Is Philip Bice still with the company?

[Alan]

Hi Philip,

Thanks for you reply to my question about CBPaint. Judging by the response, it seems that there are quite a number of important loyal customers of MS who are very upset at not having CBPaint. Will you please provide it. Not providing it, is clearly very damaging to the reputation of your company, both in the US and here in Europe. On the support issue, as TVPaint and CBPaint are so similar take a look at the TVPaint site. You will find excellent Tutorials and a fast response from the company to any questions. I used their tutorials when I had CBPaint.

Thanks Alan.

[JohnKleban]

Would CB Paint users be ok if Macro released a couple of "sub-parts" of the program down the road? Perhaps that is more feasible and makes economic sense vs. trying to tackle that of the entire program, etc. Macro could gather feedback from those CB Paint die-hards and find out which aspects of the program you value most, or would love to at least have in some fashion and from there, look into releasing a more affordable and easier to digest offering. Just a thought and one that might aid in selling more quantity vs. that of an expensive full-blown software - from the standpoint of attracting a larger market segment.

John

[BobC]

I think that is a reasonbable question, John. Have no idea about the answer, though.

[TimKennelly]

Wait! there are paid beta testers?!?!?!

On a more serious note, if TV Paint has written a Linux version I would think it should be a rather small project to make it functional with our Linux based Bogart SE, economic issues aside.

I think the support issue has been eliminated as MSUS has moved to exclusively pay as you go tech support making it a self supporting process, not to mention the far more effective option of opting for the Casablanca Expert service.

The truth is those that have used/want this software, while a very vocal group, are still an incredibly small group making it a of little worth to MSUS economically.

That does not change the fact that the Company promised (and is still promising it "Coming Soon") it and so should deliver it.

[PhilMSUS]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I've read everything here (several times) and haven't responded for good reason... I'm chatting about this internally pretty intensively.

At face value - it's not economically possible (based on past sales numbers). I'm exploring some "alternative" ways of solving this, but this economy allows for ZERO mistakes. Eric did a great job of getting this company back to a level of sustainability, and we are making the safest (most profitable) decisions we can. CBPaint was VERY far down the end user list of priorities (the community's list - not MS's)... but we're looking at ways that we can make this work.
The fact of the matter is, the upfront cash needed would NOT produce an ROI for us (based on past sales). We'd loose money.

Plus - everyone's already heard at work developing, testing, and delivering the community's top requests.


I'll get back to you with some additional options as I figure them out.

[LouBruno]

I think the problem relates to the "COMING SOON" of CB PAINT 2 as advertised. Maybe "NEVER COMING" would have been better than a promise that it will be issued in BOGART. I understand the economic issue of selling a piece of software that is non-profitable vs. an obligation of a company to keep customers and prior purchasers "happy" is a fine line.

With the advent of less expensive operating systems that incorporate the features of CB PAINT, maybe CB PAINT can bring us to a higher plateau thus increase sales.

Just my thoughts.

[PhilMSUS]

I certainly wasn't clear about something here. My intentions are to get enough support (or not) to move this higher into the backlog's priority. I didn't mean to imply that CB Paint wouldn't be introduced to Bogart EVER. I can easily see how my above statement would be read as we might not be bringing CB Paint to Bogart. My previous Forum statement should have read "not economically possible to move up the backlog (priority list)".

My Blog statement asked if this was worth $1500 to you and if you'd be willing to commit to a purchase. These are the best 2 ways to gauge a public's changing prioritization of needs (retail value and financial commitment). Folks who don't want CB Paint don't really need to tell us where they stand on these 2 issues (but they often do - thanks!). Folks who want CB Paint have occasionally touched on the retail value issue (only twice) - but not a single one has addressed the purchase commitment issue. I was kind of hoping for a healthy number of "commitments" to buy so I could move this up the priority list.


Where we stand -
* Working on the most requested items 1st (like a new Titler) is the best decision to make for our customers and for our business.
* MSUS and MSDE customers have clearly spoken to let us know what their priorities are and CB Paint is on the list (albiet lower on the list).
* I'll continually re-check the "pulse" to see if priorities change (I know they sometimes do). I'll also keep the CB Paint topic open here if I can get some emails letting me know there are people willing to commit to a purchase. suggestions@macrosystem.us



For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to keep up with MSUS - MSUS has drastically changed over the last 1.5 years. MDSE has also changed greatly and only very recently finalized their merger with Loewe. These changes obviously are having a hugely positive impact on product launches and customer experience. Historically speaking - the S2000 and S4100 are by far the most reliable and robust machines MS has ever produced. We keep track of support calls, emails, incidents, bugs, and repairs pretty closely - so we can say this with confidence. Software Dev is now being done in a fashion that reflects customer feedback and requests. This is all very positive stuff and we are happy to report that we'll continue to improve and help make your experience with both MSUS and the Cassie products even better in the future.

[Alan]

Hi Phillip,

I've been away for some time so I'm late responding to your comments about CBpaint. I would expect to pay for an upgrade to get what would be CBpaint3 as TVpaint has additional features now. I would consider it most unfair to pay the full price again.

CBpaint was introduced to make the product range fully professional. In the past you have lost many customers who found the system would not give their clients what they needed. They moved over to PC or Mac. You still have the same problem. Is your company only interested in the hobby market?

'Coming soon' has been incredibly damaging to your company.

I owned one of the original 'Works straight out of the box Cassies' and have one of the first S4k pro machines which works well for me. I want to stay as a Cassi user.

Cheers Alan