ON1 Gets Exposed On October 3rd
Hundreds of ideas - heck, maybe thousands, I don't know for sure - have been added to the ON1 Photo RAW Project since last year. And ON1 has been working on the features wanted most by its community of users. If you are an ON1 customer, you already know about the October 3rd live event. You've also probably seen some of the videos ON1 has shared showing several new things that are in the works for a future release of Photo RAW. Here are two that I know I'll use:
Yeah. Cool stuff coming. I'm gonna love versions - I'll use the heck out of that feature.
Last week, I also had the opportunity to talk with several of the folks at ON1 about what features are in the works. I can't share the content of that conversation yet (hint, hint, you will want to tune in on October 3rd). What I can say is I am very excited about the future of ON1 Photo RAW. Let's just say ON1 is seriously chipping away at the reasons I say with Lightroom for now. And there's more. I really do wish I could share more right now. Patience, young grasshopper.
Now.... there's something else going on out in the social media spheres - a lot of angst about the next version of Photo RAW and its pricing. What do we know? Well, for new Photo RAW customers there is a 2 for 1 deal. You get Photo RAW 2017 today and a free update to the next release. Ok. Makes sense to me.
What about existing Photo RAW customers? Well... that's what we don't know. That's where the angst comes in. Let's be frank. The early releases of Photo RAW were rocky. Many of us purchased Photo RAW early - before it released - and had a rough experience. The anger of some in the community stems from having to pay for the next Photo RAW release.
Here's the thing - we don't know what upgrade pricing will be. The upgrade path for existing customers hasn't been announced. So we gotta sit tight. And in the meantime, ON1 continues to push out free updates to Photo RAW 2017.
I want to share an excerpt of a message Craig, the President of ON1, shared on Facebook.
The transition to an entirely new technology platform has not gone as smoothly as everyone at ON1 had hoped. That said, things are much more solid now and getting better every day. ...
I won’t make excuses or bore you with discussions of CPU versus GPU, endless variety of computer configurations and the inherent challenges with very “young” code. I will simply own it and say the first few releases provided a less than stellar experience for some of you.
- Craig, ON1
This speaks volumes to me. ON1's President owning the problem. No excuses. No spin. The user experience wasn't up to par. Later in this same post, he shares his direct email address. He asks those unhappy with ON1 to contact him - directly. He and the team at ON1 want to speak directly with each dissatisfied customer and figure out how to make things right.
If you are unhappy with Photo RAW for any reason, reach out to their customer service team. File trouble tickets. Talk to ON1. Don't just gripe on social media. Although ON1 monitors and engages in many forums they can't watch them all.
I for one am looking forward to the next release of Photo RAW. I have no doubts ON1 will continue to be an integral part of my photography. October 3rd can't come fast enough.
