I’m very pleased to advise that Livescribe founder and CEO Jim Marggraff will be visiting Australia next week.
The Livescribe team has kindly organised a social event with Jim on Monday night the 17th February.
This is a great opportunity to meet Jim and some of the team – including the Smartpen team.
I hope to see you there.
Why isn’t the Smartpen team back in the office sorting out the innumerable problems with the Desktop software, simple things like:
– adding proxy support for the updater, so people who work in big companies can actually update the software;
– stopping the desktop from using up the CPU in repeated indexing of the pages, so that you can use your computer properly in the hour after you dock your pen each time;
– testing for different date formats, so that when you upgrade the software, your sessions aren’t given ludicrous dates and actually sort properly. We don’t all live in America; and
– responding to questions and issues raised on their own forums and knowledge base, so as to keep the users up-to-date with known issues.
Love the pen. Incredible technology. But some of the worst, pre-alpha software I’ve ever seen. Should never have been released.
Think I might rock up to the event. Reckon Livescribe owes me at least a dozen beers in lost productivity. I might be able to teach “the team” a thing or two about project management and testing too.
Comment by Graeme — February 9, 2010 @ 4:54 pm |
Graeme,
Thanks for the feedback, I’ll pass it onto the team. I don’t see you in our database here in Australia. Is there anything I can help you with? Please feel free to contact me directly – mparker@smartpen.com.au
Comment by Mark Parker — February 9, 2010 @ 5:00 pm |
I so agree with you Graeme. The software, especially on the desktop is really letting this product down. Had my pen for a year or so and use it for podcasts and meetings, but just about to give up since the software is such crap. I currently can download the latest CJUG (Canberra Java Users group) Flash Talks to publish the podcasts – every time you go to use it something different crops up (like the date sorting that just doesn’t work 1970 is not after 2009 even if the pen existed in 1970 – FFS the date in the Session name is correct…
Let us make an open source version then maybe it’ll do what *we* want and at least work.
Comment by Peter McNEil — February 11, 2010 @ 8:24 pm |
Cheers Mark.
I mustn’t be on the Livescribe database. I have no idea why I’d not be on it, nor would I have any idea why I would. Probably another Livescribe cockup. You’d better have a word with them about it.
There’s nothing you can help me with, unless you can provide an update to the software that fixes the problems I’ve noted. I had to go through the helpdesk and was sent a link to an uploaded file to solve the proxy problem. No explanation of why this is a problem, no indication of if/when it will be rectified. I hope, for the sake of the helpdesk that the next update has a proxy fix in it, otherwise they’ll be swamped again, and more users will simply give up.
I realise software development can be a fraught activity, but Livescribe have really underperformed here. The Livescribe Desktop is simply the worst software I’ve ever used (no, strike that, there was a really dodgy freeware game I downloaded a few years ago, but let’s not go into that…).
The one thing I would suggest as a primary concern is that they should at least:
– respond to queries on the forum (yes I realise these are primarily user-driven, but it’s one of the first places a user goes to when they have a problem);
– respond CORRECTLY on the forum, unlike the situation with the never-ending indexing, which has been left hanging after incorrect advice, and gives every indication that they have no idea what they’re doing;
– update the knowledge base (maybe I’m not much good with searching, but I can’t find any acknowledgement of the proxy issue in the knowledge base); and
– be honest about the failings of the software and commit to improvements. I’ve seen neither of these.
I have the most fantastic pen I’ve ever used, that also happens to be the most frustrating, time-consuming, irritating thing I’ve ever bought.
Failing all of the above, then run a campaign to reduce user expectations.
Cheers.
Comment by Graeme — February 9, 2010 @ 6:33 pm |
Graeme,
The offer is still open for you to contact me directly – or if you’re in Sydney to attend the event. Responses from the US customer support team can be slow from time to time – this is one of the reasons why we at Smartpen always offer to help any Australian customer – irrespective of whether you purchased from us or not.
The Livescribe technology is still relatively new, so it’s important we understand your frustrations so that we can feed this into the development process. It’s also important we as users understand that the technology will get better.
Mark
Comment by Mark Parker — February 11, 2010 @ 7:36 pm |
I think Mark needs to get a Life and just use the pen. It’s an awesome thing, and I don’t know why I even read till the end, because Mark, you seem to be the most frustrating thing I have ever listened to. I don’t seem to have any problems, so may I suggest it be the user on your computer? Hmmm…
Comment by Paul — February 11, 2010 @ 7:25 pm |
Seriously Paul do you use the software at all? Perhaps you just stick the pen in your pocket and show off the cool piano demo to you friends. Sorry … just had to use the same personal attack you did
There are problems with the current software and I feel Graemes pain.
Comment by Peter McNeil — February 11, 2010 @ 8:33 pm |
Peter,
Thanks for contributing. As you’ll note through our blog, we’ve always been prepared to talk about some of the deficiencies of the Desktop – and we’re just a sales partner here in Australia.
Clearly the Desktop application is not perfect but then again what software product is?
Comment by Mark Parker — February 11, 2010 @ 9:05 pm |
i do not disagree at all.. the desktop app is far from anything reliable or functional in use. As for what product is, well not many, the major failing is that a new item was brought to market and falls far short on user functions. After over a year and new version release there is still no DELETE PAGE function, the only good new function is the ability to select multiple pages.. So if it took that long to get that just how long should users wait around for something worth while.
This pen costs double here to what it costs to buy in the USA. Customer support is useless and thats only if you get a reply via email from them.
There are too many people that hype up the pen about how good it is, to only start posting why cant i do this.. I wont be there to put people down if they are happy with it, but these people most likely doodle with it and not much else.
Comment by Greg — February 16, 2010 @ 4:56 pm
Sorry Mark, I meant Graeme. Mark, you did well not to give it to him. So, Graeme, get a life, or a different pen.
Comment by Paul — February 11, 2010 @ 7:26 pm |
Hi Paul – I was confused there for a moment…
I understand where Graeme is coming from. And as I noted to Graeme, the technology is still quite new so it’s important that we understand the growing pains that Livescribe occasionally goes through. This is not unique to Livescribe – many other transformational technology products experience the same issues.
cheers
Mark
Comment by Mark Parker — February 11, 2010 @ 7:38 pm |
Gee, thanks for those incredibly useful, positive and helpful contributions Mark.
You don’t have any problems with your pen. Excellent. Good for you. It is a truly magnificent piece of technology, and I’m pleased you’re enjoying it.
And it’s incredibly simple! It’s a pen.
Once you’ve bought the pen, all you have to do is:
1. Download the software;
2. Install the software;
3. Write something; and
4. Dock the pen.
That’s all. It’s really simple. Even I can do that.
Only there are problems.
If you’re behind a firewall/proxy thingy, you can’t download the software. This causes a significant problem, as it effectively turns the pen into a very expensive Bic.
If you managed to install the software and use the pen successfully, you’ll be invited by Livescribe Desktop to “update” it.
This may or may not cause a problem. Perusing the forums, it looks like there are a lot of people who had problems here. Such a shockingly incapable user base! Can’t even update their software.
And if you do manage to update the software, then great! But hope that the filenames and dates of all your important meetings haven’t been mangled because Livescribe only tested for the American date format.
No software is perfect. No software will ever be perfect. But all software is expected to be thoroughly tested and fit for purpose. There are a multitude of desktop environments out there, with different hardware, operating systems, and other potential software conflicts. All the other software I’ve ever used (apart from that game…) have managed to at least update themselves! Livescribe haven’t even built in a proxy config to their updater! I’m quite astonished by this, but hey Mark, that’s probably just me. Must be an “ID ten T” error! Possibly an interface issue between the computer and the office chair!
By the way, it’s a logical fallacy to conclude that just because one person (you) seems to be having no problems with the software, anyone who has a problem has caused it themselves.
I am a major fan of the Smartpen. I think it will revolutionise the way workplaces operate, but it will only be able to do that when the software performs its fundamental, critical functions correctly and reliably.
I believe Livescribe has erred in shifting its focus to more peripheral, but sexier things like the AppStore. I don’t want to play poker on my pen, or look up American presidents on it. I want it to record my notes and meetings, and copy them over to good, solid, reliable software, quickly and simply. But maybe that’s just me. I’m sure there will be another userbase concerned about these things. But please, get the fundamentals right first.
Having the CEO swan around the world playing music on handwritten pianos and strumming cartoon guitars may generate some oohs and aahs from his audience, but there’ll be a lot more ohhs and uhhs when the audience tries to use the pen they forked out all that dosh for.
Finally, Paul, you order me to “get a life, or a different pen”. I may not be able to comply with the life thing. It’s hard to “get a life” when you can’t even install a bit of software on your computer. I blame the education system. Oh, and I have several different pens. All of them, bar one, does what it’s supposed to.
Comment by Graeme — February 12, 2010 @ 8:46 am |
Graeme,
the current version of Livescribe Desktop allows you to enter proxy server settings. This was a known issue for some time before v2 of the app and we have talked previously of the initial
workaround prior to v2.
If you haven’t upgraded to v2 I suggest you do so. Again, if I can be of any assistance please let me know
Mark
Comment by Mark — February 12, 2010 @ 9:18 am |
Thanks Mark,
It’s the updater (sorry, I may have referred to it as the installer) that doesn’t have proxy config. So, whilst you can download the updater, the updater itself can’t get through. Unfortunately, the updater doesn’t refer to the proxy config in the desktop.
Comment by Graeme — February 12, 2010 @ 10:42 am |
Graeme,
Once the app is installed and you configure the proxy settings you shouldn’t have this issue. I’m happy to talk directly to the US team if you want
Mark
Comment by Mark Parker — February 12, 2010 @ 12:22 pm |
The help desk uploaded the installer to a temp site for me to download.
Otherwise it was impossible for the updater to get the file.
Remember also that you have to have the desktop installed before you can configure the proxy, and in order to install it, you have to download it. The downloader/updater is the cause of my problem.
The desktop has no problem with the proxy, and allows me to login and advises me of updates. It’s just that I can’t download these updates.
Comment by Graeme — February 12, 2010 @ 1:39 pm
Hey folks – just though I’d add my 2 cents worth. Like Graeme I am having all sorts of issues with the software. I too live behind a corporate firewall and have had difficulty getting the software updated. Problem is I’ve actually become terrified of getting the message “Update available…” Every time I get it I know there will be at least one new bug and sometimes more introduced into what is already a pretty flakey software package. I have been unable to use the pen at all on my machine at work due to an update that simply corrupted my entire installation. On that machine all I get is a “fatal error” – no description of what the cause is – no opportunity to dump it or send details back to Livescribe. Repeated attempts to refresh the software all failed. In the end the software was telling me that my pen itself was corrupt, yet I can download at home (not much use when I need to write minutes at work!).
Agree that the pen itself is great. A pity that a better job has not been done in implementing the software or fixing the defects.
Go Graeme – sock it to ‘em!
Paul – like Graeme I’m glad you’ve had a trouble free run with the software but I reckon you must be one of the lucky 1% in that boat. The rest seem to be with me.
PS I am also a uni student and everyone I have spoken to has had issues of one kind or another – generally not with the first load but with the crappy fixes that get sent out afterward.
Comment by Melbourne Zone 2 — February 15, 2010 @ 11:16 am |
Hi Melbourne Zone,
thanks for the comment – we’ve always been upfront about issues with Livescribe Desktop – it is a work in progress. There’s some good stuff coming through soon to (a) deal with the known issues, and (b) make it more user friendly in the corporate environments.
We’ve sold quite a few into your campus so I’m suprised you’ve had ongoing issues. Let me know if I can help
Mark
Comment by Mark Parker — February 15, 2010 @ 3:59 pm |
Mark i know you have to, in some way, defend LS.. it would be silly if you didnt being your a reseller of their product. But its not enough that good stuff is coming soon.. just how soon is soon? LS seems to be a start up company run from someones back shed.. there is that many problems with updates out there its not funny.. case in point is the update to v2 that changes session dates to 1970 or 0001.. LS still allow everyone to download this update and use it knowing full well it could completely stuff up the users dates audio sessions.
Without users seeing what the roadmaps holds for the future and some type of time line of when things might happen does not help to answer concerns. It took LS a year to get working the App Store, and what a joke that is.
It is about time they focus on what they have now that needs fixing and release something to help users. This does not have to stop them from continuing working on version 3
the Pulse Pen is great in potential.. the whole idea of audio linked to text is great and the only one out there. But whoever was in charge of application development should be shot. i mean who would have thought a user would want to delete a page.. they can tare the page out from the notebook, but deleting it from the application is obviously absurd.
I used to once have the pulse pen but took it back and got myself the IO2.. doesnt do audio but does everything else.. LS sent me a new pulse pen free of charge to use.. but that is still sitting in the box.. the Dean of my uni i see a lot, he saw that i changed and asked why.. i know that my uni is not going to stock the pulse, but i did tell him that i am still hopeful something soon will be released
Comment by Greg — February 16, 2010 @ 5:22 pm |
Greg,
Like many of you, I’ve been frustrated and (sometimes) angry at these issues as they cost us time and money – often without the benefit of having sold the pen in the first place.
Whilst we defend Livescribe we’ve also been voiced our criticism when we’ve felt it’s appropriate – sometimes in private and sometimes publicly. Livescribe is not the first tech company to experience growing pains and nor will it be the last. Even the gods of technology like Google and Apply occasionally make mistakes. Sure, the app store is a bit skinny on useful stuff, but it’s all a timing issue – some good stuff is in the works. I’ll be blogging next week about our ideas around how to embed the pen into university and enterprise environments – some of these ideas will be developed by us in conjunction with a couple of Australian universities.
Let me make an unofficial comment about the roadmap. One of the reasons they keep it quiet is because of the backlash from the Mac community when the v1 Mac desktop was delayed by 2 weeks last year. This has meant the company now takes a very conservative approach to talking publicly about release dates and features.
Jim was very clear last night that he has focused the right people in his organisation with fixing the development and support issues. Livescribe is hardly a backyard operation – they have 70 people on the team. Clearly thought they can’t develop or innovate or fix at the speed of a Google or Apple can they?
As an aside, if you want to give away your unopened pen, I’d be happy to take it off your hands
Mark
Comment by Mark Parker — February 16, 2010 @ 5:52 pm
Thanks Mark – the real problem for me is the updates which introduce new bugs and the fact that the software does not give an opportunity to debug. This is pretty fundamental stuff and needs to be addressed by the developers. Post-problem support is fine but in a six sigma world these issues shouldn’t be getting out into the user environment. Is there a test team at Livescribe? You shouldn’t have to be spending your time and resources on defects introduced by the manufacturer.
Comment by Melbourne Zone 2 — February 16, 2010 @ 8:58 am |
Thanks Mark..
It is true, they have not done a great job, not even a good job and as Graeme pointed out, the CEO going around with a shinny pen playing the piano is a total waste.
You point out that you are just a reseller and how open you are about issues.. but in the end your support to lend would be limited, and with functionality we could argue on points till the cows come home but in the end you do not develop anything and so can not fix the current flaws nor add anything useful.
So you want to help? well after I updated to version 2 all my session dates are set to 01/01/0001.. have you got a fix for this? I am going to answer for you.. NO no you dont.. so would i get this same level of support and service from Officeworks? Yes they too would not have a clue.
You showed in your posts above product support is limited. I came to this conclusion because you kept telling Graeme to just install the update, yet you were not understanding the problem is that users can not update for the reasons Graeme repeatedly pointed out.
But thats not to say other problems you have not helps users with nor will continue to, it does seem that you try harder than the LS company does for their own product.
So what if this so called list of top 5 items user want did not include Deleting Pages.. Since the LS company has not released any information themselves publicly about any list, its fair to say that the CEO list of items was intended to not show the complete lack of simple everyday functions users would expect and instead focused more so on items like copying back audio to the pen. I doubt any CEO would stand in front of prospective clients and point out that users all over the world have been complaining about the crap software, crap support, and number of failing pens due to hardware problems.. this would not be the ‘Event’ to hold.
As the event notes there would be a peak at enhancements.. these should be taken with a grain of salt as again there is no public release as to what is in the works, and why do companies do this,.. because things change, or never become, so what ever peak was given could be all talk and in the end might never be there.
I have read through the the LS blog and like any company their released information is to glorify the product. Its just like comments like “My pen just got delivered to my door and I 100% love it” users post to like FB.. But what part do they love the most.. they have not used it yet or tried to run the update software, so it must be the shinny look of it.
I have also read through other blog posting on this website and see a number of “false/misleading” information, and most of the posting are just puff pieces advertising product price and availability.
And of course you want to know what i am talking about in specifics..
-New Livescribe Products – 4GB – Pro Pack – Cradle
– New Colours
colours? not plural, just one new colour
-NEW Livescribe Desktop Version Released – v2
– Multiple Item Delete – this is the stand out addition to the Desktop. The option to now select multiple items and remove them from the Smartpen or the Desktop
Delete? i can delete multiple items from the desktop.. well i know it must be talking about the AUDIO Session as this is the only thing that can be deleted from the desktop.. so this is not false but not fully explained
– The new look and feel is great
the Mac v2 looks the same.. nothing new here in look or feel
-Livescribe Pulse Smartpen featured on Oprah show
wow the Oprah show.. they spent so much time show what you can really do with it didnt they.
-Livescribe Helping Students with Disabilities
this is something written by you? what actual facts backup these key points.. what psychological degree was put in place to come to the conclusions to such point as recall being better?
what research has gone into this to prove that it was the pen.. was there a side study where students had a BIC and Dick Smith dictator and another group with nothing?
I dont see any blog posting on topics about top 5 items or whats to come here or on LS
I see nothing backing up your point that users achieve great value.. a 25c BIC pen and $30 DS audio recorder is great value compared to the Pulse $349 price tag. from just reading the comments above from other users here, they too see the waste of such a great product in the hands of LS and feel totally let down.
lastly about this posting topic.. it says that the event is Monday 17th Feb?? well it was the 15th.. and from their event info page i am wondering who is getting ripped off?? you sell the 4GB pen for $349, but the event page says a prize give away of the same item has a value of $299.
Comment by Greg — February 16, 2010 @ 7:40 pm |
Damn, I was interested in purchasing the pen for learning Chinese this year but it looks like the software is not ready for prime time. Proxy support is not an issue for me but I can see how it would be working behind a corporate firewall. Resetting of dates upon upgrade and not being able to delete pages is a turn-off. I’ve worked around IT for 20 odd years now and yes there are problems from time to time with software releases but what endears users to a company is commitment to the fundamentals of service delivery. There are heaps of companies out there that set up forums and never appropriately address quality issues in a timely fashion. Anyway, looks like a great product but I’ll hold off making a purchasing decision until the software issues are addressed.
Comment by Ian — March 11, 2010 @ 2:37 pm |
Ian,
I have to challenge your comment about the software not being ready for prime time. Yes there have been some issues with the desktop v2 transition, but upgrades to v2.0.1 and recently v2.0.2 are really addressing these issues. In a small number of cases, obscure IT environments require further investigation to get the application working. I would be happy to rattle off a list of organisations around Australia – both in academia and business that are successfully using the product.
Comments relating to date resets and pages being deleted are hard to substantiate. Whilst these points have been raised here in comments, numerous requests for further information or to provide assistance have been met with silence. So I understand your point about the fundamentals of service delivery – but the flip side of this is that a user making comments about product deficiencies needs to be prepared to engage so as to solve these problems.
Feel free to contact me directly if you’d like to discuss the product further
Comment by Mark Parker — March 13, 2010 @ 5:48 pm |
Greg,
Thanks for contributing.
I don’t agree with all your points. Whilst we’re just a reseller, we’ve been very open about the issues that exist within the desktop application and where we’d like to see it developed. As a young company with a popular product, Livescribe has had to work hard to manage expectations as well as demand. Have they done a great job? No. This was a point Jim made last night at the customer function. Jim also shared some feedback that they had received from customers around the world and interestingly, the option to delete pages was not in the top 5 of requested features. Will it be available in the future – yes.
I’ve made the point here 4 times on this post, and dozens of times via our blog, Twitter, and Facebook accounts – if users need help then they can contact us. Even if you didn’t purchase the pen from us, we will help! Go and get that level of service from Amazon, or eBay, or Officeworks?
If you read through our blog and the US site, you’ll see many examples where users are achieving great value from the Livescribe Smartpen – so I disagree with your point that most people doodle with it and nothing else…
thanks again for contributing, and if I can help you with any technical issues, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Mark
Comment by Mark Parker — February 16, 2010 @ 5:10 pm |