Comments on: DroboCare from Drobo: bleah

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:34:48 +0000

I own a small consulting business and bought the Drobo and Drobo Share
It is too noisey!! Did they ever test the equipment!
We had to move it to another room.
I usually upgrade every 5 years but I’ll be getting rid of the Drobo sooner.

By: KFC

KFC — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:25:55 +0000

AFAIK SOX applies to public companies. “It does not apply to privately held companies. ” DRI is 100% private. What is the point of steering our attention away to “silicon valley start ups”, from the mere fact that DRI was, at one point in time, trying so hard to milk consumers to renew software license every year for the hardware appliance we purchased from DRI. Nevertheless, I welcome the decision the folks in DRI have made by making future firmware/drobodashboard updates free *FOR NOW*.

By: Ved

Ved — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:49:22 +0000

Wonderful…… I was in the same boat as you. Bought the Drobo and then had the “You’ve got to be kidding me!” moment when I saw the same message about the updates.

By: Hank Roberts

Hank Roberts — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:30:08 +0000

Funny, I bought an Adaptec SCSI product once myself.

They promised for three years that they were going to eventually get it to work with my Apple G3 Pismo.

I checked a few months ago. They still promise.

By: Dave (original)

Dave (original) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:34:44 +0000

You have to stand-back and look at the big picture, though. E.g. 1 software product might be x dollars less than a comparable product, but the cheaper might have paid updates, while the other (more expensive) are all free.

Also, the paid updates MAY just ensure the security updates are at least up-to-date, or 1 step ahead. While the freebies MAY just release updates every quarter and leave you exposed for Months.

While it all seems simple to just go with the free updates and free software, it may not be the most prudent in the long run. As with most things in life, you generally get what you pay for, thanks to “free” markets. Well, our markets USED to “free” up until 1 Year ago

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 02:03:02 +0000

Interesting that data robotics were classified as a “software company” by their auditors, and due to Sarbanes-Oxley they had to charge.
Given that Data Robotics Inc is privately held and SOX only applies to public companies, this seems fishy …

By: Multi-Worded Adam

Multi-Worded Adam — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:24:51 +0000

I have vehemently, venomously and vigorously discouraged anyone from ever using McAffee or Norton AV because nag-ware, upsell, subscription oriented services for such a critical function are just … wrong. I also manage this stuff for the various companies I have worked with. Several hundred copies of these programs have been uninstalled because I got a hair across my butt for some reason a while back.

You could just discourage anyone from using McCrappy or Norton because they suck. That’s a sufficient reason unto itself.

Seriously, dude, I totally agree with this. When you’re talking a service that people need to have continually updated for protection reasons, then these companies should respect this and not gouge the consumer or end user for at least $29.95 USD every 12 months.

I don’t mind if they charge for a customer care/support package. That’s one thing. People call in. Even if the program is upgraded significantly once per year with new features and the consumer can choose to buy the new program or keep the old program without consequence…okay, that’s cool. But in the case of providing security updates to a program…that’s way too greedy.

By: Tom Harrison

Tom Harrison — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:19:30 +0000

Matt —

If only they knew … or paid attention.

As a geek, I provide free computer consulting for family, friends, my kids’ after-school program, etc.

I have vehemently, venomously and vigorously discouraged anyone from ever using McAffee or Norton AV because nag-ware, upsell, subscription oriented services for such a critical function are just … wrong. I also manage this stuff for the various companies I have worked with. Several hundred copies of these programs have been uninstalled because I got a hair across my butt for some reason a while back.

I have used Quicken since it was a DOS-based checkbook balancing tool. I still use it, but I discourage every person I know who wants to start tracking finances online from using it, because they have done a bad job and failed to live up to my expectations, even having paid only $40 or less a year. They used to rock (especially when they took on MS and won), but now they suck.

I am a developer, and respect the desire for someone to make a buck. But I am far more inclined to click a “Donate” paypal link than continue to use software that nags me.

I don’t think I am alone.

By: Dave (original)

Dave (original) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:48:09 +0000

felix, there’s a ton of difference between a product for businesses vs. for home consumers.

So one market is OK to screw, while the other is not?

By: Ian M

Ian M — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:49:02 +0000

I bought a QNAP NAS a year ago (TS-209 Pro) – they’re pretty good with updates and have a fairly healthy forum (I looked at the support forums of various providers first before purchasing).

Only thing I sort of regret is getting a NAS before the Atom ones existed although if I were to get a NAS now, I might look at a DIY system using some open source software e.g. FreeNAS (not sure how good it is though).

Drobo thinking they’re a software company… eh?