X-CAD Revealed as Alibre Design Xpress
- Thread starter gregmilliken
- Start date
I have been watching the xpress forum. The troublemakers seem to be a bunch of internet users from another forum. They have all convinced themselves that Alibre is a bad company and that the offer is a scam or a way to collect emails for spam. If they only knew how foolish they sound to those of us that know the truth.
I guess Alibre is getting what it could expect by offering something for nothing (Mick says Free is a four letter word). The level of professionalism on that forum is at 4th grade level. If it were me, I would shut down the forum or find a way to close it to legit users (close it until the users have the software and have something to actually talk about). Either way, I would get the product in people hands asap so the good press on the forum can drown out the naysayers. The product will win over the majority.
Good luck.
Greg,
Thanks for separating the forums. This is the most pleasant, not to mention helpful, user group I have ever encountered on the net.
Hate to see that change. :cry: Keep your chin up about Alibre Express, I don't know why, but it seems those who want something for nothing are always the biggest complainers. I would say after people get their hands on the program and they realize what they are getting the complaints will either cease or be drowned out by the compliments. :shock:
Keep up the good work!
gregmilliken
Senior Member
Thanks all.
We're in this for the long haul. JW your suggestion for getting the product out soon is good advice. On the other hand, registrations have gone up.
I will also note that there are many, many registrations from very large manufacturing OEMs, virtually the Who's Who of global manufacturing. We have gotten a lot of interest from the core of the market and this will definitley spread the word about the value Alibre offers.
I am very close to locking down the Xpress forum for only approved members but I am going to hold off on that for now.
-Greg
1. What does approved member mean?
2. I would suggest against trying to manually quell the descent.
After the flurry of nitial posts, it doesn't seem to be too bad (i.e. I've seen worse flamefests). Just be vigilant in deleting vulgar laden posts, but please leave even the vitrious comments. Deleting these posts because you do not like them does not send a good message. Already, a few of the "quiet" dissenters (those that did not espouse their displeasure with fire and brimstone) had some of their posts deleted and it raised some eyebrows. Be VERY careful.
Jim
I would like to know more about express,what it does,how it works. Im use to Turbo Cad is Alibre something like that. I would talk about it on the express form but I think I would get slamed. Im very interrested if I can use the files in 3D programs. Hope I can get the download for express soon. Sorry if I posted in the wrong place.
Re:
Rod,
You are in friendly territory. I think it is safe to go back to the xpress forum. There was an announcement of what the first 100000 get. It is very impressive. I am envious. I never got such a deal, but I got the real deal with Pro (which I need). Good luck.
rodc said:
Rod,
You are in friendly territory. I think it is safe to go back to the xpress forum. There was an announcement of what the first 100000 get. It is very impressive. I am envious. I never got such a deal, but I got the real deal with Pro (which I need). Good luck.
FWIW, I'm a member of a model engineering forum and some of the regulars there are really ticked off at what X-Cad is turning out to be. For those folks, it is probably too late as Alibre seems to be on a permanent "bad guy" list. Not many of these guys are given to whining about minor concerns, so I see this as a possible PR problem for Alibre, in that type of market anyway. I include home shop machinists or small pro shops in that as well. These folks might have been a lot more receptive if the disclosure on limitations had been more complete at the beginning.
A lot of the complainers on the Alibre Express forum seem to think that they should be getting the equivalent of Alibre Expert with no limitations at all and at no cost. They are probably the same type that thinks any restriction on music downloads is a violation of their rights. I wouldn't worry about them.
Mike
MikeHenry:
How about repeating the essense of your post on the Xpress forum. We need some constructive dialog over there, rather than just blind attacks and equally blind defenses.
What would be your guesses re the members of that modeling forum? Given that Alibre can't "unring the bell" on the hype associated with the X-CAD promotion, and further assuming tha they probably can't afford to fully do what was said there, what do you think might turn around all but the die-hards in that forum. Are the changes that have already been made enough? What else is neeed?
Please bring it over to the Xpress forum to discuss, since it is off-topic here, and we need more reasonable discussion there.
Thanks.
Alexy,
I've visited the Alibre Express forum but see don't see much chance for rational dialog there, at least with the folks that seem to be complaining the loudest. Maybe in a week after the product is released and there will be some facts to discuss.
Oddly enough there was a flurry of activity in that ME forum a couple of days ago and now almost nothing. Maybe minds are made up or maybe it will pick up a bit after product is released and folks that are still interested get a chance to try it out. Those that do might persuade turn around the die hard nay sayers.
Finally, I don't see the topic as off-topic here. As registered AD users something like the Alibre Express product will have some effect on what resources Alibre can bring to bear on improving a product that we pay annual maintenance on. A successful AE release might bring additional resources to bear - a bad one might waste those resources.
Mike
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wfpelletier
Senior Member
Compared to many posters on these forums, I am a fairly recent user of Alibre. I purchased Alibre Design Professional about 1-1/2 years ago, when it was in Version 7. I will admit this software does have a few limitations (and yes, a few bugs), but I do believe it is a great piece of software for its cost, and it has done what I needed it to do. I cannot think of any software that costs the same as Alibre Design, and is anywhere near as powerful.
That being said, I am amazed at much of the rancor I have seen on the Alibre Express forums. One thing I know for sure - I would have been very grateful if Alibre Express were available before I purchased Alibre Design, even knowing what the limits of Alibre Express are. I am just astounded that anyone of the 100,000 that have registered to get Alibre Express feel that they have somehow been 'cheated', even though they have not paid one cent for the software, or for that matter have even seen the software. I frankly believe that the first 100,000 registrants (of which I am one) are getting one heck of a deal, considering that the only cost was just registering and giving an e-mail address!
I have a feeling that most will be impressed with the software they will finally get. I do not know of any 'free' CAD software out there that will be able to do what I think Alibre Express will be able to do, particularly the version that will be available to the first 100,000. (I noticed that Alibre is offering an 'ad-free' version of the software for $49.00. I wonder if this version includes the upgrades that allow up to 25 parts in an assembly, or the part modeling functions such as 'shell'. If the $49.00 version does not, I recommend that Alibre does make it available for purchase, even if it is at a slightly higher price.)
I am looking forward to seeing what Alibre Express can do, compared to the full version of Alibre Design. I also wish the best of luck to all of the new Alibre Express users out there.
Welcome to the family!
wfpelletier
Re:
I hope you'll reconsider. I'll grant you that 90% of the discussion there is non-dialog between people who feel cheated and think Alibre are scam artists and people who are happy customers who think the others are ungrateful louts and that Alibre could do no wrong. There is a very wide spectrum in the middle that is grossly under-represented, IMHO. You sound like a happy customer who might also see a problem in the way this promotion has been handled, and contribute toward constructive dialog to fix it.
MikeHenry said:
I hope you'll reconsider. I'll grant you that 90% of the discussion there is non-dialog between people who feel cheated and think Alibre are scam artists and people who are happy customers who think the others are ungrateful louts and that Alibre could do no wrong. There is a very wide spectrum in the middle that is grossly under-represented, IMHO. You sound like a happy customer who might also see a problem in the way this promotion has been handled, and contribute toward constructive dialog to fix it.
I don't disagree, but based my OT comment on Greg's apology that discussion of Xpress had spilled over to here.MikeHenry said:
A
Anonymous
Guest
This sounded and still sounds like a great promotion for Alibre on all levels. The naysayers will have it handed to them when the product is released. Current Alibre customers will benefit because more people will know about the product and get accepted at larger companies. Alibre will benefit because they will make some more money. 100,000 seats of a great software package are going to out there for free. Imagine if %10 of the 100,000 paid the $49 fee. Alibre makes $490,000. Then imagine if %10 of those %10 actually bought Alibre design basic. That is an additional $995,000. So, Alibre has the potential to make almost $1.5 million off of this promotion. I am willing to bet that the free xcad giveaway isn't going to cost anywhere near that amount. That means that a large portion of it can be utilized for further development and marketing of Alibre. Which means we all get an even better product in the long run. Can't you naysayers think longterm? I think that Alibre is. My 2 cents.
I see some accounts getting banned and posts removed from the Alibre Xpress forum, some by those who have not hurled invective but have been critical but are still interested in the product.
I cautioned against this heavy-handed approach. It will not help you. Please only moderate the forum for vulgarity, not for opinion.
And, if you are woried about keeping legitimate questions from being swamped by negativity, create a using alibre xpress forum and then move threads from that forum to general discussion if they shouldn't be there.
Regards,
Jim
gregmilliken
Senior Member
Xpress Forum
Jim,
I saw your advice and appreciated it. In general, this is the policy we will adhere to.
I think the value of the discussion will increase dramatically when people actually have the product, and I am sure the forum will become quite lively.
I am willing to look at allowing others outside of Alibre to moderate the forum, just as we do with this forum. We haven't identified anyone yet, so if you know anyone, let me know.
-Greg
Jim,
I saw your advice and appreciated it. In general, this is the policy we will adhere to.
I think the value of the discussion will increase dramatically when people actually have the product, and I am sure the forum will become quite lively.
I am willing to look at allowing others outside of Alibre to moderate the forum, just as we do with this forum. We haven't identified anyone yet, so if you know anyone, let me know.
-Greg
Greg,
I'm certain that it will. I should add that these were suggestions and, of course, my opinion. I had constructive dialog with one particular user, but his account apparently was banned. Now, I confess to not knowing all of the details, but, usually, deleting a particular post and then warning the user in private often is all that is necessary in these particular cases (such as when a stable user crosses "the line", perhaps unintentionally).
Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of censorship and subscribe to the notion of giving nay-sayers enough rope to hang themselves on their faulty reasoning and invective laced tirades. But, that is my opinion.
Thanks for responding!
Regards,
Jim
A
Anonymous
Guest
Greg,
"I am willing to look at allowing others outside of Alibre to moderate the forum, just as we do with this forum. We haven't identified anyone yet, so if you know anyone, let me know."
This forum has a *major* moderation problem as well. See the locked thread that I started. Note how your moderators engaged in personal attacks while I steered well clear of them. Being nonobjective Alibre product loyalists, they probably felt they had no choice based on the major problems that Alibre has that I pointed out and they could not counter. Note how the "s" really hit the fan when I posted the Ken Versprille white paper that fully support the points I made in that thread.
With this type of approach your going to make even more people angry with Alibre. You already have a ton of people pissed off to no end with the marketing gimmicks and censorship that Alibre is now fully engaged in. Believe me when I say this: Your on a fast track to failure with this approach.
Too bad you didn't do as you once promised me you would do... take advantage of the advanced surfacing routines in ACIS.
Sad state of affairs Alibre is now in.
Like many problems this one starts at the top... with you.
Jon Banquer
Phoenix, Arizona
swertel
Alibre Super User
Jon,
I'm afraid your facts are somewhat skewed. There were only 3 moderators that posted to the thread and none of them took any personal shots at you.
And, I don't need to remind you, the thread was only locked, not deleted. It still exists for the public to view. The thread was also locked after the moderators requested feedback from other posters in the thread. After enough votes to concur, the thread was locked.
If you feel there is value left to be added to that topic, please start a new thread with the specific purpose of discussion so the new thread can remain on task. Please do not tag on to the bottom of existing threads that are not on topic with your deas; that is bad netiquette.
--Scott