General Category > General Discussion
annual update fees
Paul90:
This is a difficult one isn't it ?
At the moment the feedback on the GS911 and it's ongoing support is really, really good and IMHO well deserved.
It has to be funded to work, no doubt about that.
However, once you start charging for updates many people (perhaps myself included) may pass on that because we have old(er) bikes and are running them on a budget. What we have today is "good enough". Once people start passing on the upgrades little problems will creep in due to OS, driver changes, etc as always happens with older software. So the (almost 100%) positive feedback may get erroded, just because not everyone is on the latest version. People with problmes will be berated with "buy the update!" if that doesn't solve their problem, they will feel agreaved.
Of course there is also a cost in collecting the revenue and making the product secure so only those that have paid get the updates, etc.
We have seen Apple make bold moves in this space to ensure people are always running the latest software wherever possible (and perhaps using that to drive subsequent hardware upgrades).
You might want to consider a voluntary donation scheme - easy to admin and zero enforcement costs + lots of willing donations due to the great service.
Perhaps a charge for the "Pro" devices, people making a living from using your work should perhaps give a little back ?
Perhaps a charge for the active support - calls / mails to the helpdesk, etc rather than just use of the software. I guess the majority of users are "self supporting" with the help of the internet ;-) Others may just go straight to the heldesk with the most minor of problems and that costs HEXCODE money.
Perhaps only supporting some of the new, more advanced features on the newer (WiFi ?) hardware to encourage people to upgrade. You need to produce in volume to keep costs down and upgrades would help in a limited market, you can't support the old hardware / software forever with an indentical feature set. Perhaps bug fixes and "maintenance" only for old hardware rather than new features.
Perhaps a charge to add newer BWM models ? I gues that's where most of the development cost is.
No easy answers but you have a great customer following and support. In a limited market, maintaining that support is ultimately the key to success.
I guess you've stuck with the "free upgrades" model for so long becasue it has worked so well in terms of customer feedback / satisfaction. If it's not broken, then plug in the GS911 to make sure ;-)
Best of luck for the future whichever way you decide to go.
Paul
sbrntnghm:
The GS-911 is a great product and needs to be supported to keep it moving forward and I would not be opposed to such a fee if reasonable. The update fees could possibly to done by offering it in two ways; one would be an annual fee for those who want to have the most recent update and this would give them all done in a year and s second fee for those who want to purchase an update only once a year or as they feel they need to. The annual fee would be higher than the one time fee. This approach might appeal to owners with older bikes that don't always need some of the updates to the GS-911.
Vaderbloke:
I would not be opposed to paying update fees for new features/bikes. I can see some negatives, however, if someone owning an older bike on a limited budget was forced to pay fees just to keep the original functionality. This may cause some valuable feedback and even sales to be missed.
Just my 2c,
Dave.
StephanT:
I see there is a lot of confusion... so let me explain some more..
from the time we set out to produce GS-911, we envisaged that this would not stop or limit original functionality... As is already the case, the release versions do not expire... which means if you have a specific Release version with it's functionality, it will not be lost or expire or stop working...
The update will be in the form of an update window of 365 days. Thus when a user purchases an update, the date is noted to his interface and for the next 365 days the user can download all the updates, including both Beta versions and Release versions, as and when they are released... Once out of that window the user cannot download any updates... naturally any release version that the user has downloaded during his update window, are retained...
The user is also under no obligation to purchase or renew the update window.. If and when the user does decides to purchase an update (the update window of 365 days), the new purchase date is noted on the interface and for the next 365 days, the user can access the latest Release version and any other versions that are released within that 365 day period.
hope this explains it a little better... and makes it clear that no functionality will be lost...
best
Stephan
fahrer:
I have GS-911 since the spring of 2008 when I bought it directly from Hexcode. I have updated it (almost) regularly, and I will probably continue to do so even if it means paying a certain amount of money. I use it mostly on my bikes - R1200R and Dakar, before that R1200RT and F800S, and occassionally on my friends' bikes. I like to change my bikes(toys) every now and then, so when pro version was introduced, I upgraded my device, as it was not too expensive to upgrade. As I have no commercial use for my GS-911, I would probably be a bit dissapointed to pay more then the enthusiast user. Maybe the same amount can be charged for both versions, as I am sure, many of "pro" versions are not really used in workshops, and for those that are, well, good for them. I am more interested in the completely new GS-911 because in a year or two there will be some liquid cooled boxers on the used bike market, and then I might consider buying a newer bike for which I will need a new tool. Maybe, if I will have no need for additional functions, I might choose not to update for a year or two, until I get the new(er) bike/you provide the new GS-911. Whatever you decide I will remain a very satisfied customer.
Best,
Boris
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