Bye Bye AfterShot

[Artem]

My hope is that ASP IS dead. And that Corel integrates the features of ASP into one package such as PSPx5.

Yeah, to pay twice is what I always wanted. I can not speak for others but I will not pay a cent for any other Corel product if such thing will happen. And I will not recommend to buy Corel products to anyone if ASP IS dead.

[vieledinge]

My hope is that ASP IS dead. And that Corel integrates the features of ASP into one package such as PSPx5.

Many ASP-Users need no PSP and can't run it.

[steje44]

I bought ASP ! WHY...? I have a Linux Sytem. I don´t need PSP !!!

[jknights]

My hope is that ASP IS dead. And that Corel integrates the features of ASP into one package such as PSPx5.

Yeah, to pay twice is what I always wanted. I can not speak for others but I will not pay a cent for any other Corel product if such thing will happen. And I will not recommend to buy Corel products to anyone if ASP IS dead.

+1

[FalCT60]

The proof will be in the next update - both its timing and what it contains. I am pessimistic, but I'd like to be proven wrong.

F_P

+1

J.-Luc

[mick232]

Is there actually any evidence that the team was fired and did not quit themselves?

Does personal conversation with all of them count?
It is easy to to contact them via G+ and other means. Just check for yourself.

I have known that crew for years. Me, Bernd, Marco and Markus have been helping them at Photokina since 2006.
So yes, I trust them. I have zero trust in Corel from whom I only get lame marketing messages.

That indeed sheds a different light on it. But still too early to draw any conclusions about the future of the product. I am not in a hurry, it works for me now. I can last at least one year without an update, so I'll see where we go from there.

[Gerard2]

sigh. . .

I've been a bibble user since october 2007, before that I used rawshooter. Altough it is not officially pronounced dead, letting (or telling to) these people go is a very bad sign. I would like to know where they end up As for the non-paid extra support from AFX and others. Over the years I have been on the forum(s), their help has been very much appreciated. (would like to know where they end up as well)

With my old camera, ASP and Bibble will continue to work, but if there is a new camera, I might have to broaden my horizon.

Gerard

[nyukuri]

for two months I was just another ASP enthusiast, for another 2 months I saw the problems and came from one disappointment to another, now with the developers gone, the decision has been made easy for me: I'll switch to LR! there my images are not deleted without my consent, the WB actually works and LR knows my lens and can correct it! and on my new i7 system it is reasonably fast.
I do mourn ASP, I really loved it, but I blame its (foster!?) parent for neglect!

[mick232]

for two months I was just another ASP enthusiast, for another 2 months I saw the problems and came from one disappointment to another, now with the developers gone, the decision has been made easy for me: I'll switch to LR! there my images are not deleted without my consent, the WB actually works and LR knows my lens and can correct it! and on my new i7 system it is reasonably fast.
I do mourn ASP, I really loved it, but I blame its (foster!?) parent for neglect!

There is just one problem: I hate the catalogue. I do not want to import my photos. I want to edit them in place. And as far as I know, this is still not possible in Lightroom.

[d-light]

I'm just horrified reading through the various posts. So many people spending their time and efforts on a product that has already gone through some ups and downs. Not only the original Bibble Labs team but of course also the plugin developers and engaged users / beta testers sharing their ideas and giving their appreciated support.

With my old Nikon I will probably be able to continue using ASP just as a hobbyist. Still, that is not very satisfying. I have invested too much time in working or at least getting used to many RAW converters (starting with RAW shooter over Capture One, Adobe Camera RAW plus PS, trying LR, Capture NX,...) and I do indeed employ Aperture as a Mac user in parallel. Organizing images and the option of working with referenced files (instead of managed like in LR) are the main advantages that arouse my attention. Image processing / improvement is a different story... No such variable tools like in Bibble / ASP.

I guess we should have spent our time shooting instead....

That's what we probably should have preferred, indeed!

We'll see if and when there will be any proof of whatsoever positive news (Re: the "Corel employee post")

Cheers, d-light

[stefanve]

This is my very first Corel product and I just bought it some months ago.
To me it is the only product that works good on Linux (coming from osx and LR).
If you look at this board and comments on the product page, I think allot of costumers are Linux users, and since there is no real alternative at the moment it would be really strange (read stupid) to kill the Linux version. Unless Darktable is going to be equally good at which point ASP will meet the same end as WP for Linux.

But as a new Corel user can any body explain where all the Corel hate is coming from?

Regards,

Stfeanve

[grahamh]

But as a new Corel user can any body explain where all the Corel hate is coming from?

The problem is that AS came from an established Bibble base and had expertise and great forward looking plans but was financially strapped so progress was very slow however it did cater for user expectations long term.

The acquisition by Corel brought in a great deal of hope and uncertainty especially as their other related products were not Linux or Mac compatible and the expectation that these might be dropped. With the news that the ex Bibble staff had been all fired this prospect is alarmingly more likely as these guys had all the expertise both of the product and the os variants. It now looks likely that Corel will continue with AS but in the long term integrate it with their other related family products and that may well also mean the demise of Mac and Linux. I guess, being optimistic they might already have expertise to continue with all three os's the software code but firing the expertise that came with the acquisition is a strange move. My guess is the future plans Corel had in mind were well off track with those of the original team and so they could not live and work happily together and this is the reason for all the bad feeling and a big element of that is mistrust!

The recent announcement from Corel means absolutely nothing and to build and repair confidence they need to come clean and tell us all what their future plans for AS are, at least for the next few years. If it is to continue with all three os's and update to provide more cameras then this will not be a good move as it means the product development is stagnant with the possibility of minor enhancements for the marketing guys to promote sales. The ideal outcome is for AS as it is now, frequent camera updates and inclusion of new advanced features which will compete and beat the competition plus better 'external links' to existing Corel s/w but not wholesale integration as that whilst feasible may result in a great deal of sacrifice.

So you call it 'hate' but it is all about uncertainty and disappointment.

Corel management can resolve this at a stroke if they want to by showing us the road map for AS but by not doing so they alone continue FUD which historically always kills a product long term!

The key to success is new sales and users who stay with the product because it has a future for them. Note the USERS are major influence and unless they actively participate in development the product lives only as bought.

[stefanve]

But as a new Corel user can any body explain where all the Corel hate is coming from?

The problem is that AS came from an established Bibble base and had expertise and great forward looking plans but was financially strapped so progress was very slow however it did cater for user expectations long term.

The acquisition by Corel brought in a great deal of hope and uncertainty especially as their other related products were not Linux or Mac compatible and the expectation that these might be dropped. With the news that the ex Bibble staff had been all fired this prospect is alarmingly more likely as these guys had all the expertise both of the product and the os variants. It now looks likely that Corel will continue with AS but in the long term integrate it with their other related family products and that may well also mean the demise of Mac and Linux. I guess, being optimistic they might already have expertise to continue with all three os's the software code but firing the expertise that came with the acquisition is a strange move. My guess is the future plans Corel had in mind were well off track with those of the original team and so they could not live and work happily together and this is the reason for all the bad feeling and a big element of that is mistrust!

The recent announcement from Corel means absolutely nothing and to build and repair confidence they need to come clean and tell us all what their future plans for AS are, at least for the next few years. If it is to continue with all three os's and update to provide more cameras then this will not be a good move as it means the product development is stagnant with the possibility of minor enhancements for the marketing guys to promote sales. The ideal outcome is for AS as it is now, frequent camera updates and inclusion of new advanced features which will compete and beat the competition plus better 'external links' to existing Corel s/w but not wholesale integration as that whilst feasible may result in a great deal of sacrifice.

So you call it 'hate' but it is all about uncertainty and disappointment.

Corel management can resolve this at a stroke if they want to by showing us the road map for AS but by not doing so they alone continue FUD which historically always kills a product long term!

The key to success is new sales and users who stay with the product because it has a future for them. Note the USERS are major influence and unless they actively participate in development the product lives only as bought.

Thank you for you reply.
After reading it, and the other posts on this forum, I think the users them self are spreading the FUD without really having a good reason. The only reason given is that the original team is fired. There are many reasons possible as of why they are fired, fact is we don't know why. I think it is strange reasoning that ASP is some how so complex that it is impossible to learn the code. Especially since Corel has many graphic specialist working for them, and they did have the time to learn the code before the team was fired. Apart from that, most new functionality can be accomplished with the plugin architecture, which is not that difficult to learn (I'm a developer for 10+ years and I have work on graphics software).

I think that if they didn't want to support OSX and Linux they could have done that with ASP 1.0. I don't buy the reasoning that they did that to get some cash because that would become a PR nightmare. Appart from that there is no real alternative on Linux so why would they kill the only platform where they don't have any competition.

I don't see a reason not to give Corel the benefit of the doubt, and actually I don't see a reason to doubt them to begin with. Esspecialy since they put on there Facebook page that a new version is coming with support for Linux and OS X.
If they miss use our trust we can always gather the pitchforks. Now the only thing it does is scaring potential customers away and is better if allot of people use ASP since it would guaranty continuation of development.

Regards,

Stefan

[wongjai888]

Stefan,
Very balanced and sensible post .. we have way too much speculation here. Corel is not stupid and I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, as you suggested.

[Hobgoblin]

@wongjai888
@stefanve

Have Corel called in their footsoldiers?
Let us hope your faith in this Capitalist company is not mis-placed.