Sorry for taking so long to get back into this as to let it appear as though I am responding to "shmokes" rabid diatribe, but I have been typing at this one during free moments on and off all day long. It's one of the 2 days a week I have left at the "day job" that appears to be going under, like so many others in this country.
This thread has taken on a life of it's own with people speculating about IP issues who have obviously never even been exposed to the process.
My name is currently on 3 issued patents, and I know a little about what goes into them. I don't know how many of the vociferous here can say that.
Am I considering legal action against Andy and were my comments pointing to that possibility?
Absolutely NOT. Could I at this point?
NO. Would I if I could?
NO.But one thing is for certain, there are a lot of folks around here who aren't who you think they are. And that goes for me as well. There is co-operation amongst the vendors and some of the "old-timers", and that's good for the community. There is also
collusion between some of these individuals and most of the time, that is not so good for the community.
I'm going to relate a personal story here to help illustrate my point. When I developed the KeyWiz, there were very few people that knew about it before it was ready for sale. I talked to a few of the people I perceived to be the "nice guys", and outside of that somewhat oddball situation, probably are, but one gave me reason for pause. I'm not going to drop names, but he is generally well liked and respected...and a vendor.
I had a brief exchange with this individual, interestingly enough as a result of a technical "argument" and I let him in on the development plans and of course being as excited as I was about making the KeyWiz available, I told him that I wanted it to be a real alternative or even the encoder of choice for those looking for this kind of thing. Part of my plan to make this happen was to offer more inputs on a high quality programmable device, but sell it at a lower price than the competition and offer an American made product to, well, Americans (i.e. low cost, fast shipping for even more savings to those on this side of the "pond") . Part of this plan was also the Eco, which was (and still is) meant to place the hobby within the reach of those without the deep pockets that some of you (thankfully
) have. This would carry an even lower price tag (and this was way before the $19.95 one!!!)
From an individual that seemed, on the face of things, to be a benevolent type that seemed to regularly go out of his way to help, I got the strangest response. Not the "cool, it's about time someone made these more affordable to the masses" or "it'll be nice to have a decent alternative this side of the ocean. No. The response was "
Why are you selling them for so little? You should consider raising your price" What!?! I was concerned about breaking into a nearly impenetrable niche market and at the same time do a service for the community.
What motives could there possibly be for raising prices on the community, when it wasn't necessary for me to do so
?
Well the motives are simple. At the time, there were a number of vendors jockeying to carry the IPAC as distributors in the U.S. and while I can't say for sure that this individual was one of them, it would have surprised me if he was not. You see, by time you factor in the shipping, cost of carrying inventory, and the fact that the manufacturer wants to keep the profit margin where it is, it would be nearly impossible to compete. After that, I pretty much stopped talking to other vendors, only end-users, who I am happy to say have been wonderful in their dealings with me and the support of my products.
Some of the people here think that there should be no IP, and sometimes I find myself feeling the same way. But you can't pick and choose who this mentality applies to. What if I started manufacturing a stand-up arcade machine with a rotating control panel that worked exactly like 1UP's (who I happen to like, and would not purposely alienate,) but used different controls on the same mechanism? How many of you would cry foul in his name? How many of you started foaming at the mouth when he posted quite often about the patent protection he was seeking for his Intellectual Property? Strangely, I don't remember anyone doing this.
Even more ironic, is the running of CyberPunk out on a rail, when most of you were using software he wrote to program your IPACs. Granted, there were other circumstances, like him trying to protect his IP using all the wrong means, but it's still a good example of how thankless certain individuals in this community can be at times.
Here's something for you to consider when lighting the torches. Where would things be right now if GroovyGameGear never came onto the scene over 2 years ago to push the envelope and other vendors into getting off of their "business as usual" asses and competing with our offerings? How many new things were out there in the two years prior as opposed to the last two years, and isn't it pretty damn nice to finally have
options?
Anyway, I'm done with the thread, and shmokes and Grasshopper (any others?) can keep their money....if they even have any. I personally care about everyone I send my stuff to and I want them to be happy as they are getting a part of me....right now there's a part of me that doesn't want shmokes or Grasshopper to be happy....ever.
RandyT
BTW, Lilwolf. Don't be so naive as to think that people aren't making money at this. We admittedly have smaller marketshare than the direct competition, yet we grossed at least the yearly salary of some of the more well paid members here. Yes, that is a lot of KeyWiz's to build by hand and we manually tested every one of them before they went out the door. It wasn't free money, but it's still money. If you were to consider that we probably captured only 20 percent of that yearly market, can you imagine what the other guys are making? Fun is fun, but business is business, and if you think the other guy is in it just for your playtime when there's that kind of scratch as stake...well, let's just say you aren't seeing the whole picture.
Man, more to add:
Grasshopper, as long as we are pointing fingers, you are one of the people that have driven this type of situation. Any time there is a conflict, you and a few select others, blindy take the side of Ultimarc and Andy Warne. One only has to look at the posts to see it. It's easy for an individual to sit back and appear magnanimous when there are others to speak out against your competition for you.
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