TheScarfedOne Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Some of you may have heard the "rumour" at BETT - but here is the official finalised view from Smart... Information on changes to SMART Notebook software - MySMARTSpaces Points to note: The fear we all had re current versions and licensing...v11.4 is the last version and is perpetual. New versions are a new product, and subject to the new terms. Upgrades are not free anymore... 2
localzuk Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Cool. For a 5 year license it'd cost us £3100 then. Not bad at all really.
TechMonkey Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Not sure I would call that a good deal. We would have to buy 41 licenses. That costs nearly as much as our EES agreement! For one piece of software. No bulk discount? No site license? Time to move over to Open-Sankore!
localzuk Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 When you compare it to the competition? Its not bad. Open-Sankore, whilst being OK is no match for Notebook. Neither is RM Easiteach NG.
free780 Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Maybe they can make the smart drivers not slow the pc down as much and the support improve a bit.
JHLEHS Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Very expensive we have about 70 SMART Boards, we are just staying on version 11.4
achedgy Posted March 4, 2014 Posted March 4, 2014 Always been a serious advocate of smartboards.... But since version 11 found myself going off them, now this. shame......
exim Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 So I wonder about future devices. They'll probably make them not fully compatible with 11.4 on purpose.
AngryTechnician Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 (edited) This is definitely causing us to rethink our planned purchase of new boards this summer. I've got 9 Promethean boards coming out, but I'm not committing to an annual cost that high for upgrades, if this is the way SMART are going then it's clear they aren't going to keep Notebook 11 running on newer devices and future versions of Windows. Edited March 5, 2014 by AngryTechnician
achedgy Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 11.4 is a nasty piece of software (no wonder they're freely giving it away) But in 3 years time and it really is as much use as a chocolate tea pot. You buy a board or interactive projector, then have no choice but to pay the annual fee, or potentially only be able to use the kit for a year....
localzuk Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 Not really. You don't have to use SMART Notebook if you don't want to. You could use Powerpoint or Paint or whatever...
LeMarchand Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 Not really. You don't have to use SMART Notebook if you don't want to. You could use Powerpoint or Paint or whatever... I tried suggested that at some of my schools as most of the staff don't really use the SMART software as anything more than a Powerpoint replacement, no-one was interested.
localzuk Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 They'll be interested when you have to pay to upgrade... Or if you move from SMART boards to other-brand interactive kit.
fiza Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 There is no mention of the how much the collaboration licence will cost for those that want to use Smart Notebook 2014 with other vendors equipment.
LeMarchand Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 They'll be interested when you have to pay to upgrade... Or if you move from SMART boards to other-brand interactive kit. They'll probably stick with 11.4 rather than pay (or convert their notebook files to ppt)!
localzuk Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 There is no mention of the how much the collaboration licence will cost for those that want to use Smart Notebook 2014 with other vendors equipment. It says its included at the bottom of the page. They'll probably stick with 11.4 rather than pay (or convert their notebook files to ppt)! 11.4 puts a watermark on the screen with non-SMART interactive devices.
LeMarchand Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 11.4 puts a watermark on the screen with non-SMART interactive devices. 11.3 it is, then! Actually, the schools using other devices aren't my concern any more so it's up to them.
fiza Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 It says its included at the bottom of the page. It says they will make it available to 3rd party manufacturers but doesn't mention cost. If I already have 3rd party boards how much will it cost me to get Smart Notebook Advantage? That's the bit I am unclear about.
localzuk Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 The very top of the page states this: SMART is making a number of changes to offer increased flexibility for collaborative learning on any interactive device and to make it easier for schools to standardise on SMART Notebook™ collaborative learning software. So, I'm still reading that as being a single price for everyone.
AngryTechnician Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 There is no mention of the how much the collaboration licence will cost for those that want to use Smart Notebook 2014 with other vendors equipment. Given the price I was quoted for a perpetual licence on third-party hardware, I expect it to be a 3-figure sum per seat annually.
dhicks Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 New versions are a new product, and subject to the new terms. Upgrades are not free anymore... The pricing strikes me as okay - we have 30-odd classrooms with some kind of interactive whiteboard, we could have Smart's software on the lot for around £1,000 a year. If I read the details right, that's useable on any vendor's hardware and you get the collaberation features thrown in, too. There is a line about how each license key is restricted to being installed 4 times per classroom - not great if you deploy machines with a base image and then install software on top of that, every time you reimage a machine you'll use up an install license.
exim Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 this is a mess. Oh well, Smart can prepare to lose customers. Time to rethink my summer upgrade plans.
localzuk Posted March 6, 2014 Posted March 6, 2014 I'm not sure it'll be an actual physical restriction (like Windows keys). The way I've read it is that you're allowed to have it on 4 machines per classroom. It'd be a nightmare for SMART if they tried to physically restrict it to 4 installs - it'd also mean having to have 30 keys, rather than 1. 1
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