YarcPlus Announcement

We are approaching the 3 month anniversary of the official release of YarcPlus. Of course more than a year before that Bruce released the original Yarc Classic that revolutionized the way that Canon RAW images could be viewed and converted.

So with our anniversary coming up, we wanted to thank all of you that have supported us so well during our initial release period. The response has been very gratifying, and it is great to know that our hard work is appreciated. We have tried to be as responsive as possible to the needs of the canon RAW community and will continue to keep the releases coming at a similar rapid pace as they have in the past.

This 3 month point also marks the end of our introductory pricing program. We priced YarcPlus at the Introductory price of $35 to be compatible with the market. As many of you have noted, this price does not represent the value of the program, nor is it a practical business model for us to follow. In fact, some of you have purchased the program twice, just so show your support and acknowledge the worth of the program (thank you!). Had we released ARF alone, we could have sold it successfully for $35 as a stand-alone filter.

So as of July 21, which marks our 3 month anniversary, the Special Introductory price will no longer be in effect and the price of YarcPlus will revert to its standard price of $49.

I am making this announcement now so that anyone planning to purchase YarcPlus in the near future can take advantage of the Special Introductory pricing until July 21. This also gives you plenty of time to download the free evaluation version and check out if YarcPlus is a valuable tool for you. We encourage everyone to work with the evaluation program before purchasing, so that you can make an informed decision about your purchase. We are confident that you will find YarcPlus to be a valuable tool if you shoot Canon RAW. Check out the details in the FAQ section of our Web Site.

Thanks again to all for your support and encouragement. We are busy working on Version 2.1 and hope to release it within the next few weeks, but it will not be timed to the anniversary date (there will be no wine before its time). It will be released as soon as it is ready, and as with all releases in the near term, version 2.1 will be a free upgrade.

We look forward to your continued support and appreciate your valuable feedback that guides the future of YarcPlus.

Thanks from Bruce and myself…

Enjoy..

Michael Tapes
http://www.YarcPlus.co​m

Michael,

What will be or is your upgrade policy?

Thanks,

Butch

Well I guess it won't be...

... a difficult decision to make whether to purchase your product @ $49. or BreezeBrowser @ $35. , huh?

I really hope that you feel the need to justify to your potential customer base why you (collectively) have decided to raise the price of your product by almost 45%. (Besides the "it was in our business model" remark).

Even if this was in your business model all along, what do you feel makes your product worth $14. more than BreezeBrowser? I'm curious to know. (You have ARF, BB has HTML pages - I feel that your product's feature equals the BB feature that you DON'T have).

You said "Had we released ARF alone, we could have sold it successfully for $35 as a stand-alone filter. " I believe that would ONLY be true if it were a Photoshop plug-in as opposed to a stand alone product.

Otherwise, I doubt that many people would want to add yet another step to their digital workflow. (And I am still undecided as to whether ARF has any real benefit (as is claimed by some), when used on my low ISO images, which is all some of us ever shoot.

$49. may not seem like much money to ask for a product that basically does one thing, until you consider that for $51. more you could buy an entire operating system upgrade (Windows XP home edition) which does a multitude of things. (And finally does them right!)

I must say, that I for one, am very disappointed in your decision; (and it's NOT the money, rather it's the principle).

Since public opinion seems to be squarely divided as to whether your product or BreezeBrowser is the best, I think that you're shooting yourself in the foot by making this move. (My opinion)

Not to attack you personally, but this decision sorta has a greed "feel" to it.... IMO, you've lost that small, friendly mom and pop personna that you had before. And did I read it correctly - no more free upgrades to REGISTERED users?

Regards-
Fossilman

bbcoach51,

Regarding our upgrade policy....

It remains unchanged.

All of the upcoming near term upgrdes (as the past ones have been) will be free of charge upgrades. There may, however, be a point down the road where we will charge for an upgrade.

Our goal is to support you the best we can and we cannot so this forever for the low price of our software, so we plan sometime down the road to charge for an upgrade so that we may continue to offer you the level of support that we have in the past. Our official policy (unchanged) is posted at our site in this thread..

http://www.pictureflow​.com/forum/showthread.​php?
s=&threadid=210

Thanks for the inquiry.

Michael Tapes
http://www.YarcPlus.co​m

fossilman,

Disclosure...I deleted my original response and now offer this...

Thanks for your feedback. I won't debate your points as they are subjective, but please allow me to make some comments.

Of course these are all my opinion..your mileage may vary..

1 - By the tone of your first comment it would appear that you are a BB user/supporter, which is great. However, to one who appreciates the benefits of YarcPlus, I do not think that $14 would affect a buying decision, but I could be wrong.

2 - I am not saying that YP is worth $14 more than BB. They are 2 good products, that have different UIs, some major feature benefits on both sides, and a different workflow approach. The buyer should try both and decide the best one for their particular workstyle. Of course the price would be considered in the equation. But I don't not think the issue surrounds $14. I think it surrounds which is the better product for a particular user and their workflow. In many cases both products would be bought to take advantage of some of the features that each uniquely offers.

3 - This is not a price increase. We clearly stated from the first day of launch that $35 was an introductory price. It is now ending, as the word "introductory" implies.

4 - The price of the Windows XP upgrade is inconsequencial. That is sold in the 10s of millions (or more). It is not a fair comparison and it would make BB seem overpriced at $35 as well.

5 - You say you are very dissapointed in the priciple, not the money. YarcPlus was introduced as a commercial product. As in any business the first rule is to stay in business (actually the second rule after treating your customers fairly). We offered an introductory price period which is now ending. I can see you debate the price, but what principle has gotten involved?

6 - You state that the public is divided about which product is best. I don't think either is best. For example, YP doesn't produce Web Galleries, and BB doesn't do PictureByPicture Conversion (just for one set of examples). So neither is best. They are different products that both do canon conversions. It is simply an issue of is there value in one or both products in a persons workflow.

7 - You mention that we have now lost the mom and pop persona that you admired. Since the introductory pirce has been listed as introductory from the beginning, what has changed? We will continue to support our customers and evolve the product in the manner that we have in the past. So if you admired our "persona" in the past (thank you), then nothing has changed to stop your admiration.

8 - And you did read it incorrectly. Our upgrade policy has not changed at all. All near term upgrades are free. Our policy is stated in our FAQs and has not changed.

So in closing...

Thanks for the feedback. I think that you have read more into the annoucement than was intended. Maybe I wrote it poorly. Nothing at all has changed regarding YarcPlus except that our introductory price special offer will end on July 21.

We feel that YarcPlus offers great value at $49. (And it can be still be bought at the introductory price of $35 until July 21! So if $49 is too high...buy it now >

Each potential customer should download the free demo, and make that determination for themselves. They should also check out competing products and see which one or more products will be usefull in their workflow.

Respecfully,

Michael