Omega One Updates Battery Pack to PRO; Irritates Some Users

[Brad Isaac]

A couple of days ago OmegaOne updated their massively Popular Battery Pack Software to version 6 (Pro) and in so doing said that current users could get the update for $5. Not a high price by any means, but here's the problem. Their marketing has said for years that customers who bought Battery Pack would get free lifetime updates. There are some Usenet and other posts I've read that indicate people aren't too happy about this new development.
As a paid/registered user of Battery Pack software and a developer, I find myself a bit torn on this issue. One as a customer, I am not sure that renaming the product to Battery Pack "PRO" negates the lifetime update offer. However as a developer, I know they need to make money to stay alive and keep making their excellent product better.
What do you think?

[ctitanic]

This is why you have to think twice before you say something in public. In my case I´m offering one year of free upgrades even when around 40% of my users have been updating it freely for more than a year and I have not charged them. So basically and theorically I have a lifetime free upgrade under the tittle of ONE YEAR FREE UPGRADE. That give me the possibility of charge those 40% at anytime I really need that money and they can´t say anything because my upgrade policy says clear that I´m offering 1 Year of free upgrades.

[Addic]

While I really like omegaones Battery Pack, I've found over the last year that it has been very buggy, with nearly continous upgrades being released to address the bugs and new hardware.
If the developer was release a significant upgrade e.g. Pocket Informant 4 to 5 for example then I guess a fee would be warrented. But most of the updates have been to accommodate new devices and OS updates.
So I guess IMO for this developer life time should mean just that.

[lonewolf]

I'm a developer too, and a fan of Battery Pack.
But what Omega One is doing is frankly unethical. They are trying to justify it many ways. It's a buggy application, and to support further development they need more sales. But they should have thought of that before offering free lifetime updates.
Just my opinion!
LoneWolf

[g33kb0y]

I agree w/Lonewolf... being a developer myself, I understand the need to pay the bills. However, if you use something like 'free lifetime upgrades' as a marketing tool, you need to stand by that.
I've been using battery pack for over two years as a paid/registered user and I think the product is great. I for one won't pay the upgrade price just as a matter of principle.
That's just my opinion though - you know what they say about opinions...

[Brad Isaac]

Originally Posted by g33kb0y

I agree w/Lonewolf... being a developer myself, I understand the need to pay the bills. However, if you use something like 'free lifetime upgrades' as a marketing tool, you need to stand by that.

Wow! two other developers 1 thread What are you guys working on?
g33kb0y, your statement above really touched a nerve for me. I hadn't thought about it the way you put it. If you use the free upgrades as a marketing tool then you need to stand by it. Makes me sort of wonder if they never expected BB to be as popular as it is.

[bkbroil]

who bought Battery Pack would get free lifetime updates

As an old developer gone into Executive Management, I would say: "Define, Lifetime." Is that the lifetime of the purchaser, the lifetime of the application that was downloaded, the lifetime of the "named" application?
There's always a way to spin it and the only reason someone would resort to this is to generate income to keep the application lifecycle going. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the above actions, I am only looking at what the cause of their actions might be. Things like this are not always done maliciously but out of necessity and in a time of dire need. Their other option may have been to drop the product entirely, and this may be their "last ditch" effort to keep going. (Just another viewpoint)

[g33kb0y]

Wow! two other developers 1 thread What are you guys working on?

I haven't done much on the PocketPC yet to speak of - I've been cutting code for 13+ years... web, desktop apps, server apps, etc. C is my friend. I'm really excited about getting up to speed on eVC++ 4 - I just need to figure out a project to work on

[Brad Isaac]

Originally Posted by bkbroil

Things like this are not always done maliciously but out of necessity and in a time of dire need. Their other option may have been to drop the product entirely, and this may be their "last ditch" effort to keep going. (Just another viewpoint)

Interesting view...
Using the "last ditch" scenario...Battery Pack has been a top ten bestseller at Handango for over 2 years. Meaning they are selling a ton of them --even now. Can you think of a reason they'd cut and run now?
I'm not saying that is what they ARE doing...but as devil's advocate. I can't see why they'd be trying to ditch their "bread and butter" app.

[bkbroil]

I can't see why they'd be trying to ditch their "bread and butter" app.

The number of man hours to support the application and develop the application are not equal to the amount of revenue brought in by the application. The lifecycle of the application is not always in direct correlation with the number of users of the application. The business behind the scenes may have increased costs in resources. People are not in this business to break even although poor planning usually has people scratching their heads thinking "why am I only breaking even."..
The truth of the matter is....only Omega One knows what the reason is for the cost increase. I am only adding the point of view that it's not always a malicious act or a profit grabbing act either.
I've been in the situation of increasing the cost of software from 40k to 110k per license in order to meet a revenue goal so that the firm could increase the number of developers in order to expand the application's functionality and target a new market. Yes we lost customers but the one's that could afford the increase are the customers that we wanted to keep in the first place.
It happens....it's not fun....it's just business...and in the end...every business runs it's course and terminates....only a select few last for a long time. And they last because they make the smart decisions of when to expand and when to stagnate at the right time..
These are just opinions...I am by no means, an expert in this or ANY area...

[jkendrick]

In the case of Battery Pack the definition of "lifetime" is merely the perceived lifetime in the minds of the customers. Nothing more or less. They are going to lose a ton of customers over this $5. Free updates for life was a major part of their advertising over the years, right up until the day they announced the paid upgrade.
Many developers have done this in the past due to necessity. But, they announced they were having the problem, honored free upgrades for all purchasers to that point, and then began charging new customers.
O1 chose not to go that route and they are now in a maelstrom of discontent. I love that phrase.

[Brad Isaac]

Here's what they have to say about this issue:
Quoted from their forum
"Sorry for the confusion about the new "Pro" version of Battery Pack. If you have purchased Battery Pack in the past, you can still get the latest version of Battery Pack (v5.3.2) for free. To do this, uninstall your current full version of Battery Pack, then install the latest demo version of Battery Pack from http://www.omegaone.com/BattOD.EXE. Once this has been installed, Battery Pack will remember you had purchased in the past, and you will have the latest full version. If you hard reset your device, install the older full version, then uninstall & install the latest demo version to get the latest version of Battery Pack.
Despite rumors to the contrary, we do still intend to keep improving the standard version of Battery Pack, and upgrades will still continue to be free. We provide lifetime free updates of Battery Pack and will continue to help & support the people who were good enough to purchase our product in the first place. Since v1 of Battery Pack, users have been able to get great new features (e.g. Program Bar, Power Clear, Power Adjust, Power Task, Power Buttons, Power Alert) to enhance their Pocket PC for free. Also, updates for Journal Bar will remain free.
However, development & support costs for Battery Pack are very high. The money for new features both in Battery Pack and in Battery Pack Pro must come from somewhere, and recently revenue from Battery Pack has descreased substantially to a level where we cannot support the costs of continued development & technical support with the revenue Battery Pack is generating. We anticipated that without having a deluxe verison of Battery Pack we would have to discontinue any future upgrades to Battery Pack as it will be uneconomic to do so, and would have to downgrade our technical support service.
Right now we feel having two versions will enable us to continue to provide new features to both Battery Pack & Battery Pack Pro customers. You are welcome to upgrade, but can continue to receive updates for Battery Pack at no extra cost. We have tried to limit the cost of an upgrade to Battery Pack Pro for exsiting users to a nominal amount. We have also changed the version number of Battery Pack Pro to v1 to avoid confusion."
Does this explain things?

[bkbroil]

After reading this....I would say from all of our posts....we were ALL right...I think we have a pretty good handle on this software industry business..

[g33kb0y]

Originally Posted by bkbroil

After reading this....I would say from all of our posts....we were ALL right...I think we have a pretty good handle on this software industry business..

I concur - let's call it a day and go golfing!

[bkbroil]

I just made my tee time, but I couldn't get anything till Friday morning. I can't wait -- first time out this year.. Yay!!!!

[knelson]

We develop software and never give any upgrades away... we charge for everything.