PTC + Mathsoft = A Fine Marriage

In general, I guess I'd have to agree. Any infusion of new blood into the fossilized carcass of PTC can only be a good thing. Of course, there are those who'd say there are still useful features of Computer Vision, which PTC bought 18 years ago, that they've yet to incorporate into functional software. And what of InterComm, Harmony, ArboText, Windchill, Dimension III, CADDS5i? PTC lacksadaisically picks the bones of these, as well, for, yawn, useful artifacts for Pro/ENGINEER. While, naturally, stringing along thier acquired user base. (How many times have we heard that CADDS is going away?)

Certainly, the recent acquisition of ArborText gave users some hope that glaring deficiencies of Pro/e to handle text would be alleviated. Yet, it could be years before there is any evidence of this. And, it certainly wouldn't have taken the purchase of a publishing company to get us a decent text editor. Nor, if users were the focus, would it have taken the purchase of specialized math and analysis software to get us a decent interface to equations. They just decided to purchase results instead of making the effort themselves for their user base. They bought their way into a new market. Kudos!?! For laziness? like the brilliant move of outsourcing "support" to the "English speaking" marble-mouths of India? Noticeable improvements!?! Years away, call it software trickle down. User driven? Nada, nichts, nein, nullo, nyet, no not hardly.

Error of fact: PTC bought CV in '97, 9 years ago.

If anybody should be upset over outsourcing of tech support to India it should be me, as PTC gave me a severance check a few years ago and told me I was replaced with cheap labor in India. However, that being said, I dont take anything personally.

I dont like the term marble mouth, I've never heard it before, but it seems disrespectfull. I believe the PTC employees in India that took my job are honest and hard working. Feel free to criticize PTC and any of thier employees all day long, I think it can be done respectfully.

I think I'll add a funny a note with this story. The last few weeks I was working for PTC tech support in Salt Lake City they started bringing online the India call center. The funny thing was, several times a day somebody would talk to myself or another person next to me, then immediately afterwards call management on the feedback line with the call number and complain that they coudn't understand us cause of our thick Indian accents. They didn't realize they were talking to the Salt Lake City office, and were too intent on complaining to wait till they actually talked to an Indian to complain. I can see that feedback converstion "so John Doe of our Salt Lake office has a thick Indian accent eh?"

I think the point that David Janes was trying to make was that PTC doesn't really give a damn about many of its customers (unless you are a big account). We switched to one of their competitors due to this fact and haven't regretted it one bit.