- Joined
- Apr 4, 2013
- Messages
- 845
Good day, folks.
Since I release the Plus version of TouchDRO, I've been getting a steady stream of emails regarding the fact that it's "locked" to the TDA-400/420 adapters. Most requests are polite, but almost weekly I get "nasty-grams" complaining that this is a ripoff, and I'm screwing people with DIY adapters and older TouchDRO hardware.
I've been thinking about this topic quite a bit, and have a good idea of what my plans are going forward.
The short version: TouchDRO Plus will be tied to the "official" TouchDRO hardware. This means that:
1. It will not be available for standalone purchase in the app store, or otherwise.
2. I will try to figure out an upgrade path for the "legacy" adapters based on ESP32 microcontroller.
3. There will be no upgrade path for MSP430-based hardware.
To clarify #2 - the latest firmware (that ships on TDA-4xx and TDK-40 adapters) has authentication code that uses ESP32 security/encryption hardware for a secret handshake between the app and the adapter. This allows the app to authenticate the adapter, and in case of TDA-4xx, activate the Plus version. The v3.2 firmware fully supports the old quadrature adapters. In fact, there are a few dozen adapters that I've upgraded for "friends and family". The holdup is that I can't get over-the-air updates to work reliably over BlueTooth. TDA-4xx adapters have an on-board USB bridge, so this is not a problem. Older quadrature adapters don't. Once I flash the new firmware, the only way to upgrade it will be to ship the board back to me again. I don't want to be in business of updating firmware for years to come. Once I figure out the magic to BT to not crash on large file transfers, I will offer an one-time paid upgrade to V3.x, and after that people will be able to get updates from the app.
This is not my first priority at the moment, but I'm working on it as time permits. My goal is to be able to upgrade quadrature and iGaging/Shahe adapters to V3. This will be a paid upgrade, but I haven't decided how much it will cost.
As far as #1 goes, here is my rationale:
There will be a more advanced adapter version next year that will have some additional hardware capabilities beyond those of the TDA-420 adapter or a DIY build. It will come with the same Plus version unlock, but will have more inputs, and some outputs that will be controller from the app. It will cost even more than the TDA-420 adapter. There will also be features on top of the Plus version that will be subscription based (since they will use online services, and those have on-going costs). None of this makes the free version and the DIY adapters any less valuable, by the way.
There are three reasons I'm locking the Plus version to the hardware:
1. It's simpler for me to deal with. The code is done, and the infrastructure for verification is done and working.
2. I don't want to kill off the DIY path, but I also don't want to have to compete with myself. A hardware-locked Plus version creates an incentive for people to buy a TDA adapter, which finances the project, and in the long run will allow me to be doing this full time.
3. Most importantly, I don't make any money from DIY builds (well, take it back, some portion of $20-80 I get from Amazon affiliate links might come from DIY builds), but most of the "support" workload comes form DIYers. Even though I politely tell people to ask the community for help when a DIY build is involved, it takes 2-3 emails to figure out what adapter the person is using etc. So far this takes up 1-2 hours every day, and this isn't something I can farm out to my wife to deal with. (In contrast, in July I had 3 support cases from TDA-4xx owners. One took 7 emails until we figured out that he was connecting to a wrong adapter; the other two took one email to point the person the relevant user manual page). The moment I start selling TouchDRO Plus to the DIY community, I will HAVE to provide support. I'm making a conscious choice to forgo the potential revenue from the app sales in order to be able to work on the app and the hardware, rather than answering support emails.
Finally, I've received some messages from people who think that I'm doing some sort of bait and switch, or that I'm screwing them over by requiring them to buy a brand new hardware to run the app. To be perfectly clear - I have not taken any features out of the free version, and the free app is fully backwards compatible even with the earliest Arduino-based adapters. On the flip side, I am not obligated to make every new feature available to everybody. Besides a few special cases (where discrimination against a protected class is involved), I can allow access to the new features 100% at my discretion. That said, I will do my best to make TouchDRO Plus available to the customers who have previous generation of the hardware. I am not required or obligated to do so, but I want those customers to have good experience with TouchDRO, so I'm investing considerable amount of time and effort to make this possible. Since TouchDRO Plus did not exist when those people purchased their adapters, the price was not built in, so the upgrade will be paid. The cost will cover the time it takes to program and retest the adapter, and the cost of the version upgrade. I think this is fair and reasonable, and is well beyond what you get from any other DRO vendor.
I hope this answers some questions.
Regards
Yuriy
Since I release the Plus version of TouchDRO, I've been getting a steady stream of emails regarding the fact that it's "locked" to the TDA-400/420 adapters. Most requests are polite, but almost weekly I get "nasty-grams" complaining that this is a ripoff, and I'm screwing people with DIY adapters and older TouchDRO hardware.
I've been thinking about this topic quite a bit, and have a good idea of what my plans are going forward.
The short version: TouchDRO Plus will be tied to the "official" TouchDRO hardware. This means that:
1. It will not be available for standalone purchase in the app store, or otherwise.
2. I will try to figure out an upgrade path for the "legacy" adapters based on ESP32 microcontroller.
3. There will be no upgrade path for MSP430-based hardware.
To clarify #2 - the latest firmware (that ships on TDA-4xx and TDK-40 adapters) has authentication code that uses ESP32 security/encryption hardware for a secret handshake between the app and the adapter. This allows the app to authenticate the adapter, and in case of TDA-4xx, activate the Plus version. The v3.2 firmware fully supports the old quadrature adapters. In fact, there are a few dozen adapters that I've upgraded for "friends and family". The holdup is that I can't get over-the-air updates to work reliably over BlueTooth. TDA-4xx adapters have an on-board USB bridge, so this is not a problem. Older quadrature adapters don't. Once I flash the new firmware, the only way to upgrade it will be to ship the board back to me again. I don't want to be in business of updating firmware for years to come. Once I figure out the magic to BT to not crash on large file transfers, I will offer an one-time paid upgrade to V3.x, and after that people will be able to get updates from the app.
This is not my first priority at the moment, but I'm working on it as time permits. My goal is to be able to upgrade quadrature and iGaging/Shahe adapters to V3. This will be a paid upgrade, but I haven't decided how much it will cost.
As far as #1 goes, here is my rationale:
- On my website (touchdro.com) there are instructions and firmware needed to build a full featured TouchDRO adapter. The app (non-plus version) is 100% free from the PlayStore and Amazon App Store. With some frugal shopping, one can build a functional DRO display for well under $100. There is nothing you can get for less than $1000 that provides functionality and usability of a DIY TouchDRO display (and really, I'm being charitable to Acu-Rite's DROpwr here...). The existence of TouchDRO Plus does not detract from this in any way.
- For $120 + a basic tablet ($200-$250 for the whole thing), you get a convenient way to build a basic adapter that has some of the enhancements of TDA-4xx, but is missing three features: probe input, reference track support, and power loss recovery. ($160 gets you a tachometer input). Compared to a DIY build, this is missing touch probe support, but uses new firmware (so better velocity tracking, and overall faster and more resilient). Candidly, I will do my level best to not offer this in the long run.
- If you step up to $240-$300 + a decent tablet (let's call it $500-$600), you get even more functionality. The Plus has a lot of tweaks that speed up various operations and simplify more complex tasks. It is intended for advanced users and enthusiasts. As far as I know, most of these functionality doesn't exist on any other DRO unit. On the list of things to come are: support for DXF and Excellon files, limited G-Code support, ability to push a design from a computer to the application, cloud backup, various measurement and inspection functions, etc. If you want/need these features, you will need to be using "official" (and supported) TouchDRO hardware.
There will be a more advanced adapter version next year that will have some additional hardware capabilities beyond those of the TDA-420 adapter or a DIY build. It will come with the same Plus version unlock, but will have more inputs, and some outputs that will be controller from the app. It will cost even more than the TDA-420 adapter. There will also be features on top of the Plus version that will be subscription based (since they will use online services, and those have on-going costs). None of this makes the free version and the DIY adapters any less valuable, by the way.
There are three reasons I'm locking the Plus version to the hardware:
1. It's simpler for me to deal with. The code is done, and the infrastructure for verification is done and working.
2. I don't want to kill off the DIY path, but I also don't want to have to compete with myself. A hardware-locked Plus version creates an incentive for people to buy a TDA adapter, which finances the project, and in the long run will allow me to be doing this full time.
3. Most importantly, I don't make any money from DIY builds (well, take it back, some portion of $20-80 I get from Amazon affiliate links might come from DIY builds), but most of the "support" workload comes form DIYers. Even though I politely tell people to ask the community for help when a DIY build is involved, it takes 2-3 emails to figure out what adapter the person is using etc. So far this takes up 1-2 hours every day, and this isn't something I can farm out to my wife to deal with. (In contrast, in July I had 3 support cases from TDA-4xx owners. One took 7 emails until we figured out that he was connecting to a wrong adapter; the other two took one email to point the person the relevant user manual page). The moment I start selling TouchDRO Plus to the DIY community, I will HAVE to provide support. I'm making a conscious choice to forgo the potential revenue from the app sales in order to be able to work on the app and the hardware, rather than answering support emails.
Finally, I've received some messages from people who think that I'm doing some sort of bait and switch, or that I'm screwing them over by requiring them to buy a brand new hardware to run the app. To be perfectly clear - I have not taken any features out of the free version, and the free app is fully backwards compatible even with the earliest Arduino-based adapters. On the flip side, I am not obligated to make every new feature available to everybody. Besides a few special cases (where discrimination against a protected class is involved), I can allow access to the new features 100% at my discretion. That said, I will do my best to make TouchDRO Plus available to the customers who have previous generation of the hardware. I am not required or obligated to do so, but I want those customers to have good experience with TouchDRO, so I'm investing considerable amount of time and effort to make this possible. Since TouchDRO Plus did not exist when those people purchased their adapters, the price was not built in, so the upgrade will be paid. The cost will cover the time it takes to program and retest the adapter, and the cost of the version upgrade. I think this is fair and reasonable, and is well beyond what you get from any other DRO vendor.
I hope this answers some questions.
Regards
Yuriy
