Alpha Software Mobile Development Tools:   Alpha Anywhere    |   Alpha TransForm subscribe to our YouTube Channel  Follow Us on LinkedIn  Follow Us on Twitter  Follow Us on Facebook

Announcement

Collapse

The Alpha Software Forum Participation Guidelines

The Alpha Software Forum is a free forum created for Alpha Software Developer Community to ask for help, exchange ideas, and share solutions. Alpha Software strives to create an environment where all members of the community can feel safe to participate. In order to ensure the Alpha Software Forum is a place where all feel welcome, forum participants are expected to behave as follows:
  • Be professional in your conduct
  • Be kind to others
  • Be constructive when giving feedback
  • Be open to new ideas and suggestions
  • Stay on topic


Be sure all comments and threads you post are respectful. Posts that contain any of the following content will be considered a violation of your agreement as a member of the Alpha Software Forum Community and will be moderated:
  • Spam.
  • Vulgar language.
  • Quotes from private conversations without permission, including pricing and other sales related discussions.
  • Personal attacks, insults, or subtle put-downs.
  • Harassment, bullying, threatening, mocking, shaming, or deriding anyone.
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
  • Sexually explicit or violent material, links, or language.
  • Pirated, hacked, or copyright-infringing material.
  • Encouraging of others to engage in the above behaviors.


If a thread or post is found to contain any of the content outlined above, a moderator may choose to take one of the following actions:
  • Remove the Post or Thread - the content is removed from the forum.
  • Place the User in Moderation - all posts and new threads must be approved by a moderator before they are posted.
  • Temporarily Ban the User - user is banned from forum for a period of time.
  • Permanently Ban the User - user is permanently banned from the forum.


Moderators may also rename posts and threads if they are too generic or do not property reflect the content.

Moderators may move threads if they have been posted in the incorrect forum.

Threads/Posts questioning specific moderator decisions or actions (such as "why was a user banned?") are not allowed and will be removed.

The owners of Alpha Software Corporation (Forum Owner) reserve the right to remove, edit, move, or close any thread for any reason; or ban any forum member without notice, reason, or explanation.

Community members are encouraged to click the "Report Post" icon in the lower left of a given post if they feel the post is in violation of the rules. This will alert the Moderators to take a look.

Alpha Software Corporation may amend the guidelines from time to time and may also vary the procedures it sets out where appropriate in a particular case. Your agreement to comply with the guidelines will be deemed agreement to any changes to it.



Bonus TIPS for Successful Posting

Try a Search First
It is highly recommended that a Search be done on your topic before posting, as many questions have been answered in prior posts. As with any search engine, the shorter the search term, the more "hits" will be returned, but the more specific the search term is, the greater the relevance of those "hits". Searching for "table" might well return every message on the board while "tablesum" would greatly restrict the number of messages returned.

When you do post
First, make sure you are posting your question in the correct forum. For example, if you post an issue regarding Desktop applications on the Mobile & Browser Applications board , not only will your question not be seen by the appropriate audience, it may also be removed or relocated.

The more detail you provide about your problem or question, the more likely someone is to understand your request and be able to help. A sample database with a minimum of records (and its support files, zipped together) will make it much easier to diagnose issues with your application. Screen shots of error messages are especially helpful.

When explaining how to reproduce your problem, please be as detailed as possible. Describe every step, click-by-click and keypress-by-keypress. Otherwise when others try to duplicate your problem, they may do something slightly different and end up with different results.

A note about attachments
You may only attach one file to each message. Attachment file size is limited to 2MB. If you need to include several files, you may do so by zipping them into a single archive.

If you forgot to attach your files to your post, please do NOT create a new thread. Instead, reply to your original message and attach the file there.

When attaching screen shots, it is best to attach an image file (.BMP, .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, etc.) or a zip file of several images, as opposed to a Word document containing the screen shots. Because Word documents are prone to viruses, many message board users will not open your Word file, therefore limiting their ability to help you.

Similarly, if you are uploading a zipped archive, you should simply create a .ZIP file and not a self-extracting .EXE as many users will not run your EXE file.
See more
See less

In defense of horse beaters

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    In defense of horse beaters

    �To those who still want to beat a dead horse regarding the price, I have one sincere and heartfelt comment - piss off!�
    Dave Jampole, in Thank You All posting.

    'To those who still want to beat a dead horse regarding the price' �Ya know - there are some folks who just don't get it, LOL. Their loss!�
    Stephan Williams, In Thank You All posting.

    In defense of horse beaters:

    Dave, there is something I�d like to say to you about your �sincere and heartfelt comment,� but whereas �piss off� is apparently OK on this board, the words I would have for you would be�or certainly should be�bleeped. So use your imagination.

    Stephan, it isn�t nice to imply that those you disagree with are just stupid or in some other way dim witted. But at least you were half way civil.

    Quite obviously Alpha is going down a new strategy road, but what mystifies me is how those who profess to �get it� even know the details of the new strategy, much less that it will turn out to be in the best interests of Alpha Software. My concern is NOT what V5 is going to cost me, it�s whether or not the pricing and other parts of the new strategy are going to allow Alpha to be viable in the future.

    Other than pricing (which was just speculation a week ago) what else do you all know about a presumed new strategy that the rest of us don�t know? Probably nothing. My own wild guess would be that instead of primarily going after new and decidedly novice database users (which interestingly is probably what most of us started out as) the primary target audience is now going to be developers of one sort or another. Again, that�s just a wild guess. But if I am right, my possibly minority opinion is that of the new A5 features only the power of Xdialog makes this a reasonable proposition and one that would justify the higher price. Because I�ve seen almost nothing on this board to indicate that those who �get it� have any familiarity with the real power of Xdialog, I just don�t understand what it is that you so vehemently �get.� In any case, I�d wager that most of you who �get it� would not have gotten Alpha Five in the first place had the price been what we are now looking at. Ponder that for half a minute.

    Now, having said all this, am I going to upgrade at the new prices? Yes. Do I think Alpha Five V5 is worth the new price? For me, yes. But is it clear to me that whatever the rest of the new strategy is that it will work? Not at all, and that is what I was concerned about in regard to the pricing. It might help to see a statement of the new strategy. Surely it�s something more than the old canard Dave alludes to that the way to sell lots of something is to price it high. At least I hope so.

    Ray Lyons


    #2
    RE: In defense of horse beaters

    Very well put, Ray. I've been quiet on this whole matter and will continue to be. I am, however, reading and trying to keep up with the latest developments.

    Tom Lyon

    Comment


      #3
      RE: In defense of horse beaters

      It would be my wish that the horse be allowed to rest in peace.

      Bill
      Bill Hanigsberg

      Comment


        #4
        RE: In defense of horse beaters

        Ray -

        "My concern is NOT what V5 is going to cost me, it�s whether or not the pricing and other parts of the new strategy are going to allow Alpha to be viable in the future."

        This is my concern in it's entirety. I made the comment as I was a little offended by the remark, and quipped a little quickly.

        I started databasing with a stolen copy of dBase III. I bought Paradox before Alpha Three, tne FoxPro and Filemaker Pro before I settled wth Alpha. I was worried about Alpha Software surviving and kept spending money. The cost was a factor, sure, but I spent several hundred bucks on competing products AFTER I got Alpha Five. I just wish ALpha Software was even known at ALL in the market. I found it is some magazine after a techie friend mentioned it as easy to use. I nearly died when I saw a package of programs at Home Depot in California - who the hell came up with THAT marketing idea?

        So I thought about it, and it seemed to me the reason no one had heard of it was they had no money left to market after paying salaries and rents and likely loan payments. And it kinda made sense if they compete on price you get what you pay for. I don't want some plastic crap from MallWart. I felt the product was WAY better than plastic crap. So I have vocally encouraged Alpha Software (on these forums) to raise their price and spend the bucks on marketing, tech support and books. And it is this business sense that I now "get" - in concept at least. But the doing of it is way beyond me. I am sure Selwyn and Richard are hoping they have it figured right. I know I do...

        And I bet they have no secret agenda's. They are just doing the very best with what they have to work with. Many great business ventures go belly up simply for lack of "getting it" in a business sense, while other crappy ideas make a bundle simply because they have nothing BUT good business sense.

        Now - what is happening to flesh out the other aspects of a solid business? Any good books? I see Dr Peter Wayne has a version 5 book out - any others? Any improvements on tech support? Or phone support - even phone support got some licks in the past. When I hit "Relational Database" in Google I see Alpha Software in a sponsored link on the very first page. I don't read magazines, so can't comment there. Will they put it on shelves in computer stores?

        I truly wish Alpha Software all the best - I think they have a great product. I haven;t upgraded yet, but I will. And price is the least of it. I would love to see some media and market recognition.

        Comment


          #5
          RE: In defense of horse beaters

          Please note that we at Alpha Software are all animal lovers, and we do not, in any fashion, support mistreatment of our fine, swift Equine friends.

          Moreover, no animals were harmed during the creation of A5V5. (Well, except for that one incident....but we were cleared of all charges.)

          Thank you,
          Brenden

          Comment


            #6
            RE: In defense of horse beaters

            Raymond,

            In retrospect, I owe you (and others) an apology. Not in defense of what I said, but in the way I said it and the language I used.

            I certainly understand everyone's concern regarding the final pricing (mine included) before the pricing structure was released. I was as concerned as anyone as to how the pricing would impact my Alpha development work, but at the point of release the comments and comments and comments and myriad of requests for clarifications got a little long.

            This forum serves an exceptional purpose, one of which is providing a place where we all can share information and concerns regarding Alpha Software and their exceptional product line.

            Again, Raymond to you and anyone else that took offense to the way I framed my comments, I apologize.

            Dave
            Dave Jampole
            www.customalpha.com

            Women and cats will do whatever they want. The sooner men and dogs realize that, the happier they will be.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: In defense of horse beaters

              Brenden:

              Can you hang out here more often? Thanks for the chuckle!

              Craig

              Comment


                #8
                RE: In defense of horse beaters

                Apology accepted. Now I can apologize for whatever your imagination came up with.

                Ray Lyons

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: In defense of horse beaters

                  The following was posted by Richard Rabins on 7/19/02 in a thread entitled, The Real Prive of V5. This was also posted on at least one other thread. While I'mn sure it's not Alpha's complete marketing stratigy, perhaps it will give you some insight.

                  Additionally, Richard Rabins posted a partial list of the pricing prior to the official price list posting. In reality, how Alpha market's it's product is really their business. I know for a fact that their marketing stratigy to place Alpha software in major computer stores involves much more that simply calling up Home Depot and sending them some copies. Their stratigy also has to take into account what they can get for their buck and marketing to retail stores is very expensive.

                  Perhaps, after reading this, some folk may have some insight into Alpha's marketing. Oh, Richard has also mentioned some persons on this message board that he's working with to market Alpha to colleges for student use. Finally, he mentioned an upcoming interview with PC Connection, I think that was the magizine.

                  Take it away, Richard...

                  Another user made the point that this pricing is going to make it more difficult to reach out to brand new customers.

                  This is a good point that we thought long and hard about, however, it is worth noting that a database purchase decision (as we all know) is often a critical decision for a business and organization -- people want to make the right and smart choice.

                  Due to the fact that such a decision is such an important and complex decision, people often look at price as ONE of the factors in determing product quality.

                  A low price does NOT necessarily mean that it will be easier to penetrate into new customer sites.

                  I would like to mention that in the early days of Alpha, we used to send free copies of Alpha Three to IT folks in large companies. When we followed up with these folk after a few weeks, more often than not, they would say "I have been meaning to look at your software, but I am sorry, I have not gotten around to it yet".

                  We then switched to charging for these evaluation copies.

                  Guess what happened?

                  When we followed up with them after a few weeks, almost all of them had evaluated the software. You can obviously draw many conclusions from this, but it is clear that once the software was associated with a price, the perception of the software changed. The lessons that we took from this learning led us to initiate conventional direct mail campaigns promoting Alpha Four in the early part of the 90's. We mailed over 20 million!! direct mail pieces (costing about 60 cents per piece) and generated about 60 million dollars in a 5-6 year period.

                  We believe that conditions for aggresively and (hopefully intelligently) marketing v5 now are more favorable than they were then for the following reasons.

                  1. The market is substantially bigger now.
                  2. The competitive playing field is narrower now. We have two major competitors now -- Filemaker and MS Access. Back then we had to slug it out with dBase, Q and A, Dataease, DataFlex, Revelation, Paradox for DOS, FoxPro for DOS, Clarion, FilePro, PFS, Reflex, RapidFile and a bunch of others!
                  3. Back then (in the early to mid nineties) relative to the alternative products, Alpha Four offered very good ease of use, but did not have a full blown/powerful langauge. Now with v5 we have a product that has clear strenghts in the "ease of use" department, BUT also offers very high levels of power and flexibility because of a greatly enhanced xBasic and Action Scripting.

                  Not being able to offer a developer/user total confidence in the ultimate flexibility and extensibility offered by a development langauge, cost us sales on Alpha Four. With v5 this issue is off the table.

                  One final note. We are keeping Alpha Five v4.5 on the market for those folks who want a lower priced option.

                  Thanks for taking the time to wade through this.

                  We appreciate all of your support and best of luck to all of you.

                  Sincerely
                  Richard Rabins
                  TYVM :) kenn

                  Knowing what you can achieve will not become reality until you imagine and explore.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: In defense of horse beaters

                    >> In reality, how Alpha market's it's product is really their business.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: In defense of horse beaters

                      Hip, Hip, Horray!!! Silence is Golden!!!

                      kenn
                      TYVM :) kenn

                      Knowing what you can achieve will not become reality until you imagine and explore.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X