Creative can keep their IP - and all their products.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| sleepy Mar 30, 2008 8:06 AM EDT |
I abandoned Creative long ago. First they couldn't even provide a Windows driver that worked with one of their own 'Live' cards (I wonder if they have patented the idea of changing components on cards without changing the model numbers?). Then, when I first started dual booting Linux with Windows and couldn't get an Audigy card working, the advice I was given by their support line was "why don't you just use Windows?". My reply was something like "I've got a better idea... why don't I just stop using Creative?" It turned out that both Creative cards I have owned didn't last that long anyway before they started making strange noises. For the last several years I have been very happy with an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 soundcard which advertises Linux compatibility on the box and, with the Envy24 control, is probably better supported under Linux than Windows. If you want a quality soundcard for music, shop at a musicians' suppliers, rather than a computer shop. Sleepy |
| hughesjr Mar 30, 2008 9:51 AM EDT |
This is unbelievable ... It is obvious that the only thing they are interested in is selling NEW cards for use on Vista. They do not want to FIX drivers for existing cards, even PURPOSELY removing functionality. Damn ... another hardware vendor that I liked using which I will NEVER use again or recommend. |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 11:07 AM EDT |
This thing is plastered all over digg, reddit, etc... I have a feeling that things are about to get interesting. |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 30, 2008 11:07 AM EDT |
Quoting:They do not want to FIX drivers for existing cards, even PURPOSELY removing functionality. Some comments in that (87 page) thread speak of legal reasons for that. I.e. some fancy hot audio technology on those cards is licensed by Creative from a 3rd party. Apparent they can only use it on XP. The 3rd party gave an exclusive Vista license to some other company. But even then, Creative is stupid. Both for pissing on their loyal customers as well for failing to obtain a Vista license for their current hardware. |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 11:57 AM EDT |
Well, I e-mailed the person who wrote the letter to see if I could get his side of the story, but with the looks of things, his inbox is probably flooded by now (and then some), so I'll see what happens and if he bothers to respond at all. |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 30, 2008 2:07 PM EDT |
You're probably better off e-mailing Support or Customer services directly. Or find the address of a person higher up the food chain. The support guy who posted it is likely to be just a low level person moderating the forums. A quote from someone higher up would be useful. |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 9:29 PM EDT |
Sander, the person who wrote the letter had someone else post it for him. A guy named Phil wrote the letter, and Dale, one of the forum moderators posted it. Phil is apparently a Vice President in the company, so we'll see. The e-mail address in question appears to be legitimate, because I haven't gotten a bounce-back error as of yet. |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 9:55 PM EDT |
145 pages on one thread. Hopefully, I'll get a response soon form the person I e-mailed, if at all. In all honesty, I think I've got an equal chance with Phil or Support/Customer Services (which is to say... quite slim). |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 10:29 PM EDT |
Btw everyone, I also spotted a post that was allegedly from Newegg.com.Quoting:To Whom it May Concern:]https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/MyAccount/AccountModify...[/url] The e-mail from the profile in question points to a possible address at newegg. I have sent that address an e-mail to confirm whether or not someone from that company posted in the Creative Labs forums. |
| gus3 Mar 30, 2008 10:35 PM EDT |
Wow. If that's legit... And Newegg isn't exactly small fry... That's just... wow. |
| flufferbeer Mar 30, 2008 10:37 PM EDT |
@thenixedreport
Great notification of Newegg's letter about Creative's rotten support decision!
Contact information from Newegg nice as well as your revealed sources, for some appropriate follow-through pressure on Creative. May Newegg and we consumers Live Long and Prosper! |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 11:04 PM EDT |
Thanks for the sentiment flufferbeer. However, I am waiting on confirmation to see if a representative of Newegg did indeed post in their forum. I took to the liberty of taking a screenshot via the GIMP a well. I saved it as PNG and attached it to the e-mail I sent to the address in question. We'll see in a few hours (I hope) if they did in fact post that letter. If they did, this could have some very interesting ramifications for the company in question. |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 11:06 PM EDT |
For those of you who are curious, here is where I spotted the post in question: http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.... |
| thenixedreport Mar 30, 2008 11:11 PM EDT |
Hmm.... We'll see what the definition of "tomorrow morning" is soon enough. If anything from Creative does get suspended (i.e., not able to buy online from them), then it may prove that the letter was real. At this point, it's all wait and see.... |
| jacog Mar 31, 2008 1:10 AM EDT |
Well then ... http://www.boycottcreative.com/ ... that took no time at all. Is it too early to call this corporate suicide? EDIT: And evidently you can now also get the T-Shirt - http://www.cafepress.com/creativesucks |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 5:38 AM EDT |
Looks like some posts may be getting jacked with. Mirror of the whole thing (just scroll down past the ads): http://creative.edited.us/ Deleted posts: http://creative.edited.us/deleted.html |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 31, 2008 5:44 AM EDT |
Quoting:Looks like some posts may be getting jacked with. Looking over your copies of those deleted post I'd say that most of them were deleted fairly. Half of them contain loads of profanity. The other half is someone plastering the guy's e-mail address and other details on the forum. It's the kind of stuff I'd delete here on LXer as well probably. There are a few posts in there that make me wonder why they were deleted, but only one or two. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 5:51 AM EDT |
Understood on that one. I have not yet gotten a reply from anybody at Newegg, and I have not seen any Creative products suspended as of yet, so more than likely, I'm going to assume that the letter was fake for now. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 5:55 AM EDT |
And look at what we have here! [url=http://consumerist.com/373901/creative-sparks-customer-revolt-when-it-tries-to-silence-third party-programmer]http://consumerist.com/373901/creative-sparks-customer-revol...[/url] On the front page of the Consumerist! Update: Unfortunately, they left a few things out: 1.) Daniel_K was simply re-enabling certain features that were disabled in Creative's original Vista drivers. 2.) Phil O'Shaughnessy did not post the letter himself. He wrote the letter, but he didn't post it. The user Dale-CL, a moderator on the support forums did. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 7:11 AM EDT |
Ok, confirmed.... The post from "newegg" was not real.Quoting:Chat InformationPlease wait while we connect you to a Newegg representative. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 7:22 AM EDT |
And it looks like it's about to get to 200 pages! Wow! |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 31, 2008 7:38 AM EDT |
Quoting:Ok, confirmed.... The post from "newegg" was not real. If it's not real then how did they get the account? If you click through to user newegg's profile then you can see it's registered with webmaster@newegg.com. From what I understand from other people who posted there, you need to verify your e-mail address before you can register on the creative forums. That means you need to be able to read mail going there... |
| dinotrac Mar 31, 2008 7:42 AM EDT |
Sander, Sander, Sander -- Surely you are not one to underestimate the ingenuity of hackers!!! |
| Sander_Marechal Mar 31, 2008 8:00 AM EDT |
The creative boards hacked? Worse, newegg's webmaster e-mail address hacked? Possible, but not likely. More likely an enraged newegg employee who had access to the mail address and decided to post that without consent from higher up (and without any influence). I'm guessing someone is going to get sacked at newegg today :-) |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 8:04 AM EDT |
Possibly. There is also another one too: 1.) Sign up and confirm. 2.) Post. 3.) Change e-mail address in profile. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 8:06 AM EDT |
Sorry for the multiple posts. I'm doing a play-by-play at this point: http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.... Scroll down until you see a post from Dale, a moderator. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 8:17 AM EDT |
Well, this thing is now at 174 pages as of this message posted. So, what do you think? Will it get to 200 by the end of the day? 300? Better yet: over 9,000?! This has been like watching a massive train wreck. Things are about to get very interesting. |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 8:40 AM EDT |
176 and still counting. I'm off to class for a bit. Let me know how it turns out. ;) |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 6:18 PM EDT |
Ok. I went to class and then work. Now I'm back, and this thing broke 200. Here's a link of interest for those who want to keep score. Apparently, this isn't the first time Creative has done something like this.... http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20040728-4048.html |
| thenixedreport Mar 31, 2008 10:28 PM EDT |
Creative does not appear to have made any official response as of yet. I will more than likely attempt to contact the PR person in a few hours to see if I can't get through to them. |
| jacog Apr 01, 2008 12:20 AM EDT |
Here's a wonderful opportunity for Creative to mend this huge PR disaster. All they need to do is say "April Fools! We started 4 days early to really get you guys going. Go ahead, make/distribute/use the unsupported drivers." |
| thenixedreport Apr 01, 2008 1:44 PM EDT |
Ok, I've called Phil O'Shaughnessy directly to see if I could get a few comments from him as well as his side of the story. We'll see if he gets back to me. |
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