OtsAV 1.90 - Esperance update important information

Started by Glen J. Millar, August 02, 2012, 12:24:11 AM

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Dr.J

Quote from: Dub2Dat on August 09, 2012, 08:09:18 PM
Features like Plasma Tubes...wow...who needs that?

I think Jigger's quote was taken out of context. If DJ Martin bought his version 10 years ago some of the unexpected features would include video, karaoke, S&L, etc. That's quite a big deal when you consider the original price paid.

Jigger

Quote from: Dr.J on August 09, 2012, 11:11:57 PM
I think Jigger's quote was taken out of context. If DJ Martin bought his version 10 years ago some of the unexpected features would include video, karaoke, S&L, etc. That's quite a big deal when you consider the original price paid.
Correct
Ron
PDI PAAA-BE42 x 2 OtsAV Pro
PDI PBQ4-BH3P x 1 OtsAV Pro

DJMartin

Milky, thanks for the instruction, this is exactly what I did in the past and it worked very good.  :thumbsup:  From what I understand is that when getting the machine license, some sort of footprint of your cpu will be registered with OTS. At least it says that in case you install the software on more pc than you have licenses bought, your entire account might be deleted or blocked. Therefore I usually sent email to support and they 'freed' up to have another computer getting a machine license. Am I wrong or how is it working technically?

About the unexpected features introduced, I'm fully aware about them and sure appreciate them. I assume that a company has a business plan where R&D vs. revenue of new features are part of. Therefore they know which features can be given away for free and which must be charged extra. e.g. I was totally surprised when out of a sudden full S&L was included. A module I never ever expected to be for free. Looks like today it's no longer included or you buy the radio broadcast version for a higher price. If I would have relied on S&L, I might be disappointed now. Someone mentioned a modular offering structure. Why not.

Btw, the 5 licenses were bought spread over the 10 years, each of them paied based on the current list price of that moment.
PAAA-BHZM / OtsAV DJ Pro-Classic+ 1.85 [with free upgrades to 2.0] / Qty. 5
PBS5-QX61 / OtsAV DJ Pro 1.85 / Qty. 1
PBE5-Z892 / OtsAV DJ Pro 1.85 / Qty. 1
Working with OTS over 10 Years

Ots_Adam

To those few complaining about upgrade or cross-grade costs, sorry, but you're living in a fantasy land, and what's worse, some of you appear to know it.

Consider this... Ots sells many OtsAV TV Broadcaster and Radio Broadcaster licenses. As an aside, you can see TV Broadcaster in action on the US Spike TV show Bar Rescue, which has just started again for its second season.

Anyway, point is, the value of these products is well established. If they didn't live up in the value-for-money stakes, they would fail in the marketplace. Fact is we're doing better than ever with these products - as well as our DJ products - and to many of our customers they are considered cheap for what they do (and although this forum is mainly DJ-oriented, you can find comments here where users have indicated similar to what I'm saying. A recent post by RockinRon comes to mind, and another by Gar Lark See. And pehaps one by DaleCEnt).

What you have to consider is that if Ots ran its business the way the few complaining in this thread would have it, there *wouldn't be* a business, and there absolutely wouldn't be any further upgrades, free or otherwise. Developing quality software while maintaining stability, reliability and compatibility costs many resources. This is why comparisons to other products at the end of the day are fairly meaningless. To say "product B" has X, Y & Z and costs N means nothing. If product B really was better than Ots in all these areas and all other areas that people care about, normal market forces would quickly take care of this. You know, we do live in a world by and large where the usual laws of supply and demand apply. Ots doesn't have any special black magic powers to compel people to buy something they don't need nor want. People buy because it does what they want and represents a good value-for-money proposition. Simple really, when you think about it.

Another thing to think about, and I believe we have a news release coming out soon that will talk about this, our recent 1.90 upgrade has been the MOST SUCCESSFUL of all time for Ots. Most successful in terms of downloads, web and email traffic generated and of people actually upgrading and revenue generated - plus new license sales post-1.90. Now that really says something! And that's even with us having to put it out without a few further customization options we really wanted but didn't have time to complete due to our very public deadline.

So if you somehow think that you're going to influence Ots by complaining here, think again. We'd love to provide a product entirely for free that had the characteristics of Ots, but this is a pure fantasy in the world that we live in. And if you don't agree, go find one! The world is full of open source projects, free or very cheap products. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. If you expect to pay very little - and only *once*, more than 10 years ago - yet have entitlements to everything new that Ots ever develops, again, you're living in a pure fantasy land. Can you imagine purchasing Photoshop back in 1999 and then still getting free upgrades to everything they do today?

The honest truth of the matter is that many Ots earlier purchasers have done VERY VERY well in terms of value for money with OtsAV. Many paid just $59, or up to $99, and are *still* getting free upgrades. To suggest some God-given entitlement that you should automatically qualify for all radio functionality that Ots develops in the future is actually a huge insult to the people who are paying everyday for these products. Without them, there wouldn't even be any future major enhancements or further advanced radio functionality. Same applies to video, or any area really that you wish to put the microscope on. So stop your bitchin', pull out your wallet and put your money where your mouth is. If you're not prepared to do that, then go find someone else to annoy.

We are interested in serving our truly loyal customers, not just those that somehow *believe* they're a loyal customer simply because they once paid a small fee way back in the previous century and are still using the product today. That's not loyalty. Loyalty is *supporting* the product and its future development (and in return you get to continue using a fantastic product). You can't do that for a one-off sub $100 per license - and certainly not across 13 years. Funny how those guys are sometimes the ones who cry the loudest when things cost. Well guess what? We don't care. And I re-iterate, if we did try and appease *you* above all others, there would cease to be an OtsAV or any future updates. So go get some perspective before coming back to comment. Go check out Adobe's, Microsoft's, or any other number of software company's websites and look at the upgrade prices charged. OtsAV is very very inexpensive for what it does and the way it does it. We rarely even charge for version upgrades, while many companies do these kinds of charged-upgrades as a general course of business every year or so.

As far as the concept of charging for modules goes, well it can work (and we have done it many years ago), but it also presents many problems in terms of complications, administration, licensing and understanding for the customer. At the end of the day most vendors come to the conclusion that a series of product levels is the best approach, and that certainly has worked best for Ots. Look at Windows 7: Basic, Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate. Same with Photoshop. It's irrelevant if you're using Windows Pro but don't use *all* features in it. You're still benefitting from a more efficient system overall. Charging piecemeal across all options might work for car dealerships, but it's often not the best approach for software. You should never think that you're losing out because there are features in a given level that you don't use. It's generally the opposite that you're getting features "for free" because remember those laws of supply and demand; Ots has to ensure that across all market segments we are targetting that our products represent a good value-for-money proposition.

I wish to make clear that I am only addressing those who fit the above description. OtsAV does indeed have many loyal customers going right back to 1999 whom have grown with us throughout this journey and supported our efforts all along the way. I am absolutely not suggesting that all early purchasers have the above mindset. It's very few, in fact. But they often tend to be vocal without realising how absurd this appears in the scheme of things.

As a final note, for those that choose to cross-grade to a TV or Radio Broadcaster product consider that Ots offers a discount based on if you previously had purchased the "S&L" module, which at the time had a regular price of $500. Can you imagine that? A software company that gives a credit for something purchased up to 10 years earlier, which has been used by the customer all throughout that time, and yet you still can get a full dollar-for-dollar return on it if you upgrade to a newer product? I would suggest that's absolutely amazing and not something you're going to find at all typical within the commercial software world. Ots has always strived to be an incredibly fair company. If you do not feel this is the case, well, we're sorry but we probably can never satisfy *you*. Fortunately we *are* satisfying the vast majority.

Thanks again to everyone for your tremendous support. This really has been a major milestone for us and we're still recovering from more interest, traffic and orders than we've ever experienced before.

Regards,
Adam
Ots Labs - Intelligence for your AV.

whisper

well said...
will look forward to any development that tick the boxes for me...and pay the going cost for it.

it didn't tick the boxes,  so not willing to go upgrade just yet until it does.

you know your own mind as far as where the software is going, and i'm sure you will get there.
what presses the right button is the fact i think you have went back to the core of the program to make it as future proof as you can.
so will be looking for more functions, which will give me incentive to purchase.
and i'm positive you will get there.

bring out version 2.00...get it over with, and then you will see where the loyalty lies, in hard cash, with the further upgrades.
beyond version 2.

i won't bore you with what I'M looking for, as that has been taken care of at the moment..and i'm happy with it.
but like every other working dj, i look for ways to increase business, without outlay, don't we all !!!
and i ALWAYS keep an eye on what program suits my needs, and what the developments are in that program..just like music.

looking forward to future releases to see what the have to offer.   :thumbsup:



OtsAV DJ Pro 1.85 - PBT4-TLNH
OtsBoomBox - PAW3-WLE8 x 2

larichardson73

Fair enough. 

Listen, I was just expressing my mild disappointment that future radio features are not going to be available to me as a Pro Classic+ license holder, that's all.  Up until now, it seemed that a Pro Classic+ license covered most functionality.  Now, the radio-specific features are going to start to be separated.  Too bad for me.  I don't think I was, "crying the loudest", as you say.  I wasn't attempting to influence Ots; and I certainly wasn't trying to "annoy" you.  I wouldn't do those things, because, like I stated, I don't think I have much of an argument.  However, if I wanted to do those things, I would write the company an email.  This is just a user forum, correct?

 

Dub2Dat

Those are all good points Adam. 

I'm new to OTS.  I don't know the history of your products or company.  I don't mind paying for upgrades if it is for some stuff that I can use and the cost is reasonable.  My first video editor was Studio 9.  Studio is now up to version 15.  Currently I use Studio 14.  I paided for upgrades all along the way.  I wanted the features.  The price to upgrade was right.

I feel the same about OTS.  Come out with some stuff I can use at a reasonable price and I will likely upgrade.  I am a broadcaster.  I won't be paying to upgrade just to get more DJ tools.

Ots_Adam

Quote from: larichardson73 on August 10, 2012, 03:40:38 PM
Fair enough.  

Listen, I was just expressing my mild disappointment that future radio features are not going to be available to me as a Pro Classic+ license holder, that's all.  Up until now, it seemed that a Pro Classic+ license covered most functionality.  Now, the radio-specific features are going to start to be separated.  Too bad for me.  I don't think I was, "crying the loudest", as you say.  I wasn't attempting to influence Ots; and I certainly wasn't trying to "annoy" you.  I wouldn't do those things, because, like I stated, I don't think I have much of an argument.  However, if I wanted to do those things, I would write the company an email.  This is just a user forum, correct?

Hi larichardson73,

My comments are not specifically aimed at you nor anyone in particular. I haven't even attempted to keep track of what has been said by individuals. It's not important. I'm simply responding to a vibe that is being expressed here by a minority. So please don't take it personally. And yes, this is a user forum and of course you're entitled to express a view. But Ots is equally entitled to express its view ;)

Cheers,
A.
Ots Labs - Intelligence for your AV.

Ots_Adam

Quote from: Dub2Dat on August 10, 2012, 04:02:56 PM
Those are all good points Adam. 

I'm new to OTS.  I don't know the history of your products or company.  I don't mind paying for upgrades if it is for some stuff that I can use and the cost is reasonable.  My first video editor was Studio 9.  Studio is now up to version 15.  Currently I use Studio 14.  I paided for upgrades all along the way.  I wanted the features.  The price to upgrade was right.

I feel the same about OTS.  Come out with some stuff I can use at a reasonable price and I will likely upgrade.  I am a broadcaster.  I won't be paying to upgrade just to get more DJ tools.

Hi Dub2Dat,

And you haven't had to. OtsAV TV Broadcaster 1.85 licenses were not charged an upgrade fee to upgrade to 1.90.

But thanks for your support and for visiting the forum. I'm sure you're going to love some of the stuff we have in store for the future.

A.
Ots Labs - Intelligence for your AV.

larichardson73

Quote
Hi larichardson73,

My comments are not specifically aimed at you nor anyone in particular. I haven't even attempted to keep track of what has been said by individuals. It's not important. I'm simply responding to a vibe that is being expressed here by a minority. So please don't take it personally. And yes, this is a user forum and of course you're entitled to express a view. But Ots is equally entitled to express its view ;)

Cheers,
A.

No problem Adam.  I didn't mean to bitch about anything.  Now I feel bad.   :blusha:  I appreciate that you guys come on here and respond, and, generally, your communication is very good.  As someone else mentioned here, you guys have a clear vision, and you're obviously dedicated to making a great product.  Keep it up.

JohnnyTheFox

Quote from: Ots_Adam on August 10, 2012, 12:34:17 PMAs far as the concept of charging for modules goes, well it can work (and we have done it many years ago), but it also presents many problems in terms of complications, administration, licensing and understanding for the customer. At the end of the day most vendors come to the conclusion that a series of product levels is the best approach, and that certainly has worked best for Ots. Look at Windows 7: Basic, Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate. Same with Photoshop. It's irrelevant if you're using Windows Pro but don't use *all* features in it. You're still benefitting from a more efficient system overall. Charging piecemeal across all options might work for car dealerships, but it's often not the best approach for software. You should never think that you're losing out because there are features in a given level that you don't use. It's generally the opposite that you're getting features "for free" because remember those laws of supply and demand; Ots has to ensure that across all market segments we are targetting that our products represent a good value-for-money proposition.

It's reassuring to hear that Adam. Features that folks want, they will pay for (and so they should). It's clever marketing to sell features that will not be used as "free" in order to get the features that you want, and fair play to that, but those laws of suppply and demand that you refer to will win out in the end when people assess whether a price is worth paying to get the features they want, regardless of whether those other features are included "as free" or not.

For example, I will make a different assessment on an upgrade price that delivers 20 new features which include 10 things that I want and need, when compared to one that only includes 5. But it's clear from your post that you know that already, so fair play.

I can sympathise to a degree with your irritation over those that bought early and cheap who might seem to be the most demanding, although I wouldn't like Ots to lose sight of the fact that these people were only taking advantage of an offer that Ots made at the time for a 'future land of eastern promise' as they say in the Turkish Delight advert (which you may or may not get in Oz). Those that were in from the begining and paid $2 (joke) for OtsDJ with free upgrades to 2.0 and got free S&L and video / store credit etc were again only taking advantage of what was legitimately on offer from Ots at that time. I'm sure it's not the case Adam, but sometimes your understandable irritation can come across as treating those people as 2nd class citizens in some way. Ots had a different business model back then and when someone has a free updates to 2.0 licence the expectation is that they will keep what they have and qualify for future upgrades up to 2.0. This is no expectation that this could mean that in the process they could lose some /any functionality that they already have.

Having been given S&L for free some years ago by means of a legitimate offer from Ots that people quite rightly saw as an offer too great to miss out on, might feel irritated themselves when someone says actually you might lose some functionality in the future but you didn't pay for it so what's your problem.

i'm sure that's not how you meant it to come across.

Just saying.




OtsAV DJ Pro-Classic+ [with free upgrades to 2.0] - PDI:PBH1-543J - 2 licenses
OtsAV TV Broadcaster - PDI:PB2Y-JZR1
OtsAV Radio Broadcaster - PDI:PAPE-H3HR
OtsAV Radio Webcaster - PDI:PBPK-TP67
OtsTurntables Silver - PDI:PA3C-KLZY

'The trouble with quotes over the Internet is that you never know if they are genuine' - Abraham Lincoln

Ots_Adam

Quote from: JohnnyTheFox on August 10, 2012, 06:11:54 PM
It's reassuring to hear that Adam. Features that folks want, they will pay for (and so they should). It's clever marketing to sell features that will not be used as "free" in order to get the features that you want, and fair play to that, but those laws of suppply and demand that you refer to will win out in the end when people assess whether a price is worth paying to get the features they want, regardless of whether those other features are included "as free" or not.

For example, I will make a different assessment on an upgrade price that delivers 20 new features which include 10 things that I want and need, when compared to one that only includes 5. But it's clear from your post that you know that already, so fair play.

I can sympathise to a degree with your irritation over those that bought early and cheap who might seem to be the most demanding, although I wouldn't like Ots to lose sight of the fact that these people were only taking advantage of an offer that Ots made at the time for a 'future land of eastern promise' as they say in the Turkish Delight advert (which you may or may not get in Oz). Those that were in from the begining and paid $2 (joke) for OtsDJ with free upgrades to 2.0 and got free S&L and video / store credit etc were again only taking advantage of what was legitimately on offer from Ots at that time. I'm sure it's not the case Adam, but sometimes your understandable irritation can come across as treating those people as 2nd class citizens in some way. Ots had a different business model back then and when someone has a free updates to 2.0 licence the expectation is that they will keep what they have and qualify for future upgrades up to 2.0. This is no expectation that this could mean that in the process they could lose some /any functionality that they already have.

Having been given S&L for free some years ago by means of a legitimate offer from Ots that people quite rightly saw as an offer too great to miss out on, might feel irritated themselves when someone says actually you might lose some functionality in the future but you didn't pay for it so what's your problem.

i'm sure that's not how you meant it to come across.

Just saying.

Second-class citizens? You've got to be kidding :) Anyone with an "upgrades to 2.0" license is the envy of all that have come after. I would respectfully suggest that *your* statement is "clever marketing", if not delusional :P

Taking advantage of an offer? Sure. We have no problem with that - indeed, that's the whole point! And hey, come on, we haven't backed away from anything. But you won't read *anywhere* in Ots correspondence that taking advantage of said offer included all new innovations Ots may or may not care to develop, nor that future products wouldn't change along with market trends and expectations. Just like with 1.90 which is lacking CD-DA functionality - this includes for people paying to upgrade :) It's much more complicated than any trivial assessment may lead you to believe.

Everyone always has the right to continue running an older version. Want to be sure your free S&L that you took advantage of at the time continues to work? You can! But it sounds suspiciously here like you expect to *also* gain all new innovations that Ots cares to develop around the radio and scheduling side of things, despite the fact Ots never stated such and clearly has another line of products dedicated to the radio side. I would respectfully suggest that's stretching the "offer", as you called it. Ots never stated such. And why should it penalise new entrants to our products when they are the very lifeblood of development? (Just to be clear: many early customers are also the lifeblood, because they keep purchasing new licenses, upgrades, etc. I'm certainly not against any particular customer type - except those with unrealistic and unobtainable expectations.)

Fortunately we've had very few issues along these lines. Most people understand the concepts of "you get what you pay for", "user pays", etc. But just ocassionally you come across those who somehow believe they are entitled to something fantastical without as much as a dime.

We didn't state that we're specifically going to remove S&L from the old DJ product. All we've said is that it can't be guaranteed into the future and that it's a burden to support for such few people (within the DJ line) who actually use that functionality (hasn't been sold for over 5 years). What's more likely is that it will become so outdated compared to what's on offer in the radio (and TV) products that no one will really care anymore as those that want such functionality will have moved across. That was the intent of my original post in this thread on the subject... to allow people to clearly realise the vision which may assist them to make a better upgrade decision.

I'm not stating unequivocally that we're going to remove the legacy scheduling functionality from the DJ line that some early license holders are able to make use of. However equally I'm not guaranteeing that we won't do that. If it makes sense, whether for technical, development, efficiency reasons, or whatever, then we will. And it's starting to lean more that way (already, it was a burden to continue to support in 1.90). But I don't envision anything happening *real* soon. If/when that happens, and if you happen to be one of the few within the DJ line using that functionality, you'll make a decision then on whether to cross-grade, keep using an earlier version or move to some other solution.

But you must understand there are many customers who wish to make decisions now (perhaps as part of a larger upgrade) and so my shared insights can help them make a more informed decision. If you're not in their boat, and just wanna keep using what you have for as long as you can, more power to you! But you absolutely have no right to hold anything over Ots. We haven't sold any DJ products with that functionality for at least around 5 years. That's an eternity in the tech world. Who even runs serious software today that they purchased more than 5 (and in many cases more like 10) years ago, without having upgraded? As I said, if we catered just to that market, there would be no future updates with that functionality anyway. What would fund it?

I re-iterate from my earlier post, Ots has been very generous and always strived to be incredibly fair. Just go and read RockinRon's post (quoted below) and see what he pays *every single year* just to keep his video production software suite up to date. Yet he uses Ots at every single gig he does and calls it "the real hero". His suggestion was that we should just call the next version 2.0 regardless of what's in it and get past the whole legacy stuff. A number of others have made the same suggestion. Then we'll see who (out of those legacy users) are truly supportive of our efforts. Worth thinking about - especially in light of the fact that we have no trouble at all attracting new customers who don't have unrealistic expectations.

Adam

Quote from: RockinRon on August 01, 2012, 11:12:27 PM
Adam - agreed with those above.  Go get yourself a WELL deserved beer.  It's sad that there are so many in the DJ industry who 'want want want'.  I'm a very active DJ in the evenings, but work as a video editor in the daytime, and I'll say, aside from the rock solid stability, easy of use, awesome auto-mix features and everything else, OTS has been absolutely amazing for the fact that, if you were an early adopter, you're still getting (and have gotten) most of these updates free of charge.  AND, the cost of the software is STILL low today for what it does.  Yea, there are other pieces of DJ software that do other things and are similar and around the same price/cheaper/etc - but I for one am of the belief that offering these pieces of software at such low prices is one of the biggest problems the industry has (in the mobile industry at least), due to the fact that so many expect everything for literally NO money.

I pay at least 2k USD a year to update my video and imaging software to be current, and do so because i have to.  Many others are still going on a $350 or less purchase with multiple updates.  Not that i mind the fact that OTS is more affordable, but OTS is simply the SINGLE most used piece of 'equipment' that i own.  EVERY single event I do, I utilize OTS.  Speakers, amps, mixers, etc. may come and go, but OTS is the real hero, and I'd be willing to pay for each and every upgrade (maybe that would stop some of the complainers too, eh? If you guys just call this release 2.0, then update from there and make everyone pay for their upgrade, they'll have nothing to complain about... they'd have to buy it to complain!) -- i know it's more complicated than that, but you get the point

Now that that's over, i will say that I am overall pleased with the many new features of the release and appreciate the hard work that went into this.  I may have a few things that 'I would have done different', but dont we all? At the end of the day it comes down to usability and reliability, both of which are very well focused on in this release, as it has been the standard for every other release.

With that said, I've read there is exploration for the support of other video formats, but is there anything else that can be given about H.264 support? Obviously this has quickly become the industry standard for DJs and beyond.  Is it licensing for the codecs? Are there conversion problems? Concerns about quality?  This is my only 'real' disappointment, albeit slight, as I have no problem doing the MPEG4-MPEG2 conversion dance before heading into OTS, just an extra step is all.

Other than that, to reiterate, I truly appreciate the hard work and sticking true to the 'line in the sand' for delivery... and deliver you did! There's still more to come too and i look forward to it all! But this is enough to at least get the gears rolling again and be able to be even more creative behind the wheels of steel! (or plastic as they are on my 4500 :-)

Cheers Adam! And the rest of the Ots Crew!
Ots Labs - Intelligence for your AV.

JohnnyTheFox

No one has ever told me before that I was good at marketing. Thanks Adam  :laugh:

Yes, I know there are some that might expect the world for little in the way of cost (I have clients like that too - I am an accountant here in the UK and I also have clients that expect the service but don't want the bill to go with it) and as you can see from my signature, I too have 2 free upgrades to 2 licences but I am also not afraid to spend some cash to have both the TV and Radio Broadcaster licences (even though I didn't pay full price for either - obtaining them via Ots sale) to ensure I get the best of all that is and will be available (even though I do not use Ots at all in any business sense - I just love the program), so in a sense this doesn't directly affect me as I do not expect to get the new bits without hitting the credit card for them as you can see. I have too many clients that do that to me to fall for that one.

However, I can see from your post that if something does becomes unreliable or unstable then I agree that it should be binned. I have no problem with that. I am not a programmer so have no idea how all of this white magic works (I don't even understand scripting with AHK - it may as well be Latin - which I didn't understand either), but all I would say is that people get nervous if they think they might lose something they thought was not previously under threat - that is our old friend human nature, and that is whether they paid top dollar for it, or got it for free.

But if something gets binned not because it has become unstable, but because you have developed something (undoubtedly) better which is worth charging for, then unless people with a legacy free upgrade to 2 licence (and here I am not referring to the something for nothing crowd) are happy to cease their upgrades at that point, then they may be faced with an enforced chargeable upgrade (rather than a free one) to keep the same functionality. They may well resent that.

Anyway, as you say no decision has been made on this, so whilst it is all very interesting to discuss the finer points of the threory, it is all hypothetical and as you say and may not even happen.

Have a good day Adam, and I leave you with an interesting statistic. If the UK county/state of Yorkshire was a country, it would still be ahead of Oz in the Olympic Gold medal league table  :p ;-)  :) :)

Cheers Adam and keep up the excellent work.
OtsAV DJ Pro-Classic+ [with free upgrades to 2.0] - PDI:PBH1-543J - 2 licenses
OtsAV TV Broadcaster - PDI:PB2Y-JZR1
OtsAV Radio Broadcaster - PDI:PAPE-H3HR
OtsAV Radio Webcaster - PDI:PBPK-TP67
OtsTurntables Silver - PDI:PA3C-KLZY

'The trouble with quotes over the Internet is that you never know if they are genuine' - Abraham Lincoln

DJMartin

I never questioned the product at all. It's stable and robust and that is my argument against dj's asking me to switch to other products. If looking at my first impression review in the other thread one will notice that I highlight serveral pros and cons, but try to be fair overall.

When I first heard about Esperance, I immedaitly thought... YES, that's it.. V2. It's hard to understand, that not already the introduction of ABM was the jump to V2, or now Esperance. What rocket sience is in the pipe and will be introduced in V2? That must be hell of innovation.  But I do wonder myself how a company can survive over so many years with hundreds or thousands of customers but never kick out V2 to get rid off that free upgrade burden. Very seldom in the industry. I do not expect an answer on that, it's OTS business and that's ok.

Adam, I do consider myself as a loyal customer, even though you might get another impression. I don't want to argue here with you, but a few things need to be said still.  All licenses assigned to me are paid in the range of $200 - $300. None below $100. That means I'm paying whatever the regular price tag is saying (except the 10% loyal customer discount with my last order). My main income is from my job working in the mid- to large scale computing area for a top 10 global IT company as an advisory IT specialist. So I do know the software industry, product cycles, roadmaps etc...  If I should have given the impression to get everything for free, this is simply not true nor my intention.

As a loyal customer I do suggestions. Either here in the forum or directly via mail to OTS technial dept. Sample is my proposal on how to improve the fixing of broken playlist back in 2009 and before (Placeholder story). It was accepted to go on the suggestion list, but fell off in the meantime I guess.
Participation and suggestions in the discussion about the media library and how to improve reliability in regard of storing category information (investment protection/TCO) (Forum post, not sent by mail yet.)
Suggestions for having at least one simple Jingle desk, not mixing capable, just pure manual handling like the good old Sonifex cartridges but digital and in the OTS manner, drag and drop a song. Could be used to PFL songs.
Suggestion how a possible easy-PFL of songs could be realized. (Forum post, not sent by mail yet.)

New features are cool, improve user friendliness (usability) is cool too.

In the meantime I took the discision to update only one license (out of 5) for integration tests and get first hands on training. The other 4 licenses stay as they are for quite a while. Depending on how the Esperance concept evolves I will then decide if the residing two licenses will be upgraded with costs or giving another product a trial including T&M costs for the library migration.

Martin
PAAA-BHZM / OtsAV DJ Pro-Classic+ 1.85 [with free upgrades to 2.0] / Qty. 5
PBS5-QX61 / OtsAV DJ Pro 1.85 / Qty. 1
PBE5-Z892 / OtsAV DJ Pro 1.85 / Qty. 1
Working with OTS over 10 Years

BJ

Steve,
First as a legacy Dual License holder, I want to thank you for the great bargain for the investment to date. OTS has been more than fair. I am a Professional Land Surveyor for my real job and like the accountant I can attest to the folks that want something for way less that it can be afforded. The only other thing that I had hoped for out of OTS since the beginning was that when the file was placed in the deck OTS would somehow be able to analyze the file when placed in the deck and display BPM, then while the song was playing keep up with the BPM If adjusted up or down. Having said that, should that not happen before 2.0 or revised in 1.90, I would be willing to pay for that function or any other feature added if it would benefit me. I can not for the life of me see how anyone could expect to recieve a 1200.00 package for nothing that was never intended in my view for mobile D.J.'S. I understand that there are propable a lot of radio dj's in the early days of OTS that used it, but reading some the the post the radio side has gone way beyond anything the original OTS offered, so much so that OTS has been broken down into different offerings for different needs, as it should be. The way I see it is if you have the bookings to make the money your comfortable with then you should be more than willing to pay for improvement to the very tool that let's you do a better job with less hassel. Cheap is not in my vocabulary. Will the product do what it says it will every time, make me money, and in the process make my job easier? If the answer is yes then I will purchase the product. In the words of my dad, if you're gonna dance someone has to pay the fiddler. Doesn't matter if it's the DJ or the software vender.

Again Steve, thanks for what you Adam and the rest of the crew at OTS do. You make it people will come.



BJ