Thomas wrote:
I have numerous gripes with Graphisoft's marketing. But this isn't one of them!
I can inform you that (just like with Apple and others) features get tweaked, changed, revised, scrapped, and even sometimes added late in the development cycle. It would be simply foolish to allow speculative information contaminate the official channels before the
I've seen this with several companies where I've had the privilege to participate in alpha or beta-testing of software. Graphisoft is no exception. If they did otherwise, they would just be accused of making
To be accused of to much secrecy is a breeze compared to losing client's confidence. We all know that! You too, I'd say.
I assume when you refer to
vaporware
, you're probably not referring to the MEP/ Ductworks replacement add-on for example, which they (Graphisoft) said would be released for free for customers last year by Christmas time and which we ultimately never ever ended up seeing. You just can't be talking about that. I mean, talk about unfulfilled promises. But then again, perhaps we will see it in version 12 in some form or another, and before Christmas this time, for which reason GS still can't be accused of vaporware.
stefan wrote:
Everyone that participates in the beta test signs a non-disclosure agreement.
If you agree, you don't spread news. If you don't agree, you don't sign and do something else. It's a simple agreement and it is widely used with commercial software development.
If Graphisoft decides not to spread news about features that are "under development", then they can do so. End users would be complaining if a beta-feature will not be available in the final version, wouldn't they?
Different people mentioned the "leaked" information to Graphisoft, including links to illegal downloads. And then GS can contact site owners to request removal of the content.
I was not in any way advocating violations of Graphisoft's NDA's with their Beta-testers and resellers nor encouraging any "leaking" of non-sanctioned information of any sort. In fact quite the opposite.
My argument had been that if Graphisoft willingly disseminated controlled information either through resellers or through selected media outlets of known-features in the upcoming versions, then they really wouldn't have to resort to alarmist measures such as deleting legitimate users' speculative posts (such as they've done on this thread), or asking their own resellers to stop posting features that are probably going to be in the release anyway, and when those resellers are only doing that as a way of drumming up interest in their (the Finnish resellers') own specific customer base.
All of this, of course, is in contradistinction to actual leaked versions of the unreleased program and to illegal downloads, none of which I was referring to and all of whose fault lies squarely on GS own doorstop by not controlling their Beta-testers and beta-testing process efficiently enough, and not with legitimate users asking questions on their forum nor resellers trying to sell GS more licenses.
I mean, if they really haven't locked down their feature-set mere weeks before the expected release date (and by the time they make a presentation during a forum such as the AIA convention in Boston that they themselves attended last week), such that they would know for certain what will be included and what will be omitted then they have bigger problems than leaked information IMO. By then they can't be accused of vaporware or anything like that since they pretty much know what they've included for sure and what wouldn't be there.
It's all just a basic question of managing user expectations and so far they've done a miserable job of it, with no signs that they're likely to improve any time soon; especially with the whole deleting users' posts and all. Talk about losing customer's confidence, or at least trying very hard to.
