Returning User...Confused

Hi bodawei. Ha ha! No doubt that my presence only lowers the Chinese IQ here.

RJ, of course traditional characters don't stink...they are sweet and beautiful. Actually, I'm just too lazy to convert to simplified here, plus it screws up my memory of the characters. I say damn that 毛 for simplifying!

I used that joke once, saying that whenever someone leaves the technology team to join marketing, it raises the avg IQ of both groups. Unfortunately I was talking to the marketing folks and nobody got the joke. :-)

In Calkins case, I'm going to have to get a traditional character translator. Those TW guys just think their characters dont stink. hehe

Hey Brent,

Good to see you. Tal it seems has brought you pretty much up to date and as usual he hits the nail pretty close to dead center. Loyalty at cpod it seems turned out to be a one-way street. Those chickens will also come home to roost someday. I see you noticed our "speedbump". Bungee surfing. Funny you should notice it, When I first complained about it, I was told it was not significant enough to be a priority. Translation - they dont know how to fix it and if they did, they certainly wouldnt do it for me. Anyway its their badge of non-professionalism. We wouldnt want them to lose it. See, now you got me started again, and I have been trying to be nice. Complaining just gives me a stomach ache and the lessons are still good. Tal got that right too. And when I grow up I want to be an executive user so they will answer my questions and be nice to me and everything. But hey welcome back. I hope you stick around. It would be an improvement to the neighborhood. Oh, and yes, I for one did miss you.

Yeah, that was my understanding too based on what they've told us in the past. Considering that Cpod is based in China, paying Chinese salaries, they must be raking in the dough ;-)

Of course I don't know anything about anything when it comes to Cpod's revenue and expenditures, so I hope nobody at Cpod takes this personally. Just saying that it's difficult for those of us who actually live and work in China, Taiwan, etc. ... kind of one of the big reasons for learning Chinese! But then again, I guess you don't need Cpod as much after making that move.

Sadly mate, CPod is not really aimed at expats like you and I who live and work in China and/or live on a Chinese salary. It's my understanding that the great majority of paying customers are in the US, maybe they come to China for business or holidays, I don't know. I guess there's also quite a few living in China, but working for western companies and still get paid a western level of salary. (They must think it's Christmas every day!) Anyway the bottom line is CPod will set prices that customers of this type will pay.

As you say, it is what it is.

I know you've been a poddie for quite some time calkins, you were already one of the frequent posters when I first discovered the site (back in 2006 I think.) Thus you and I remember CPod's earlier incarnation, dare I call it 'the glory days' when the site was mostly free, the community was lively, joyful and generally a great experience, the teachers and staff had a much freer rein to participate in the community and the mood generally was one of happy sharing. Those days are gone. CPod now is, let's face it, strictly business. Most of the money I'd guess is coming from punters forking out for 'Guided' subscriptions, or other programs intended to provide the bulk of the cashflow. Thus catering to users on such programs is now really what this place is all about, (the dashboard it seems was introduced almost entirely with them in mind.) Basic subscribers and to a lesser extent Premium subscribers are now minnows. Subscription prices can be increased with impunity. Maybe some will quit and not renew, but this will not affect the overall gameplan.

The lessons may still be as great (or greater than) as ever, but the ethos has changed utterly. Because the brand name remains the same, it's easy to be unaware of this.

I guess that makes sense, if you don't pay then you miss out on the heart of the content.

But man the increase makes a big difference, particularly if you live in Taiwan or China. When I lived in the U.S., making a U.S. salary, the cost seemed justifiable. But on a Taiwan salary (even one that's considered high by Taiwan standards), it's much more difficult to justify.

Anyway, it is what it is I guess.

Yep, that's also part of the new order of things. The powers that be decided a little while back that Basic subscribers were getting too much for too little. There were also (comparatively much smaller) increases for the other poddie flavours, but apart from the smashboard, mobile phone toys, and the whiplash of course, there hasn't been much to show for it. Just as well the heart of the learning experience here (the superb podcasts and dialogues) is as good as (often better than) it ever was.

Thanks suxiaoya! I may have a few questions as I try to figure out the changes...

Calkins, good to see you back, welcome!

The dashboard was the major change, as you discovered. Last week we made a few further changes to make it easier to access and manage the lessons in your lesson feed.

For all updates, it's best to check out the blog. Here's the most recent post that may be of help: http://blog.chinesepod.com/2010/09/19/lesson-management-changes-and-user-feedback/

Do let us know if you have any questions about this. Thanks!

Hey tal, how's it going?

Ha ha, I guess I can accept the whiplash...perhaps it's a good way to adjust our eyes in the morning.

Hey, welcome back calkins old sport. I'm afraid the thread bouncing whiplash is simply part of the user experience here now , so I'd suggest you just get used to it. It's not considered to be a serious problem. (If it was fixed, I think I for one would find life without it just too, er... straightforward.)

It's a fine symbol of CPod post-dashboard anyway. Sorry I can't help you with that, for the most part I try to pretend the dashboard simply isn't there.