Wish everyone would stop bitching!

[brianh4321]

Sure I know snapstream 2 has it problems and we are all waiting for a new version, but looking at allllll the mail out there I can't help but feel that everyone is acting like a bunch of whining babies.

I'm sure they are doing the best they can. Doesn't make much sense to release something and then listen to everyone bitch about how it doesn't work the way they want.

Seems like the are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Take a deep breath and relax, you can handle it.

[Garrett]

If you are waiting for people to quit bitching, you'd do better by not reading the boards <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Seriously tho' , It's not like people didn't give SS *some* chance to deliver[Quartz] on time. Waaaaay back, when 2.0 came out, they shortchanged us on a few features that were clearly advertized for 2.0. (CD Recording, Streaming(which a fix for the ATI finally came), etc...). They said that these would be addressed in a magical 'Quartz' release.

Now, They also gave a very short time frame for that release, (umm, something like the end of April? ). Anyway, *after* that date passed, they changed their tune to Q2 (which is what the website *STILL* says), and then we all got email to the story of, "oh, well now it'll be a beta, and it should be 'soon' ".

The reason for the griping isn't so much the time it takes to build the feaures, it's the constant project mismanagement, which prevents the users from knowing the true schedule.

I've been in software development for well over a decade now, and I've seen projects where this happens. I've also seen projects where dates are quite accurately delivered. Now, We're not privy to the details about how SS runs there development, but it's clear that project management is being run by those with less experience in forecasting a timely project--a task to which more than 80% of software development project managers fail at repeatedly.

I think that SS is under a great amount of pressure not to screw this up, and I understand *why* these things don't quite go right. I'm would't blame the developers much, as with great pressure, comes the desire to under forecast development time. I *would* place the blame on the manager and/or marketroids who posted these dates in the first place.

If SS wants to keep the people in the loop, an make the community feel like progress is being made, they should:

(a) NEVER FORECAST A COMPLETION DATE.

(b) Post a complete list of features, large or small on a board, and keep that list up to date with which ones have passed certification. Kinda like a feature matrix.

(c) Don't pressure the developers to push timelines. If you think that gets a project done faster, you are VERY wrong.

(d) Get a better project management development process that allows these things to work better.

(e) change the business model somewhat to allow customers to purchase the software, which gives them (6/9/12/n) months of free updates, and make adding updates to that resonably priced. Then, change the development process to have much much much smaller release schedules, around everty 3 or so weeks. Customers will not only understand where they are at, they will also FEEL the progress. No more mushroom growing. (keeps the users in the dark, and feed them lots of ****)

(f) NEVER FORECAST A COMPLETION DATE. ( oh, I might have mentioned that )

Garrett

[Scott McNay]

One thing to keep in mind is that the SS folks are having to deal with drivers for devices that even the device manufacturers have trouble getting stable, such as ATI. If the manufacturer has trouble or doesn't document things well, then the SS folks will likely have trouble also.

This isn't accounting software or some other business software; this is working with LOTS of other hardware and software, including vendor APIs that have not been used much, and therefore are likely to have bugs that must be worked around. The SS folks are having to deal with stuff that is not yet mature. For that reason, I'd expect even a good manager to have trouble with a schedule.

And, yes, I agree on pushing timelines; that results in shortcuts and too-fast testing, which results in customer dissatisfaction later. Fixing things like this later usually takes more time than it would have taken to do it right in the first place.

I'm off on vacation, be back Wednesday. Maybe I'll miss the announcement of the public beta?

--Scott.

[Garrett]

... For that reason, I'd expect even a good manager to have trouble with a schedule...

Um, yeah, but there are very simple ways to work out these kinds of forecasting, especially when dealing with unknown/flakey drivers. Using an extreme-programming style "velocity" for calculating volume of work is very effective. Especially the larger the volume of work.

I'm off on vacation, be back Wednesday. Maybe I'll miss the announcement of the public beta? [Smile]

Not likely <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

G

[Matt_B]

brianh4321 you are right. I have stopped whining about Snapstream. Matter fact I have given up on them all together.

Maybe someday I will visit this website and be pleasantly surprised to see Quartz out.

[PBMax]

I have to say that Quartz isn't just an updated SS 2.0 code. It is a complete rewrite to facilitate improvements in the future. That is why it is taking so long. This SHOULD have been announced so that people will understand more.

I agree on the way Snapstream is handling stuff is wrong.

I asked for info about features and bugs but didn't really get too much help on it. I don't work for the company but think that this product has alot of potential so I was willing to help.

Snapstream shouldn't announce any dates unless they pad the dates. That way if you finish on time you have time to get the bugs out or time to relax. If you think it will be done in two weeks give it a month.

If you followed showshifter they never announced any dates until they released their first beta 1.7 Then it was bug fixes and releases after that.

Snapstream will come out with Quartz and it may be what people want and it may not be. As you can see what people say about the release isn't speeding them up so be patient.

[Craig]

Working in the IS team for a large company there is one important lesson I have learned. Its "communications". When I am working on a user's computer and it is taking longer then I had forcasted, I need to let the user know. 90% of the time they are understanding. The other 10% are usually hotheads and self centered anyways. But by keeping the user in the loop they are happy that you are working on the problem and getting it fixed. The same holds true to SnapStream. I have read these posts every day not missing a day. And I have noticed that SnapStream has stopped talking in these forums. My hopes are they are taking away forum time to get Quartz up and running. But seriously they should assign someone to let us know whats going on. Don't need a release date, just a progress report. I can defintely wait. I myself did go to ShowShifter's web site. Ya its a cool program, but I so HATE the interface. I am sure they will change it and it will be a great program. But I am standing behind SnapStream! I invested my money from my "meager" paycheck, and I believe in my heart they will come through. These are my 2 cents.

[PBMax]

Patrick (The Guy that was managing the fourms and tech support) is not long with snapstream. So they are looking for a replacement. I am trying to keep caught up on the emails while they look for a replacement. There was an annoucement in the Support forum to this. I thought is should have been in the Announcement section but that wasn't my call. I don't even know when they are going to release Quartz and what the status is. Communications is the key. I know Patrick was doing a good job while he was here on keeping us updated.

Most people are understandable if they know what is going on.

[Dan Martin]

There's one simple solution to this madness:
Never announce a date until you are absolutely sure you can stick to it.

Alot of people defend SS for the things they are trying to get right. That's fine, I don't want them to release software that's full of bugs either. But there is NO excuse, I repeat NO EXCUSE, for lieing about a release date. Especially multiple times. Figure out when something is REALLY going to be finished before you post the release date on your public website!

End of story.

[srigby]

Three brief points:

- If you don't complain, even whine, you're basically saying: I'm OK with the way things have been handled to date. Give people an inch, and they'll take a mile. Evidence of this: April, End of Q2, now when???

- Sure they've had to deal with different devices from different manufacturers, but so has someone else and they've done a great job! (and timely too)

- Maybe the reason Patrick left is because he saw the sorry state that the company/product was in and didn't want to be the point of contact for all that anger/disappointment.

[SirFlakey]

Keep me in the loop and I am ok .. I bought SS a short while back - saw the features .. and bought the product based on those features, after some minor kicking of the tuner card things are sweet and working well .. I bought SS for the features that the product has TODAY - I am not interested in kicking SS for features that should be in the next version.

Quite frankly I have worked so long as a tech I know how it feels to have people b*tch continously and quite frankly - it ain't helping, it is not about to make things happen faster.

What I'd like is more hack-a-bility of SS so that I could roll my own solutions, but that is just a thought.

[Jason Bottjen]

No, it might not make the software development happen any faster, but what it MAY do is:

1. Make Snapstream realize they need a little more effort in their project planning, customer support, and comminucation to its supporters

2. Let potential NEW customers realize that they will be buying software from a company that does not respond to customers problems, and does not release (many) product updates or patches. A lot of people look at the support boards before buying software, they should be informed on what they are getting into (support-wise mainly).

Jason Bottjen

Originally posted by SirFlakey:
Keep me in the loop and I am ok .. I bought SS a short while back - saw the features .. and bought the product based on those features, after some minor kicking of the tuner card things are sweet and working well .. I bought SS for the features that the product has TODAY - I am not interested in kicking SS for features that should be in the next version.

Quite frankly I have worked so long as a tech I know how it feels to have people b*tch continously and quite frankly - it ain't helping, it is not about to make things happen faster.

What I'd like is more hack-a-bility of SS so that I could roll my own solutions, but that is just a thought.

[srigby]

I was searching back through the forums last night looking for support for Provideo cards...

...and I found a thread from Jan. 2002 where people were already asking about when Quartz will be available! So, the expectation was set back then!

That's what Sir Flakey needs to understand. He's relatively new to all this. But some of us have been expecting Quartz to be just around the corner for the last six months.

[Mark_R]

Been awhile since I have been here. Guess I wont have to read any further, my question has obviously been answered. No Quartz yet. I aint going to complain about it. SS gave me a patch to make 2.0 work with my ATI card and I am happy. I dished out my $50 for version 2.0 and figured the patch was what they owed me, Quartz is like a bonus to me. Well its summer and I have more camping to do (I will set version 2.0 up to record my favorite shows while I am away) and will check back at the end of the month. Personally if I was SS right now, I would take my time and make sure the product is ready. If you think there is alot of complaints now, imagine all the complaints if you release a version now full of bugs. Some advice for the others out there, this aint Microsoft. Microsoft can afford to put out a crappy product (MS BOB for example)and not lose face, I dont think SS can. Take a deep breath and enjoy the summer. (oh god, please dont let me get any more 1-star ratings over this)

[srigby]

If SnapStream are sitting back at the moment, taking their time to make sure they get it right - without communicating that publicly - I will never use the product again as a matter of principal.

And remember, a customer who had a bad experience tells MANY MANY more people about it, than someone who was just satisfied.

If they need another month, fine. But tell us. Rather than having us all check the boards every day, expecting you to (at least try to) stick to your last statement...which wasn't that long ago.