This section features reader responses to Ambrosia’s software & service. We will include the good with the bad, and address any problems brought to our attention. These are real people, writing real letters about real issues. Feel free to drop us a line.
In the first issue of The Ambrosia Times we ran an article titled Rumourcide . These past two months, there has not been all that much gossip on the electronic nets, so we have combined some of the comments that would have ran in Rumourcide here in this section.
 
Address
>> “ Yesterday I received a card from you thanking me for my support in software products and to let me know the latest version of ColorSwitch is 2.3.0. You are asking for an additional $5.00 Your shareware asks for $10.00 which I sent to you. Your card did not explain the additional $5.00. If this is normal policy it should be explained up front in the shareware. Believe me it’s not the amount of money but the way it is done.”
Lloyd D. Mogelberg
—Sorry for the confusion Mr. Mogelberg. The $10 is the appropriate registration fee for ColorSwitch. Once that is paid you owe us nothing else. The postcard was meant to point out that you do not have the most recent version of ColorSwitch. If you are satisfied with the older version, everything is o.k.. If you would like the newer version shipped to you we have to ask for $5 to cover the cost of the disk and shipping & handling. Ambrosia does most of its business online, so actual disk shipments are an added expense not figured into your registration fee.
>> “Thanks for inventing Easy Envelopes Plus. I borrowed it from a shareware disk, and was using it for three months on my new Apple Macintosh Quadra 610, with a HP Deskwriter printer. Then it died. Now, it cannot remember anything, and insists that it has 813 items in its memory—even though it is completely Blank. What do I get if I send you the $15—an updated version? A new disk?”
Douglas B. Lyons
—Ouch. It is letters like this that hurt. It is not so much what you could get, but what you have gotten Mr. Lyons. As shareware all of our programs include a license agreement that states that you are free to try out the program for up to thirty days. Here you are saying that you knew EE+ is shareware, and that you have used it for three months and want to know what more you can get for the registration fee. We would be happy to help you out with your problem, or even send a new disk. Please call our Technical service line at 716.427.2577. But, you really should consider sending us the $15 registration fee, because you are in violation of our license agreement. We try to be helpful and trusting, but please do not take advantage.
>> “When we got our PowerMac, I was nervous about screen savers. After Dark™ was causing so much trouble — screen savers in general seemed buggy. Eclipse™ has been smooth and easy — Thanks.”
Channing Daniel & John Bruner.
— Thanks. Eclipse is actually one of the first programs we are thinking of playing with when we get our PowerPC. It should be even smoother when written in the native language. Stay tuned.
>> “Many thanks for both your economical and entertaining products. No mail lists please, as I object to the wastepaper that most people call mail.”
Tom C.
>> “Do not release my name, address, or account number to any other entity external to Ambrosia Software, Inc. (except as required to bill the Visa account, of course :-)”
Laurence R. B.
—Many thanks for your registration fees Mr. C and Mr. B. Do not worry about mailing lists. We keep our master list of names in Hector’s cage. No human will be able to get it there. No, seriously, the list of Ambrosia’s registered users has to be kept so as we know who to notify about major upgrades. This list is for internal use only though. We do not “sell” names or bombard these people with mailers.
>> “I recently saw Maelstrom on a friend's Macintosh. I have an IBM clone 486. I think I am addicted. Where can I find a DOS version of Maelstrom.”
—Sorry friend, but Ambrosia has always been a Macintosh specific developer. None of our programs have been ported over to DOS or Windows. We are not even sure if we could do it if we wanted to. Most of Ambrosia’s programs take advantage of the Mac's special abilities. We have been asked, begged and threatened to carry over our programs (especially Maelstrom), but we are standing firm. If you are still able to return your 486 to your dealer, you can trade it in for a shiny new PowerPC. This way you can have the best of both worlds.
>> “If Andrew Welch’s “Martinet” is available yet as shareware, please send this also and charge this to the same Visa Card. I have been so impressed with “Maelstrom” that I am prepared to purchase “Martinet” sight unseen.”
—Well thank you for the vote of confidence. Unfortunately Martinet is still very much on the drawing boards. You may want to check out Chiral, and if you liked Maelstrom you definitely want to get your hands on Apeiron. Stay tuned for Martinet.
