Re: [NTLK] New user question about CF cards

On 12/15/06 5:47 PM, Riccardo Mori <rick@poc.it> wrote:
> Oh, and about the "let's shut up and be thankful and not say anything
> negative" bit, I didn't read other people's responses regarding
> Paul's ATA Support in that way. From what I could learn by this
> thread, I read that some people are happy about ATA Support and don't
> find its price that high given the efforts put on it, and that some
> other people aren't happy about it at all.

Rick, I certainly appreciate your input. Concerning your statement above
though, I can only add that I've been on this list a long time and I've seen
this sort of thing happen many times; namely, people who are happy, directly
or indirectly, politely or impolitely, tend to mildly condemn those who have
problems. (In other words, I was not restricting my comment on "let's shut
up..." only to what I read in this thread.) And yes, "staunch support" or a
"list of good things" can be taken as condemnation by the one experiencing
problems. In many cases, authors of "good tidings" style replies often have
great respect for particular software developers and therefore feel it their
responsibility to directly or indirectly defend them when something negative
is posted to this list.

In many cases though, it's no different than if a healthy person were to
talk into a hospice filled with terminal cancer patients only to ask,
"Folks, why so glum?" When you're having problems and someone else
discounts your problems, you don't suddenly have a warm, fuzzy feeling
inside. A good experience or a list of "good reasons to buy" from one
person cannot magically exterminate the problems of another. So my call for
restraint against "let's shut up..." retorts was in fact an indirect call
for "empathy" from those who have zero problems (and therefore nothing but
praise for something) toward those who are having a hard time. And yes,
seeing a software package as being overpriced falls within my definition of
having a hard time.

It's easy to attack those who are mildly complaining about something, but it
requires more effort to try an encourage them (if such is possible). My
method of encouragement comes in the form of sharing a similar experience
and providing more useful information on the subject. For indeed, if
someone had informed me of the performance issues beforehand (which were
impossible to test free of charge only on 4MB and smaller ATA cards), I may
not have purchased ATA Support and would have been grateful to the person
who had personally advised me. But no, I am not going to spend my time
asking for a refund at this point because I accept the risks associated with
buying any software (which means I am not going to phone up Paul and
"demand" an upgrade either). But I also see no harm in stating this in a
public forum since this list does not exist to "cover up the truth." This
is no private complaint we are talking about here.

With that said, I have taken your words and that of Mr. Hung to heart. But
for the record, I have contacted Paul about this matter privately, although
that was nearly 3 years ago now. At the time, Paul's private correspondence
to me (which is not a "private matter" by the way) indicated that some
additional improvements in performance could and would be made. I still
have that original email, but I will refrain from posting it here as some
may consider such too brash of me.

But those of you who have read my past posts know that I am no trouble-maker
or chronic complainer on this list. Nor have I beaten on Paul or his
software excessively in the past. Again, I have posted today and yesterday
only to support a fellow Newton user who is having some difficulties over
the purchase of a given Newton driver, who in some ways feels similarly to
myself. Indeed, I merely skimmed through my NewtonTalk digest the other
day, spotted the thread on software I myself own (ATA Support), read the
trouble Mr. Speake is experiencing, and thought I would chime in with my own
feelings. Right or wrong, my feelings are out there now, and thankfully
this has stimulated some level of discussion on the matter. And whether
Paul reads this list or not is something I would not know, but certainly,
more dialog on the subject is better than none at all. And I feel a public
discussion would have more impact in the long term than any single,
individual, private email to Paul ever would. For indeed, my individual,
private discussion with Paul 3 years ago bore no fruit whatsoever (reasons
of "futility" and/or "Einstein" being the root cause or no being a matter
for separate discussion).

Nevertheless, for the sake of not making further waves on this subject, I
shall bring my comments on ATA Support to a close.

Regards,

James Wages

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