I cant get your stupid program off my casio e-100 in remove programs!!!
A, it wont work anymore after using it for 1 hour and having it on my
handheld for 1 day. Nice Program!!!!
Now it wont let me remove it or register it since I cant get into the
thing.
Alls I see is a icon in the task bar and that doesn't do anything when
clicked either!
Hmmmmm, will I reload this program when I get it off the p.c.??? Will
I tell everyone on the newsgroups how great it's not???
I thing NO and Yes!
When you get the program to actually work for more than 5 minutes e-mail
me please. It was a great program while it lasted.
--Dew
Dumb Program, clever marketing
{This message was written while very angry. But I send it as it is or it
would keep sleeping in my OutBox. Please focus on the facts it reports and
on the glitches you actually have to fix.}
I was fooled by your clever word-of-mouth campaign into trying StarTap.
What is good is your attempt to fill the need. What is bad, very bad, is
your attitude of young programers unable to understand what programing is.
Programing is 99% dealing with what represents 99% of the problems: the
most intelligent, the most sophisticated, the most expensive, the slowest
too, the most unpredictable device in the system, hidden there away behind
the keyboard: the user.
The user, if he is not (or no more) a young inexperienced person still
impressed by a program running, wants to not spend time on low level tasks.
Then you have to do them for him, or your program is useless. This needs to
make very efficient the use *and the troubleshooting* of your software - or
it is useless. ""Efficient"" *requires* that it is *secure*; and secure
*requires* that it is extremely easy to understand and to use. The people
who openly require easiness are *not*, as some low level inexperienced
techies think, the less, but the *most* knowledgeable ones.
Be careful at what exactly mean « it works » or « it is reliable ». For
some people (in universities for instance, or for a new young programer), «
it works » means: Wow! I have seen a case where it has worked!! However for
old experienced engineers, managers, or secretaries, « it works » means: in
the last year of working 8 hours a day at lightning speed, full time with
the said program, but with quite various users, problemms, data sets, I
can't remember a case where it has not worked.
Writing a program the 1st way can take half a day; then bringing it to the
2nd level - the only one useful - can take a month.
Examples:
In « Welcome! » ( http://www.thumbsupsoft.com/help/StarTap07.htm ):
you write: « Thank you for trying a program you've never heard of! »
This single phrase says it all about the colossal short seeing and
misunderstanding you are undergoing.
Your program is touted everywhere. Even if it wasn't yet when you wrote
this, it was already *intended* to be touted, so writing this was not only
pretentious and useless, but - as soon as you pass the extremely short term
- wrong.
you write: « You found this file at www. ThumbsUpSoft. com /downloads
/startap /StarTap.Exe. You can be SURE that this file will ALWAYS be here.
Totally ridiculous. Every reasonable site did think of this, but also
realized that keeping this (as any other promise) is difficult, then
carefully keeps away from *speaking of* it, and instead spends much effort
to *do* it. First step is of course to give an accurate writing of the said
place; but yours is already false, since adding extra spaces and caps.
In addition, this « Welcome! » page is linked as « Bug Reports » instead of
« Welcome ». Changing names during the race is never a good idea. Overuse
of fancies and jokes is funny for superficial persons, waste for others.
In your « The Taskbar Icon » page (
http://www.thumbsupsoft.com/help/StarTap05.htm ), you write:
« To close a task, tap on the Delete button and then tap
on the task or tasks that you want to shut down »
First mistake, again, is changing names. If I need to *close* something, I
want to tap on something called « Close »; if I want to *delete* something,
I want to tap on something called « Delete ».
Doing this enormous and fundamental mistake usually fools not only the
users, but also the writer (the developer when dealing with software). I
don't know if you were fooled yourself, but using your StarTap tray icon, I
""closed"" the Power settings on my E-11, and now I can't any more get to it.
When I tap ""Power"", either through StarTap or through Start | Settings |
Power, all I get is the previous screen, for instance Contacts. Is it
really possible that your StarTap did *delete* my Power settings instead of
*closing* it? In any case, how do I retrieve these settings?
That was my reason to come back on your site today. But I can't get any
help from this site. It is everywhere the same negligent and pretentious
writing denoting a probably too young, too inexperienced, too low
instructed, developer (Excuse me to be crude. Hypocrisy would earn us more
pleasant discussion but miss you an opportunity to progress). Just one
other example:
On the « Star Tap 95 Help » page, under « Not To Forget . . . », I see «
Undo a mistake ». Then I click the link labeled « Not To Forget . . . »,
and this doesn't take me to a « Not To Forget . . . » page, but to a «
Miscellany » one; again the name changed amid the battle. And the first
lines are:
How do I undo a mistake?
Pretty simple: tap on undo!
What are you taking your readers for? Do you think they have to be taught
that tapping on « Undo » will *undo*? Can't you imagine that what they
would like to be told is, where they can find something called « Undo »?
Why don't you coach them through the screen down to this « Undo »? You
continually say things like « Under Edit », but I can't find where this «
Edit » is; you say « Select Properties from the menu or toolbar », but
which menu? which toolbar? where is it? There are in Windows CE plenty of
menus, plenty of screens which can have or not have menus depending on many
settings or on how you got there, plenty of « Edit » - but none where I
expect it -, several toolbars... All this is all the difficulties of
programing, skipping them is just skipping the very reason for buying your
program.
Then your program is doing little useful and probably getting its good
reviews mostly through good PR (i.e. good word of mouth, and good meals
with journalists), not with real tests nor with real feedback from users.
Journalists generally don't test what they speak about, and have no ethics,
then are able to forge as much « feedback » as they want.
If you want short success, you will get it this way. But if you want a more
durable one, then you have to make your program really does what it
promised.
Meanwhile I stop using it (I don't uninstall, for several reasons,
including I found no uninstall instructions), and will wait and see if you
care to tell me how I reinstall my Power settings.
--Michel
Dear Michel,
Hey! Sorry you're unhappy!
--Thumbs Up!
(no response)
I Bill (wanna bet?)
Boy... So much for IBILL... apparently MY address does not match the ""record on file..."" so I CANT get your software. Funny thing is, my address should not be on their file, as Ive never used the service before. Too bad...maybe you should try another approach, this one doesnt work...
--Alan
10 minutes later:
Startap, Please...
OK... I'm REALLY trying to be a nice guy about this. Let me make it simple.
SOFTWARE - GOOD
SERVICE - SUCKS
All I REALLY want to to is buy StarTap. Unfortunatley, I made the mistake of putting it on my unit the 27th of May, giving me only 3 days to evaluate it before it crapped out at the END OF THE MONTH ! (listen guys...this REALLY stinks. Other programs give you 30 days. ) O.K...I can deal with the HEY! download a new copy from your site! O.K... that gives me the same message. ""This evaluation version of Star Tap has expired....along with my patience. O.K... I go to IBILL to attempt to actually BUY the software (which by the way is REALLY good, which explains my perserverence in this asinine venture) IBILL says that my address doesn't match what is on file NO SHIT? I'VE NEVER DEALT WITH IBILL BEFORE! WHY WOULD THERE BE A MATCH? Well, thats a dead end. O.K...we'll try The Palm Store. O.K...Sent you guys an Email with the Registration ID- (xxxx) as requested. That must have been a really effective approach, as I haven't gotten anything back. Nada. You know, I'd pay 20 or even 30 bucks if that is what it would take...
Anyway, lets all cooperatively work together so that
A. I can start using the software you have obviously worked hard to create.
B. You can get some money.
Thanx!
--Alan
Dear Alan,
Users who have reached the end of their rope within minutes of first contact don't generally get the highest priority around here.
The outdated trial version is indeed our problem. There will be a new version in a coupla days.
When I receive confirmation from the Palm Size PC Store that you've paid for the order, I'll forward the Key.
--Thumbs Up!
A month later. We had no idea at the time that it was the same gentleman:
PAY ATTENTION!
O.K. Heres the straight poop.
I want to buy StarTap.
iBill won't sell it to me.
""They"" say address on file doesn't match. Why would it. I've never bought from them before.
I went through this about a month ago, didn't work then, didn't work now.
This is REALLY becoming a problem.
I would like to continue using your product, but don't like re-downloading it all the time.
TAKE MY MONEY...PLEASE!
--Alan
Oh Yeah... SOME RESPONSE would be appreciated.....
Dear Alan,
Well, my usual line is that customers who have reached the end of their rope *before* contacting us the first time don't get the highest priority. But I know you mean it all in good sport.
Tell ya what, enter either xxxxxxx *or* xxxxxxx as StarTap's I-Bill PIN, and it should be registered. Then, either go through the Palm Size PC Store from our Register StarTap page, or send a check for US$10 to:
Thumbs Up Soft
3947 Bandini St
San Diego CA 92103
USA
--Thumbs Up!
(no response, or check as far as we can tell. Oh, well!)
I guess the only points that I'd draw out of this are these: