Techware Labs - Articles - CReative Alchemy Drivers and Vista Support

CReative Alchemy Drivers and Vista Support

Author:	Michael Bosse
Date:	2008.04.17
Topic:	Software
Provider:	Creative
Manufacturer:	Creative

Creative, or not?

*Note all sources are listed on the final page of this editorial.

5. Creative capitulates

An eerie period of silence followed the uproar; at least on the part of Creative. Creative customers across the internet planned a boycott of Creative. Petitions were filed, and hundreds of emails were sent to the email addresses of Dale-CL and others in the Creative organization. At one point, there was an initiative to contact the CEO of Creative. Somehow, the angry voices of the customers reached high up into the corporate hierarchy of Creative, and Dale-CL, always the messenger, begot this response:

"We have read the strong feedback about Creative's forum post regarding driver development by Daniel_k and other outside parties. Creative's message posted on our behalf by our Company spokesperson tried to address our concern about the improper distribution of certain software which is the property of other companies. However, we did not make it as clear as we would have liked that we do support driver development by independent third parties. The huge task of developing driver updates to accommodate the many changes in the Vista operating system and the extensive testing required, including the lengthy Vista certification requirements for audio, makes it very difficult for Creative to develop updates for all past products. Outside developers have been very helpful to Creative and our customers by developing updates for many of our Sound Blaster products, and we do support and appreciate these efforts. This however does not extend to the unauthorized distribution of other companies' property. We hope to work out a mutually agreeable method for working with Daniel_k in supporting his efforts in driver development. Going forward, we are committed to doing a better job of working more closely with third parties to support their development for our products and our customers."

With this response the outrage of the community began to abate. For the first day since the incident, Slashdot did not run an article criticizing Creative. With most of the original links restored on the forums; the situation seems to have resolved itself, for now.

6. Conclusions

In the response to the rebuke of daniel_k, Creative Labs has seen firsthand the power of the "new media." No longer, it seems, will large companies be able to simply ignore the outrage of their customer base. Companies that seek the golden chalice of the gamer dollar must understand the workings of the community. A company that reaches out to the customer with open hands and offers quality products and good support will find its revenue soaring and its products flying off the shelf. Innovation and customer support are the two most critical aspects of this market. Companies that seek to lure in gamer dollars without providing the requisite support for their products face much more than an angry letter directed to the customer relations department. The "new media" provides creative customers a way to voice their outrage at corporations that they feel have wronged them. In this case, it would have been smart for Creative to weigh more carefully the complete betrayal of their community against the costs of allowing a single programmer to modify their driver technology. As evinced by the recent drop in their stock price, and the "Sell" status of Creative stock held by many industry analysts; the obligation of company to customer could not be more evident. Those corporations that are creative in their innovation, forthcoming in their support, and honest in their marketing will find that the sky is the limit when it comes to our appetite for good products.

Sources

As always, if you have any comments please forward them on to us at TechwareLabs.

« Conflict

More Articles »