[DUG] EMBARCADERO MY GRIPE

[Tony Blomfield]

I suppose its not really PC to have this sort of anti D discussion on this group. However, my dissatisfaction with Embarcadero the company, and Delphi the product has become quite profound over the last few years.

Taking the plunge and changing everything is a serious consideration.

However I have to offset this with the amount of time I spend fixing Delphi code, and stupid inconsideration’s that the company could easily fix if it became customer centric for a change. I think the only thing that keeps me going is the 3rd party tools such as DevX, report builder, TRichview, and TChart.

I have written to Malcom and Melchor, and hope they will find the time in their busy schedule to answer me.

Thanks to all

Tony

From: delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz [mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz] On Behalf Of Jolyon Smith
Sent: Tuesday, 28 July 2015 10:33 a.m.
To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: Re: [DUG] EMBARCADERO MY GRIPE

For most of what you need to do, INDIE Xamarin is all you need which is cheaper compared to the usable equivalent Delphi (Professional + Mobile "Add-On" + 30% SA, assuming you don't need FireDAC, not forgetting to factor in that this is increased by 5%, compounded, annually, if they stick to their t's and c's and provide the required notice).

Even stepping up, Xamarin "Business" is cheaper in terms of initial outlay than Delphi Enterprise, although the annual renewal is cheaper thereafter. With Delphi Architect/Ultimate the cost advantage takes 2 or more years to weigh back in favour of Delphi after your initial eye watering outlay.  And if VisualStudio hosting is a factor (as it is for some people) then worth noting is that you can't buy this for Delphi no matter how much you are willing to spend.  And of course, you have to put up with Embarcadero's notion of "quality", which in recent years is closer to a synonym for "bad joke".


But if we're measuring bang per buck, RemObjects Elements is way ahead of both.

Comparable in cost to INDIE Xamarin but also supporting .NET and OS X development (and even WinPhone should you be so inclined) as well as Android and iOS with the option of either Visual Studio or Fire IDE's (OS X) plus you get to choose to stick with ObjectPascal (a way more advanced version than even current Delphi) or C# or Swift or mix and match to suit.

And the answer to Tony's questions w.r.t RemObjects Elements are "Yes" and "Yes".  :)

On 28 July 2015 at 09:17, Jeremy Coulter <jscoulter at gmail.com<mailto:jscoulter at gmail.com>> wrote:
have you seen the PRICE for Xamarin?? Delphi is certainly cheaper!

On Tue, Jul 28, 2015 at 8:54 AM, Tony Blomfield <tonyb at precepthealth.com<mailto:tonyb at precepthealth.com>> wrote:
Can anyone advise how to access the upgrades that I should be entitled to ?

The issue I have relates to my account. Having finally been talked into the supposed benefits of a maintenance contract I purchased same back in January.

They pestered the hell out of me about payment. Apparently their system could not process a Master card.

Finally we got that resolved somehow, but I never received an invoice, licensing or anything else.

After much tooing and froing I finally got a license and duly installed XE7. Never have I seen an invoice.  Actually I have never upped anything to Xe7 because its such a major event to upgrade large projects in Delphi, and clearly it was just another WIP. Finally yesterday I decided to try out XE8 after hearing from this group that its usable.

I went to my account and there is no sign of any XE8 upgrade or maintenance. I called Embarcadero all day and got no answer. I sent two Emails and at 11PM last night got a very vague and unhelpful response

I am fed up with Embarcadero and the lies an deceit and the high cost of ownership. We are 50% .NET and 50% Delphi. Unless I get some solution on this today I am going to direct the company to move to 100% .NET over the next 12 months and use Xamarin.


From: delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz> [mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz>] On Behalf Of Jolyon Smith
Sent: Tuesday, 28 July 2015 7:50 a.m.
To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: Re: [DUG] EMBARCADERO

I think perhaps it's a question of context.  They were pretty slow in responding when I had to contact them regarding an increase in my SA renewal in contravention of their own terms and conditions (the required notice was not provided, they simply presented an invoice with an increased amount).

They took their own sweet time to respond and when they did they simply referred me to the clause in the terms and conditions allowing them to increase the renewal by up to 5%.  This even included the required notice period which they had completely ignored !!!

Yet for some reason they LOVE sending me marketing emails, frequently and often duplicated, even though I have specifically unsubscribed from all their spam lists and opted out of ALL communications in my EDN accounts.  It's almost as if the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act (2007) does not exist (and yes I have directed their attention to this and their violation of it, repeatedly).  And yes, they are covered by that act since they are "an organisation that carries on business or activities in New Zealand."  (8.2.b in the act).

As for the SA renewal, I eventually got them to retract their invoice and re-submit at the previous rate, which I then took great pleasure in declining to renew.

Good luck.

On 27 July 2015 at 20:02, Tony Blomfield <tonyb at precepthealth.com<mailto:tonyb at precepthealth.com>> wrote:
OK Il wait. Maybe I am being too touchy. Thanks a lot.

From: delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz> [mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz>] On Behalf Of Jeremy Coulter
Sent: Monday, 27 July 2015 7:00 p.m.
To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: Re: [DUG] EMBARCADERO

Its not a holiday in Australia? I too have always found them pretty responsive.

Jeremy

On Mon, Jul 27, 2015 at 6:07 PM, David Brennan <dugdavid at dbsolutions.co.nz<mailto:dugdavid at dbsolutions.co.nz>> wrote:
Hi,

I’ve found them pretty responsive of late, but I guess all my contact has been emailing people I already have details for rather than using the generic contacts.

Perhaps try Malcolm Groves Malcolm.Groves at embarcadero.com<mailto:Malcolm.Groves at embarcadero.com>

Unless something has changed Malcolm is quite high up in the Australian/Asian hierarchy, he may not be able to answer your question directly but should be able to make sure that someone in the right department gets in touch with you.

Regards,
David.

From: delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz> [mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-bounces at listserver.123.net.nz>] On Behalf Of Tony Blomfield
Sent: Monday, 27 July 2015 5:38 p.m.
To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: [DUG] EMBARCADERO

Does this company actually exist ? Or is it just a brief case co as a one man band.

All attempts to contact them have failed. Their phone in Oz is never manned and they never reply to Emails

I just want to discuss my account with them because it looks like they have ripped me off again over this supposed maintenance pack and upgrades.

Does anyone have a contact for them ?

No wonder everyone has walked away to .NET or Xamarin or anything else.



_______________________________________________
NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list
Post: delphi at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi at listserver.123.net.nz>
Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi
Unsubscribe: send an email to delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz> with Subject: unsubscribe


_______________________________________________
NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list
Post: delphi at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi at listserver.123.net.nz>
Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi
Unsubscribe: send an email to delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz> with Subject: unsubscribe


_______________________________________________
NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list
Post: delphi at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi at listserver.123.net.nz>
Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi
Unsubscribe: send an email to delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz> with Subject: unsubscribe


_______________________________________________
NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list
Post: delphi at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi at listserver.123.net.nz>
Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi
Unsubscribe: send an email to delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz<mailto:delphi-request at listserver.123.net.nz> with Subject: unsubscribe

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://listserver.123.net.nz/pipermail/delphi/attachments/20150727/081729c3/attachment-0001.html