Looking for Beta Testers for Training Log Software

[Stuart Tevendale]

Hi,
We're looking for about 10 people to test a pre-release version of our
Windows Training Diary software. The software requires Windows 98 SE
or newer.

We're looking for athletes who use Polar S610, S625x, S710, S720, S725
or S810 Heart Rate Monitors (with or without cycling/running sensors)
and have one of the Polar computer interfaces. You should be willing
to use our software in parallel with either Polar's own Precision
Performance software or other third-party application that you
regularily use. You should be training at least 3 - 4 times a week
with your HRM.

In return for your feedback, we'll provide you with a full license for
the final version of TrainingLog.

If you are interested, send us details of your sports, training
schedule and heart rate monitor. Email - [email protected]

Thanks & Regards

Stuart Tevendale
Director
OTAG Technologies Ltd

 

[Steve]

Stuart Tevendale wrote:
> Hi,
> We're looking for about 10 people to test a pre-release version of our
> Windows Training Diary software. The software requires Windows 98 SE
> or newer.
>
> We're looking for athletes who use Polar S610, S625x, S710, S720, S725
> or S810 Heart Rate Monitors (with or without cycling/running sensors)
> and have one of the Polar computer interfaces. You should be willing
> to use our software in parallel with either Polar's own Precision
> Performance software or other third-party application that you
> regularily use. You should be training at least 3 - 4 times a week
> with your HRM.
>
> In return for your feedback, we'll provide you with a full license for
> the final version of TrainingLog.
>
> If you are interested, send us details of your sports, training
> schedule and heart rate monitor. Email - [email protected]
>
> Thanks & Regards
>
> Stuart Tevendale
> Director
> OTAG Technologies Ltd
HOw about an S510 and linux... that's newer than 98

Steve

 

[erics]

"Stuart Tevendale" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
> We're looking for about 10 people to test a pre-release version of our
> Windows Training Diary software. The software requires Windows 98 SE
> or newer.
>
> We're looking for athletes who use Polar S610, S625x, S710, S720, S725
> or S810 Heart Rate Monitors (with or without cycling/running sensors)
> and have one of the Polar computer interfaces. You should be willing
> to use our software in parallel with either Polar's own Precision
> Performance software or other third-party application that you
> regularily use. You should be training at least 3 - 4 times a week
> with your HRM.
>
> In return for your feedback, we'll provide you with a full license for
> the final version of TrainingLog.
>
> If you are interested, send us details of your sports, training
> schedule and heart rate monitor. Email - [email protected]
>
> Thanks & Regards
>
> Stuart Tevendale
> Director
> OTAG Technologies Ltd

What would you say are the main advantages your software has over the Polar
software?

 

[Francesco Devittori]

Stuart Tevendale wrote:
> Hi,
> We're looking for about 10 people to test a pre-release version of our
> Windows Training Diary software. The software requires Windows 98 SE
> or newer.
>
> We're looking for athletes who use Polar S610, S625x, S710, S720, S725
> or S810 Heart Rate Monitors (with or without cycling/running sensors)
> and have one of the Polar computer interfaces. You should be willing
> to use our software in parallel with either Polar's own Precision
> Performance software or other third-party application that you
> regularily use. You should be training at least 3 - 4 times a week
> with your HRM.
>
> In return for your feedback, we'll provide you with a full license for
> the final version of TrainingLog.
>
> If you are interested, send us details of your sports, training
> schedule and heart rate monitor. Email - [email protected]
>
> Thanks & Regards
>
> Stuart Tevendale
> Director
> OTAG Technologies Ltd

Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
bad thing...

 

[Mike Tennent]

Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote:

>
>Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>bad thing...


Maybe they want sell more than 3 copies worldwide?

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

 

[Doki]

Mike Tennent wrote:
> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote:
>
>>
>> Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>> bad thing...
>
>
> Maybe they want sell more than 3 copies worldwide?

Maybe they just want to be able to sell it. How many linux users are you
going to convince to *pay* for software, when there's so much perfectly
sketchy GPL software around?

 

[Mark]

"Doki" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> Mike Tennent wrote:
>> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>>> bad thing...
>>
>>
>> Maybe they want sell more than 3 copies worldwide?
>
> Maybe they just want to be able to sell it. How many linux users are you
> going to convince to *pay* for software, when there's so much perfectly
> sketchy GPL software around?

As stated by a misguided Micro$oft lover?

 

[Andrew Martin]

Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
> Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
> bad thing...

I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
small a reach as Linux.

 

[Nick Kew]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Doki" <[email protected]> writes:

> Maybe they just want to be able to sell it. How many linux users are you
> going to convince to *pay* for software, when there's so much perfectly
> sketchy GPL software around?

I have both Linux and Windows users pay for software. As well as
occasional Mac and Solaris users.

In fact, the software most of them are willing to pay for is GPL -
they can download the source themselves from the same page that
invites them to pay.

--
Nick Kew

 

[Robert Lorenzini]

On 10 Nov 2004 08:50:43 -0800, Andrew Martin wrote:
> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>>
>> Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>> bad thing...
>
> I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
> vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
> for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
> small a reach as Linux.

I would be willing to try it under the wine emulator. I rarely use windows.


Bob

 

[Drew]

Just curious if you're still looking for volunteers? Can the app
import .HRM files as I have an s410 and use other software to convert
to .HRM.


[email protected] (Stuart Tevendale) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi,
> We're looking for about 10 people to test a pre-release version of our
> Windows Training Diary software. The software requires Windows 98 SE
> or newer.
>
> We're looking for athletes who use Polar S610, S625x, S710, S720, S725
> or S810 Heart Rate Monitors (with or without cycling/running sensors)
> and have one of the Polar computer interfaces. You should be willing
> to use our software in parallel with either Polar's own Precision
> Performance software or other third-party application that you
> regularily use. You should be training at least 3 - 4 times a week
> with your HRM.
>
> In return for your feedback, we'll provide you with a full license for
> the final version of TrainingLog.
>
> If you are interested, send us details of your sports, training
> schedule and heart rate monitor. Email - [email protected]
>
> Thanks & Regards
>
> Stuart Tevendale
> Director
> OTAG Technologies Ltd

 

[Francesco Devittori]

Andrew Martin wrote:
> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>>bad thing...
>
>
> I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
> vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
> for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
> small a reach as Linux.

You would be surprised to know how many people are using training logs
under linux or other various non-windows os!
And you would be yet more surprised to know how many of these people
actually wrote their own software.
If you are a developer and your software is really that great, then
people will pay for it -even linux users.

(btw, greatest software is usually cross-platform -and mostly free)

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Francesco Devittori wrote:

> You would be surprised to know how many people are using training logs
> under linux or other various non-windows os! And you would be yet more
> surprised to know how many of these people actually wrote their own
> software. If you are a developer and your software is really that great,
> then people will pay for it -even linux users.

I'd guess that Linux users are *much* less likely to pay for great software
than Windows users. A large number of people running Linux do so because
they support open source and free software, and even those who care less
about this are still used to having lots of good free software readily
available to them. Windows users are more used to having to pay for their
software, assuming they don't steal it, and so will do so more readily.

All of my Windows software (OS + some games) is paid for.
None of my Linux software (everything else) is.

Of course, I would have bought Linux versions of those games if they'd been
available, so that partly destroys my point...

--
Benjamin Lewis

Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.

 

[Benjamin Lewis]

Francesco Devittori wrote:

> You would be surprised to know how many people are using training logs
> under linux or other various non-windows os! And you would be yet more
> surprised to know how many of these people actually wrote their own
> software. If you are a developer and your software is really that great,
> then people will pay for it -even linux users.

I'd guess that Linux users are *much* less likely to pay for great software
than Windows users. A large number of people running Linux do so because
they support open source and free software, and even those who care less
about this are still used to having lots of good free software readily
available to them. Windows users are more used to having to pay for their
software, assuming they don't steal it, and so will do so more readily.

All of my Windows software (OS + some games) is paid for.
None of my Linux software (everything else) is.

Of course, I would have bought Linux versions of those games if they'd been
available, so that partly destroys my point...

--
Benjamin Lewis

Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.

 

[Matt O'Toole]

Andrew Martin wrote:

> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>>
>> Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>> bad thing...
>
> I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
> vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
> for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
> small a reach as Linux.

I'd say you'd be an idiot to ignore all those body-nazi yuppie triathletes with
Macs. Write the thing in Java, or some other cross platform tookit, so you
don't have to exclude anyone. Of course, if all you know how to do is program
for Windows...

Matt O.

 

[marco]

I tend to agree with you. Ignoring Macs and Linux user is a mistake
even because it seems that the next step that MS is going to take is
to develop his own unix based program. As coach in the past I didn't
buy a lot of software just because it wasn't made for my MAC. This is
the main reason why I don't buy a perfect rower (who the heck is still
using DOS?)
It is not that hard and it might be a very good market move.
Marco

Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Andrew Martin wrote:
> > Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> >
> >>Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
> >>bad thing...
> >
> >
> > I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
> > vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
> > for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
> > small a reach as Linux.
>
> You would be surprised to know how many people are using training logs
> under linux or other various non-windows os!
> And you would be yet more surprised to know how many of these people
> actually wrote their own software.
> If you are a developer and your software is really that great, then
> people will pay for it -even linux users.
>
> (btw, greatest software is usually cross-platform -and mostly free)

 

[GaryG]

"marco" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I tend to agree with you. Ignoring Macs and Linux user is a mistake
> even because it seems that the next step that MS is going to take is
> to develop his own unix based program. As coach in the past I didn't
> buy a lot of software just because it wasn't made for my MAC. This is
> the main reason why I don't buy a perfect rower (who the heck is still
> using DOS?)
> It is not that hard and it might be a very good market move.
> Marco

Well, as a software developer, I think I can comment on this. Although I
would like to develop for the Mac and Linux, I don't. There are several
reasons, both technical and financial (in no particular order):

1) Porting my applications to Mac/Linux (i.e., Java) would be an enormous
undertaking, for a very small market potential.

2) Applications built on Java have (until recently) tended to be slow.

3) It's my understanding that Java applications are very difficult to secure
against crackers (i.e., software thieves), because it is an "interpreted"
language (this same problem applies to .Net).

4) Linux users tend to expect software for free.

5) Applications written for a cross-platform language are unable to take
advantage of many of the built-in features of the operating system. This
means that the program will have a "lowest common denominator" look and
feel, or I'll have to spend a bunch of time and effort emulating those
features by writing my own code in Java.


Actually, I'd like to stand this question on it's head - why is it that
Windows programs are not able to run on Linux or Mac? Windows is the most
popular OS, by a wide, wide margin...one would think that the folks creating
Linux/Mac OS'es would include an emulator to allow the wide range of Windows
programs to run under their OS'es. There are emulators available, but
they're not built into those OS'es - I suspect this has more to do with
religion than technology, however.

GG

>
> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Andrew Martin wrote:
> > > Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > >
> > >>Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
> > >>bad thing...
> > >
> > >
> > > I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
> > > vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
> > > for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
> > > small a reach as Linux.
> >
> > You would be surprised to know how many people are using training logs
> > under linux or other various non-windows os!
> > And you would be yet more surprised to know how many of these people
> > actually wrote their own software.
> > If you are a developer and your software is really that great, then
> > people will pay for it -even linux users.
> >
> > (btw, greatest software is usually cross-platform -and mostly free)

 

[Jon Senior]

GaryG garyg@shasta_SPAMBEGONE_software.com opined the following...
> Well, as a software developer, I think I can comment on this. Although I
> would like to develop for the Mac and Linux, I don't. There are several
> reasons, both technical and financial (in no particular order):
>
> 1) Porting my applications to Mac/Linux (i.e., Java) would be an enormous
> undertaking, for a very small market potential.

So why use Java? There are some free toolkits that operate on at least
two of those platforms that would allow you to develop in C++ (Assuming
that this is your language of choice).

> 2) Applications built on Java have (until recently) tended to be slow.

This has been steadily improving for many years now. JIT compilers and
well-designed core libraries mean that a colleague and I have managed to
release a program built 100% in Java that behaves with the response
times of a "conventional" application.

> 3) It's my understanding that Java applications are very difficult to secure
> against crackers (i.e., software thieves), because it is an "interpreted"
> language (this same problem applies to .Net).

If your product has a market above a certain size, it will be cracked.
It is simply not possible to prevent this as the code (In some form) has
to be available to the user in order to execute it. Spend less time
building security into your application and you can reduce your
development costs, and thus the end cost. If the product seems good
value for money, the incentive to crack and copy is lowered.

> 4) Linux users tend to expect software for free.

True.

> 5) Applications written for a cross-platform language are unable to take
> advantage of many of the built-in features of the operating system. This
> means that the program will have a "lowest common denominator" look and
> feel, or I'll have to spend a bunch of time and effort emulating those
> features by writing my own code in Java.

This depends on what you are developing. 3d Acceleration systems are now
reasonably standardised and OpenGL is a universal library for
development in that area. Beyond that, my experience is that most
windowing systems are drifting towards a similarity of widgets, so it
would be possible (And recommended) to separate the data from the
interface and thus only have to recode a small proportion for each port.

> Actually, I'd like to stand this question on it's head - why is it that
> Windows programs are not able to run on Linux or Mac? Windows is the most
> popular OS, by a wide, wide margin...one would think that the folks creating
> Linux/Mac OS'es would include an emulator to allow the wide range of Windows
> programs to run under their OS'es. There are emulators available, but
> they're not built into those OS'es - I suspect this has more to do with
> religion than technology, however.

It has to do with the fact that no right-thinking person would choose a
less stable platform over a more stable one. That and the small issue of
licencing and openness which meant that producing a windows clone was a
near impossible task. Despite this, Macs have for some time come with
(Possibly as an optional extra) a windows emulator and the Wine project
and VMWare cater nicely for the Linux market.

Given the vast number of "undocumented features" in windows, it is a
miracle that most windows programs are able to run on windows (even this
is not always the case!), let alone have other systems run them.

Jon

 

[Mark Wolfe]

marco wrote:
> I tend to agree with you. Ignoring Macs and Linux user is a mistake
> even because it seems that the next step that MS is going to take is
> to develop his own unix based program. As coach in the past I didn't
> buy a lot of software just because it wasn't made for my MAC. This is
> the main reason why I don't buy a perfect rower (who the heck is still
> using DOS?)
> It is not that hard and it might be a very good market move.
> Marco
>
> Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>Andrew Martin wrote:
>>
>>>Francesco Devittori <frenkatfrenkdtcm> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>>>
>>>
>>>>Still writing software for Windows? No Linux version?
>>>>bad thing...
>>>
>>>
>>>I can only assume you're not serious. Consumer marketshare is still
>>>vastly Windows focused. You'd have to be an idiot to go into business
>>>for a niche market (bicycle training) supporting a platform with as
>>>small a reach as Linux.
>>
>>You would be surprised to know how many people are using training logs
>>under linux or other various non-windows os!
>>And you would be yet more surprised to know how many of these people
>>actually wrote their own software.
>>If you are a developer and your software is really that great, then
>>people will pay for it -even linux users.
>>
>>(btw, greatest software is usually cross-platform -and mostly free)

I'd like to find some sort of training log software. As for the linux
thing, people are seeing the light. My whole family runs it, including
my Mom.


--
Mark Wolfe Lakeside, ca http://www.wolfenet.org
gpg fingerprint = 42B6 EFEB 5414 AA18 01B7 64AC EF46 F7E6 82F6 8C71
How do I type "for i in *.dvi do xdvi i done" in a GUI?
(Discussion in comp.os.linux.misc on the intuitiveness of interfaces.)

 

[Matt O'Toole]

Mark Wolfe wrote:

> I'd like to find some sort of training log software. As for the
> linux thing, people are seeing the light. My whole family runs it,
> including my Mom.

Actually, Gary's program (Cyclistats) is very nice. But for $45, I'll continue
to use a spreadsheet. It may be worth it to you, though. I encourage you to
give it a try -- I think he still offers a free 30-day demo.

Matt O.