Creative goes after driver modder

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: Phokus
My onboard audio works great, no need for add-on sound cards

That, and this for skype.

I didnt know they made USB sound cards that small, pretty cool.

I have a USB sound system from Yamaha, the RP-U200. It works great, and can give me 5.1 sound if I want it.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: shortylickens

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: Phokus
My onboard audio works great, no need for add-on sound cards

That, and this for skype.

I didnt know they made USB sound cards that small, pretty cool.

I have a USB sound system from Yamaha, the RP-U200. It works great, and can give me 5.1 sound if I want it.

Its plug and play too, no driver installation needed.

 

[indamixx99]

Wow, I'm amazed with the amount of people that registered on Creative's forums today just to post their anger with this situation.

 

[IEC]

I no longer buy Creative products.

They're overpriced under-supported mediocre hardware anyways.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: indamixx99
Wow, I'm amazed with the amount of people that registered on Creative's forums today just to post their anger with this situation.

And I'd bet no more than 10% even have vista.

 

[isekii]

Time to move on to different sound card product.

thank god I haven't moved on to Vista yet.

 

[thatolchestnut]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
I think you give Daniel too much credit. He basically was just repacking various driver files together from different driver versions. Not that it wasn't interesting, he churned out some very useful driver combinations, but he wasn't doing any real coding or software development, other than hacking up Alchemy to keep it from checking for a Creative soundcard.

What he was also doing was redistributing Creative's stuff without their permission, distributing pirated software (Universal Alchemy), and soliciting donations for all of this work (keep in mind that he never ran a website; he had no costs to require donations). It's fully within Creative's rights to deny someone the right to distribute modded drivers; they are Creative's property after all. I'm extremely surprised that they allowed him to distribute Universal Alchemy and solicit donations since that went beyond simply being helpful, basically he was charging for pirated software.

It'll be a loss for the community that's for sure, but he crossed the line. When you look at other modded drivers like the ATI Omega drivers, these guys have the permission of the company whose drivers they are modifying, and more importantly they're not doing anything so damn shady. Creative asked him to stop, and he did.

No costs? The time spent developing the software is an economic opportunity cost. He wasn't charging people for the software, but he was looking for at least a little compensation from people who benefited.

Sure it was well well within Creatives right to issue a C&D but I think its clear that that came at the cost of customer relations. What Creative essentially told their community was

"Dont expect our cards to work on newer Operating Systems." Wont waste my money on a card if its useful life in my comp is only the length of an OS.

 

[thatolchestnut]

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: indamixx99
Wow, I'm amazed with the amount of people that registered on Creative's forums today just to post their anger with this situation.

And I'd bet no more than 10% even have vista.

Well then Id say thats trouble because the 90% will be the ones upgrading soon...

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: thatolchestnut

Originally posted by: ViRGE
I think you give Daniel too much credit. He basically was just repacking various driver files together from different driver versions. Not that it wasn't interesting, he churned out some very useful driver combinations, but he wasn't doing any real coding or software development, other than hacking up Alchemy to keep it from checking for a Creative soundcard.

What he was also doing was redistributing Creative's stuff without their permission, distributing pirated software (Universal Alchemy), and soliciting donations for all of this work (keep in mind that he never ran a website; he had no costs to require donations). It's fully within Creative's rights to deny someone the right to distribute modded drivers; they are Creative's property after all. I'm extremely surprised that they allowed him to distribute Universal Alchemy and solicit donations since that went beyond simply being helpful, basically he was charging for pirated software.

It'll be a loss for the community that's for sure, but he crossed the line. When you look at other modded drivers like the ATI Omega drivers, these guys have the permission of the company whose drivers they are modifying, and more importantly they're not doing anything so damn shady. Creative asked him to stop, and he did.

No costs? The time spent developing the software is an economic opportunity cost. He wasn't charging people for the software, but he was looking for at least a little compensation from people who benefited.

Sure it was well well within Creatives right to issue a C&D but I think its clear that that came at the cost of customer relations. What Creative essentially told their community was

"Dont expect our cards to work on newer Operating Systems." Wont waste my money on a card if its useful life in my comp is only the length of an OS.

And as such he was profiting off of Creative's drivers. There's no way that can be considered a "good thing".

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: irishScott
Creative Zen > iPod. Haven't had a problem yet. Of course, I'm avoiding Vista as long as possible. No reason to upgrade.

That said, I'm wondering how Creative has the money for legal action. There was an AT article on them a couple of months ago with fairly dismal findings from a business perspective. Unless the modder is rich, they won't get anything...

iPod > *

It just looks betters. C'mon.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

And as such he was profiting off of Creative's drivers. There's no way that can be considered a "good thing".

I read through most of that giant thread & all I saw was that he had a link requesting donations on his site so I seriously doubt he made a profit and in addition it was optional ... anyone could download the drivers for free.

The good thing is that Creative's lousy customer-service/support has been exposed for all to see and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch then Creative.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: ViRGE

And as such he was profiting off of Creative's drivers. There's no way that can be considered a "good thing".

I read through most of that giant thread & all I saw was that he had a link requesting donations on his site so I seriously doubt he made a profit and in addition it was optional ... anyone could download the drivers for free.

The good thing is that Creative's lousy customer-service/support has been exposed for all to see and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch then Creative.

He started returning donations (no doubt at the encouragement of Creative) so I'd say he was making a profit.

 

[Kadarin]

I haven't bought anything from Creative in almost 10 years, and I have no intention of doing so anytime soon. They define the term "suck".

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: ViRGE

And as such he was profiting off of Creative's drivers. There's no way that can be considered a "good thing".

I read through most of that giant thread & all I saw was that he had a link requesting donations on his site so I seriously doubt he made a profit and in addition it was optional ... anyone could download the drivers for free.

The good thing is that Creative's lousy customer-service/support has been exposed for all to see and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch then Creative.

He started returning donations (no doubt at the encouragement of Creative) so I'd say he was making a profit.

In the sense that any money he collected at all is technically a profit you're correct, however I seriously doubt he was considering quitting his day-job.

Also I'm pretty sure that returning the donations was his idea, although the site admin did mention the donation link in his initial post as being a problem.

 

[tranceport]

The original thread is just slap full of people saying they are abandoning creative.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: ViRGE

And as such he was profiting off of Creative's drivers. There's no way that can be considered a "good thing".

I read through most of that giant thread & all I saw was that he had a link requesting donations on his site so I seriously doubt he made a profit and in addition it was optional ... anyone could download the drivers for free.

The good thing is that Creative's lousy customer-service/support has been exposed for all to see and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch then Creative.

He started returning donations (no doubt at the encouragement of Creative) so I'd say he was making a profit.

wasn't it just like 30 bucks total he got?

 

[Steve]

79 pages.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
profiting off of Creative's drivers. There's no way that can be considered a "good thing".

You're right it is totally fucking retard that one would have to pay or give donations to a third party to get working drivers when they should be provided free from Creative.

 

[Double Trouble]

Kind of funny.... this is just another nail in the inevitable coffin of Creative, they are just postponing the inevitable.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: irishScott
Creative Zen > iPod.

iPod > *

It just looks betters. C'mon.

:roll:

Your argument is compelling but I'm afraid I have to go with Scott on this.

The Zen is simply a better PMP then any iPod I've come across. Sure it's more bulky and cumbersome but I don't require my PMP to be ultra portable in the places I use it. The video is much better though in my opinion and the interface is easier to navigate. Both iTunes and Creatives software sucks in their own way, but at least Zen doesn't use DRM.

For music, one of the many iPods out there will get the job done. But for video a Zen wins based on price, ease of use, and video quality.

 

[waggy]

I feel danial waswrong in askin for donations. BUT creative made a huge PR blunder doing what they did

now its out that they REFUSE to fix the drivers. they have claimed they can't do it and now that someone did it they are threatining a lawsuit. personally i would love to see a huge lawsuit against them for claiming it was vista ready and not doing it.

yeah everyone is saying its donation. but it DOES NOT MATTER. you can call it whatever you want the fact is eh was doing something that was against the rules.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: irishScott
Creative Zen > iPod.

iPod > *

It just looks betters. C'mon.

:roll:

Your argument is compelling but I'm afraid I have to go with Scott on this.

The Zen is simply a better PMP then any iPod I've come across. Sure it's more bulky and cumbersome but I don't require my PMP to be ultra portable in the places I use it. The video is much better though in my opinion and the interface is easier to navigate. Both iTunes and Creatives software sucks in their own way, but at least Zen doesn't use DRM.

For music, one of the many iPods out there will get the job done. But for video a Zen wins based on price, ease of use, and video quality.

i agree

 

[mflacy]

Regardless of who's right and who's wrong, I would love to see Phil's face on Monday when he realizes that his little note to Daniel_K has been viewed over 100,000 times in the course of a weekend.

:laugh:

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: mflacy
Regardless of who's right and who's wrong, I would love to see Phil's face on Monday when he realizes that his little note to Daniel_K has been viewed over 100,000 times in the course of a weekend.

:laugh:

It's like they never heard of PM's over there :laugh:

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: mflacy
Regardless of who's right and who's wrong, I would love to see Phil's face on Monday when he realizes that his little note to Daniel_K has been viewed over 100,000 times in the course of a weekend.

:laugh:

yeap. as i said i think its going to get interesting Monday morning around creative labs.

this has hit nearly every tech site. now creative is known as a company that really does not give a crap about the costumers (most don't. but not so blatant). they refuse to fix the Vista drivers (even though they claimed the cards were vista ready