This is just a never ending saga.
Here is the latest thrilling discovery of the new digital version of TOG year 4:
Last year during the redesign process, they put the Poetics and Frameworks on their website - on the Loom. You had to log into your account (therefore, only those authorized were able to get the documents). Then it was downloaded as a PDF file. Many of us do not like reading on the computer screen and we chose to print this document. Depending on what printer a person has and what type of ink utilized, many times it is cheaper to take the PDF file to Kinko's to be printed.
Well, the new change is that everything is now protected by Locklizard and therefore can not be taken to Kinko's to be printed. When I say everything, this also means the whole digital version of the curriculum. On many homeschool yahoo groups there has been talk about buying the digital and taking it to a local printer - possibly just printing certain pages such as the teacher's notes. YOU CAN'T DO THAT! Locklizard prevents it. While we as customers have purchased this product we do not really own it - in my opinion we are renting it for a year. If it was truly mine I would have rights to take it to be printed if I so chose to pay that money.
Interesting take by another company on the frustrations that Locklizard caused their customers can be read here:
In essence it is a balancing act between protecting the author's hard work and yet not causing undue frustrations to customers. What I believe TOG has not learned is that good companies do not tip this balance too far the direction of protection because customers will stop being customers. So far, while the customer service reps at TOG are nice when I share my concerns and issues, they can do nothing about them. This is the direction the company is taking - and that is that. As a customer of TOG for the last 8 years, I can say it is a very bad direction. I used to be such a supporter of TOG that I hosted teas for them. I gained nothing financially but just felt that strongly in the product. Now I blog to warn others away. If you are in the process of deciding between something else and TOG --- please let this tip the balance in the other curriculum's direction. TOG has turned into a product that will give you major headaches.
2 comments:
Thanks for the warnings! I had reservations about DE before and now know I certainly won't ever be purchasing it! Now I'm kicking myself for having sold one of my years which I may not be able to replace now....
I feel badly for the negative feelings I have about the new DE but it has really been a headache. And I hate that I can't take it to a printer to print just the pages I want. The interface is not pleasant. I have to go through several screens before I eventually get to the information I am looking for. I honestly thought I was just being 'difficult' -- since I really like print and am not fond of reading on line --- but my husband who is in computers for a living looked at it. He thought the interface was horrible. He felt it was a difficult product to find your way around. He actually tried to program a way around their many screens but couldn't do it. He walked away saying 'end users will hate this'.
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