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stp New user 47 Posts |
I sometimes wonder why the magic retail business for some reason think that different rules and customer service would apply for them, different than for other retail business. E.g. just looking how much crap and missleading magic products is released. Why can producers and magicshops get away with that? Do we think that because it is magic and thus its secret and protected anyway? that's maybe different discussion. I am just wondering if other online stores would get away with the approach alakazam is taking. E.g. also potentially loose all your points. I think it is very strange to treat your customers like that, and giving the impression its only about commerce. And the whole download problem shouldn't have been an issue anyway in the first place. So no extra applause for a possible migration is needed in my opinion. I am not buying stuff at my neighbour
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mikenewman Inner circle Kent Island, Maryland 1114 Posts |
Man, you guys would complain that the million-dollar bills weren't new if someone gave you some for free....
Alakazam is not in the IT business. They don't want to lose anyone as a customer. They will do whatever they can to make this right for everyone while they don't lose a ton of money doing so in the process. And I don't blame them. they're trying to make a living in these horrible times and they are not rich by any means! Peter does not rip us off. He cares. He does his best to make everyone happy with a bunch of complaining, unhappy, never satisfied, always negative, always suspicious, and always against dealers people! If you're able to download the videos, it really isn't that hard if you have a computer. You click, and save to your computer. And same for smartphones if for some reason you don't have a computer. Not sure how you watch them, without a computer or smartphone? Or are you just !@#$%ing to be !@#$%ing because you have to.... Does it take effort on our part? Yes, it sure does. But so what. It's really not hard to do..... Any new migration in IT has many issues and bumps and problems. Period. They will get it all worked out. Until then. Chill out. Try and download your stuff a few at a time. Maybe 3 a day or whatever. Make a goal of x per day. It doesn't take that long unless you're still on AOL..... |
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Fire Starter Inner circle 4809 Posts |
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On Dec 26, 2021, Fire Starter wrote: 100 percent |
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boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
I think the issue is more nuanced that "Alakazam is not in the IT business."
Of course -- they're not. They're in the marketing business. And that's fine. But -- like nearly every business on the planet -- they have an IT component. The bigger issue -- and this is probably something we could debate -- is whether or not it's customer-friendly to take away a feature that's long been provided -- an online listing of "your downloads." Sure, they can take it away at a moment's notice -- but why? Moving to a new site -- or (as they say) a new "platform" (a buzzword that means nothing to this IT guy). What -- moving from Windows to Linux? Apache to Nginx? Wordpress to Drupal? The idea of a web 'platform' is pretty much meaningless. If they're moving to a new 'content management system' -- okay, I get that. But even if you go from Statamic (no database) to Wordpress (database) -- there's always a way to migrate. That's the point I made earlier. Anyway, the point I think folks are making -- myself included -- isn't that 'Alakazam is really in the IT business' -- it's that why take away something you've offered for free when you don't have to? That's the point. And if they want to charge for storing downloads -- that's fine, too. But as most web sites have realized -- if this is the path -- charging for what was once free -- then buckle up, 'cuz you're gonna get a heap of resistance. Fortunately, Alakazam isn't saying this -- and that's good. I assume they're going to fix this -- and most likely issue the standard "we goofed, we heard you, here's the fix" apology. Nearly every one does this once they see a backlash that can -- and will -- hurt their business. I assume this thread is part of the backlash. And I assume the fix in the works -- and I'm guessing they'll probably roll out a big video touting the fix and how they appreciated all the feedback. That's pretty much the roadmap for a company that's not in the "IT business" but still has to wrestle with costly and complex IT issues. |
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CardGuyMike Special user 787 Posts |
There's a larger issue here with regard to downloads, and it has nothing to do with Alakazam. In the beginning, there were books. Then VHS tapes, then DVDs. In each case, you had a hard copy and it was your responsibility to keep track of it. What happened to your old VHS tapes? Do you still have a VHS player? Did you get them converted to some other format? I suspect most people just "lost" that content and re-bought the ones they really cared about.
Now there are downloads. More and more, DVDs aren't available and things are only available to download. And the larger question is: who is responsible for those downloads? Are magic companies responsible for holding them for you forever, or are you responsible for downloading them and keeping track of them? Really you should keep track of your own downloads, because magic companies can and do go out of business. But being responsible for your own downloads isn't that easy. Over the years the content gets big. Where do you store it? On your computer's hard drive? You need to back it up, since your computer will eventually die. What about people who only use their phones? There is only so much storage space. Maybe you should think about this before buying lots of downloads. And don't get me started about the sites that are streaming-only and don't let you download. There you're only renting the videos until they are no longer available for whatever reason. So for Alakazam, it's really all about data migration, which is a fundamental part of any platform switch. They are still going to have all of the downloadable content to sell in the future. It costs them nothing but bandwidth to make it available to the people who already bought it. They just need to migrate user's data. Let's hope they end up doing this, but you still need to ask yourself what happens to your downloads should Alakazam eventually go out of business. |
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Gaz Lawrence Inner circle 5991 Posts |
Exactly many dealers still produce a DVD and you can still buy machines that cater for everything and you can also copy on to DVD etc etc. Like I say I write up all the tutorials as it was so obvious to massive non tech guys like me that hassle was coming. It’s a pain if you want to sell an effect on so that’s why I write the tutorials up and or (both) video the explanation from the link to my iPad or something. Anything just to have it forever, it’s utter rubbish when technology gets too clever for its own boots. I want a good product with life long hard copied instructions that I can watch or read whenever I choose period Gaz 😊
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Gaz Lawrence Inner circle 5991 Posts |
You can just press screen recording on your iPhone on your first viewing and it then saves it to your photos and videos so don’t you need passcodes or anything once you have played it once Gaz 😊
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magic_tony Loyal user 277 Posts |
I think it depends on how the company sells the downloads.
If they say you can download OR stream from your account, then being able to stream it is part of what you have bought. And suddenly removing this, regardless of the reason, is not good. If it was sold as download only, then giving you a limited time to download it is perfectly reasonable. AFAIK Alakazam sell their masterclass as streamable. So I can see why their customers would be annoyed with what is going on. |
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mikenewman Inner circle Kent Island, Maryland 1114 Posts |
What about all the videos you download from China?
I mean , ummm. Never mind…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Yes. Great point by all. It’s a pain for everyone. It’s just part of moving forward. Which reminds me. I still have my Best of Sankey 4 VHS tapes that I swear I was going to copy to DVD. And chapter mark them. 🤣🤣🤣 Then, was going to digitize them onto my Windows 98!🤣 Then my Windows XP! Then Windows 10 So I guess it’s now my iPhone 13……. |
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Philippe Special user 771 Posts |
Thank you for that very hot tip Gaz, I will be using that in future, did not know about it.
P.S. why do you never put a full stop at the end of your sentence, it doesn’t read right Philippe (example)? |
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cardbiker Inner circle 1484 Posts |
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On Dec 27, 2021, Gaz Lawrence wrote: Hi Gaz, I didn’t know this, what button on the iPhone do you have to press to initiate recording? Thanks |
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Doric Special user 791 Posts |
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On Dec 27, 2021, mikenewman wrote: Please don't apply your own standards to others. Piracy is not something to laugh about.😡 |
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Gaz Lawrence Inner circle 5991 Posts |
Sorry about the full stops Philippe, I post too much I will try to remember in the future Gaz.😊ps should I have done the smiley then the full stop I wasn’t sure lol.
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Gaz Lawrence Inner circle 5991 Posts |
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On Dec 28, 2021, cardbiker wrote: You go to settings, then control centre and make sure the screen recording option is turned on. You then swipe your Home Screen like you would to get your torch or don’t disturb icons etc to show up. It’s then the solid circle icon button within the outer circle icon normally next to the alarm clock but you will find its easily. Just make sure you have want you want to record ready to start as it gives you a 3 second countdown once pressed and then it records whatever is on or playing on your screen. I hope that helps Gaz.😊 |
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quantum_swami New user 60 Posts |
So are the dowloads going to transfer over now or not? I'm getting mixed messages from this thread. To me it reads like:
1) New website coming - everyone download their content quick before it's gone! 2) Hang on, wait, maybe we can migrate your content after all? Which is it? While I don't mind downloading the stuff to a hard drive, I'd rather not if I don't have to. And I agree with others on here, it's DEFINITELY possible to migrate the data over or come to a workable compromise to keep the content accessible on the new system (even if it's clunky). The real question for Alakazam is "is it worth the extra cost?" That's not a dig at Alakazam (I like Alakazam). But perhaps it's genuinely not worth it. If they keep a "legacy" version of the old account area online with a generous expiry date (a few years - not a few months), then I don't see a huge problem with that. Happens all the time with old software for instance. Microsoft kept Internet Explorer 6 support going for years. But it was clearly stated as legacy software with a generous but clear expiry date giving businesses ample time to break away from it. |
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cardbiker Inner circle 1484 Posts |
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On Dec 28, 2021, Gaz Lawrence wrote: Brilliant mate! Thanks for that 👍 |
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Rizzo Inner circle East Coast 3346 Posts |
Yes, great tip Gaz, been using Iphone for 13+ years & didn’t know that feature.
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Philippe Special user 771 Posts |
Before smiley face Gaz. That is such a brilliant tip, I have been experimenting with it this morning, is it possible to see how much space has been taken by the recording?
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Gaz Lawrence Inner circle 5991 Posts |
I only found about it myself very recently to be honest.
Before that I was recording my iPad screen from my iPhone etc. I got tired of running out of room on Google drive etc so after years of that method thought there might be an easier way. You may want notifications and calls on don’t disturb otherwise it spoils the video. Admittedly no one can get hold of you for about 3 hours at times lol, which isn’t always a bad thing Gaz.😊 |
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cardbiker Inner circle 1484 Posts |
Excellent 👍👍just tried the screen recording, had an iPhone since the 3s the times over the years this would have been useful.Well done Gaz and thanks
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