> Don't these companies understand how it damages their relationship with > their customers? Don't they know that an important driver for sales in > the photography and imaging business is brand loyalty? They are just > shooting themselves in the foot.
But are they? Although I too am outraged that these companies do this, keep in mind how nicely this obsolesces whole generations of peripherals. I had an idea that I pitched to MS a few years back, that they not issue a "Windows Compatible" designation on a peripheral unless the company signs an agreement that they will guarantee to supply upgraded drivers with changes in OS's for a certain number of years (I thought 8-10 years would be about right). MS's legitimate response was the company is already accused of trying to control the industry and this would not go over well with with peripheral manufacturers. However, since MS owns the certification process, personally, I'd like to see them require some minimal time period on all certified products. Art [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Yes, Epson is being pro-active about it. I already have 64 bit drivers > for my Epson 7600 and R1800 printers (but not yet for my 3200 scanner). > > And diminished regard for the manufacturer that fails to support their > product and keep it current is precisely the result and underlines my > point. I'm not sure I will ever buy another Nikon or KonicaMinolta > product (both my KM scanner and KM printer are 64 bit driver-less). > Don't these companies understand how it damages their relationship with > their customers? Don't they know that an important driver for sales in > the photography and imaging business is brand loyalty? They are just > shooting themselves in the foot. > > > James L. Sims wrote: > >>I am in the same boat with my SprintScan 120 - Polaroid, apparently, has >>no plans to provide 64-bit drivers for their defunct line of scanners. >> >>On the other hand, a tech at Epson informed me that Epson will >>eventually provide 64-bit drivers for their product line, possibly back >>as far as their Stylus Photo 1200 printers. >> >>I will, therefore be forced to maintain a 32-bit box as long as I have >>an operational SprintScan 120. My high regard for Polaroid has been >>diminished. >> >>Jim Sims >> >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >> >> >>>Yes, KonicaMinolta scanner drivers and Nikon scanner drivers do not >>>work on XP Pro x64. >>> >>>I don't think I would ever say this about a MS product but x64 is really >>>good. It seems to me to be a big step forward from the regular XP Pro. >>>PS and just about everything runs faster. It is a shame that both my >>>Nikon LS-8000 and my KM Dimage Scan Elite 5400 II do not work on it. >>>For this is am quite annoyed and frustrated with both Nikon and KM. >>>What does it take to produce a new driver, really, to keep your >>>customers happy? Epson is split on this. They have x64 drivers for >>>many of their printers (7600 and R1800 for example), but not on some of >>>their scanners (I can't get one for my Perfection 3200 Pro). >>> >>>Old WinXP drivers do not work in any circumstances with WinXP x64. Some >>>of the scanner control software works (Vuescan and KM's does, Nikon >>>Scan4 does not), but these are different than the device driver. >>> >>> >>>gary wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>To be completely clear, the Minolta drivers do not work on X64. I need >>>>to boot do XP. Thus I am stuck with a dual boot system. >>>> >>>>Microsoft has supplied a shockingly complete set of 64 bit drivers for >>>>old hardware, right on the X64 media (I guess it's a DVD, but I don't >>>>recall). However, this takes cooperation (I assume) from the manufacturer. >>>> >>>>I called Sony today and they are looking into X64 drivers. There are >>>>going to get back to me. ;-) >>>> >>>> >>>>Laurie wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>A couple of points need to be made. >>>>> >>>>>First, there are differences between native drivers for 64 bit operating >>>>>systems and 32 bit operating systems. If you are running X64, then it is >>>>>probably downgrading or reverting to 32 bit in order to use the 32 bit >>>>>scanner drivers (I do not think that Minolta or any other scanner >>>>>manufacturer has 64 bit drivers for their scanners) in order to use the >>>>>existing drivers. >>>>> >>>>>Second, Vista when it is released will come in both 32 bit and 64 bit >>>>>versions. The X64 will only be a forerunner to the 64 bit version of Vista >>>>>and not to the 32 bit version. >>>>> >>>>>Thirdly, it is entirely possible that Vista in all its versions may switch >>>>> >>>> >>>>>from the current types of drivers for cameras and scanners used by the >>>>>older >>>> >>>> >>>>>peripherals to a new type of driver, which was first introduced in Windows >>>>>XP and exists in XP side by side with the traditional type of driver but >>>>>will not coexist with the traditional type of driver in Vista. Microsoft >>>>>may not supply new drivers for old peripherals so as to make them >>>>>compatible >>>>>but may rely on the hardware manufacturers to supply the new drivers for >>>>>their peripherals which will be compatible with those used in Vista. In >>>>>this case, users will be out of luck if the manufacturer does not furnish >>>>>the new type of driver for their hardware or if the manufacturer goes out >>>>>of >>>>>business. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
