Paul, Regarding the DRM. You are 100% right and It is obvious that any company that goes out of business must unlock their software. People purchase a lifetime license and it must work lifetime. So it is not a concern since we are committed to this idea. Regarding the basics of charting. Yes it works not the way you want. It is not an issue for many traders(and majority of software ignores this issue as we do), but it is not appropriate for you. I understand it and I respect your opinion. The software must be flexible so we will add holidays and work on empty bars too to offer even high standard of quality. Thank you for the discussion, but I'm not supposed to write such semi-promotional messages on ET. If you have some specific questions and need our support we will happy to serve you. Thank you once again.
That is an excellent point and an issue that really needs to be more widely understood. DRM is a very one sided arrangement. And I'm not having a go at any particular vendor. The final cost could be far in excess of whatever is originally paid for software, if one factors in the time cost of learning curve, systems, extensions, scripts etc developed with the package. It could be quite horrendous.
Is this the same "DRM" that is digital rights management? So you need to log on to a particular server to be able to use the trading software? :eek:
Ill answer 2 questions here. Atrader now does the bar filling/session management you are talking about. Its surprising that none of the mainstream charting products offers it (that i know of), and suprising to me becuase id never thought about it until this discussion (prolly none of the other providers either..). Anyway regarding DRM, the only way to successfully authenticate a user is by logging onto a server. The software companys invest time and money in their products. Its the business model thats here to stay, if you dont like it then there are plenty of free charts out there, ie ninja/ib charts. Rgs,
I am an TradeStation user (online subscription). Came across this discussion and wanted to add to this. First of all, these is absolutely nothing positive for the customer as far as DRM is concerned. None. Those that do not understand - well, a fool and his money are soon parted. Now the practical aspect of it - what are you going to do about it if everyone is implementing DRM? You manage your risk. DRMed service is semi-palatable, and for low enough monthly payment I can justify the possibility of loss at a future date. But DRMed product that I "own" (in software licensing sense)? No way jose! 1) With TradeStation and my backup brokerage account there, I get the platform basically for free. 2) TRAD is publicly traded company. Who has seen the financial statements of Multiwho? Take a guess on who is more likely to go belly up? 3) TS goes belly up, I lose nothing! With multicharts, kiss your money goodbye. Unless of course, you are on monthly sub plan with multicharts, and you can rationalize that $99/month. Seriously, tell me why I should pay $99/mo + $50 to 100/month for a data fee when TS provides this for free? (Exchange fees you pay in both cases). What is so special about them to justify a $200 / mo premium for a product DRMed to the wazoo? (I know, I know - you need to be TS brokerage customer. You need a backup brokerage, right? You elite trader don't trade only 10 r/t futures per month (or equivalent number of shares) for TS to waive the platform fee? ) How about SC, AT and other products? Reasonable monthly subscription - hence okay. My risk is really some major inconvenience if their auth servers are offline. I do not have detailed info on MultiChart's DRM, but maybe someone can chime in. Does it phone home every time the software is launched? Every x minutes when it is online? Why? Why can't it phone home every x days or so? Then, one fine morning when their auth servers are taking a dump poor users can still go about their business, right? I can't figure out how MC has one customer
DarthSidious, what is the purpose of your post? With tweets like this http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2806644#post2806644 you are a suspect. Do you use the software yourself which you are bashing about? (Y/N) You would be better understood as a holder of TRAD stock, but you sound more like one of Tradestation sales dogs. Read your answer in this thread: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2806953#post2806953 --
Sierra Charts gets you six months of one minute futures data (20 minute delayed) on hundreds of contracts for $22 a month -- package 2. Fewer contracts and of less backfill available on a tick basis. One nice thing about SC is that you can set up two feeds. One from their Historic Service (one minute futures) and one from their Historic Futures service. It is a very sweet deal.