PB Poll

[JRS]

Charles doesn't have the poll forum feature enabled so I'll fake one with this post.

Q. What to you think the PowerBASIC future announcement will be today?

1. Nothing has changed and a bright future lies ahead.

2. There is no hope left and PowerBASIC is closing its doors as of today.

3. PowerBASIC has been sold to XXXX.

4. PowerBASIC is turning to an open source model and will be managed by XXXX.

5. None of the above an this is what I think is going to happen.

[Kuron]

Actually, the announcement was along the lines of what I was expecting.

[JRS]

Actually, the announcement was along the lines of what I was expecting.

I just visited the PowerBASIC site and I didn't see an announcement. Can your provide a link?

[Charles Pegge]

A difficult time for the PowerBasic community. I'm trying not to think about it too much.

[JRS]

I had tried to warn and offer alternatives to an obviously tragic situation. My reward was being ban by bitter and clueless fools that are now crying in their beer. No sympathy to offer I'm afraid.

 

[Kuron]

Actually, the announcement was along the lines of what I was expecting.

I just visited the PowerBASIC site and I didn't see an announcement. Can your provide a link?

There was NEVER a mention of an announcement by PB themselves.  Eric only said he would be making an announcement, which he did:

http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums/showthread.php?p=447264

By my estimation, there is at least $160,000 owed to Eric for products sold.  Amazing how many years back the non-payments go.  Sad and tragic.

[JRS]

I have said it all along. Zale was a cheap, greedy bastard that only cared about himself. He used his customers and friends and gave nothing back in return but grief. I'm glad he is gone and PowerBASIC put in the trash where it belongs.

By my estimation, there is at least $160,000 owed to Eric for products sold.

If I were Eric I would file a lean against PowerBASIC and freeze their assets until a resolution is provided. Anyone that continues to purchase PowerBASIC might as well buy a copy of Paul Turleys compiler as a backup.

[Kuron]

I have said it all along. Zale was a cheap, greedy bastard that only cared about himself. He used his customers and friends and gave nothing back in return but grief. I'm glad he is gone and PowerBASIC put in the trash where it belongs.

He made a career off of the naivety of his users.

Anyone that continues to purchase PowerBASIC might as well buy a copy of Paul Turleys compiler as a backup.

When it comes to personal and professional ethics, Bob was Paul Turley without the kid-touching.

[JRS]

I spoke at length with PowerBASIC's designated representative, and he said that I could say on the forums that somebody from PowerBASIC will be posting information here in the next few days.

-- Eric Pearson, Perfect Sync

It's not too late to post your guess what will come of PowerBASIC.

I think they will do a number 2.

[Kuron]

I think they will do a number 2.

A number 2 is what they have been doing on the community since Bob died.

Six months ago when Eric posted we would hear something in a few days, all we heard was basically "we are working on it".  It will be more of the same, perhaps some more false promises.  Anything to delay things and stretch it out.  The business is intentionally being run into the ground so they can bankrupt it.  They will try and milk the community a bit more, but bankruptcy is the only thing that can happen in the end.  There is no inherent value to the compilers at this point.  They would need to be rewritten to support 64-bit and no company would make the investment in a 32-bit only compiler business in the year 2014, not when two of the last three versions of Windows will not run 32-bit software on default installs.  PowerBASIC had a very good run.  Had some of the vaporware actually been released instead of continually being teased for many years so that more people would buy the existing products, the company would be in a much better position and would be attractive to potential buyers. 

My prediction is they will try and delay things and not pull the plug until near the end of the fiscal year.

[JRS]

Vivian also assures me that new products are coming, so I am excited to see what is coming.

I can't decide if Vivian just woke up from a coma or Chris just got a BJ.  

[Kuron]

I am more picturing scenes out of Misery.

[JRS]

Yes, misery loves company. I left mine at the curb.

It's difficult to view the Carnival Cruse Lines as a viable alternative when the captain and crew have already abandoned ship.

[JRS]

The server (, staff, owner, ...) at www.powerbasic.com is taking too long to respond.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Anyone talking bets on the PowerBASIC site returning? Jose Roca looks like he abandon ship on both the PB and JRS forum. A BASIC compiler wasteland of broken dreams and promises. Sad but not news.

Of late I've been in contact with PowerBASIC INC (sales) , helping some new customers receive their purchases.

Who in there right mind would buy a BASIC compiler with known flaws that will never be fixed? (unless Zale does a resurrection)

Thank you very much for these fixes.
I tried to get the downgrades but PB don't seem set up for that.

Sounds like the same story Microsoft is telling when XP users that want to upgrade to Win7 instead of Win8.x.

[JRS]

PowerBASIC will continue to be developed and supported as my husband had envisioned.

Loyalty is one thing, being a fool is another. Bob knew he was sick and made no arrangements or gave any of his friends (BASIC family) any warning of what was ahead. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have life/health insurance and left Vivian with nothing but bills. He screwed his business partners (Eric and probably others) and put nothing back into the business. He was never in touch with reality and ran his forum like a dictator. PB was supposed to be hand crafted and it was only at the end of its life was there any mention of dead code removal. I attribute the ongoing support for PB the same way I see an abused child protecting the abuser. How sick does this have to get?