Sorry for the long, yucky forward, but I thought I'd save folks time negotiating
with these people. I basically feel they're being petulant about how nobody
registered teledisk (which I understand, I guess, but can't understand why
they won't *sell* me a single user copy). Note that this is in reverse
chronological order, with the most recent note first.
My reply to this was "thank you for your time, I will be deleting teledisk from
my system." I can't fault Ms St. Clair for being unfriendly or unhelpful,
just her company for being stupid.
And I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $150 dollars for a 25 user site license
of software that has to run in a DOS window.
-Jim
> From miriam_at_sydex.com Mon Feb 22 11:45:01 1999
> Message-ID: <199902221038530000.00B8538A_at_10.0.0.254>
> X-Mailer: Calypso Version 2.40.40
> Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 10:38:53 -0800
> From: "Miriam W. St. Clair" <miriam_at_sydex.com>
> To: jim_at_calico.litterbox.com
> Subject: Re: Information Request: general
>
> 22 February 1999
>
> Dear Mr. Strickland,
>
> TeleDisk was removed from shareware precisely because fewer than 1% of
> its (often hobbyist) users were willing to purchase a registered
> copy--but all of them were quite willing to call for support. Version
> 2.12 was the last available shareware release, and it will not run
> properly in an MS-DOS session under Windows 95/98 nor on most Pentium
> systems. Sydex discontinued the distribution of Version 2.12 in early
> 1991 when TeleDisk was dropped from our shareware product line. We do
> not offer any kind of support for this release. Quite frankly, we're
> surprised at the number of people who expect a 1990 hardware-sensitive
> DOS product to run under Windows 95 on Pentium systems.
>
> The 25-user license for TeleDisk Pro is a site license, and it may be
> used only at one specified location.
>
> As I mentioned earlier, CopyQM will handle a number of unusual formats.
> You need to work in MS-DOS command-prompt mode, with DIRECT hardware
> access, and in BLIND mode. We've made numerous copies of various CP/M
> diskettes here using CopyQM in the manner described, so please give it
> a try.
>
> That's the best we can do this time. Again, we regret the
> circumstances that make it impossible for us to offer TeleDisk Pro for
> shareware registration fees.
>
> Regards,
>
> Miriam W. St.Clair
> for Sydex, Inc.
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
>
> On 2/22/99, at 11:07 AM, Jim Strickland wrote:
>
> >> 22 February 1999
> >>
> >> Dear Mr. Strickland,
> >>
> >> What you found is definitely hacked, so all bets are off. 22DISK
> has
> >> the less expensive price since it's still a shareware product, and
> >> since its users have pretty much supported it by registering
> (although
> >> we've seen big negative changes in this practice over the last
> couple
> >> of years). TeleDisk was removed from shareware distribution in
> 1991,
> >> and we've sold it ever since as a commercial product. I'm very
> sorry
> >> that we cannot offer a single-user price now.
> >
> >How unfortunate. Considering the general standardization of disk
> formats in
> >the last couple years - ie macs read PC disks, pcs read mac disks and
> not much
> >else is out there - I would have thought the hobbiest market was one
> you would
> >pursue with this product. A question. If I went ahead and bought the
> 25 user
> >license, would it then be legitimate to share it with 24 of my
> hobbiest friends
> >?
> >
> >
> >
> >> You might try one more thing before you give up the hobby entirely.
> >> Pick up the evaluation copy of CopyQM from our Web site. Use it
> under
> >> straight MS-DOS (no Windows, please for this particular use), and
> see
> >> if it will make copies of your Kaypro diskettes in BLIND mode. This
> >> might work, and CopyQM can still be purchased for a shareware
> >> registration fee.
> >
> >Thanks for this information. I'll give it a try. Unfortunately the
> de-facto
> >standard for this kind of thing seems to be teledisk 2.12, which won't
> run
> >properly on my windows machine.
> >
>
>
> ==================
> Miriam W. St. Clair
> Sydex, Inc.
> P.O. Box 5700
> Eugene, OR 97405
> USA
> Voice: 1 541 683 6033
> FAX: 1 541 683 1622
> Email: miriam_at_sydex.com
> WWW: http:/www.sydex.com
>
--
Jim Strickland
jim_at_DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com
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Received on Tue Feb 23 1999 - 21:51:39 GMT