DN5@PSUVM.BITNET (09/22/89)
I am addressing this question to the Apple Developer Group, or
anybody who deals with them regularly.
I am a programmer for the Computer Based Education Laboratory at Penn State,
and we develope courseware for the students to use. Much of our development
is for the Mac. We have an application for developer status, and I am a bit
puzzled by the difference between Associate and Partners. The biggest
difference (to me) is that Associates do not seem to be able to get
technical help over AppleLink.
To me, this is the most important thing. If I run into problems, it can save
many hours of my time to be able to talk to somebody who really knows MacApp.
On the other hand, we are a University, and we are not in the business of
software publishing. I know that our software WILL be used at other
universities, but I have no idea of any marketing plans. This, it would
seem, would disqualify us from Partner status.
If I recall, there was a similar complaint at the Bash Apple session at
MacHack. This policy seems to hurt educational and smaller software
developers. The software we work on at CBEL may be used by tens of thousands
of people, but the way the form reads to me, this doesn't seem to matter.
If somebody could reply with a clarification of what services I can expect
as an Associate or a Partner, I would be grateful. Hopefully I just misread
the pamphlet.
D. Jay Newman
Computer Based Education Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
(814) 863-1654
dn5 AT psuvm.psu.edumjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) (09/22/89)
In article <89264.143608DN5@PSUVM.BITNET> DN5@PSUVM.BITNET writes: >I am addressing this question to the Apple Developer Group, or >anybody who deals with them regularly. I suppose since DTS is a part of these group I qualify for this. I must state that some of the following are my own opinions, not those of Apple Computer, Inc. > >I am a programmer for the Computer Based Education Laboratory at Penn State, >and we develope courseware for the students to use. Much of our development >is for the Mac. We have an application for developer status, and I am a bit >puzzled by the difference between Associate and Partners. The biggest >difference (to me) is that Associates do not seem to be able to get >technical help over AppleLink. The differences are Technical Support via AppleLink, Conference invitations, and hardware discounts. Associates still get support in the form of Technical Notes, Sample Code, etc., but they cannot send questions to MacDTS via AppleLink. > >To me, this is the most important thing. If I run into problems, it can save >many hours of my time to be able to talk to somebody who really knows MacApp. > >On the other hand, we are a University, and we are not in the business of >software publishing. I know that our software WILL be used at other >universities, but I have no idea of any marketing plans. This, it would >seem, would disqualify us from Partner status. In a very technical sense, yes, you would not qualify for Partner status. There are ways, however, that you can qualify if you can write a business plan that sounds okay, are willing to pay the fee, and maybe decide for whatever reason that you want to register yourself or your company instead of your university. This isn't exactly what Developer Programs wants you to do, but there are people out there in the world who do it. One option many university developers do not know about is their regional SEs. The people in the sales offices (the Systems Engineers) are supposed to take your development questions and pass them on to DTS to be answered for you. You can try taking advantage of this service without cost if you have good SEs at your location. > >If I recall, there was a similar complaint at the Bash Apple session at >MacHack. This policy seems to hurt educational and smaller software >developers. The software we work on at CBEL may be used by tens of thousands >of people, but the way the form reads to me, this doesn't seem to matter. It doesn't help you now, but all of ADG is painfully aware of this and other problems with our current services. We are trying to address them as we can within budget and time constraints. > >If somebody could reply with a clarification of what services I can expect >as an Associate or a Partner, I would be grateful. Hopefully I just misread >the pamphlet. > You did not misread the pamphlet, and given some of the options you have, you are the best person to decide how you want to approach the system to get out of it what you need. -- Mark B. Johnson AppleLink: mjohnson Developer Technical Support domain: mjohnson@Apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,sun,unisoft}!apple!mjohnson "You gave your life to become the person you are right now. Was it worth it?" - Richard Bach, _One_
stores@unix.SRI.COM (Matt Mora) (09/22/89)
>In article <89264.143608DN5@PSUVM.BITNET> DN5@PSUVM.BITNET writes: [stuff deleted] >>To me, this is the most important thing. If I run into problems, it can save >>many hours of my time to be able to talk to somebody who really knows MacApp. You could allways post your questions to the net. They will be glad to answer you questions then. Right Mark? :-) -- ___________________________________________________________ Matthew Mora SRI International stores@unix.sri.com ___________________________________________________________
hpoppe@bierstadt.ucar.edu (Herb Poppe) (09/22/89)
>In article <89264.143608DN5@PSUVM.BITNET> DN5@PSUVM.BITNET writes: >> ... >>I am a programmer for the Computer Based Education Laboratory at Penn State, >>and we develope courseware for the students to use. Much of our development >>is for the Mac. We have an application for developer status, and I am a bit >>puzzled by the difference between Associate and Partners. The biggest >>difference (to me) is that Associates do not seem to be able to get >>technical help over AppleLink. > In article <34927@apple.Apple.COM> mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) responds: >The differences are Technical Support via AppleLink, Conference invitations, >and hardware discounts. >Associates still get support in the form of Technical Notes, Sample Code, etc., >but they cannot send questions to MacDTS via AppleLink. Another BIG difference is that Partners get advance specifications of System 7.0 and pre-release software so that they can get a head-start on developing new applications based on the new features or verifying that their existing applications will (or won't!) work with the new system. We would like to develop a System 7.0 printer driver to support our color DICOMED film recorder (accessed via Ethernet). Unless we can get special dispensation to be a Partner, we'll have to wait to get started until System 7.0 hits the streets and Inside Mac V6(?) is available. We are a university consortium with something like 50 member university atmospheric science departments. That translates into a lot of Macs. Apple's Federal System Group (we're funded by the National Science Foundation) is aware of our concern and has heard the same gripes from other consortia and federal agencies. They hope to be able to do something about it. Now that they have brought in some lucrative contracts from the federal sector perhaps they'll have the clout to pull it off. Obviously, DTS (or whoever) can't absorb a big increase in demand for their services without an increase in resources. I expect it will take time (like APDA :-(). But the sooner the better. Herb Poppe NCAR INTERNET: hpoppe@ncar.ucar.edu (303) 497-1296 P.O. Box 3000 CSNET: hpoppe@ncar.CSNET Boulder, CO 80307 UUCP: hpoppe@ncar.UUCP
keith@Apple.COM (Keith Rollin) (09/23/89)
In article <3719@unix.SRI.COM> stores@unix.UUCP (Matt Mora) writes: >>In article <89264.143608DN5@PSUVM.BITNET> DN5@PSUVM.BITNET writes: > > [stuff deleted] > >>>To me, this is the most important thing. If I run into problems, it can save >>>many hours of my time to be able to talk to somebody who really knows MacApp. > >You could allways post your questions to the net. They will >be glad to answer you questions then. Right Mark? :-) Becoming an Apple Partner or Associate gives you an AppleLink account. If, by being an Associate, you can't ask DTS the for the answers to your questions, there are several other ways you can find them using AppleLink. First, there is a group address called MacApp.Tech$. This is a collection of like-minded developers, interested and proficient in programming with MacApp. Questions and answers are posted there all the time. There are also some genereal purpose Q&A folders under the Developer Services icon. You can post your questions, and someone will usually answer. Finally, there are services like the one you are reading now. By relying on the good will of the fine folks who read the electronic services, you can usually get an accurate answer, and almost always faster than DTS will. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Keith Rollin --- Apple Computer, Inc. --- Developer Technical Support INTERNET: keith@apple.com UUCP: {decwrl, hoptoad, nsc, sun, amdahl}!apple!keith "Argue for your Apple, and sure enough, it's yours" - Keith Rollin, Contusions
lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) (09/23/89)
In article <89264.143608DN5@PSUVM.BITNET> DN5@PSUVM.BITNET writes: > To me, this is the most important thing. If I run into problems, it can save > many hours of my time to be able to talk to somebody who really knows MacApp. I believe that Associates get access to AppleLink. If so, then you can join the MacApp mailing list on AppleLink. Questions sent to this mailing list are distributed to all interested MacApp users. Although you aren't guaranteed to get an answer, it is likely that someone will be able to answer your question. (And the answer might even come from MacDTS!) The same is true of comp.sys.mac.programmer. There are thousands of experienced Mac programmers who can answer questions. Larry Rosenstein, Apple Computer, Inc. Object Specialist Internet: lsr@Apple.com UUCP: {nsc, sun}!apple!lsr AppleLink: Rosenstein1