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This may offend some, but it needs to be said. I will apologize up front to those who are bound to have their feelings hurt.
First, some background:
1) I have used Livecharts more several years
2) I trade for a living
3) I was very content with the old version ... when it worked
4) I was very frustrated by the disconnects, wrong volume information, and lack of support under the previous management
5) I may or may not find the new version worth twice as much as the old version, and I am exploring every alternative I can find.
But I am even more frustrated that this forum seems to have turned into a contest to see who can complain the most, and whine the loudest. As users, we have nothing to gain from that. eSignal has made a business decision, and that is their prerogative ... in fact, it is their responsibility. I do not have (nor should I have) all of the information upon which they made their choice, but they are not in business to meet my every whim, but rather to make a profit. If they don't do that, they are out of business, and there is no Livecharts ... new or old. At least this way I have a choice.
In the past, I have been intimately involved in designing and implementing a system change. My customers were 150 sales people who used the system to make a living. It is a daunting job. I don't remember a single person coming up to me the first week and to offer their thanks to management for making the change. There is no possible way to test it to perfection, because they cannot duplicate every system and every user running the application. What is important is that they respond to problems, and they are doing a good job of that. When technical issues are resolved, then they can start addressing possible features. Do I have a "wish list?" Most certainly. Some quite simple (showing the company name somewhere on the screen, and I wish the date still showed on the screen, not just the days), some more complex. I find the documentation dismal, and chances are very slim that it will improve. That means it is my responsibility to figure things out if I am going to be productive. I can assure you that it is unfair to say that there are "less functions" with the new version than the old. There are some that are no longer included, but I find more and more every day that have been added.
Like most people here, I used the old system until it was taken away. That is why they had to take it away. I was comfortable with it, and set in my ways. As I have been forced to make the transition, I am dealing with the things I missed, and finding more and more things that are much better. For example, having multiple portfolios that are retained from day to day, rather than creating multiple sessions with 10 symbols each that could not be saved. Yes, the portfolio manager has some issues and I get tired of the "Error: Please login to use the portfolio manager" message that is constant. But I understand that I am not entitled to a product that is customized to meet my every preference, even though that is what many of us would like to believe.
Running under Vista, I have not had a single disconnect in the past three days. I averaged 3 or 4 a day under the old version. Volume and price information is correct. I had problems running under Firefox, which would be my preference, so I am running a seperate IE session just for Livecharts. So far, that hasn't killed me. I am finding that things I used to do can still be done, but perhaps a little differently. I have looked at a 1 minute chart that covered a day and a half, and I have found it useful to be able to look at a shorter time period for daily and weekly charts. I do wish I could lock in time periods as I find ones that I like. And I wish I was smart enough to know what "% in range" meant!
The bottom line is I am confident that these people understood from the first discussion they had that they would lose some customers by making a change, and that was a factor in their decision-making process. They would also have lost customers as the old system's performance degraded. While it has become quite fashionable in today's society to find things to complain about, and to criticize anyone and everyone, I think we would all be much better off if we would stop the whining, and start looking for the benefits of the new system. Then we can use this forum to help each other gain from the transition, and we can make better choices between now and June as to whether we will remain a Livecharts user, or find an alternative that we believe is a better value. At this point, I am open to both choices, and will evaluate the new Livecharts in the same manner as I will other options. The old version is gone, and will not return. It is time to accept that, and put it behind us. Time will tell if they made the right decision.
Finally, I would like to thank the two representatives for their help and their patience in dealing with those of us in this forum. In light of the attitude I see in the messages, I believe they have gone above and beyond the call of duty to remain here, and try to help as best they can. I don't think they are paid enough to take the abuse that has been directed toward them from several people in this forum. And other than being a customer, I have no relationship with eSignal or Livecharts.
First, some background:
1) I have used Livecharts more several years
2) I trade for a living
3) I was very content with the old version ... when it worked
4) I was very frustrated by the disconnects, wrong volume information, and lack of support under the previous management
5) I may or may not find the new version worth twice as much as the old version, and I am exploring every alternative I can find.
But I am even more frustrated that this forum seems to have turned into a contest to see who can complain the most, and whine the loudest. As users, we have nothing to gain from that. eSignal has made a business decision, and that is their prerogative ... in fact, it is their responsibility. I do not have (nor should I have) all of the information upon which they made their choice, but they are not in business to meet my every whim, but rather to make a profit. If they don't do that, they are out of business, and there is no Livecharts ... new or old. At least this way I have a choice.
In the past, I have been intimately involved in designing and implementing a system change. My customers were 150 sales people who used the system to make a living. It is a daunting job. I don't remember a single person coming up to me the first week and to offer their thanks to management for making the change. There is no possible way to test it to perfection, because they cannot duplicate every system and every user running the application. What is important is that they respond to problems, and they are doing a good job of that. When technical issues are resolved, then they can start addressing possible features. Do I have a "wish list?" Most certainly. Some quite simple (showing the company name somewhere on the screen, and I wish the date still showed on the screen, not just the days), some more complex. I find the documentation dismal, and chances are very slim that it will improve. That means it is my responsibility to figure things out if I am going to be productive. I can assure you that it is unfair to say that there are "less functions" with the new version than the old. There are some that are no longer included, but I find more and more every day that have been added.
Like most people here, I used the old system until it was taken away. That is why they had to take it away. I was comfortable with it, and set in my ways. As I have been forced to make the transition, I am dealing with the things I missed, and finding more and more things that are much better. For example, having multiple portfolios that are retained from day to day, rather than creating multiple sessions with 10 symbols each that could not be saved. Yes, the portfolio manager has some issues and I get tired of the "Error: Please login to use the portfolio manager" message that is constant. But I understand that I am not entitled to a product that is customized to meet my every preference, even though that is what many of us would like to believe.
Running under Vista, I have not had a single disconnect in the past three days. I averaged 3 or 4 a day under the old version. Volume and price information is correct. I had problems running under Firefox, which would be my preference, so I am running a seperate IE session just for Livecharts. So far, that hasn't killed me. I am finding that things I used to do can still be done, but perhaps a little differently. I have looked at a 1 minute chart that covered a day and a half, and I have found it useful to be able to look at a shorter time period for daily and weekly charts. I do wish I could lock in time periods as I find ones that I like. And I wish I was smart enough to know what "% in range" meant!
The bottom line is I am confident that these people understood from the first discussion they had that they would lose some customers by making a change, and that was a factor in their decision-making process. They would also have lost customers as the old system's performance degraded. While it has become quite fashionable in today's society to find things to complain about, and to criticize anyone and everyone, I think we would all be much better off if we would stop the whining, and start looking for the benefits of the new system. Then we can use this forum to help each other gain from the transition, and we can make better choices between now and June as to whether we will remain a Livecharts user, or find an alternative that we believe is a better value. At this point, I am open to both choices, and will evaluate the new Livecharts in the same manner as I will other options. The old version is gone, and will not return. It is time to accept that, and put it behind us. Time will tell if they made the right decision.
Finally, I would like to thank the two representatives for their help and their patience in dealing with those of us in this forum. In light of the attitude I see in the messages, I believe they have gone above and beyond the call of duty to remain here, and try to help as best they can. I don't think they are paid enough to take the abuse that has been directed toward them from several people in this forum. And other than being a customer, I have no relationship with eSignal or Livecharts.
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