From: Milton Aupperle <milton@outcastsoft.com>

Date: September 5, 2012 1:26:57 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Re: Astro IIDC 4.09.00 site updated

Hi Alan and others;

Okay. I removed the reference to Obama. Naming him specifically was dumb and as I indicated in my last posting given the economic situation - cuts have to be made by the government. Unfortunately, they affect me and my ability to continue development of Astro IIDC and I'm bitter and very stressed about this all.

On 5-Sep-12, at 11:43 AM, Alan Friedman wrote:

Hi Milton,

Many of us are working to try to keep businesses solvent and pay the bills. It hasn't been an easy time.

I don't know your goals well enough to suggest a direction for your business. But I will share a few observations - many of which are gleaned from fellow users who have shared their thoughts in recent weeks.

My goal has been clear - Astro IIDC has to be self funding. It has to be able to pay my monthly bills to continue with it.

1. Astro IIDC is a fully fleshed and working application with a potential for continued revenue stream. To "kill" it seems to serve no purpose. If you prefer not to invest further time in development, sales or support, find a way to simplify the sales and download process and empower the user group to provide support for new sales.

I drew a line in the sand and said 100 new users starting on August 7th. We are at 11% of that goal today.

The only reason to kill it is it frees me up to find employment.

As I said before, employment contracts have clauses in them that prevent you from doing projects outside of work - especially for software companies. All of my contracts have been that way - they want you focussed on them.

If I go back to my mining roots (I was a mineral exploration geologist for almost 15 years) - I will likely be gone in the field for months at a time with no phone, internet or outside contact - so you can't even fulfill sales or offer the vaguest kind of support.

I will not leave a product dangling. Either it is a going concern or it's done - that just screws up any third party company that wants to build a competing product - just like "Open Source" or "Share Ware" does.

2. Divide the program into a basic and advanced versions. The basic version provides camera control only… the advanced version includes image processing. The program has become large and feature laden, with some learning curve issues. A simplified capture program would be easier to sell in a new campaign and might reach out to a broader user group (including education) with the potential to draw users to the processing side as they gain experience.

I have been down this road and have worked with other people that have done this too. It only fragments your sales market further and increases your costs exponentially - as now you have multiple registrations, multiple marketing costs, multiple versions to develop and support.

Astro IIDC pricing is $75 per copy if bought in pairs. Cameras are $250 to $5000 USD and your cheapest Mac is about $1000. So the software pricing is a very small fraction ( <6%) to of the costs of doing Mac imaging even on the lowest end - on the high end it's < 1% of cost.

3. Outsource the marketing communications. Get help with creation of a website that fully expresses the potential of the product. Showcase the work and images that have been done with the software. Collaborate with someone who can build relationships with the camera manufacturers whose products your software supports… and with Apple.

The outsourcing and promotion requires money. Astro IIDC sales for 2012 do not even cover my monthly combined grocery, internet and power bill - leaving rent, insurance and hardware replacements / updates unfunded. To do a trade show requires several thousand dollars in flights, hotels, meals, entertainment (clients / drinks etc.) and attendance fees per show. I used to do do them in the 1990's for my Mac GIS Business so I know all about it.

I have already partnered with PGR, and I meet with them fairly regularly as well as pass them images and information to use for their promotional work - like my PGR 2 camera review. I have worked with PixeLink on compatibility issues and some promotional stuff in the past. The other Camera (i.e. Sony, AVT, Dage, The Imaging Source etc.) companies don't care about the Mac - it is not a viable market to them (currently 5.9% of PC sales in the USA, < 3% world wide).

And as far as promoting images, you should visit my web site some time:

http://www.outcastsoft.com/AstroImages/AstroIndex.html

After I update that site, I have posted that to various Astro related groups too to try to drum up business or raise awareness that there are Mac options available. While on vacation in August 2012, I was posting images to other Yahoo group sites that I had taken to try and promote Astro IIDC and have done that on other occasions too.

I have promoted images on the Astro IIDC web site too at the end of the FAQ section:

http://www.outcastsoft.com/ASCASTROIIDC.html#FAQ

mention that you can see other peoples images on this list there too and have a section called "Astro IIDC" in the news too.

I believe that there are current users who might be willing to assist in some of these efforts. My images are and have always been available to you for the purposes of communicating what your software can achieve. I think I can say the same for Stephen, Jim, Brian, Alberto and many others.

I do appreciate that people have indicated that Astro IIDC was used for imaging. I'm sure it does help raise awareness.

Whether these ideas could work to solve the financial situation you find yourself in, I do not know. But assuming you find some enjoyment from what you've achieved, it seems just as easy to find a cost effective way to maintain the investment rather than driving it into a tree.

I can not in good faith hide the fact that sales don't justify the expenditure of my time. Software doesn't magically maintain compatibility and at some point Apple will break it or kill it (i.e. like Rosetta / QuickTime etc.) - so it has to be actively supported. Actively supporting it means buying the new OS versions and replacing older hardware (Macs and Cameras) for testing purposes. I currently have one Mac that can run Mountain Lion for testing - that really is not enough to say it "works".

The simplest way for me to deal with this whole situation was to just post a message "it's done" and move on with my life.

What I tried to do is give the Mac community an opportunity to extend the life of Astro IIDC by reaching a sales target - but that likely will not happen. So my end game is the "Golden Key" to try and let people keep their Macs and Cameras running whether I am around or not. As it stands right now with the number of peoples wanting the Golden Key, the costs of developing it makes it a break even proposition - so it people are wondering if I am making money on it - I am not.

with best wishes,

Alan

Thanks Alan - I appreciate the response and suggestions. The bottom line is I need more customers.

TTYL..

Milton J. Aupperle

President

ASC - Aupperle Services and Contracting

Mac Software (Drivers, Components and Application) Specialist

#1106 - 428 Chaparral Ravine View SE.

Calgary Alberta T2X 0N2

1-(403)-453-1624

milton@outcastsoft.com