[slinkelist] DXSgusting Customer Relations

[Tom Hammond-Doel]

Colby, you're being far too nice.  Tresy is your basic a**hole.  I can say it -
you can't.  Your service has been great and Limp Wrist Tresy needs to start
understanding how small companies and start ups work.

Colby Boles wrote:

> I'd prefer to stay out of this melee, but I think it's worthwhile to
> hopefully improve the understanding of the situation for all those involved
> (or interested).
>
> First, the DXS was a product I started on before David began working here,
> and the hardware and software aspects of it have been so far completely my
> undertaking, so any gripes regarding their quality should be directed to
> me, not David. Credit goes to David for doing a great job creating a
> simple, sensible manual for the DXS as well as providing a great deal of
> input about making the UI more user friendly and practical.
>
> Regarding the problems with the DXS operating (which are now fixed with
> current flash upgrade download), this was truly an unfortunate combination
> of bug introduction on my part and vacation timing. My apologies to all of
> you who had patiently awaited delivery of the DXS only to have it misbehave
> randomly for the last two weeks.
>
> The DXS code itself had been tested extensively for months before the DXS
> ever shipped. Unfortuntately, we discovered a flaw in the microcontroller
> manufacturer's code security scheme and had to add an additional security
> layer at the 11th hour before our ship date. We tested this for a day, saw
> no problems, and shipped the units out. Only a minor bug relating to
> setting IR codesets was reported by a user the day before I left to go
> hiking in Thailand. I stayed up all night to fix this bug an create version
> 1.01 (David never released this due to the more serious bug discovered
> subsequently). I left at 5:30am the next morning for Thailand thinking that
> all known problems with the DXS were corrected. Had I known of the other
> bug, I would have stuck around and fixed it.
>
> While I was out of contact for the following two weeks, the more serious
> bug relating to the security surfaced. Unfortunately, there was no way for
> me to know about or fix the problem until I returned. I can sympathize with
> any one's frustration with the DXS during this period as I'm a big fan of
> instant gratification (at least with consumer electronics) myself. I
> appreciate the patience most of you have expressed over this period. I was
> able to fix the problem within a couple of hours of coming home, and only
> delayed its release a day to be sure that the problem was resolved and that
> the patch software would run smoothly for people.
>
> I do however take some offense to the following:
>
> >I frankly found Colby to
> >be snotty, given to curt one-sentence replies and no greeting, informal or
> >otherwise. Other than that, the presales exchanges were nothing special one
> >way or another, neither helpful nor unhelpful.
> >
> >--
> >Tresy Kilbourne
> >Seattle WA
>
> Admittedly, I do write shorter e-mails now than I used to due to the sheer
> volume that I must respond to, but I don't think I behaved as described
> from the following transactions. I think anyone who has talked to me on the
> phone knows I'm a pretty nice guy. (editorializing preceded by a colon):
>
> At 11:03 AM 10/24/99 -0700, you wrote:
> >I am a happy Slink-E owner via Riversong Interactive. I now own 3
> >daisy-chained Sony changers, which is causing problems when auto-cuing CDs
> >on different changers: the upstream, playing changer's output is blocked by
> >the downstream, paused changer. It may be time to consider a switch such as
> >your digital DXS.
> >
> >My question: what am I looking at in terms of initial configuration and
> >cost? All my Sony changers have digital optical outputs, which would be nice
> >to exploit, but not if the cost of doing so is prohibitive. Your ordering
> >page says I need more than just the DXS base unit. With what I have now,
> >what do I need to get going? And in addition, what other capabilities will
> >this device give me? For example, I have a DSS receiver, Onkyo A/V receiver,
> >and Sony SLV VCR, as well as many X-10 devices scattered throughout our
> >home. We are consequently drowning in "universal" (not) remotes. Any chance
> >of bringing some unified control to our home entertainment octopus?
> >--
> >Tresy Kilbourne
> >Seattle WA
>
> Hi Tresy-
>
> The base DXS has no inputs or outputs - we custom configure it for you
> based on your needs. You'd need a minimum of one input and one output
> module to have a working system. that would provide you with 4 inputs and 4
> outputs, which would be sufficient. This would total $449. The DXS can also
> switch any other DIGITAL sources you may have. It does nothing for analog.
> The Slink-e itself and our free Windows software can take you a long way
> towards integrating your X-10 and A/V gear. Right now, Titletrack does not
> support X-10 or IR.
>
> Colby
>
> : that was the only mail I had received from Tresy.
> : About a month later, I discovered a mail to David
> : that I thought I should throw out a comment on to
> : give a tip on getting cheap cables. I was in the
> : middle of DXS assembly programming, so it was a
> : short one, but better than nothing (David was
> : answering the main content of the message) and I
> : thought I could save him some money in the future -
>
> At 12:55 PM 11/19/99 -0800, you wrote:
> >David:
> >
> >While I wait for the DXS, could you provide any guidance on the issue of
> >which interconnect to buy for the output? This will be going into a DAC with
> >both coax and TOSlink inputs. I bought 3 TOSlink interconnects for my
> >changers and they cost a fortune; OTOH, I figure they are immune to
> >electrical interference. What are the pluses and minuses of going coax?
> >
> >Thanks for your advice.
> >
> >--
> >Walter Kilbourne
> >Seattle WA
>
> You can get TOSLink cables for $9 each.
>
> Colby
>
> http://www.core-sound.com/toslink-cables.html
>
> on 11/19/99 1:40 PM, Colby Boles at cboles@nirvis.com wrote:
>  > You can get TOSLink cables for $9 each.
> That's about $30 less than I paid for them at the local stereo store. Where
> do I find them at that price?
> --
> Walter Kilbourne
> Seattle WA
>
> at the link i sent in the e-mail.
>
> Colby
>
> : I guess it was this last message that he considered snotty,
> : but really I was just in a hurry to get some things done and
> : had already spent more time than I had planned searching the
> : web to find the link for him in the previous mail. My apologies
> : to you Walter / Tresy if you felt that I was brushing you off
> : - I was only try to help you out with what limited time I had.
> : The root e-mail you sent didn't require a response from me at all.
> : I merely was skimming answered messages the help box and noticed
> : that I had a helpful tip you could use.
>
> Colby
>
> Nirvis Systems
> http://www.nirvis.com
> http://kowloon.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cboles
>
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