[slinkelist] DXSgusting Customer Relations

Thu, 09 Dec 1999 15:14:58 -0800

Small companies and startups?  Colby has done a better job than any company
I've dealt with, large or small!  A few weeks ago I sent an email to Intuit
letting them know their historical data for a security was bogus (the stock
price of Microsoft did NOT reach 8200!).  A week later I got back a "we
don't supply technical support" email.

paul

At 02:30 PM 12/9/99 -0800, Tom Hammond-Doel wrote:
>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
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> slinkelist maillist  -  slinkelist@nirvis.com
>> http://www.nirvis.com/mailman/listinfo/slinkelist
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>slinkelist maillist  -  slinkelist@nirvis.com
>http://www.nirvis.com/mailman/listinfo/slinkelist