Remember digEplayer?

[battalion51]

Remember a while back those topics about digEplayer and how they were coming to Amtrak, and everyone on this forum (I might have even been one of them) didn't buy it since the claims had no legs to stand on? Well it was a good leak. Here's the story as the NARP Hotline for today tells it.

Portable entertainment systems are now available for rental to Amtrak Auto Train passengers. The digEplayer system stores many current movies, television shows, and other programs on a pre-programmed unit with a 7-inch screen. The unit has 8-10 hours of battery life. digEplayers are available for rental for $19 from representatives of Railway Media at the Lorton and Sanford termini. Representatives also collect the units upon arrival. Amtrak plans to eventually offer this service to customers on other routes. See Amtrak’s press release and RailwayMedia.com.

 

[AlanB]

That wasn't a leak. The person making those posts worked for the company and I suspect that he was either the owner or a highly placed officer in the company.

He was using us as a sounding board for the idea.

 

[trainboy325]

Anyone living in the Orlando area should check out the Orlando Sentinal classified section under jobs. The company providing these entertainment devices are looking for workers to actually travel on Auto Train and do something for them on-board. The ad didn't say specifically what the job description is, only that travel on-board the train is required. I suspect on-board rental sales and troubleshooting problems with the devices is the main purpose of the on-board position.

Anyone interested in being the first generation of Amtrak on-board contract service employees should check it out. A good friend of mine is interviewing for one position, he'll let me know how it turns out and what the job is when I hear back from him. He's the one that told me about the classified ad in Tuesday's when he read it in the newspaper and doesn't know if the ad has run any other day than Tuesday. What I can tell you is that the company immediately responded to his telephone inquiry and scheduled an interview with him that day. Anyone who can find the ad in Tuesday's paper or online should check it out!

 

[Amtrak Guy]

Is that a bad thing, Alan?

The private sector is making a huge investment in Amtrak, and that upsets you?

:wacko:

 

[haolerider]

This is a very good thing for the Auto Train passenger and is a good source of on-board passenger satisfaction. I understand that sales have gone well in the first few days and should increase as the advertising programs kick in.

Issues will arise if and when the product is introduced to other trains in the Amtrak system, since none of them are "captive" trains as the Auto Train. On and off passengers will rent these and methods of return/retrivial will have to be developed for passengers getting off at unstaffed stations.

As has been noted, the company running this program has employees on board the Auto Train and that may be a solution for the rest of the system.

 

[AlanB]

Is that a bad thing, Alan?
The private sector is making a huge investment in Amtrak, and that upsets you?

  :wacko:

First, let's be clear, they aren't making a huge investment in Amtrak. They are making a huge investment in their own stock. Amtrak does not own digeplayer; they are most likely only making a commission off of this idea. At best it's a fixed fee contract, but again, Amtrak isn't making tons of money off this idea.

Now, that said, I happen to think it's a wonderful idea. I suspect that many passengers will love this idea and it will probably be a huge success. I personally won't take advantage of it, since I travel with my laptop and can play my own DVD's if/when I want to.

What bothers me about this is the fact that we were used as a sounding board over and over and over by the company. We had dozens of topics about Digeplayer coming soon on this forum, to the point that many of our members started complaining about it. Many felt that it was someone looking for free advertising. It wasn't until I closed the last post that management finally owned up that they were trying to get feedback.

I could have understood one anonymous posting just to get a sampling, but after that they should have been upfront with the membership about their game. I think that most people would have freely given their opinions and ideas knowing that the topic was legit.

At the very least, they should have contacted Anthony, the owner of this wonderful forum to explain things. Anthony asks nothing from the members in the way of fees, he's eliminated all ads from the forum, and basically pays to keep this place running with his own money. So no one should be looking for free advertising on here, without at least giving Anthony the courtesy of an email to explain things.

That's what upsets me. :angry:

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Alan, I certainly agree with you. Either commercial posts should be limited to perhaps one per several months, and then only for genuine rail-related products, or they should have to register with the board in advance, be pre-cleared by sysop/admin for a specific, limited number of ad-posts like that, at a significant per-post charge, and blacklisted if any of that was violated. All of which would be a royal pain to administer and that's probably why Anthony isn't interested, and I don't blame him one bit.

"Market research" using multiple posts ain't gonna fly.

I also suspect they are going to have signicant inventory-control problems on "normal" trains as opposed to Auto-Train.

 

[battalion51]

Well if they take a security deposit like a credit card, it makes it hard to run off with it.

 

[haolerider]

Not only would it be hard to "run off" with the unit, it would be senseless, since I understand the batteries are not obtainable commercially and they have an 8-10 hour life span - without re-charging. Who needs an expensive paperweight?

 

[The Chief]

What bothers me about this is the fact that we were used as a sounding board over and over and over by the company.  ...  It wasn't until I closed the last post that management finally owned up that they were trying to get feedback.

Nice job, Alan. I recall I emailed you that the guy posting the digeplayer tripe was a "shill."

 

[AlanB]

What bothers me about this is the fact that we were used as a sounding board over and over and over by the company.  ...  It wasn't until I closed the last post that management finally owned up that they were trying to get feedback.

Nice job, Alan. I recall I emailed you that the guy posting the digeplayer tripe was a "shill."

Yup, you sure did. I recall that PM.