Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!ucbcad!zen!cory.Berkeley.EDU!korn From: korn@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: The myth of Supermac (DataFrame) support [and support in general] Message-ID: <2838@zen.berkeley.edu> Date: Sat, 6-Jun-87 00:23:01 EDT Article-I.D.: zen.2838 Posted: Sat Jun 6 00:23:01 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 7-Jun-87 00:52:46 EDT References: <1483@midas.TEK.COM> Sender: news@zen.berkeley.edu Reply-To: korn@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Peter "Arrgh" Korn) Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 51 Keywords: DataFrame, Free Software Upgrades, Good luck In article <1483@midas.TEK.COM> herbw@midas.TEK.COM (Herb Weiner) writes: >...[a story detailing his attempts at getting software updates from SuperMac, his frustrations, etc.] Herb, you probably should have gone to your (or some other) SuperMac dealer to get your software update--just as you go to your Apple dealer (or a friend or User's Group) to get the latest version of the System/Finder. I don't mean this as an excuse for SuperMac--they told you that they were going to ship it to you, and they didn't. I've personally had his problem with them numerous times (and I'm speaking as an employee of a store that carries their equiptment!), SuperMac has horrible USnail performance. This is something they need to fix. But the nature of this industry is such that most companies just cannot afford to individually support all of their users--especially when updates are coming out every few months. MicroSoft is one of they very few that does--you'll note that they issue very few updates. Apple, the company that you would expect would be best suited to issue software updates, doesn't. So, in return for a computer dealer's 10-40% markup, the dealer has the responsibility to maintain current versions of all software that s/he sells and issue updates to his/her customers that come in the store w/proof of purchase (unless the company prefers otherwise). In the case of both Apple and SuperMac (and numerous other companies), this is the way it's meant to be done--all too often you'll find dealers that aren't capable of helping a customer who wants to purchase ONLY a box of disks, much less let them copy a folder off of the demo hard drive that contains the latest release of hard drive software. In recognition of both SuperMac's problems in getting software out to people, and many dealers' inability to support their customers, I'm maintaining an archive of SuperMac software. Those with arpanet access can telnet to ucbvax.berkeley.edu and get all the good stuff (save DiskFit, which I haven't had a chance to upload yet--being between CPUs right now) from the ~/ftp/pub/mac directory. Again, I don't mean this as an appology for SuperMac-they broke a promise, and quite probably lost a customer. But in general, it's a good idea to try the dealer first (after all, what's the point of going through a dealer instead of mail-order if you can't get even this much). Peter -- Peter "Arrgh" Korn Oh when, oh when will my MacII korn@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU arrive? Oh where, oh {decvax,dual,hplabs,sdcsvax,ulysses}!ucbvax!korn where can it be?