(I know Dan’s posted about not letting comments turn into a typical forum, but I feel I have to reply)
I have to say for me, I view it far more than just a ‘retro fan hobby thing’, you really wouldn’t believe just how much I put into what I do, both in terms of time and money, and I don’t do for what I get back in terms of sales or that, I am just so passionate for the ol’ Sam.
No one is saying you aren’t entitled to have arsey opinions, but some respect surely has to be paid to those who have done stuff for the Sam, in their own time really for their own pleasure, especially after every commercial software company didn’t bother.
Afterall, those involved in producing for the Sam have had to live with arsey comments for years, and especially in the mid 90’s when there was so much more happening, the whole Sam scene was fragmented into it’s own little gangs and factions - it was unbelievable the amount of bitching that went on against people.
When I first started out in 1995 with the soundcard I had the biggest magazine disk refuse to print news about what I did with the comment “I won’t print your news, news is plugging and I can’t be seen to plug other people’s products”, yet of course news from other places was mentioned all the time afterall thats the job of a magazine disk - to report the goings on in the scene for the benefit of the readers and to keep them involved with whats going on. Why I was refused … who knows, i don’t … one chap starting out with a Soundcard was hardly competiton! But never the less, time has told it’s tale and i’m still here producing new stuff for a fantastic machine.
That sort of attitude, and so much more, had such a detrimental effect on the small Sam scene and the typical user was generally unaware of what went on behind the scenes.
In the early days I even had people take the time to write a letter and post it off to me just to just critisize what I did despite them having no idea whatsoever about what they were talking about or what was involved cost/time wise with what I produced. Very motivating I must say.
At least letters like that were rare, and people who actually had bought my stuff and full of praise, so when a letter saying ‘well done’ or ‘it’s great’ turned up in the post it would make me think I was doing something worthwhile!
For a whole host of reasons like that i’ve covered, a lot of great software etc went unnoticed in the Sam world and because of it sadly a lot of programmers gave up.
Even to this day, it can all add up and make you question is it really worth continuing, it’s something i’ve thought about a few times over the years…
Colin
=====
Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe
April 1995-2006 - Celebrating 11 Years of developing for the Sam Coupe
Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
For some...
(I know Dan’s posted about not letting comments turn into a typical forum, but I feel I have to reply)
I have to say for me, I view it far more than just a ‘retro fan hobby thing’, you really wouldn’t believe just how much I put into what I do, both in terms of time and money, and I don’t do for what I get back in terms of sales or that, I am just so passionate for the ol’ Sam.
No one is saying you aren’t entitled to have arsey opinions, but some respect surely has to be paid to those who have done stuff for the Sam, in their own time really for their own pleasure, especially after every commercial software company didn’t bother.
Afterall, those involved in producing for the Sam have had to live with arsey comments for years, and especially in the mid 90’s when there was so much more happening, the whole Sam scene was fragmented into it’s own little gangs and factions - it was unbelievable the amount of bitching that went on against people.
When I first started out in 1995 with the soundcard I had the biggest magazine disk refuse to print news about what I did with the comment “I won’t print your news, news is plugging and I can’t be seen to plug other people’s products”, yet of course news from other places was mentioned all the time afterall thats the job of a magazine disk - to report the goings on in the scene for the benefit of the readers and to keep them involved with whats going on. Why I was refused … who knows, i don’t … one chap starting out with a Soundcard was hardly competiton! But never the less, time has told it’s tale and i’m still here producing new stuff for a fantastic machine.
That sort of attitude, and so much more, had such a detrimental effect on the small Sam scene and the typical user was generally unaware of what went on behind the scenes.
In the early days I even had people take the time to write a letter and post it off to me just to just critisize what I did despite them having no idea whatsoever about what they were talking about or what was involved cost/time wise with what I produced. Very motivating I must say.
At least letters like that were rare, and people who actually had bought my stuff and full of praise, so when a letter saying ‘well done’ or ‘it’s great’ turned up in the post it would make me think I was doing something worthwhile!
For a whole host of reasons like that i’ve covered, a lot of great software etc went unnoticed in the Sam world and because of it sadly a lot of programmers gave up.
Even to this day, it can all add up and make you question is it really worth continuing, it’s something i’ve thought about a few times over the years…
Colin
=====
Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe
April 1995-2006 - Celebrating 11 Years of developing for the Sam Coupe
Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/