THE ATOM AND IT''S Weaknesses
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Posts: 46,084
In a message dated 12/22/01 12:56:56 PM Central Standard Time,
jseasley@e... writes:
> I wanted to vent alittle fustration with the ATOM, and to
> congratulate Parallax on keeping a certain level of Service along
> with product consistancy. Basic Micro, seems to be in a hurry to
> introduce products without having the backing to support them. I
> recently purchased the ATOM and had trouble with serin and serout, I
> contacted technical support and was asked if I had updated software.
> Hell, I just bought the thing. I had a similar problem when I began
> using there compiler as well. Every other week, it was " I am
> releasing a new version, email us and we will send it to you, " BUT,
> you have to have the latest hardware." Now come on !!. My parallax
> equipment has been the same now for years, that is good and bad, but
> at the same time, it shows consistancy. Are they for real ? The
> products look and feel good, but the performance lacks, and the
> service is alittle disheartening, maybe they need to quit working on
> hair brain overpriced printers and keep on working on good software
> and bug fixing. Anyhow, back to parallax I go. thanks and happy
>
There's a really smart guy here in Dallas named Roger Arrick
(www.robotics.com). He makes a cool little robot that uses a BS2 processor.
My point is to share Roger's e-mail tag line: "It's harder than it looks."
BASIC Stamps are easy to use, but it wasn't easy to create the product and
the support that our customers expect and deserve. It seems like everyone
who can program a PICmicro thinks they can build a better Stamp, yet none of
them -- despite a few interesting products -- has the wherewithal to support
what they sell. No tech support, no applications ... nada ... zip ... zilch.
Most, like BASIC Micro, are trying to sponge off existing Parallax
applications. That is precisely why the ATOM uses the BS2 language.
Today I stopped in to a local electronics store that carries the BASIC Micro
compiler (they also carry Parallax products). I asked the owner if he was
going to carry the ATOM. "No!" was his unequivocal answer. He told me that
he's had so many returns and complaints about the compiler that he's
discounting them just to get rid of them and he's not carrying products from
that company any more.
We're (Parallax) often criticized for our pricing and seeming slowness to
respond to customer requests for updated product. On pricing, I believe we
offer a great value and not many people would argue. On updated Stamps, we
are getting better and the next couple of years will be exciting for
everyone. Everyone except our wanna-be competitors. The projects that are
running in our lab today will blow your minds; I promise. I was a longtime
customer before becoming an employee and I am so excited about what's coming
that I can hardly stand it.
-- Jon Williams
-- Applications Engineer, Parallax
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
jseasley@e... writes:
> I wanted to vent alittle fustration with the ATOM, and to
> congratulate Parallax on keeping a certain level of Service along
> with product consistancy. Basic Micro, seems to be in a hurry to
> introduce products without having the backing to support them. I
> recently purchased the ATOM and had trouble with serin and serout, I
> contacted technical support and was asked if I had updated software.
> Hell, I just bought the thing. I had a similar problem when I began
> using there compiler as well. Every other week, it was " I am
> releasing a new version, email us and we will send it to you, " BUT,
> you have to have the latest hardware." Now come on !!. My parallax
> equipment has been the same now for years, that is good and bad, but
> at the same time, it shows consistancy. Are they for real ? The
> products look and feel good, but the performance lacks, and the
> service is alittle disheartening, maybe they need to quit working on
> hair brain overpriced printers and keep on working on good software
> and bug fixing. Anyhow, back to parallax I go. thanks and happy
>
There's a really smart guy here in Dallas named Roger Arrick
(www.robotics.com). He makes a cool little robot that uses a BS2 processor.
My point is to share Roger's e-mail tag line: "It's harder than it looks."
BASIC Stamps are easy to use, but it wasn't easy to create the product and
the support that our customers expect and deserve. It seems like everyone
who can program a PICmicro thinks they can build a better Stamp, yet none of
them -- despite a few interesting products -- has the wherewithal to support
what they sell. No tech support, no applications ... nada ... zip ... zilch.
Most, like BASIC Micro, are trying to sponge off existing Parallax
applications. That is precisely why the ATOM uses the BS2 language.
Today I stopped in to a local electronics store that carries the BASIC Micro
compiler (they also carry Parallax products). I asked the owner if he was
going to carry the ATOM. "No!" was his unequivocal answer. He told me that
he's had so many returns and complaints about the compiler that he's
discounting them just to get rid of them and he's not carrying products from
that company any more.
We're (Parallax) often criticized for our pricing and seeming slowness to
respond to customer requests for updated product. On pricing, I believe we
offer a great value and not many people would argue. On updated Stamps, we
are getting better and the next couple of years will be exciting for
everyone. Everyone except our wanna-be competitors. The projects that are
running in our lab today will blow your minds; I promise. I was a longtime
customer before becoming an employee and I am so excited about what's coming
that I can hardly stand it.
-- Jon Williams
-- Applications Engineer, Parallax
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]