Camel Audio ceasing sales? [Update: CA acquired by Apple]

[bluedad]

ok, after a record number of pages and it never getting nasty, it's approaching that now. So stop it, or the fun stops and the thread gets locked.. you know who you are.

[dredd i knight]

I think it's obvious that if camel could have said anything about what was happening, they would have.... Could be wrong, the evidence of previous Apple buyouts and their (Camels) behaviour over the years, leads me to this conclusion.
I don't think they had that strong a bargaining position either: for 10 million (minimum) it's gonna be the buyers way or the highway. You're getting the money, they're setting the terms. If you don't like it then you can continue to have your company and do as you please. In the face of turning away from a ten figure sum I don't think any of us have any clue what we'd do. It's very easy to judge when it's all hypothetical, but none of us have ever been offered a ten figure sum in real life...

[samsam]

Don't leave me out! I replied to you too. Don't I get flamed?

Why would I flame you? Your post made sense, even though it missed the point of mine (which wasn't supposed to comment on the legitimacy or otherwise of piggybacking industries in IT or whatever sector).

[fedexnman]

Fixing to.get this thing Locked !!!!

[Hunter]

Hunter - I suspect you're the only person on this thread who knows the truth. You can help us all escape the cycle

Apart from beta testing and sound design I've not worked for camel audio since getting a 'real' job in 2007 or so, so I'm well out the loop too. I am still good friends with the guys though, which is why some of the comments here make me a bit sad, but hey it's the internet isn't it so it's easy to hide behind your screen and be nasty and make things up.

All I can say is the guys are OK and didn't appear to be suited in gold and lighting cigars with £50 notes when I last saw them. Their business is their business, I can't discuss the details of my job with people either, that's just how companies work in the real world.

Also I'll just say that whilst its fun to speculate, accuse, discuss their finances, cashflows, addresses and so on, behind the company are a great bunch of really nice people who have worked an unhealthy amount over the years to build up this company and these great plugins, and keep it all going through the problems of recession, piracy, competition, etc, etc. I've watched camel audio grow from Ben in his bedroom making supercamelphat 2, to the company it is now, with I'm guessing something like 10 salaries to pay for, producing some of the most acclaimed and loved audio software around.

I know there is this utopian vision where you shouldn't have to pay for your plugins, and developers should be tucking you in at night for the rest of your lives, shouldn't dare to have the audacity to make a profitable business for themselves and so on, but it's easy to say that from the outside with no experience of being at the coal face. There are much easier ways for software developers to make a living than doing what companies like camel audio do, they choose to make audio plugins because they love it, and choose that over being another grey cog in the machine like the rest of us. It's definitely the harder, riskier option and one that I chose not to continue following. I don't think people have the right to judge and diss others with no understanding or experience of the situation.

[whyterabbyt]

I don't think people have the right to judge and diss others with no understanding or experience of the situation.

welcome to KVR, noob.

[Hunter]

I don't think people have the right to judge and diss others with no understanding or experience of the situation.

welcome to KVR, noob.

[wagtunes]

Hunter - I suspect you're the only person on this thread who knows the truth. You can help us all escape the cycle

Apart from beta testing and sound design I've not worked for camel audio since getting a 'real' job in 2007 or so, so I'm well out the loop too. I am still good friends with the guys though, which is why some of the comments here make me a bit sad, but hey it's the internet isn't it so it's easy to hide behind your screen and be nasty and make things up.

All I can say is the guys are OK and didn't appear to be suited in gold and lighting cigars with £50 notes when I last saw them. Their business is their business, I can't discuss the details of my job with people either, that's just how companies work in the real world.

Also I'll just say that whilst its fun to speculate, accuse, discuss their finances, cashflows, addresses and so on, behind the company are a great bunch of really nice people who have worked an unhealthy amount over the years to build up this company and these great plugins, and keep it all going through the problems of recession, piracy, competition, etc, etc. I've watched camel audio grow from Ben in his bedroom making supercamelphat 2, to the company it is now, with I'm guessing something like 10 salaries to pay for, producing some of the most acclaimed and loved audio software around.

I know there is this utopian vision where you shouldn't have to pay for your plugins, and developers should be tucking you in at night for the rest of your lives, shouldn't dare to have the audacity to make a profitable business for themselves and so on, but it's easy to say that from the outside with no experience of being at the coal face. There are much easier ways for software developers to make a living than doing what companies like camel audio do, they choose to make audio plugins because they love it, and choose that over being another grey cog in the machine like the rest of us. It's definitely the harder, riskier option and one that I chose not to continue following. I don't think people have the right to judge and diss others with no understanding or experience of the situation.

I agree with you 100% except for one thing.

An explanation, even if it's to say "We signed an NDA and can't talk about any details" if that's the case. If they closed shop for personal reasons, at least say "It's for personal reasons that we prefer to keep private."

Something. Anything. This not having a clue as to what happened or what's going to happen (will we get another version of this software or not?) isn't right to loyal customers who actually made their business profitable by buying their products. Yes, it's a two way street and some kind of explanation, any explanation, is simple common courtesy.

[VitaminD]

Well if they signed an NDA then they.... can't talk about it.

We just need to be patient and stop thinking they owe us an explanation. They are giving us a 6 month window to backup our purchases. Obviously if CA could say something they would.. if you had known them for any amount of time I think you'd come to that conclusion too.

[dredd i knight]

But doesn't non disclosure mean exactly that?
ie no parts of the agreement or contract can be discussed or disclosed to any 3rd party.

Edit: the above post beat me to it!

[aMUSEd]

Well if they signed an NDA then they.... can't talk about it.

We just need to be patient and stop thinking they owe us an explanation. They are giving us a 6 month window to backup our purchases. Obviously if CA could say something they would.. if you had known them for any amount of time I think you'd come to that conclusion too.

+1

[Ameyah Audio]

Well if they signed an NDA then they.... can't talk about it.

We just need to be patient and stop thinking they owe us an explanation. They are giving us a 6 month window to backup our purchases. Obviously if CA could say something they would.. if you had known them for any amount of time I think you'd come to that conclusion too.

+2

[wagtunes]

Well if they signed an NDA then they.... can't talk about it.

We just need to be patient and stop thinking they owe us an explanation. They are giving us a 6 month window to backup our purchases. Obviously if CA could say something they would.. if you had known them for any amount of time I think you'd come to that conclusion too.

Then a simple "We can't talk about this" doesn't violate any NDA. Saying nothing and saying we can't say anything are essentially the same thing. We get no information about what's happened but at least we know for certain we're not going to get any information. We can stop wondering.

And unless the company that bought them is just going to pillage the personnel or technology and toss Alchemy in the trash, this NDA does nothing to help their chances of retaining CA customers as customers.

So then logically sorting through this, assuming these are such wonderful, upstanding people who owned CA, since it can't be personal (otherwise we'd at least get an "it's personal and we choose not to discuss it) then it must be an NDA and they were told not to even say that they have an NDA. Otherwise, this is a terrible way to treat the customers who made your company what it is. That's right. Without customers, there IS no company.

If CA is moving forward under a new company with the intention of selling this product line, then this is bad business in a PR sense. If not, and they're just gutting the tech for whatever, then I guess it doesn't matter and we're all just screwed. And yes, if I were offered 8 figures I wouldn't care either if it was under the orders of an NDA. I might feel a little remorse that I left my customers hanging in the wind, but for 10 mil, I'll get over it.

That is the reality of all of this. Logically, the silence tells me that CA, as we know it, is done. Because any company that buys them out and thinks we're going to buy THEIR products after putting us through this, is crazy.

I know I won't be buying any products from them.

[whyterabbyt]

Then a simple "We can't talk about this" doesn't violate any NDA.

this has been refuted dozens of times, your repetition of it does not make it fact. of course a bloody NDA can include not talking about the fact you're under NDA. Its a NON-disclosure agreement, not a 'partial disclosure agreement'

[Lotuzia]

NDA just mean this : People who know *something* CANT speak publicly about it. Theres really nothing more beeing worth to add ... except maybe in this particular thread that CA people are nice people, and have always been very clean and great to work with.Ime.