Friday, October 15, 2010

And Then Comes October…..

2010 has been interesting so far and when the numbers of the year are added together they equal 3. This “3” year is numerologically a year of being mindful of deceitful words and actions.  That is so as well of the date 10-10-10 which we have been hearing so much about. What has happened in my world so far this month?  It’s the 14th and I’m late updating the website.  I’ve had phone calls all weekend and all week up to today from people who are telling me about implosions in their worlds. Things they thought were going along well suddenly have stalled or ceased to be viable. Emotions have been high. Melt-downs have occurred. The date 10, 10, 2010 which adds to a 5 in numerology is the number of “chance”.  It is thought by some to be most favorable and by others to be discouraging and hazardous. It is the midpoint between the 1 and 9 cycle and so this pivotal number is the place from which past and future are both visible at the same time.

I’ll say a little here about recent events in the world of a software package which affects many people who read this website. A newsletter was sent to all owners of the software in question. The only people to get the newsletter are those who are users of the internet. The wording used by this company was scary to those who aren’t computer literate. It used words like “Software Update Required” and “It Is Compulsory That Users Update Their Software To The Current Version”.

People, if you have this software please understand that you do not have to move to the version the company is trying so hard to scare you into going to as long as what you have works and you like it.!

Many people who know nothing of applying an update to their software or downloading software from the internet felt they were compelled to do just that. The fallout of this fear-driven mass race to get the version the company wants them to have by 10-10-10 or else . . . has caused many problems for owners of this software. I am hearing from people already – from those who did try to beat the date and upgrade and now have encountered problems and from those who didn’t do it and have encountered punitive shutdowns of their current software. This is most distressing for people who have experienced these things and it shouldn’t take much thought to realize any harm done to an owner of this software package so harmed, has recourse.
I walk around shaking my head in disbelief that a company would actually do something like this to clients who have paid many thousands of dollars for their products trusting that they would be treated well according to the contracts that were signed at purchase.

I’ve written in the Computer Journal blog on this same site in an earlier month about software companies with ethics create their products. After much preparation and even more testing a product is deemed ready to sell.  Then it is released with all pomp and marketed vigorously to invite would-be purchasers to buy the “new” version. This is quite correct and it is how the system generally works today.

The only real “hammer” any software company can use to try to move people upward into the newest version of their software is to stop supporting older versions. Now this won’t matter to anyone who has no personal, compelling need to upgrade their software to a newer version. If they like the one they have and it works well for them, then they have no reason to buy or upgrade for free their current software. This is also how consumers respond to a new software release if they don’t want it.

The other way I’ve seen software houses try to force their customers to go to a different version of software is to create a real or imagined change in hardware and then create “new” software” to run on it. Then they can market the new hardware changes as the most wonderful, newest, most Wizzardly and “techy” thing since the abacus. This action “forces” people to upgrade to a “different” version of the same software which is now meant to run only on a particular kind of computer (hardware).

This is the simplistic scenario. The actual “rest” of the story is much more complicated. For our analysis of the previous company’s behavior this story is given as an example of how other software house have tried to force their customer groups to spend more money and when they failed, they went back to what the consumer wanted in the first place.

In this month of 3’s and 5’s we are seeing where a company is taking a chance (5) and speaking deviously (3).  This example reminds us to remain mindful and continue to have hope.  Everything will be worked out -  by the company, by lawyers or the company will go out of business or, or, or. I believe everything happens for a reason.


Look here again next month for another entry in the Journal or call me with any questions you have. 
© 2010

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