[pianotech] Database for Piano Business

[Jim Moy]

Hi Paul, sorry to pick on your post -- nothing personal.  In software
development there are a lot of parallels with the piano tech world if
you consider its creation and maintenance a service, and less a
packaged product that is "done."  Many of the same problems exist
staying in business, keeping your customers happy, keeping up with
technology, etc.

Duaine Hechler occasionally reminds us, one way to ensure the "torch"
for any given piece of software has the potential to be carried on
once the original author has retired, grown tired of it, or has simply
moved on, is to use programs where the source code is available so the
needed work can be hired.  But then what incentive is there for the
initial outlay of time and effort to create it?

I generally like and have been using Time & Chaos, but I've been
fiddling with some web-based software that suits my own preferences
better.

Jim

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:22 AM, pmc033 at earthlink.net
<pmc033 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Ok,ok.  I get the picture.  Yeah, I'm cheap, but I've seen too many
> technician programs end up unsupported after some time, so I'm wary of
> going there.  That's all.  I've found that if I go out of the mainstream I
> end up regretting it for some reason or other.  I admire Dean Reyburn for
> his Cybertuner software, and his tenacity for keeping it updated and
> working in different platforms.  It must be more than a full time job doing
> that.  It may be that the popularity of the program allows him to spend
> that amount of time on it.  If you wrote a program that only a handful of
> folks use, it would be harder to justify the time to rewrite it every time
> there's a new operating system or platform that it needs to run on.  I have
> a feeling that this factor is at work here.  And, as I mentioned, the M$oft
> co. has so many people working for them that they can afford to support it
> for as long as they have to.  But I guess that  condemns me to struggle
> with programs that don't do everything I need them to do, and aren't as
> integrated as PTBiz or other specialized programs.
>        Paul (damn cheap) McCloud
>        inSandyEggo
>
>
>> [Original Message]
>> From: Jim Moy <jim at moypiano.com>
>> To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
>> Date: 03/04/2009 8:47:11 AM
>> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Database for Piano Business
>>
>> So, here I am, as a piano playing software engineer, looking for the
>> Holy Grail of piano service.  I know what I want, so somebody tunes my
>> piano the way I like, and now the unisons are going out.  I can't find
>> him any more because he couldn't make a living as a tooner.  One
>> talented technician certainly can't spend the days of work keeping
>> just my piano in pristine shape all the time and be able to support
>> himself, and the local concert hall can have their grands tuned before
>> every performance, and try out every tech in town because they get the
>> bucks from the local philanthopists.  WHY can't I get my piano
>> sounding like a concert grand?  Am I missing something?  Oh, yeah.
>> I'm CHEAP and not willing to pay the rates the local RPTs are
>> charging, I'm no going there anytime soon.
>>
>> :-) :-) :-)
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 12:07 AM, pmc033 at earthlink.net
>> <pmc033 at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> >...
>> > So, here we are, as technicians, looking for the Holy Grail of
> technician
>> > software.  We know what we want, so somebody writes a program that we
> like,
>> > and later it fades into the sunset.  One software developer can't
> possibly
>> > write a bulletproof program and spend the rest of his life supporting
> it,
>> > rewriting it when necessary, and all that, whereas the big guyz can hire
>> > dozens of whiz-kids to write a more powerful program to be all things to
>> > all people.  Somehow, it doesn't seem hopeful we're going to find the
> "best
>> > way".  PLEASE tell me I'm wrong!
>> > In the meantime, I'm all ears to anyone who can make this happen with an
>> > off the shelf program that is well supported for the long haul. (Please
>> > note: I'm not dissing PTBiz or any other specialty software out there.
>> > It's just that there's a history of disappointments from them).
>> >
>> > There is actually a kind of "universal" system, called vcard, which
> Outlook
>> > uses, as well as Palm.  My online calendar sends vcard (contact) and
> vcal
>> > (calendar) files to me by email when someone signs up for an
> appointment.
>> > These are used to transfer the info into my Palm Treo and desktop
> computer
>> > Palm software.  Even so, vcard files need occasional updating, so it
>> > doesn't help solve the problem (see above).
>> >
>> > Am I missing something?  Oh, yeah.  I'm CHEAP!  I'm not willing to
> spend a
>> > fortune getting what I want/need.  I know there are very good programs
> out
>> > there that are in the thousand dollar range.  I'm not going there
> anytime
>> > soon.
>> >
>> > Paul McCloud
>> > San Diego