Michael Tapes And Phase One -- Parting Of Ways ???

It looks like Michael Tapes and Phase One have parted ways. It is not clear
at this time whether Tapes was asked to resign or whether he left of his own
volition, but if the signs are being read correctly, this is a serious blow
to Phase One, their Capture One software and to their representation and
support. Mike provided the bulk of support for the Capture One program.
Rumors of his eventual departure first started appearing about six months
ago, when Phase One become embroiled in controversy over the continual
postponements of release of the Capture One upgrade designed to support the
Canon 20D. At that time, the rumor mill was reported that some of the
delays were caused by defections of several of the Phase One programmers.
This information was later substantiated when RSE, a competing, but VERY
similar product suddenly appeared. The was talk at that time the Tapes would
also abandon the then-sinking Phase One ship, but apparently a more recent
rift developed between Phase One and Tapes that may have hastened his
departure.

 

And can -you- substantiate any of this?
Normally people say where they hear their info from.
H.

 

Hannah writes ...

Michael substantiated that he's parting ways with Phase One on the
Forum that he runs, so that much is true. Also the part about RSE.

What he wrote was that his contract ran out, he was asked to sign on
again but he couldn't reach an agreement with them, so it was his
choice.

There are four different "Official" support groups and while Michael's
was a valuable resource (I contribute frequently) you can get the same
questions answered at the "Official" Official Forum, usually by Ulf or
someone else who is at Phase One. But a lot of the contributors to
Michael's Forum were experienced users and his leaving is a loss.

Yes, the original Phase One programmer left and wrote RSE, which is a
very nice program (and for now FREE), pretty much undercutting the $99
version of Capture One (LE). This probably explains the lengthy,
costly delay in getting the revised Windows code (which is pretty
buggy) released.

I've been using Capture One since last April and feel it's the best RAW
converter I've tried, but RSE has some advantages. I'm glad I didn't
pay in advance for any C1 upgrades Will be interesting to see where
MT turns up next.

Bill

 

Michael Tapes wrote a bit more on his decision in a thread on his
Forum, which I think you can read at this link (not sure if you have to
be a member to access it or not) ...
http://www.pictureflow.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7091

Basically he says he will no longer be a "Senior Design Consultant" but
will continue to run the Forum and offer support.

 

I noted a posting date of April 1st.


If a joke, it's a dangerous one...

Bart

 

Bart van der Wolf writes ...

Check again, Michael posted the thread I linked to on April 4th ...

 

A RAW converter needs FOUR support groups?

 

Well, I think my read on the situation is pretty accurate. It also caught
many folks by surprise because it was posted here even before Mike made the
official announcement on his forum boards. The truth is we may never know
the real reasons for the split-- I know Mike has taken a lot of unwarranted
heat over some of the decisions made at Phase One, although I guess his
billing as Senior Software Consultant put him pretty close to the fire on
many occasions. Although Mike will continue to sell and support the
product, it is apparent to me that what little input he had when his was
affiliated with the company is now further diminished by his current
situation. Time will tell folks.

 

There are four different "Official" support groups

One is in German, another is in Hong Kong and includes Japanese and
Chinese language support, M. Tapes' one was the 'official' English
version, and recently Phase One added one directly run by the company
in Copenhagen, Denmark.

It's a big world out there ...

 

I have heard that there were suspicions in Denmark that he may have been
complicit in reverse-engineering some of the proprietary code that he was
privy to and passing it along to others at RSE. I personally doubt that was
the case, although I feel compelled to point out that in his position, he
certainly had access to information that others were not able to readily
obtain. The true story of his involvement may never be known by anyone but
himself and one or two others.

 

Surely you don't mean that. If one has the code, one doesn't need
to do any reverse engineering.