Editorial: Whatever happened to customer service for Handheld PC owners?

maybe on x86.
not so on CE. there is tcpmp. it uses general binary. there is no separate ppc/ce version even. now...does its performance suck?! (gdi or gapi mode, to stay general) well, i'd say it is better than any other video player out there.

i can see it is a pain to develop for many OS'es, i feel for you there. we did not ask for that though.

as you say, hpcfactor probably doesnt have time for this (even though this is a very good idea!). so where does that leave us?

Edited by cmonex 2007-06-14 10:08 PM

On CE, there are (were) versions of TCPMP for CE2, CE3, PocketPC, Smartphone and more. First time I started with it on a J720 I installed the wrong version, and that does not work, so no, tcpmp is not a generic binary.
if you look through the source code there are seperate files for certain device series and cpu types (Mips, arm etc) With CorePlayer, which was build from TCPMP, they dropped support for the older ce versions, mainly because of the new features they added that require either new features of the OS (which you are so famous for with the modded OS files) and the CPU.

I run into this at the moment, even with the same OS versions. with the current releases of DVD Catalyst, I am using a new way of creating WMV files. These video files play fine on XScale-based devices, however, on devices that have Samsung CPU's even with higher clocks, the performance of them is not as good.

When I first got my J720, I noticed that it's 206 ARM cpu was a lot faster then my IPAQ 2210's 400mhz Xscale.

That HPC Factor doesnt have the time for this is true, however, I think that if we (you) as users provide them with enough information concerning the software that we would like to have in some way shape or form, they will be able to help.
I suggest starting a thread that will contain software names, Contact information of the developer, website or cashed website (www.archive.org/google cache) and what the initial licensing details of the application was, so that all HPC Factor has to do is use a generic letter where they can paste this information into and hit send.

As an individual, you will not have a chance. You will be considered just another anoyance to the developer, but if the sender is a more wellknown person (Clinton for example) representing a non-profit organisation with a dedicated userbase, it will have a reasonable chance.
Personally I oftenly receive emails from start-up sites or badly organized sites, setup by users who are interested in this field at the moment, but I have experienced enough times that the site disappears after a month or two. Offering a developer to have his software listed in an archive of software for older devices is something that just doesnt intrest them unless it's a site that has proven to stay.

If HPC Factor lacks the time to assist, you could turn to something like UsedHandhelds. They recently released a cd for inclusion with MP900C devices, which contains a lot of HPC software. They contacted numerous developers (including me) already to be allowed to include their software so they do have experience in this.

I would try to answer the question about why some other abandoned platforms get applications turned into freeware etc, but not CE.

The difference with CE is that, in a sense, it is still alive. I'm not talking about the small number of CE based devices, but I'm talking about Windows Mobile. It is still based on CE. A lot of older CE applications, as unlikely as it is, will run on a brand new WM6 device. So if a developer releases the old CE version for free, chances are it would hurt sales of the new PPC/WM version of the same software, even if the old CE version has less features and doesn't work as nicely on PPCs.

Now today MIPS and SH3 software wont run on anything new, because of the switch to ARM-only CE. But it was once the case, when MIPS and SH3 PPCs were here, as the HPC platform started dying. So it was at that point when those CE apps started disappearing, making room for PPC version of themselves.

In a sense it's similiar to how Microsoft stops selling and supporting older versions of Windows and Office, even tho the newer versions won't run on older PCs. Will they release Windows 98 or Office 97 as freeware?

Of course I agree with a lot of PocketDVD's points. The above reasoning is in addition to his reasons.

well, i meant the CE3 binary is generic.


the new thread is a great idea. i'll see what abandonware apps i have here and then start it, unless someone else wants to do it.

Edited by cmonex 2007-06-17 8:49 PM

I disagree......if more individuals actually contacted some of these CE developers, something might actually happen. The developers that do respond to my inquiries......are surprised that anyone is still interested in their HPC software. Many tell me that they pulled the software because they only get 1 or 2 requests per month.....so they assume that it's not worth supporting anymore because there is little or no interest.

I all honesty, Clinton is a nice guy and he runs a first rate PPC/Mobile whatever website, but HPC software is very low on his list of priorities and understandably, so is HPC Factor.com




I don't believe that Usedhandhelds came up with that suggestion alone.....HPC Factor had alot to do with the whole CD idea. Usedhandhelds has not done a very good job of promoting HPC related websites, let alone software developers...their main focus is selling and repairing HPC/PPC hardware. There is much more they can do, but they have limited man power and a limited budget.......they are great guys, but unless the HPC platform makes a comeback, don't expect much from them.

John,

Your article does a great job of pointing out all the problems users face when they buy proprietary software on a proprietary OS.

Us users are totally at the mercy of developers after we've put our hard-earned dollars (or whatever currency you use...).

Like others have mentioned, I've gone through device after device, at great expense only to find out after a year or so, that the latest and greatest upgrade to the OS or sometimes apps will not work on the device I have. The solution available if I want the latest and greatest is to buy the latest and greatest device at more expense and then at additional more expense purchase more software upgrades.....get the idea????

This is why in the past few years, using Linux has become more and more appealing to me as a way to get off the merry-go-round described above...

Since Linux and Linux apps run on so many platforms or can easily be made to run on them, for all intents and purposes, you don't need to worry about being slighted or obsoleted by developers and manufacturers..

Not to mention that most Linux apps are freely available for downloading at no charge. What could be better for us users??

So, I say, users unite and stop being patsies for the manufacturer's and developers who take our money and then in a short time, dump us unless we're willing to go along on their joyride.....

Just my 2 cents....YMMV




Mark
Who's been dumped on countless times using Newtons, HPC's, PPC's and is tired of it.....