[zephyr9900]

I am in a true moral quandry on this subject.

Mariss Freimanis who is Geckodrive, whom I respect greatly and who has a record of innovative product development and excellent customer service and response, has said he has been wronged by Protobyte, and by extension Greg Jackson of Tormach who OEM's Protobyte's drive.

Art Fenerty who is Mach, whom I respect greatly and who has a record of innovative product development and excellent customer service and response, said (in an email) "Tormach is very honest though, Greg's very ethical".

Greg Jackson, who is Tormach, is demonstrating innovative product development and excellent customer service and response (witness his posting/email of response to customer suggestions and criticisms) and I respect him also. He has no problem with using Protoyte's drives in his product.

I do not feel worthy of bringing any of these gentlemen a cup of coffee, much less second-guessing their character judgment. They are all putting their personal reputations on the line with the products they are developing and selling.

The one player in this scenario that I don't have a bead on is Steve Kelly, who is Protobyte. I have a paper by Mariss with objective data why the Protobyte drive is inferior and has a higher failure rate than the genuine Geckos.

I only know that if one or more of my Tormach drives fails, I will buy a replacement from Mariss. The rest of the gameplay will need to evolve between the involved parties (Mariss and Steve-and-his-lawyer) Greg has already stated that he is merely a customer of Protobyte.

Best regards,

Randy (a happy Tormach user but an anal mechanical engineer who always has an opinion of how things can be done better...)