I brought me Deep + Animation License the day after it was announced that licenses where available, I suspected way back in the early days on the Yahoo Group well before the first version of the Tech Preview was released that there would be delays in getting the final version released; my assertions have played out that way.
I understand that the delays there have been complex in nature, however hasn't progressed to the point to where peoples sympathy for what's going on has almost ran out or in some case did along time ago?
My feelings are this, the more time a product stays in the development stage the higher the expectations become for the functionality of the final shipping product; also with increased time to market there is the expectation of high level documentation and product support, but also sufficient life cycles between intermittent up dates to allow for deployment testing, staff training and product use in its designated market segment.
Price point is vital to the way the product is seen in terms of its attractiveness to the market for the intended market segment of the product, product price point structure must be fair and yet competitive within the market space, be enough to recover development costs and provide revenue streams large enough for expansion and growth.
Development of any kind across time zones must be difficult, with key personnel not located in the same building you are not afforded opportunities for a sit down with some one to hammer out problems as they arise; thus increasing the likelihood of increased time to market "The Airbus A-380 is a case in point, due to Airbus Subcontractors having a different version of the design software from the German Subcontractors key electrical connectors didn't fit together, causing a four month delay in the delivery".
"Time is money" so the old chestnut goes, that is true, but what is also true in the software industry is that things happen fast meaning that if you move to slow then people are going to find away to pass you in the software equivalent of the Arms Race; there is another school of thought that says that if you move to quickly that is as bad if not worse then moving to slowly, so you are stuck between a rock and a hard place it is in the end about finding balance.
I do look forward to the Beta and the Gold release, but am not champing at the bit as it where, what ever comes it might not be what I expected but at least I will have it to learn and use the best I can and if there is some thing that I don't understand to quote Detective Inspector, Jack Frost [A Touch of Frost] "I'll ask a lot of silly questions, and hopefully get a lot not so silly answers".
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel