#To Whap! or not to Whap!
22 messages in this thread
.and Whap 1.9g is running fine on my A3000 with v3.0 . No trouble at all and
does all I want all the time. And doesn't ever fall over.
Pete from Dorset in Englands West Country – via Whap!
But did you examine AutoPilot? ==> AmigaVend Lib 9!
Burkhard
Yes I downloaded it and had a look but quite honestly the $60 approx price is
not worth it to me for what I want.
Pete from Dorset in Englands West Country – via Whap!
Pete,
I second you comments about Autopilot not worth the price. There should be
a better price for registered Whap! owners. The fact that the upgrade path was
only offered to Whap! owners for 2 weeks makes me even more adament about not
sending any money to the author. I worse than those that are left high & dry
by a bankrupt software company. I was left high & dry by a company that didn't
go bankrupt & instead wants to bankrupt me.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Donald,
I think that you're attitude is terrible! AP is a great program, and it
will pay for itself many times over. The author has upgraded it several
times, for free, since it was introduced; these were not just bug fixes,
but a good expansion of the feature list.
Also keep in mind, as I'm sure others will remind you, that the company
that is behind AP is not the one that produced Whap!, and was under *no*
obligation to offer any kind of upgrade at all.
If you want to keep the Amiga around, I suggest that you start making an
investment in the software developers.
Jonathan, via AutoPilot // Entombed in ice
\\// and snow in Albany, NY
Jonathan,
First of all let me say that I DO support CBM & software developers as my
depleted bank accounts and rooms full of CBM computers including a 64, 128 & 3
Amigas will attest. It is exactly because I shell out hard earned money for
software that I believe that upgrades should be handled with courtesy to paying
customers. If for no other reason than to spite the pirates.
I paid for Whap! and also paid for all the upgrades to CI$ in extensive
downloading time. Now that it has been announced that Whap! will not be
upgraded and that eventially the program will probably be broken by a CI$
system change ( I'm amazed that it hasn't happened yet as it has so often), I
think that the replacement program should be offered to registered Whap! owners
at a discount (NOT FREE). In fact there was such a program offered for 2
weeks. My question is why only 2 weeks? I happened to not have logged on
during that period so now I have to shell out (what is it $70.00?) instead of
the $20.00 offer.
Lastly, I was not aware that AP is offered by a different company. If that
is true why is Whap! being discontinued?
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Just FYI…
An offer to move from Whap! to AutoPilot was made. The effective dates were 01
Sept 1992 through 15 Oct 1992. I count that as 45 days — a bit longer than 2
weeks. If you chose not to take advantage of it that was your decision. If
you didn't know about it, I'm sorry. The offer was posted multiple times in
AmigaVendor Forum and was included in the README file in the 1.0 version of
AutoPilot. The offer will not be made again.
As for Whap!, the author, Jim Nangano, has not had an Amiga for about 3 years
and has no interest in obtaining another one.
-sja
Steve,
I'm not going to stay quiet about this although it seems all the SYSOPS are
hoping that I do. My advice is buyer-beware when you shell out $70.00 for a
program that you expect to at least allow for upgrade paths. DON"T COUNT ON
IT!!
My Amiga 3000 was in the shop at that time due to problems with the serial
port which we all know is a vital modem port. The fix cost me a $400.00
motherboard.
Also remember, GENIE knows the value of these programs to their users.
Their Alladin program was introduced as a FREE download.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Don:
I'm not a SYSOP, and I don't really care if you keep quiet or not.
Actually if you really feel the way you do, then by all means speak your
mind, but there are a couple of things I think you should know. First off,
your comparison of Aladdin to AutoPilot is slightly unfair. Aladdin was
originally a shareware product on the PC, and GEnie management saw how
useful it was, and bought all the rights to the program. They then started
porting it over to other machines, and the Amiga port is just that, a
port, with GEnie management keeping a close eye on what features went into
it, and which didn't, as they want to keep all the versions of Aladdin
similiar in operation. The programmer that wrote AutoPilot wrote it on his
own time, and sales of AutoPilot are a considerable portion of his income,
and I doubt that you'd deny somebody their way of making a living if they
go about it fairly.
It's my understanding that while AP's author did do some work on Whap!, he
doesn't own the rights to Whap!, and the person that does no longer even
has an Amiga! To make it even clearer, if a mechanic that worked in a Ford
dealership was to go out and open their own Dodge dealership, and as a
method to get business going quickly was to say "anyone that used to get
their Ford serviced at the XYZ Ford dealer that wants to come in and buy a
Dodge from me will get 70% off the list price, this offer will only last
for the first 2 weeks I'm open." If Sears has a big sale, and you are on
vacation during the sale, do you have a right to expect that when you come
back they should extend the sale to you cause you were out of town?
As to another comment you made (a couple of messages ago), When CIS
changes their software, it doesn't only effect the Amiga & AutoPilot,
every type of navigation software on all platforms usually needs to be
upgraded. I can assure you that CIS doesn't change things just so
navigation software authors can have program upgrades, but rather to
improve the service. Change is the nature of the beast here on CIS.
So, if after thinking about all this, you still feel that you should
complain about Whap! being a dead end, and about AutoPilot being a rip off
(or whatever your words were), then what more can I say?
DISCLAIMER:
I'm not affiliated with AutoPilot or it's author, other than as a beta
tester for the program, it doesn't effect me in the least whatever
anyone's opinion of the program is.
// -Mike Schiller
\X/ AMIGA! On AutoPilot in sunny Fort Lauderdale
You must remember that the author of Autopilot has no affiliation with
Whap! He is not obligated to offer upgrades. To register or not is up to
the individual.
Most people find that the money they pay, pays for itself in a short time
besides just making CIS easier to use. Whap! is very outdated and does
not have the same level of features that AP can give. I find the price
very reasonable!
-Jonathan (via AP)
Jonathan,
I was not aware that they were different companies. If so why is Whap!
being discontinued?
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
"…why is Whap! being discontinued?"
The author of Whap! has chosen not to upgrade the program amy further. He
no longer is able to maintain a presence online. He has made updates
available, at no charge, fro quite sometime, but it is doubtful that he
will be able to continue this practice. It all depends on the complexity
of any 'fixes' required due to changes in the CIS system software.
Donald,
I don't understand why you think the author of AutoPilot "owes"
you anything. It is my understanding that there is no connection
between the two programs. Even if there was a connection, your
only excuse to gripe would be if the money charged was excessive
for the amount of work put into the product. From what I've
heard, AutoPilot is an excellent value.
Software development costs money. If you want the benefits,
you must be prepared to pay for it.
–Doug
Doug,
The authors of these programs are supported by CI$. CI$ makes money on the
increased usage and the time spent downloading updates. I think I deserve the
same upgrade offer that was offered Whap! owners for a 2 week period last year.
If not that generous offer how about the same price I paid originally for Whap!
$35.00?
PS. I was not aware 2 different companies authored these products.
However, I still feel that some sort of discount is in order.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
"The authors of these programs are supported by CI$"
Wrong. The authors of these programs are supported by the users who buy
them to spend LESS MONEY on CIS.
"I still feel that some sort of discount is in order."
Feel that as you may… do you also think Ford should discount it's cars
to owners of GM products?
Michael,
It wouldn't be such a bad idea for Ford to offer incentives to owners of GM
products to trade in their vehicles for a Ford.
Another thing… I think $70.00 is way too much for this program anyway.
How much are these auto programs for other platforms? I'd say $70.00 must be
at the high end of the spectrum. It's those kinds of prices that will scare
potential users away from the Amiga as a home computer.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
TapCI$ is $70.
AutoPilot will save the moderate CIS user that much in connect charges in
the first month or three of use. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If
you think it costs too much, don't buy it. But don't make statements WRT
things you know nothing about. I can assure you that there isn't a sould
in the world that decided not to buy an Amiga because of the cost of AP,
which is equivalent in price to the #1 msdos CIS automated s/w program,
TapCI$.
TapCIS is $79.95/
opps! so… AP is evev a BETTER value today than last night!! 🙂
Well, I hadn't thought of not buting Autoplot in those terms, just that using
Whap does everything I want quite efficiently so why change ?
Pete from Dorset in Englands West Country – via Whap!
Pete,
Wait until the program is broken by a CI$ system change. Save those 7000
pennies.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Totally agree Don. There is no point in buying something new when the existing
product does all that is required.
Pete from Dorset in Englands West Country – via Whap!