[NTLK] Connecting eMate to XP machine

[James Fraser]

Hello,

>I've had myself and have heard of many such sad experiences as this one. I >think it comes >down to willingness versus ability...or, as Mr. Spock once >said on Star Trek, referring to >failed contact with a fellow starship: >"There are two possibilities: they are unable to >respond, they are >unwilling to respond."

Agreed.  And that's what the post was in aid of: to give any of the parties involved a chance to respond and set the record straight.  NewtonTalk is not a one-sided arrangement and I meant it when I wrote:

>>I do, of course, welcome any corrections if I've gotten any of the below >>wrong

I'm entirely willing to admit that I may have gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick and that the whole thing was just a huge and hideous misunderstanding.  

>It could be that Mr. Jozaitis really intended to follow through, to make >things right. But he >was so snowed over that he just could not--did >not--have the resources or the ability to do >that.

Yes, it's entirely possible that his intentions were good, but he suddenly found himself in a situation where he simply didn't have the wherewithal to give people what he owed them (either Newton stuff or, barring that, their money back).

However, all situations change given enough time.  When I did a search for active eBay auctions under the Maceffects name, I came up with 76 of them.  Meaning that he's still very much alive and around.  I would like to think that my post represents an opportunity for him to put things right at long last.

>It's why it's amusing to me that companies charge late fees...if the >person or persons could >not pay on time due to lack of funds, how can you >reasonably expect them to pay even more >now?

On the other hand, sometimes what late fees do is act as an incentive for people to take care of things when they should.  

It's not always a given that people necessarily lack the means to make good on their debts.  In some cases, people show themselves subject to the same human frailties that we're all subject to: they just flat-out forget or they might be overtaken by other, more pressing events (e.g. a death in the family or, worse, news that their own death is impending).

>He certainly is guilty of one thing: IMHO, it's bad business to continue >to take orders if you >don't think you can fulfill them. I know he said in >his email that he planned on continuing >what was left of his business, >but I believe the responsible thing is to cease operations until >you are >more solvent.

I would also add that, should you find yourself in a situation where you owe money or goods to people, it's your responsibility to make an effort to seek them out so that you can give them what you owe them and not the other way around.

>At any rate, continued contact with his clients and debtors would have >gone a long way...

I could be entirely presumptuous in this assertion, but: it seems to me that if you owed money to people with Newtons, and wanted to make an earnest attempt to put things right, one of the first steps you would take would be a "who do I still owe money/product to?" post on this list. A follow-up post after 30 days and a final one after 60 days or so to make sure that no one had gotten overlooked would, I should think, be part of any earnest effort to make sure everyone had what they needed from you.

Of course, it could be that my defintion of "earnest" effort might tilt strongly toward the right side of the Earnestness Scale.  There's no denying that everyone has their own idea of what earnest effort is.


Best,

James Fraser