Digital BW, The Print

Dennis,

This very topic has been discussed ad-nuzeum on the ImagePrint forum. Apparently, the changes to the underpinnings of CUPS and Print Center, and printing in general, under Panther generated a need for quite a few changes to IP's code. When ColorByte released IP 5.6 it was never stated to run under Panther; obviously, John Q. public had not heard of Panther at the time. I guess they (CB) feel that the patch for IP will only be provided to those have a maintenance agreement. Many current IP Mac users feel that this should be provided free of charge as a bug fix. As I said, the topic was heatedly debated...

FWIW, ColorByte has two pricing structures for its maintenance: $495 covers you for 1 year for the "pro" versions of IP (e.g., Epson 7600); $150 covers you for 90 days for the Lite version (i.e., Epson 2200). It's my understanding that if you enter into a Lite agreement for $150 today you will get the Panther fix and IP 6.0 when it's released in January.

Alan Huntley

> 
> From: "Dennis W. Manasco" <dmanasco@...>
> Date: 2003/11/11 Tue AM 05:45:18 EST
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Re: digital prints vs. wet prints
> 
> At 8:20 pm -0800 11/10/03, Tom Baker wrote:
> 
> >There's a Panther upgrade on Colorbyte's web site.
> 
> I had almost decided to buy IP when this issue came up.
> 
> As I read the ColorByte web site, the only way to get the update (if 
> your copy of Lite is more than 30 days old) is to have a current 
> "Maintenance Agreement," which appears to cost $495 per year. (Unless 
> you purchased the "Maintenance Lite" agreement for $150, in which 
> case you are protected for 90 days from the original purchase date.)
> 
> Have I read this correctly? Can this actually mean that, if you 
> purchased the IP Lite version for a 2200 at $495 (raster only) 31 
> days ago and Panther causes IP to break then the only way you can get 
> an upgrade to a version that works is to purchase a year's worth of 
> maintenance for yet another $495?
> 
> If that is really the case then it looks like the only way you can 
> safely own ImagePrint is to pay $990 the first year and $495 each 
> succeeding year, whether upgrades are truly necessary or not 
> (because, if one _is_ needed and you don't have a maintenance 
> agreement then you have a major problem). And these are just the 
> minimal prices for the smallest printers.
> 
> Can this possibly be a genuinely correct analysis of their pricing?
> 
> If it is then it's an incredibly venal and predatory way for them to 
> treat their customers. The way I analyze the costs this is _way_ over 
> anything from Adobe and Micro$oft.
> 
> (There is a note about buying upgrades outside the maintenance 
> program, but it gives no indication of cost and reminds me of 
> restaurants without prices on their menus.)
> 
> Does anyone have any experience with ColorByte's upgrade policies? 
> Can you comment on the cost? Does it _really_ cost 100% of the 
> initial purchase price to secure a mid-year update? Do yearly updates 
> without a maintenance agreement cost even more than $100% of the 
> initial purchase price?
> 
> Ouch. There is __no__ way I can pitch something like this and still 
> hew to my fiduciary responsibilities.
> 
> Please tell me I am wrong and that there is a way to get yearly, and 
> as-needed, upgrades for 20% or less of initial cost per annum.
> 
> (Don't I remember a time when bug fixes to a point version were not 
> only freely downloadable but encouraged?)
> 
> 
> -=-Dennis
> 
> 
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