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From: emmayche@dhw68k.cts.com (Mark Hartman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: ** Watchout for the Abaton Interfax **
Message-ID: <1991Apr22.182854.4388@dhw68k.cts.com>
Date: 22 Apr 91 18:28:54 GMT
References: <1991Apr16.204213.29770@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <1991Apr17.143302.6948@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Organization: Wolfskill & Dowling residence; Anaheim, CA (USA)
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In article <1991Apr17.143302.6948@wpi.WPI.EDU> macman@wpi.WPI.EDU (Chris Silverberg) writes:
>In an article dewhirst@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu rambles:
>
>>I recently purchased an Abaton Interfax 24/96 modem.  The CDEV (not panel,
>>cdeve) that comes with it to set up the fax routines on startup is NOT 
>>compatible with system 7.0. Everex (company that makes it) claims about 
>>the software update: "It is done, but we are not releasing it until 7.0 
>>comes out." I primarily wanted to warn developers and beta-testers about this.
>>For those of us still stuck with 6.xx it is no problem.  But I have a couple 
>>of friends who are developers and using 7.0b4 (or later, not sure) and who 
>>were thinking about a purchasing the same. It really kind of miffed me that 
>>the software was incompatible, since my experience on machines runnin system 
>>7.xx has been that there are very few things that aren't (at least the things
>> that matter)
>
>This is a pretty unfair post.  System 7.0 is UNRELEASED software, that has
>been through many updates recently, and it is quite understandable that 
>companies would rather not release an update to their software if it might
>simply break in a later beta version.
>
Understandable?  Yes, if we're talking about general release.  However, they
won't even talk to developers who need their fax modem running while they're
developing on the new - and currently fairly solid - beta release.  I was
stonewalled with "it's just our policy."

I can tell you that it will be "just my policy" never to buy products from
Abaton or Everex (their parent company) again.

>If software came out that was incompatible with System 5.x, as many are, i'm
>sure you wouldn't be complaining about incompatibilities, however you do
>see the justice in complaining about incompatibilities with something that
>hasn't been released.

In fact, given the special and ongoing effort that Apple has put out to make
sure that every developer has the information to make their products ready
for System 7 while staying compatible with System 6... no, I don't see the
justice in it.  Not in the least.
>
>Fact is, there are other software packages that will have to be updated to
>be compatible with 7.0... MANY companies have their 7.0 updates sitting on
>simply waiting for May 13th... let's not get on Abaton's case about a
>reasonable policy.

If it WERE a reasonable policy, Chris, none of us would be getting on Abaton's
case.  However, it is a policy which cannot be justified by any reasonable
standard (given the information available to Abaton before the fact), and one
which does not take into consideration that if any of us wanted a separate,
stand-alone machine to do faxes with, we'd probably have bought a fax machine.
-- 
Mark Hartman, N6BMO           "What are you just standing there for?  Where
Applelink: N1083 or BINARY.TREE      do you think you are, DIS-ney World??"
Internet: emmayche@dhw68k.cts.com                -- General Knowledge, from
uucp: ...{spsd,zardoz,felix}!dhw68k!emmayche                CRANIUM COMMAND