't have anything against you or what you do but I read all your posts and right now I am starting to see something is not right. To use phrases like Idiots so many times in another topic about autoplay is not right not professional.

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ghlight=idiots

That guy or girl asked for what I saw is a simple thing and you rant about people who buy laser equipment as idiots when what he asked had a simple solution.

[White-Light]

Beyond is on its way its just Quickshow took priority. As some people already have Quickshow upgrades albeit beta's, it seems that Bill is delivering on his promises. Some things just take time and as Adam said before, Pangolin can't afford to employ vast armies of programmers like large gaming companies can so sometimes thigns take longer. Personally, although I hate the wait I also think this is a good thing - ever played a game? A lot of them come with a tremendous amount of bugs and I wonder how much of this is due to the large armies of people working on them only putting together a little bit of the code in isolation without any knowledge of how its going to integrate with the rest. At least with a small number of programmers, they're very much hands on all the way and often work together very closely. Sometimes size isn't everything (even if the missus tells you otherwise ).

[mccarrot]

[QUOTE=andyf97;108011
Its long enough and I start to feel the beyond is actually none existent and nothing more than an attempt to stop people buying other systems.
[/QUOTE]


I have seen beyond with my own eyes, and if you are into 3D/4D laser animations beyond will do it all, kinda like autocad 3D, but you have to be patient.

Pangolin made a difficult decision and put all the recources for Beyond to quickshow for the FB3.
This is mainly done for the chinese market, china build many laser projectors and every projector needs a controller. If pangolin could sell a FB3 with each laser projector build in china they will be rich.

Due to this decision professional laserist like us need to wait until quickshow is finished and they can put the resourses back to beyond.

[heroic]

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ghlight=idiots

Bill,

it is enlightening to see how you see your major customers. I know you're a smart guy, but you might want to take a step back and see what kind of light this puts you and your company in. Many smart people have difficulty dealing with people, especially demanding people like these customer things.

It is never acceptable to call someone who gives you money an idiot. It makes everyone less likely to give you money in the future.

I was talking to a laserist at a gig a couple weeks ago and they mentioned you when they were talking about their tools. "Oh, Pangolin? They're complete tools but their tools are complete".

This is not good press for you. You do give good service- usually- but frankly, your attitude disturbs me. It gives the impression that, having spent hundreds of dollars on aggressively-closed hardware and software, you might decide that I'm an idiot and stop helping me out when I need it, leaving me unable to proceed. (Indeed, I never did receive the FB3 documentation I requested some months ago. Did you decide I was an idiot?)

Think on it.

thanks,

-J.

[White-Light]

I don't think Bill meant any offence by it. He was just pointing out that there are many people who can't grasp complex or sometimes even seemingly simply technical procedures - how many of us know someone that still can't programme the video and how long have they been out, 10 years????

In fact so many couldn't that was why Video + was brought out and some people still couldn't programme that!

Personally I applaud a company that tries to provide something for everyone - an auto option for those who can't grasp the inner workings of the product (or can't be bothered to) and an advanced mode for those who can or want more control.

I think you're grasping at and taking the "idiot" tag too literally. Maybe a more politically correct way of putting it would be the technically adept and those who aren't technically adept. However, which ever way its put, it means more or less the same thing. Just one set of tags comes across much harsher than the other as no-one likes to be classified an idiot whereas people more readily accept they're not technically adept. Equally, though, I think you'll find no offence was meant. Its simply not in Bill's interest to deliberately offend his customers.

[allthatwhichis]

He didn't spell it right... It is "id10t"...

[Lasermad]

I think im one of those idiots . i struggl with the hundreds of options available in Live Pro and still really cant get my head around LA Studio ...anything that makes it easier for me Im happy with ! Idiot Proof software I WANT !

Having read over Bills post regarding Autoplay , i found the explanation not so much a rant but a really detailed , explanation as to why , as i see it it wasnt designed to do anything fancy , and things are Blocked to do anythihng fancy ..its a Plug and Play solution ! and why should it become anything else as theirs lots more better products available from pango if you want to do something fancy .

As regards the use of the word "idiot" its pretty clear Bills not using this in a derogatary way but simply along the lines of " Software for Dummies " range of books , this is the " Laser Software for idiots" , its plug and play we didnt design it to do anything else , its was designed DELIBERATLY , NOT , to do anything else beacuse its designed for standalone solution for use for people who dont know the difference between a LASER and an LED .... anybody IMHO who trys to read something else into that post either doesnt have english as their first languange , is being disruptive or ... well ..being an idiot.


PAUL

[heroic]

Ratner didn't mean to offend anyone either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner

When you're speaking publicly about your products or customers, you need to choose your words carefully.

[Stuka]

Perhaps Bill used a somewhat harsh choice of words; however -

I doubt if many, if any, of the persons he may have been referring to in his "idiot" comment would ever participate on these forums. His words were aimed at those who can't - or choose not to - take the time to learn the capabilities of the software, and are probably clueless - or indifferent - about the potential dangers of the equipment they are using. So, Pangolin keeps the "plug n' play" apps like Autoplay as simple, and safe, as possible by default.

I would venture to say that just about anyone who participates on this forum, even if they haven't really learned the software inside-out, is well beyond the turn-key "plug n' play" user. I also would be willing to bet that most folks who are likely to be Pangolin's long-term customers realize those comments were in NO way aimed at them, and have been tracking the development of the various software packages long enough to know that the next round of releases will not only be worth the wait, but will be stable, reliable products when they release. As a reminder, v5 of LD2000 is out in beta release now, and Bill has already stated it could be made available for current customers who want to go ahead and check it out.

I somehow doubt that the delay of the "Beyond" release is merely an attempt to keep laserists waiting & wondering so they don't buy something else!

In addition, as they have proven with many of us over & over, Pangolin as a company generally "bends over backwards" to support its customers, and goes far beyond what most other companies might provide in the way of technical support and "perks".

[mophead]

Imagine a typical high school C- student working at the mall. Imagine said lad told to go turn on the lasers as the mall was opening, the ones drawing attention to the food court. Imagine said boy just got the group pep talk about the mall and how each employee, no matter how small, could make more money for the mall.

Now imagine he had full control over the food court laser installation because the software allowed...insert parameter here.


Is he an idiot? Most likely not, BUT..... I bet most everyone here would watch the video/news/whatever media and say..... "Did you see what that IDIOT did at the mall?" when it blinded x amount of people.


I can't speak for Bill, but my story above is what I read into it.