[QLab] Qlab Version 2 Upgrade Policy

[Christopher Ashworth]

On Sep 16, 2008, at 9:35 AM, Eric Pearson wrote:
>
> I will be purchasing a license soon so that I can have all the  
> features but I wonder, should I wait until your version 2 is  
> implemented.

Hi Eric,

Good question.  When you asked this it made me realize that this is  
quickly becoming an important question for many people.

Therefore I spent yesterday and today finalizing the upgrade policy  
(and prototyping the technical side, to make sure I could actually act  
on the policy!).

I can go ahead and commit to the following policy:

The full purchase price of your QLab v1 licenses can be deducted from  
the purchase price of your QLab v2 licenses.  This will apply to the  
Enhanced Audio, Pro Video, and Pro MIDI licenses.  (Not the Pro  
Control.)

As I said earlier, the new v2 licensing will come in only two  
flavors:  Pro Audio and Pro Video.  As such, the v1 licenses will  
apply to v2 licenses in the following way:

  v2 LICENSE            : v1 LICENSE UPGRADE APPLICABILITY
  ---------------------------------------------------------
  v2 Pro Audio          : You can credit Enhanced Audio and
                        : Pro MIDI licenses to a Pro Audio purchase
  ---------------------------------------------------------
  v2 Pro Video          : You can credit Pro MIDI and
                        : Pro Video licenses to a Pro Video purchase
  ---------------------------------------------------------
  v2 Audio+Video Bundle : You can credit all v1 license types
                        : (except Pro Control) to the cost
  ---------------------------------------------------------

Each license you bought for v1 can be credited toward one upgrade in  
v2.  If you bought 3 Enhanced Audio licenses, you could apply them to  
3 v2 Pro Audio upgrades--but you can't apply all three to a *single•  
Pro Audio upgrade.

Note that this also means that you can apply a single Pro MIDI license  
to only *one* of the available v2 upgrades: Pro Audio, Pro Video, or  
Audio+Video Bundle.  Once you apply it to one of these upgrades, it  
could not be reused to apply to another.

I've chosen this policy in an effort to be a good steward of your  
investment.  This means you can invest at whatever time is appropriate  
for you, without worrying about upgrade costs.

Some of you at this point are also thinking:  "Hmmm.  It appears Chris  
is raising the price on QLab."

Yup, I am.  Not a ton--it'll still cost less than other popular tools-- 
but the prices will be balanced up a bit.  This reflects two primary  
facts:

1 - Consolidation of features.  Each new license unlocks the  
equivalent of three old licenses.  And that doesn't count the new  
features.

2 - New features.  Really important new features.  Big Deal features.

Number 2 has only been possible because QLab now receives my full-time  
attention.  Restructuring prices is part of the balance of supporting  
this work.

Don't worry, though.  There's still gonna be a kick-ass free version.   
And by kick-ass, I mean more kick-ass than the current free version.   
So everybody wins.  And there's also gonna be a really cool, brand new  
licensing option (not mentioned above) that will be especially  
exciting for some of you folks looking to install QLab on a whole LOT  
of computers for cheap.

I hope that answers some questions.  If anything is unclear please let  
me know, although I reserve the right to hold back on some  
information.  For example: no, I'm not quite ready to post prices for  
v2.  I've got a whole rollout plan to introduce it.  You'll find out  
then.

Cheers,
Chris