I second this opinion. I know my company will not pay for me to be on this mailing list. I hope that you reconsider your plan to charge for this.
Steve ===== Original Message from [EMAIL PROTECTED] at 12/18/03 10:04 am >Mr. Olson, > >First, let me say how wonderful it is that you're stepping in to continue >to develop such a valuable and versatile product. I've used SmartCAM at >several companies since I became a full-time programmer 11 years ago. >Except for one 3-day basic class, I've taught myself, or learned with the >help of the good people on this list, to use the product with remarkable >proficiency. > >Unfortunately, the last company I worked for that used SmartCAM closed down >their CNC shop and moved, laying us off. I found my current job with a >company that was using several different CAM packages at the same time, and >because SmartCAM was no longer being supported/developed, I was unable to >sway the decision to buy it. Instead, they went with Mastercam. I'm still >trudging my way through the learning curve, finding it very frustrating to >do with 8 mouse clicks something I could do with 2 in SmartCAM, and >learning "how to walk" all over again. > >To make a long story short, I am no longer what you consider part of the >"'current' customer base", not by choice, but by circumstances beyond my >control. I don't own a personal seat of SmartCAM, nor can I afford one. I >am on the current e-mailing list at my job, and at home, so I can continue >to expand my knowledge of the product, to offer help when I can to others >on the list, and hopefully better my skills for when and if I go to a >company that is still using it, and I know many in my area still are. I >understand there are costs associated with maintaining the list, but I >won't be allowed to pay a fee to join the list through my work, which is >where I read the majority of these emails, and by the time I get around to >checking my email at home, it might be days, sometimes a week or more >before I could respond and maybe help someone that needed more immediate >help, not that there isn't more than enough talent to help them on this >list already. > >I guess my point is that the 333 current subscribers on this list, many >that have been loyal members for years should not be charged a fee, small >or not, to remain on the list, when in my opinion, without them, most >SmartCAM users, including myself would have had to change CAM packages long >ago after development and support was stopped, effectively "carving the >headstone" for SmartCAM. > >If need be, I will pay the fee to keep current at home, only because I want >to continue to learn everything I can about SmartCAM so I can go to a shop >that still has it and get back to using what I consider a great product. > >Just my thoughts, >Bob. > >Robert T. Callahan >Greene, Tweed & Co. >CNC Programmer >Corporate Manufacturing >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >215-256-9521 ext. 1569 > > > > > > "Gregg Olson" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > nc.com> cc: > Sent by: Subject: [mfg-smartcam] this > mail list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > i.sdrc.com > > > 12/18/03 01:44 AM > > > > > > >Hello everyone! > >I'm sure some of you were wondering if I really existed or whether I was >just a product of John Gent's imagination. > >Its been great to see the response on this mail list, and I thought the >first thing I should share with you are my thoughts on the list itself. > >I've seen a couple questions on what's going to happen to this list? > >Well ... eventually MRS is going to have to take over responsibility for >the list So at the very least, its going to necessitate a server change >at some point. But we'd like to take it further than that. Currently >there are only 333 subscribers to the list and not all of them are even >SmartCAM customers. Even so, that's only a tiny fraction of the number of >people we estimate who are still using SmartCAM in the world today. What >we'd like to do is make it a membership based list that's for active >customers and subscribers and other key SmartCAM community members. That >way we will be able to share more confidential support information and >business planning information with the list than I feel we currently can >give out, given the current list membership. (I'm sure the gentleman from >Gibbs who is a current member of the list would understand.) > >I see membership in the list being included if you're a part of the >'current' customer base. That means if you're on active maintenance or >have a current version from MRS that includes maintenance you would >automatically have free membership. If you were a customer but not >active, in other words, you have an older version and you're not on >maintenance, then you could join the list for a small admin fee. If >however you're not really a customer, dealer or some other trusted member >of the community (but say a competitor for instance) you would not be >allowed membership to the list. I understand that things we publish to >the list will eventually get out if someone wants it bad enough, I just >don't want to mail it to them directly. > >I'd like to see the list continue to carry the kinds of technical >discussions and Q&A that it currently does, but I'd also like to develop it >as primary vehicle for delivering company and product announcements, tech >tips, support info, etc. For it to be truly effective however we need to >expand it to include a much larger segment of the customer base. This can >have both positive and negative effects. It makes for a much larger >knowledge pool to tap into, but it might also have the effect of lowering >the standards for communications on the list. > >That leads me to list etiquette. This list has always operated at a very >high level. If the list membership begins to expand, we would like to >count on the original membership to set an example and help maintain that >high level of integrity. We see the members of this list as probably being >the most representative of the type of customer we want to have and keep. >Surprisingly, when we conducted our survey last year, we discovered there >are still a small number of SmartCAM users who are completely unconnected >with no internet or email at work OR at home. Unfortunately we may have to >leave some of them behind. We aren't going to have the resources to do >onsite visits. We will need to conduct a lot more business (product and >services) over the phone and internet. > >Finally, I saw a comment in one of the earlier responses to 'buy American'. >I want to remind everyone that SmartCAM is a worldwide product, and the >membership of this list reflects that. We all need to remain aware of that >as we post here. Now, having said that, I think I understand the sentiment >behind the statement, so given the global nature of SmartCAM, I think the >phrase 'support a living wage' conveys that same sentiment and honors the >global nature of this forum, and is something we support here at MRS. > >Thanks again for all the encouraging responses, >--gregg > > > > >====================================================================== >To find out more about this mailing list including how to unsubscribe, >send the message "info mfg-smartcam" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >====================================================================== ===== Comments by [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Steve Club) at 12/18/03 12:48 pm ====================================================================== To find out more about this mailing list including how to unsubscribe, send the message "info mfg-smartcam" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ======================================================================
