JEFF AYLING  Heya,

I did reply to your emails - I just searched and found them asking for you to email me your codes so I could reset them for you. I did not receive a reply but I have since found your codes and reset them for you. Please let me know if all is well. I do apologize for taking so long to see this message on MacUpdate. I've been bunkered down in development and have not visited in a while.

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 1.0.0.298)

JEFF AYLING  Heya TEKL,

You may like to try this latest build - the import issue will certainly be fixed.

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 4.2.0.41)

JEFF AYLING  ooops. my comment below was supposed to be part of the thread with JazzAddict below.  
(Version 1.0.0.292)

JEFF AYLING  Cool...no hard feelings I hope. Yeah that promo price appeared at $10 and I immediately informed MacUpdate about the error and they have since corrected it.

Please drop me an email team@dottunes.net so I can show you something interesting :-)  
(Version 1.0.0.292)

JEFF AYLING  Heya, ok maybe I did get a little over defensive but I feel I did so with good reason. In retail sales, a bait and switch is a form of fraud. It is intentional dishonest misleading marketing whereby the party putting forth the fraud lures in customers by advertising a product or service at an unprofitably low price, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available but that a substitute is.

I do not feel that our model of offering a free application with optional paid plugins is bait and switch and I welcome others to share their opinion. We are the most honest people you are likely to meet and if it is felt that our model is deceptive in any way then we will look at our options and consider reverting to a time limited demo or crippling the app after a number of plays. We just don't want to have to do that.

I could list thousands of examples especially on the web where users can participate free with a paid option to extend functionality.

Anyway, perhaps we can move forward and leave all this behind us. I apologize for any of my comments which fueled the discussion. In fact, please drop me an email at team@dottunes.net so I can apologize directly.

BTW: We have a native iPhone app in the works and it's going to be a showstopper! We're building some incredible functionality which is not available elsewhere and is very exciting.

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 1.0.0.292)

JEFF AYLING  Hi JazzAddict,

Firstly I completely respect your right to share your opinion and I'd be curious to know if others feel the same way. I must however defend our position and explain why we offer a free app with optional paid plugins. It's really quite simple. Why should a user have to pay for functionality they don't want. If you want to access a remote library to play tracks then why be made to pay for a download feature which you don't want.

Would it be better if the app was a 30 day demo and then didn't work at all until purchased?

Would it be better to limit the number of plays to say 30 plays and then cripple the app?

These are the decisions we have to make and we are 100% certain that we made the right one. Release a free app with some amazing functionality with an optional plugin to add another feature if people desire that feature. Perfect!!

I mean, if you were to try HookUp and see what we've basically given you for free you'd be amazed. With HookUp - completely for free - you can connect to another version of HookUp - again, the free app - and play tracks from EVERY iTUNES SHARE IN THAT ENTIRE REMOTE NETWORK!!

Even if there are 40 iTunes shares in that remote network, you can play tracks from every one of those remote shares.

We've basically given that to you FREE - no charge, no limitations, no app expiry after 30 days..FREE.

...and how do we survive, by people choosing to purchase a sing optionally le plugin to add additional functionality....and only if they choose. We don't flash up a prompt to buy the plugin each time the app launches, we don't even have an ad running in the app asking you to buy it.

I guess you just can't please some people even when you give your app away free.

Jeff  
(Version 1.0.0.292)

JEFF AYLING  Hi all,

This version of DOT.TUNES has been released to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3G.

This build contains support for the new DOT.iPHONE Version 2.0 Plugin which can stream an entire playlist, to your iPhone or iPod Touch, one track after the other - without having to click to play each track!

Enjoy :-)

Jeff  
(Version 4.1.1.3)

JEFF AYLING  Hi all,

I have been using PHP, JSP and Servlets for many years now for large projects on Linux and OSX Servers. I have had Yuma installed for about 3 weeks now and I'm incredibly impressed. It's lightning fast, stable and has a fantastic syntax. I have it running on an OSX Server with Apache. Yuma was simple to install and the development server allows testing new code without the need to configure apache.

I have paid for the Yuma Enterprise Server and will certainly use Yuma over PHP, JSP or Servlets for future projects.

It costs nothing to download the development server to check it out - you will be impressed!!

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 1.0b7)

JEFF AYLING  Good News - Universal Binary is only days away :-)  
(Version 3.0.44)

JEFF AYLING  The reason that I would like this comment removed is that the comments and ratings in no way reflect the use, functionality, features, ease of use, value or stability of the application.

You gave DOT.TUNES the following ratings:

Features: 1 star - yet there are no iTunes web server apps on the market with a feature set which comes close to those found in DOT.TUNES. Based on the actual feature set found in the app anything less than 4 or 5 stars would be inacurate and misleading.

Ease of Use: 1 star - yet you can publish your entire iTunes library in just a couple of clicks with no technical knowledge required. To provide an acurate rating for Ease of Use would easily lead to a 4 or 5 star rating as the app could not be easier to use

Value: 1 star - yet the app can be purchased for $15 during the 30 day free trial and $30 after that. Plus we work on this one app full time, just look at the number of new releases to see that there has been a consistent stream of upgrades over the past few years. Also, our policy of users paying for major version number updates has never been enforced and we provide free serial numbers to every existing customer even on new major releases. An accurate rating for Value would surely have to be 3 to 5 stars

Stability: 1 star - is just so misleading and is one of the reasons why I suspected you as a competitor. I mean did the app crash for you? Surely it must have crashed to give stability a 1 star rating. The only reason not to give stability a 4 or 5 star rating is if you experienced crashes which I'm sure is not the case.

All up where as your combined ratings should have generated a 4 or 5 star rating you chose on 1 star all round due to what exactly, capital letters in the app name, the app choosing to help the user by reaching outside their network to tell the user their external ip address, because the standard buttons "look odd and out of place", oh and the use of caps and OSX in the app name, the suspicians of self promotion which are simply untrue oh and because you "just get a feeling in your gut".

I should note that the MacUpdate ratings are optional so to specifically set each of them to a 1 is intentially misleading and I will make sure that MacUpdate consider removing the post.  
(Version 3.0)

JEFF AYLING  Hi JAZZADDICT,

I am pleased to report that our DOT.TUNES Universal Binary development should be complete within 30 days. This will be a free upgrade to all users who have registered Version 3.0

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 3.0)

JEFF AYLING  A comment was just added below and I have written to MacUpdate to ask that it be removed as I suspect that it has been written by a competitor. Here is a copy of the letter I sent:

I wonder if you could help.

I just noticed that an appalling comment has been added to our main DOT.TUNES page which I think is outrageous and completely unfair. I am wondering if it could please be removed as I am suspecting that it may be the comment from a competitor.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14689

Firstly the Lil' Snitch comments: DOT.TUNES does not phone home to pass serial numbers or user details back to our server - it simply makes an external connection to retrieve its external ip address as an app can not discover its external ip address without a prod from outside the local network. The user needs to know their external ip address to give to their friends, this is a basic request from users and has been part of DT for years without any concerns ever being expressed.

The comments regarding the app design will not benefit the user and everyone who has seen the new app has congratulated us on the amazing new look/feel/logo and web and app interface.

To suggest we be added to the developer blacklist is just crazy. We work full time on DOT.TUNES and we are responsible and ethical at all times. We are based in Sydney Australia and through a simple IP check it should be easy to see that the comments on the DT page were certainly not added by us. Our IP Address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. When I received your email containing the special promo url I emailed all existing DT customers and asked if they could help us by emailing everyone they know to tell then about our 50% MacUpdate promo and ask them to click that link, download the demo, add any comments and purchase through MacUpdate if they like the app. That's how those comments came to appear and I would doubt that any of the IP addresses were even from Australia let alone from us. We have a loyal customer base who value our pleasant manner and awesome customer service, when we put out the word to help us out I guess they jumped in to assist us - quite the opposite from what we deserve according to this users comments.

Again the user has not assisted MacUpdate customers and admits it by saying "I have not addressed what the software actually does"

Finally the user goes on to make a list on our page of other sharing apps. Hey I don't mind a user mentioning another app but to make a list containing links just isn't right.

So finally, I ask that you please consider removing this comment. If it can be done before this promo is finished that would be great as I'm sure it is reducing the number of sales.

Thanks very much

Jeff Ayling  
(Version 3.0)

JEFF AYLING  Threedee, thanks for your comments.

Version 3 contains hundreds of hours of coding, improvements and new features.

For example, there is now a built-in Flash Player allowing you to publish your iTunes tracks on your web space or myspace pages - this is a HOT feature.

This is a beta and yes there are a few small issues such as a couple of css and javascript errors on some browsers - Safari for example is fine and we are working on messages in other browsers.

We'll have all of these fixed for the official non beta release.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 3.0b1)

JEFF  Hi there,

If you want a tracker address, either download the Tracker software and start your own Tracker and/or join the DOT-TUNES mailing list and send an email to the group asking for a Tracker Address - I'm certain someone will give you one ;-)

You can join the Mailing list here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dotmailinglist/

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 1.1a1)

JEFF  Hi Scooter, thanks for your feedback.

The lastest release of DOT-TUNES for OSX and Windows contains a FREE DOT-TUNES Client Application. With the new Client app you can now download a single track, an entire playlist, an entire artist, and entire album OR .... drum roll ... every track in iTunes, with a single click :-)

You can simply click [Apple D] at any time to download every track listed in the main menu.

This means that you can select [Apple T] which will reveal every published track - this could be every track in iTunes if they have all been published - then [Apple D] to download them all.

Enjoy :-)

Jeff  
(Version 1.3a4)

JEFF  The only part of the review which I believe is genuine and honest is the final comment, "Don't waste your time" where he describes whether or not you should read his review :-)

Ok, I'll only be replying to a few of the comments made by rawsweets as his aggressive and over-critical manner is not something I want to get involved in.

Firstly DOT-TUNES is sooo much more than BrowserTunes which is an app for remotely controlling iTunes. Sure you can do that with DOT-TUNES but you can also download the music from over the net via a web browser or with the free DOT-TUNES Client software which is included in the download.

Rawsweets claims that "their app is really intended for site owners who want to make their media available to the wider web community" - this is simply not the case. In fact with thousands of users around the world, I don't know of a single user who is using it as rawsweets describes. Bands use DOT-TUNES to share their work in progress tracks with others in their band - and I'm talking about large bands like the Human League in the UK. Many people like a department head at Apple who I've just been iChatting with use DOT-TUNES to listen to their home music while at work.

We are professional musicians with 718 advertisements currently on radio and television and we created DOT-TUNES so we can share our work in progress tracks between our studios and it works perfectly for that use as well.

We were forced to add the window which asks people to locate their xml file because many users have this file located on remote hard drives. Some users even have multiple xml files for different iTunes setups and if rawsweets was on our development team then he would force you to use only the file he can find - not the one you want - that's why he has the time to write such a long critical review rather than building software of his own.

"Now they want me to look through my THOUSANDS of songs and choose which to make available" - this is simply untrue and makes this review a complete waste of time for MacUpdate readers to worry about - it also makes me think that rawsweets may be a developer with a competitive product. At no time does DOT-TUNES want you to look through thousands of songs to choose which to make available!!! Period. What Rawsweets would have said if he was being honest is that DOT-TUNES then allows you to choose the artists, albums or playlists which you would like to make available. The user is presented with a window showing all artists, albums and playlists which you can publish - why because that is what our users have asked for. It also allows musicians to publish only the tracks which they own and have created themselves so as not to publish copyright material which they are not allowed to publish. You can also, click a 'select all' box which rawsweets felt you didn't need to know about - this will publish everything in iTunes by clicking a single button :-)

And then to criticize the use of tables on our web site :-) this is getting funny now and time for me to sign off. I'm surprised he was happy to write this long criticism on MacUpdate which also uses tables.  
(Version 1.3a3)

JEFF  Hi there,

DOT-TUNES is just like any other web server. It runs on a specified port on whatever ip address is available.

Many of our customers use a Dynamic IP routing service such as:

http://www.dyndns.com/

http://www.no-ip.com/

We are very happy to walk you through the steps to get this working if you wish. Just visit

http://www.dottunes.net

and send us a message with your iChat or GoogleTalk details and we'll contact you and help out.

Cheers

Jeff  
(Version 1.3a3)

JEFF  Yes the client is free and there is no service which you pay for either.

If you wish to connect to a DOT-TUNES Server to download music then you never pay a cent. If you wish to run your own DOT-TUNES Server then you can buy the server but it is not needed to download music with the free client application.  
(Version 1.0a10)

DOT-TUNES  There are huge differences between using Apache as described by Hunter Horseman and using DOT-TUNES. For example Using Apache will not provide you with any track info. You would not see album or artist info, genre, track length or size. You could not search for tracks using Hunters suggestion. Artists and albums would not be sorted and easily browsed via a drop down menu nor would html files be created containing navigation menus and sorted tables displaying tracks for easy use. Then there is searching, logging, multiple passwords for each user, selecting which tracks are published .... I could go on. Please check out DOT-TUNES for yourself and make up your own mind. Enjoy :-)  
(Version 1.1f)

JEFF  Well, the MacUpdate link above is not actually crippled. It publishes all records - but has the 5 minute time-out.

The link below is crippled by only publishing the first 10 records in any group but it times-out after 1 hour.

I tried to cover both angles :-)

Please let us know how you go with the software though. So far no bugs have been reported. We'll get a final release online shortly - but please - more feedback would be great.

Just email team@dotpod.net with any thoughts.

Thanks

Jeff  
(Version 0.1b1)

JEFF  Hi there,

A few people have asked for a version which times out in 1 hour rather than 5 minutes.

Here you go :-)

http://www.dotpod.net/DOT-ADDRESSBOOK0.1b1.sit

This release does however only allow the first 10 contacts in any group to be available.

Also, they have the same version number so maybe delete one before unstuffing the other to avoid confusion.

Enjoy :-)

Jeff  
(Version 0.1b1)

JEFF  Thanks for your feedback.

We do plan to do exactly that :-)

We're first releasing each app as it is ready to give users the chance to add feature requests etc and then there will be the main app which will contain all modules.

Users can then either register a single app or the MotherShip with all modules.

Best regards,

Jeff  
(Version 0.1b1)

JEFF  Hi all,

Jeff here from DOT-ADDRESSBOOK.

Please remember that this is our first beta release which can not yet be registered and needs to be restarted every 5 minutes.

Please email any feedback to team@dotpod.net

Any comments at all would be great.

Best Regards,

Jeff

http://www.dotpod.net  
(Version 0.1b1)

JEFF  I hope you all like the new application design.

Thanks for your comments which prompted us to fast-track our new interface.

Regards

Jeff  
(Version 1.0b10)

JEFF  Hi all,

Please send all beta comments to team@dotpod.net

Enjoy :-)

Jeff

DOT-POD/DOT-TUNES  
(Version 0.1b)