There won't be much of one.  Smith Micro is going to run it into the ground.  Their customer service has gone to hell.  When you try to get updates for previously bought versions of Poser, you can't.  Then, they don't reply to your emails to customer service.  Poser is just a cash-cow they are milking for all they can before phasing it out.  The Poser Design Team was worth more to them than Poser per se.  That was the value to them.  Sometimes, it's cheaper to just buy into a market than to build it from scratch.  Take the best of the company bought, strip mine it, and build the best pieces into something bigger that will send the $ flow to the new owner whence will then write off for taxes the company bought. :lol

Here is my opinion on that subject.

I had a brief time when I couldn't get online. Then when I returned couldn't log on over there.

Tried contacting their CSR. Nope, nada, zerio, zilch, nothing.

That is the exact reply I got to my request for help with my accnt.

In my opinion Enron probably had better Customer service representatives than that place.

And well given my feelings about the CSR over there, lets just say that I was not at all enthused to learn that they now control poser either.

I am afraid I must agree with the Op's opinion that like a certain MCP from long ago, they will simply milk Poser for all it's worth and then leave Poser laying in the dust a dead, broken, virtually worthless, partially de-resed program.

Trust me over the years I've dealt with several of the sites now, both via email and via direct phone conversation, and hands down the CSR at Rosity and DAZ is far far better.

Again this is just my own clearly, obviously, transparently biased opinion that is.

Yours,

Daidalos

I dont have an issue with Smith Micro now owning Poser, and of course they want to make money out of an application they have bougth the rigths to, they are not stupid.
I got impressed when they released a servicepack for Poser 7 even as they have their new version Poser Pro to focus on, that feels like good costumer service to  me.

Regards / Jonny

Poser updates for windows and mac  versions are here >> http://my.smithmicro.com/win/poser/updates.html
http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/poser/updates.html

I had a problem getting an update, E-mailed them, got an almost instant reply telling me about a problem with a certain category of serial numbers that they had their end. They sent me a new link created for me and others with this bank of serial numbers and I got the upgrade within hours, not days!!

For me their customer service has been top notch!!

 I've had no real issues with their customer service on the whole.  Especially recently - I hear from them within days usually.
Love esther

 only half?
Open the other eye.

... and they're spammers, to boot!

Quote -  only half?
Open the other eye.

:biggrin:

I've sent several emails to them and they didn't reply either, but I know of others that did get replies and also others that didn't got replies at all. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm guessing companies like SmithMicro do get a lot of spam, so it's easy for valid emails to get lost also.

On the other hand I did use their online customer support system also and they never bothered to reply to that one either. When I asked about this in their forums, I was told what to about it and those were excactly the steps I did take, so..... now I'm not bothered to contact them anymore.

As for the update I had no problem downloading it, but the spam get's tiresome, especially if you receive the same email week after asking you to buy something you already have bought a few weeks earlier.

As for the future of Poser..... imo poser is doomed to die and it will be added to the list of obsolete applications SmithMicro is selling.

*The future of Poser?
The future of the Poser Community?

And after that?*
(The above italic text is not a citation. I'm just thinking loud...)

The future of Poser is Poser 8.

The future of the Poser Community is pretty much the same as the past: never leave a good hair on who ever it is who is owning the software.

And after that: Poser 9, and a Community... you get the point.

if I had a dollar for everytime it was predicted that poser was dead or dying... I'd be rich beyond the dreams of averice I tell you....

if I had a dollar for everytime it was predicted that poser was dead or dying... I'd be rich beyond the dreams of averice I tell you....

Mind sharing?    ;-]

There should be a tax on 'poser is dead' posts, it just might make a significant dent in the national deficit.

*There should be a tax on 'poser is dead' posts, it just might make a significant dent in the national deficit.

Yep.

be of good cheer, sarge.  AFAIK they're working diligently on poser 8, even as we speak.
absolutely no rumours of them wanting to sell poser to anybody else at this point.

Y'all have pretty well covered the subject -- and more succinctly than in most of the 10,000 or so past threads which have dealt with the same topic.

Poser has been dying ever since I first got into the game -- and that was approx. 8 years ago.  Also, since the release of Poser 5: each new version that's come out has represented Poser's Final Death Knell.  RIP Poser. :m_skull:  <-------The Dork's Skull - from a well-known & especially haunting tale by Edgar Allan Poe.

Now, if gasoline goes up to $12 / gallon, then we might actually have something to talk about.  But I wouldn't concern myself overmuch with it otherwise.

:m_coolgrin:

If buses appeared as often as "Poser is dead" posts - we'd  all be using public transport :)

POSER IS DEAD!!!!

;P

(all in jest, mind you)

Quote - POSER IS DEAD!!!!

;P

(all in jest, mind you)

thats 1 dollar (CDN) please... thank you....

Quote - > Quote - POSER IS DEAD!!!!

;P

(all in jest, mind you)

thats 1 dollar (CDN) please... thank you....

But that's like 150 USD!  Howzabout a beer? ;)