is there any chance that yourself and Brad can post an official new thread under WholeHog III general discussion explaining the company line on the product range, and showing long-term commitment to existing products.
There are lots of dribs and drabs of posts here and there, but with local HES sales reps telling us how great the new desks are..... none really seem to know the long term plan.
With the WholeHog 3 still not delivering the functionality that was promised 4 years ago, and newer H3 consoles now offering integrated improvements on the WholeHog 3...
(Faster processors.... Artnet........) (why is the flagship console the ONLY H3 product that can't back up to a USB Flash Drive????......)
We need to know how HES see the future... and what you believe the life of this product to be..(having just watched I-PC be born and die in the last 3 years...superseded by Full Boar)
There is quite a lot of bad feeling among existing WholeHog 3 investors that the new range of products is a way of devaluing our investment (and long term commitment to a product with alot of bad publicity). .. as cheaper options are produced that offer HES a way of side-stepping the stigma of the H3-DP system.
Just take a look at the HES website and look at the information offered to advertise the consoles. The WholeHog 3 page doesn't seem to have been updated since its conception! "The latest version of this award winning technology" "The latest Wholehog console" "The Industry standard Wholehog 2".... we have watched that become a GrandMA since the 3's release "open creative doors at even lower costs"... what about the Full Boar!!!! The word Reliability is not used once! ...neither is the word FLAGSHIP!!!!! No mention of Remote Focus capabilites, Visualiser Connectivity via Ethernet.... Just compare the Full Boar page (dynamic... product name in big letters.... Features... Connectivity) .. and the WholeHog 3 page.
Its difficult not to get the impression that HES Sales have given up on the WholeHog 3..... ... they are not giving it the attention one would expect of a "flagship console".
Many of us are individual users (not large hire firms), who have invested considerable amounts of our own finances in a product we believed in (even if no-one else in the industry did at the time). It is not about "revenue from hires".
Unlike the Hog2 that was a single item purchase (with maybe a wing or Overdrive at a later date)....we have bought DP's, widgets, LTC nodes, Specific Touch screens... I now have 7 DP2000's. I was told (4 years ago) that each of these overpriced boxes of air was a Hog2 in terms of its output. We all know this to be untrue, as anyone who has tried patching 2048 dimmers on one and running a dimmer effect can testify. My local rep seems proud of the fact that in the new "Artnet Age" each of these can now become an artnet box!!! So their asset value is about to drop to 20% (the cost of a 4 universe artnet box)? Thats a 22,500 Dollar loss!!!
In the early days, we were told that the product was in its infancy, and how it took several years to iron out the bugs of the Hog2.... also how the Grand MA was a far older platform, and the newer Hog 3 had many improvements and would have a far longer lifespan. The GrandMA is now in its 10th year, and still going strong. You folks are already telling us about the new DP's with better processing power after only 4 years! 4 years is an accountants idea of the lifespan of an item of computer equipment. A lighting console should have the product lifespan of a car (they cost more than most).
Please folks, can you put all of our fears to rest and give us an official statement of the plans, and life expectancy, of the WholeHog range.
is there any chance that yourself and Brad can post an official new thread under WholeHog III general discussion explaining the company line on the product range, and showing long-term commitment to existing products.
There are lots of dribs and drabs of posts here and there, but with local HES sales reps telling us how great the new desks are..... none really seem to know the long term plan.
With the WholeHog 3 still not delivering the functionality that was promised 4 years ago, and newer H3 consoles now offering integrated improvements on the WholeHog 3...
(Faster processors.... Artnet........) (why is the flagship console the ONLY H3 product that can't back up to a USB Flash Drive????......)
We need to know how HES see the future... and what you believe the life of this product to be..(having just watched I-PC be born and die in the last 3 years...superseded by Full Boar)
There is quite a lot of bad feeling among existing WholeHog 3 investors that the new range of products is a way of devaluing our investment (and long term commitment to a product with alot of bad publicity). .. as cheaper options are produced that offer HES a way of side-stepping the stigma of the H3-DP system.
Just take a look at the HES website and look at the information offered to advertise the consoles. The WholeHog 3 page doesn't seem to have been updated since its conception! "The latest version of this award winning technology" "The latest Wholehog console" "The Industry standard Wholehog 2".... we have watched that become a GrandMA since the 3's release "open creative doors at even lower costs"... what about the Full Boar!!!! The word Reliability is not used once! ...neither is the word FLAGSHIP!!!!! No mention of Remote Focus capabilites, Visualiser Connectivity via Ethernet.... Just compare the Full Boar page (dynamic... product name in big letters.... Features... Connectivity) .. and the WholeHog 3 page.
Its difficult not to get the impression that HES Sales have given up on the WholeHog 3..... ... they are not giving it the attention one would expect of a "flagship console".
Many of us are individual users (not large hire firms), who have invested considerable amounts of our own finances in a product we believed in (even if no-one else in the industry did at the time). It is not about "revenue from hires".
Unlike the Hog2 that was a single item purchase (with maybe a wing or Overdrive at a later date)....we have bought DP's, widgets, LTC nodes, Specific Touch screens... I now have 7 DP2000's. I was told (4 years ago) that each of these overpriced boxes of air was a Hog2 in terms of its output. We all know this to be untrue, as anyone who has tried patching 2048 dimmers on one and running a dimmer effect can testify. My local rep seems proud of the fact that in the new "Artnet Age" each of these can now become an artnet box!!! So their asset value is about to drop to 20% (the cost of a 4 universe artnet box)? Thats a 22,500 Dollar loss!!!
In the early days, we were told that the product was in its infancy, and how it took several years to iron out the bugs of the Hog2.... also how the Grand MA was a far older platform, and the newer Hog 3 had many improvements and would have a far longer lifespan. The GrandMA is now in its 10th year, and still going strong. You folks are already telling us about the new DP's with better processing power after only 4 years! 4 years is an accountants idea of the lifespan of an item of computer equipment. A lighting console should have the product lifespan of a car (they cost more than most).
Please folks, can you put all of our fears to rest and give us an official statement of the plans, and life expectancy, of the WholeHog range.
