Documentation and software releases
LoopyByteloose
Posts: 12,537
Being somewhat of an oldtimer, I have gotten in the habit on not looking for documentation or software updates as products like the Propeller have had a long period where there was none.
You might consider offering an automated email to users of such items.· Many people may have drifted away and this is news that might rekindle their participation.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
You might consider offering an automated email to users of such items.· Many people may have drifted away and this is news that might rekindle their participation.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······
···················· Tropically,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan
Comments
There are two schools of thought on updates…The first is that you should always have the latest and greatest. Often the latest software/documentation adds/covers new features and/or bug fixes. Many customers would probably always want to have the latest software. However, in order to e-mail our customers they would need to sign-up for updates, which would mean setting up a system to do this. It’s not out of the question and is certainly worth considering. Currently nothing is in place to do this.
The other school of thought is, “If it is not broke, don’t fix it.” There are customers who would prefer that if changes or updates to software/documentation do not affect them, then they would prefer to stick with what is working. There is also the number of products we offer and if we e-mailed notifications for updates to all products I could see some customers getting upset with large amounts of ‘SPAM’ over time as they received updates about every product when they may only have bought one product. Referring to the above idea of a sign-up notification system, we would then have to consider allowing customers who sign-up to select the products they want to receive notifications on. The problem there is what happens with products that come out after they’ve signed up? I will be sure the proper department gets your feedback to consider our options there.
As a side-note, when I was a customer I would generally check for updates at one of two times…Either I was installing software on a new PC (or I had reformatted) or I was having a problem with a new piece of hardware and existing software. Of course, whenever I buy a new video card or sound card I never install from the CD. I always go to the manufacturer’s website to get the latest. Of course, drivers are always being updated in an attempt to keep up with constant changes to the operating system. Take care.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
·Post notification of updates (documentation, software) in an easy-to-scan list,·in an easy-to-find place, listed by document titles/product names, chronologically by revision date, with the URLs linking back to the actual product or document listed.
As I understand the Parallax web site now, updated hardware, firmware, software, documentation, errata, etc., are simply noted on their respective web pages, thus being distributed effectively across the entire web site. This leads usually to·untimely realization by Parallax product owners that their product/documentation may benefit from the update.
This method will require no customer·notification / subscription / product-specific·scheme to be built. It can be maintained by the persons who actually must install the new information anyway on its respective product page(s), at the very moment when they are engaged in that installation (i.e., a "no brainer" moment). And, the customer is left with another significant·value-added service by Parallax at relatively small cost to Parallax (I assume?).
PAR
On one hand this point emphasizes what I was saying about not being able to handle this in a manner that would make everyone happy. On the other hand, I am one of the few people who, myself, would rather just go to a website to see if a specific piece of hardware or software has been updated. What I should do at this point is send this thread to someone who can offer some better (more thought out) perspective and possibly direct some solution. Thanks everyone for your input. Take care.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
Your points are all well taken.· We always appreciate our customers·not only explaining their needs but offering·potential solutions.· I believe we are exploring options that would help with update notifications for Propeller Tool and BASIC Stamp users, but I don't know the details or timeline on that yet.··And of course that would not directly address documentation updates for platform-nonspecific products such as sensors.· Since we have hundreds of products, thousands of supporting downloads, and an untold number of customers, this will take some thinking!
I will bring up this subject with other key Parallaxians to see what plans, tools, resources, and perspectives we might have to address this.
Thanks,
-Stephanie Lindsay
Editor, Parallax Inc.
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I am sure there are two schools of thought. Some people find getting any unneeded emails are a nuisance; others appreciate the reminder.
I happen to be of the later group. There have been times when I have drifted away from participating in the Forum because of other priorities. And there have been times when I abandoned trying to keep up with an extremely rapid rate of change because a product is evolving.
In both situations, I would like to have some way of going back and picking up where I left off. And also, I'd like to be reminded of changes with something I am not currently studying. With the BasicStamps, the SXes, and the Propeller in play; there is just a lot to follow when you have other things to do with your life.
In sum, it is about customer retention. And, it is not merely about a style of communication.
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PLEASE CONSIDER the following:
Do you want a quickly operational black box solution or the knowledge included therein?······