Now I have owned PCs since i ditched my Amiga 500 many moons ago, whilst only 25 I have been playing around with computers for a good 19 of those years. Now I have moved to an Imac G5 after Apple was unable to supply me a mini mac before christmas!
Now I used to love Creative Labs products, infact they were the first company that really engaged me and yes their products were great. I am unsure if Mac owners went through the whole no sound to sound thing but when i fitted a Sound Blaster to my first PC it was like a deaf person getting their hearing back, a truely magical experience.
As time went on I bought more and more Creative products from graphics cards,newer soundblaster versions to cd and dvd drives, one i remember had a remote control built into it. I had the first tos-link front bay attachements for real 5.1 cards and loved them for being great quality at a great price.
When I was about 21 I bought my last piece of Creative equipment, excluding the zen i bought my wife last xmas. I had terrible problems with these speakers and I had them swopped about ooohhhh 12 times. I moaned and moaned and argued about them breaking constantly till one day I rang the UK customer service line only to find out they had shut up shop.
In short Creative had closed its UK office and would now be serving the UK from its Norway office. Now no disrepect here meant but have you ever tried to explain to a Norwegan that your subwoofer sounds like it is about to explode? Well it wasn't a very nice experience and in the end as they had no UK repair centre anymore i was stuck with a duff set of speakers which i ended up selling on ebay for scrap.
Now i did mention I had bought my wife a pink Zen but that was because she must be obeyed and i thought it looked quite funky.
Cut forward to today when all of a Sudden some people from Creative land in the UK, druming up support for their new Creative Z: M video Mp3 player which is in essence a copy cat of the Ipod video. Then they have the cheek to tell the BBC;
"Creative chairman Sim Wong Hoo told the BBC News website that the company was already talking to various parties about its new US patent for music device navigation but refused to be drawn on specifics.
Mr Sim was in London for the launch of the Creative Zen Vision: M in time for the seasonal Christmas rush.
"This is the key difference between a technology company and a branding company," he said, taking a side-swipe at Apple's successful marketing campaign for its iPod.
"We will pursue all manufacturers that use the same navigation system," said Mr Sim. "This is something we will pursue aggressively.
Now is it me or have Creative much in the same way as Real have recently lost the plot. I use the term "sour grapes" but thats just me. Its not just about the product anymore but about the software and whilst i remember my love for Creative products I cannot remember a single device i bought from them that had software which worked. Creative Playcenter 2 anyone????
I mean it is fairly obvious that the Creative products have for the last couple of years been ripping off Apple and in particular its design themes/styles. Bu t now they are trying to imply that they own the patent for music device navigation- come on Creative!
I was quite annoyed as it seems all of a sudden Creative are interested in trying to engage me as a consumer, to be honest its too little too late, I'll stick with my Ipod Video thanks! Though a Divx codec as on the new Zen wouldn't go amiss on the Ipod cheers!
Whatever next Creative Imusic? A music store program in a selection of untasteful colour themes ?
:dive:
Now I used to love Creative Labs products, infact they were the first company that really engaged me and yes their products were great. I am unsure if Mac owners went through the whole no sound to sound thing but when i fitted a Sound Blaster to my first PC it was like a deaf person getting their hearing back, a truely magical experience.
As time went on I bought more and more Creative products from graphics cards,newer soundblaster versions to cd and dvd drives, one i remember had a remote control built into it. I had the first tos-link front bay attachements for real 5.1 cards and loved them for being great quality at a great price.
When I was about 21 I bought my last piece of Creative equipment, excluding the zen i bought my wife last xmas. I had terrible problems with these speakers and I had them swopped about ooohhhh 12 times. I moaned and moaned and argued about them breaking constantly till one day I rang the UK customer service line only to find out they had shut up shop.
In short Creative had closed its UK office and would now be serving the UK from its Norway office. Now no disrepect here meant but have you ever tried to explain to a Norwegan that your subwoofer sounds like it is about to explode? Well it wasn't a very nice experience and in the end as they had no UK repair centre anymore i was stuck with a duff set of speakers which i ended up selling on ebay for scrap.
Now i did mention I had bought my wife a pink Zen but that was because she must be obeyed and i thought it looked quite funky.
Cut forward to today when all of a Sudden some people from Creative land in the UK, druming up support for their new Creative Z: M video Mp3 player which is in essence a copy cat of the Ipod video. Then they have the cheek to tell the BBC;
"Creative chairman Sim Wong Hoo told the BBC News website that the company was already talking to various parties about its new US patent for music device navigation but refused to be drawn on specifics.
Mr Sim was in London for the launch of the Creative Zen Vision: M in time for the seasonal Christmas rush.
"This is the key difference between a technology company and a branding company," he said, taking a side-swipe at Apple's successful marketing campaign for its iPod.
"We will pursue all manufacturers that use the same navigation system," said Mr Sim. "This is something we will pursue aggressively.
Now is it me or have Creative much in the same way as Real have recently lost the plot. I use the term "sour grapes" but thats just me. Its not just about the product anymore but about the software and whilst i remember my love for Creative products I cannot remember a single device i bought from them that had software which worked. Creative Playcenter 2 anyone????
I mean it is fairly obvious that the Creative products have for the last couple of years been ripping off Apple and in particular its design themes/styles. Bu t now they are trying to imply that they own the patent for music device navigation- come on Creative!
I was quite annoyed as it seems all of a sudden Creative are interested in trying to engage me as a consumer, to be honest its too little too late, I'll stick with my Ipod Video thanks! Though a Divx codec as on the new Zen wouldn't go amiss on the Ipod cheers!
Whatever next Creative Imusic? A music store program in a selection of untasteful colour themes ?
:dive:
