News from Pangolin

[Lexat8]

That thought is a bit harsh and small minded.
I don't think Pango have got to where they are today by not delivering the products and services they promise.
What Pango will not do is release something until they are happy it performs reliably and how it should.

Jim

Read Bill's first post and later post regarding paid updates for software! Harsh maybe, but not small minded. Looks like oneupmanship to me, but hey, thats business! Whilst there have been various issues with Mamba, its there and downloadable today, if you have 120/150 euros! It is not an upgrade that may be available oneday.maybe.

Cheers

Lex

[buffo]

Lex, Bill posted a retraction to his comments about paid updates in a separate thread. Did you read that? Because if you had, you would see that this is a non-issue.

Also, for the record, the release of Mamba Black version 2.0 was delayed by several months. So a few weeks delay for Pangolin's version 5 is hardly worth commenting about, especially considering the sheer number of updates that Pangolin has made available *FOR FREE* over the years.

Finally, there is no "Maybe" about the availability of Pangolin's version 5. It *IS* complete, and it will be released, just like all the other updates to their software over the years.

If you are seriously suggesting that we compare Mamba Black's track record to Pangolin's, then you are either downright foolish, or you don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about.

Adam

[Pangolin]

During the Prolight and sound in germany Bill told me LD5 will be released within 2 weeks, now 3 months later still no official LD5 release.

Hehe. We keep adding things... For example, we added a new "auto-load beams" feature whereby a show can also automatically load beam frames that are common for all of the shows (if desired). People have asked for it over the years and now it is in there.

We've also made internal changes to the networking for better preview performance of all programs, and better "streaming" performance for programs like LivePRO, VST, ShowClock and others.

We could have released it 2 weeks after Prolight but... there would have been a 5.1 shortly thereafter. Maybe that wouldn't have been all that bad...

Hey, if someone wants to buy Pangolin and see if they can run it better than me, you're very welcome to do so!! I try my best to manage the staff of 14 people and do the best and most innovative job we can, while serving well over 10,000 clients. It's not easy folks!!

Also, there is an offer on the table. The offer has been made on our own Pangolin on-line forum. If AT ANY TIME you want to receive an "interim version", just write to us (not on a forum, but with private email) and we'll get it into your hands.

The fact of the matter is that some people do have LD2000 version 5.0 right now. And some people do have QuickShow right now.

LD2000 version 5.0 is HUGE!! Over 2.1 GB worth of data, shows, frames, programs, etc. That's a huge distribution and lots of things that have to be "gotten right" before we release to the world at large. If there is a problem, we've got 10,000 people "crying"...

Bill

[Pangolin]

In fact, further to what I have written, I am a big believer in wanting to turn problems into solutions. I often find that those doing the complaining could also be very good at helping to solve the problem.

To that end, I'd like to publicly extend our welcome for people to work with us in any way to improve the product and thus, the industry at large.

You could offer to test our new software and give feedback, you could offer to program new features and new products, you could offer to do web pages, etc.

Basicaly, even though we have a relatively large staff (for this business), there's always more work to be done than there is time to do it. If there is anyone out there who has a talent and who wants to help, please contact us (through private email).

And this isn't necessarily an offer to work for free. We believe in long term relationships, and I am happy to say that almost everyone who has ever worked with us in the past, is still working with us in some capacity even today. We are willing to pay direct monetary funds, do trade deals, etc.

Bill

[ljk]

Bill and Pangolin are great to work with and in my limited experiences with them I have always been treated fairly and even beyond what I had expected.

Software is tricky balance, filling the customers needs for features but at the same time make sure the product is reliable when in production. Can't have it crashing or sending out any stray beams now can we.

Thanks Bill / Pangolin

[andyf97]

It's not been finished yet Bill !!!

I worked in the computer games industry in the past and new 3d games were being written completely in 6 months and sold in the millions bug free.

[Pangolin]

Sounds great Andy!

Hows about if you send some of those programmers our way and we'll hire them!

Bill

[andyf97]

i can connect you to some if you wish, exists many looking for new challenges

[buffo]

That's not a fair comparison, Andy... For one thing, game developers have ready-made tools to use to help them create new games. They also have a large staff of people working on a given project. And they aren't trying to support and improve any hardware at the same time - they can focus strictly on software.

Contrast that with Pangolin, which has a much smaller marker (on the order of 1000 times smaller) and yet must support both software and hardware at the same time. Also, there aren't many ready-made tools that they can use to speed their development of laser software. They're not even close to being the same as a game publisher.

One thing to remember, Andy... Games sell *millions* of copies. Pangolin probably has at most 10,000 copies of their software out there. Thus, game software companies can hire 100 programmers if they want, and that really shortens the development cycle. Pangolin doesn't have that option.

It's all about scale, you see.

Adam

[Pangolin]

Hi Adam,

Andy has spoken. Now lets see who he puts in front of us as a programming candidate.

We love to work with capable people and we're always willing to make a deal. Sometimes we pay in cash, sometimes in laser systems, sometimes in gratitude. It all depends on the individual and their needs and desires...

Bill