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Re: Do Mathematica applications EVER get updated?

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg66223] Re: Do Mathematica applications EVER get updated?
  • From: "Nasser Abbasi" <nma at 12000.org>
  • Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 05:21:26 -0400 (EDT)
  • References: <e36vlj$n8n$1@smc.vnet.net> <e39ksi$cus$1@smc.vnet.net>
  • Reply-to: "Nasser Abbasi" <nma at 12000.org>
  • Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

"Jens-Peer Kuska" <kuska at informatik.uni-leipzig.de> wrote in message 
news:e39ksi$cus$1 at smc.vnet.net...
> Hi,
>
> why not ask the individual developer ??

I have never heard of a customer having to look for and ask individual 
developers inside a company about product updates.

For example, if the next MS word version gets delayed, do you pick up the 
phone and dial 1800 Microsoft and ask to please talk to the developer of MS 
word to ask him/her about the status of the application?

Do you have the phone number of the developer for the VISTA operating system 
because I need to call him/her to ask when it will be released.

Do you have a list of phone numbers I can call to find who is the developer 
to each one of the listed Mathematica packages?

This must be a new method of doing business that I have not heard of before.

> At least for my package I can tell you that I'm
> working on the next version and it should be
> finished at the end of the year.
>
> The Digital Image Processing package is also active
> developed and I'm sure the Mariusz Jankowski is
> working on the next version.
>

How do you know that? how do customers know this? Where is this listed on 
the web site for the DIP product?
http://www.wolfram.com/products/applications/digitalimage/

I do not see any name of developer there or any email address or any phone 
numbers.

If you know some internal information such as the above, then this does not 
mean the public knows this as well.

This is NOT how software business should work.

> Regards
>   Jens
>
> Nasser Abbasi wrote:
>> Is it worth buying more Mathematica applications?
>>
>> I am asking, because it seems these applications are hardly ever being
>> updated.
>>
>> Look at the structural mechanics application
>>
>> http://documents.wolfram.com/applications/structural/index.html
>>
>> It is still version 1, and the copyright shows it was published in 1999.
>> This is 7 years ago !! This is like a million years ago in computer 
>> software
>> time.
>>
>> The control systems application
>> http://documents.wolfram.com/applications/control/FrontMatter/0.2.html
>>
>> Still at version 2.2 since January 2003. This is 4 years ago without any
>> single update.
>>
>> The Signals and Systems application
>> http://www.wolfram.com/products/applications/signals/
>>
>> Still at version 1.2.1 from 1995 (this is 11 years ago).
>>
>> And I can go on and on.
>>
>> Another big problem is that it is almost impossible to figure what 
>> version
>> number these application are at and when was the last version released. 
>> It
>> is as if this is intentionally kept hidden.  Look at the mechanical 
>> system
>> package
>>
>> http://www.wolfram.com/products/applications/mechsystems/
>>
>> It says at the top "NEW VERSION". but no version number or when was this
>> version released. When you scroll to the bottom of the page, it says
>> mechanical system 2. Then it says 1994-2005.  Whatever this is supposed 
>> to
>> mean is anyone's guess.
>>
>> Can any one from the company explain all of this?
>>
>> I was about to buy the structural mechanics package, but last minute when 
>> I
>> checked the date on it, and that it was still version 1 since 1999, I 
>> closed
>> the window and did not buy it. It is clear that there are many dead
>> applications that are not being maintained and are still being sold to
>> customers.
>>
>> Nasser
>>
> 


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