From: Jim Chung <jim_chung@sunshine.net>
Date: August 7, 2012 10:43:48 AM MDT
To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Astro_IIDC] Macs and Science
I agree with Steve. This is what I was getting at in my earlier message. If we view doling out an annual $100 as paying for "support services" then we can keep it alive and perhaps Milton could further mitigate his costs by no longer developing it but just maintaining it.
Jim
Quoting "Stephen W. Ramsden" <sramsden@natca.net>:
I will definitely run the group for you if no one else wants to. I would
love to tie it in to my 8000+ hits per day solar-chat forum and websites.
I also need to buy a couple more licenses right away just in case I lose one
or something..:)
What's your paypal address?
If 100 people on this list buy a new full priced license then you will stay
in business for another year or two?
Hello list members....time to pony up. This software is easily worth 3
times what you paid for it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Milton Aupperle
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 12:20 PM
To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Macs and Science
Hi Stephen;
On 7-Aug-12, at 9:47 AM, Stephen W. Ramsden wrote:
I also went to all Macs in my outreach program (60,000 people yearly
at schools and almost every major asto event) based exclusively on
Milton's software. I invested over $8,000 in cameras and iMacs/
Macbooks based on this software as it is BY FAR the best live
broadcasting software out there for Mac or Windows. I also purchased
several copies as I wanted to keep him in business.
I have to say I am sort of scrambling now as to what Im gonna do if
ASTRO IIDC is no longer available. Milton, I am assuming that the
software I have will still work if I don't change out any computers or
OS's right?
As long as you don't switch hardware , Astro IIDC will continue to work and
your keys will be viable. For Mac licenses, If the mother board dies and is
replaced, that changes the serial numbers.
Unfortunately, given the junk Apple ships now a days from a Q&A perspective
- that is more likely to happen than not. Since switching to intel, I have
issued 3 times as many replacement unlock keys than I ever did for PowerPC
Macs - and sinilar numbers of customers too.
And you can switch to windows with your existing camera gear if they do -
I'm sure that's what everyone else will do. You can likely save yourself
thousands of dollars (Ultra Books are 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of similar Mac
products) by buying a Dell (or other) PC over Apple.
Is there anything that I can do to encourage you to at least keep a
shell going for a couple more years?
Not unless we reach the 100 new full price licenses mark by September
15th. That will keep things running until January 2013.
If I decide to go back to my "Geologist Roots", I could be living in
places where we have no outside communication to the world for months
on end. So it could be 6+ months before I get back to people on e-mail
requests for new keys. That is not viable.
Secondly, I am not going to partially stop - it isn't fair to me to
continue keys and support with no source of revenue to back it. Doing
key replacements and support does take a significant amount of time.
So it's either all or nothing.
By the way, I will be glad to host the listserve or website or
whatever.
The Astro IIDC Yahoo Group is part of Yahoo and is hosted by them.
Basically i need someone to take over the administration. That means
you approve whom gets on the list (to prevent spammers) and remove
people whom are being disruptive (like spammers etc.) In 8 years I
have had to kick 2 people off. Yahoo notifies you when a person
requests becoming a member and it's a simple matter of saying Yes or
No. It frankly requires a few minutes a week - even less than that now
a days.
There is almost 8 years of support, tips and suggestions in this Yahoo
Group, and I would like to see that preserved if possible. But if no
one steps up, then it's lost.
HTH..
Milton Aupperle
Stephen W. Ramsden
Executive Director
Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
404-543-7616
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