Following this is my
response to his letter.
My publisher at PLANE AND PILOT NEWS refused to run my response so they can go pound sand, as I will not write for anyone that does not have the fortitude for controversy instead of worrying about their advertising $ revenue.
Page 4 PLANE & PILOT NEWS February 2013
Thank you for giving me to opportunity
to respond to the “My
Opinion” piece in your
December issue by Retired
Judge Arthur Rosen. Quite
frankly, I wasn’t even going
to bother replying to the
article - not a single person
has contacted me about it.
However because I have
principles and pride in
the WingX Pro7 Software
I wish to set the record
straight.
WingX Pro7 now displays a disclaimer upon
each update. Because of
this, Rosen jumps to the
ridiculous conclusion that
“I do not have any information, but I believe that
someone or some group
have brought suit against
WingX.” This is reckless,
unprofessional innuendo.
That’s like saying, “I do
not have any information,
but I believe that John Doe
has raped and beaten five
women.” As Judge Rosen
surely knows, a ‘clever’ article title does not
afford the writer license
to defame. Rosen often
emails us to ask questions about WingX Pro7
features. Yet he never
contacted me to ask why
WingX Pro7 was changed
to display the disclaimer
upon each update. What I
would have told him is that
I was following a practice
that many app developers have used. Whenever
I install iTunes and other
apps, I am asked to agree
to a disclaimer so I figured I’d get WingX Pro7
to behave like other apps
in the industry – a very
far cry from what Rosen
absurdly claims. Would
Judge Rosen have allowed
such wild speculation in
his courtroom? Is this his
standard of journalism?
Rosen then goes on a rant
about disclaimers in general whilst taking a few
extra swipes at WingX
Pro7. Still not done, Rosen
then claims “It is too bad
that a leading company
in aviation apps has very
little quality control.” How
does he know what QC we
have? He doesn’t.
So, let me state clearly
and leave no doubt, to the
best of my knowledge --
and I am CEO and Founder
of Hilton Software, so I
should know -- a lawsuit
has not been filed against
Hilton Software and none
is pending or threatened.
Whether or not Rosen
and/or the Editors of Plane
and Pilot News issue an
apology is not important,
what is important is that
WingX Pro7 has been the
#1 Top Grossing Navigation
iPad app on the Apple App
Store for almost two years
beating out the Garmins,
TomToms, etc. I just
checked and the last ten
WingX Pro7 App Reviews
on the App Store have 5
out of 5 stars. All software
has bugs, including software from NASA, Boeing,
Airbus, and other industry giants. We are recognized in the industry as the
technology leader. WingX
Pro7 has features not seen
in any other single app,
including Track Up, GPWS,
Obstacles, Search and
Rescue Grids, Synthetic
Vision, Split Screen, etc.
We adopted ADS-B over
one year before ADS-B
became somewhat main
stream. So yes, Wing
Pro7 will have bugs (as will
other apps), but we find
and fix them quickly and
get the updates out ASAP
while continually adding
new features.
WingX Pro7 has a
huge and rapidly growing customer base. Hilton
Software and other small
aviation software companies are creating disruptive technology that is
significantly improving the
safety and cost of flying
and even saving lives. My
Opinion is that Rosen’s hit
piece is just that and the
Editors of Plane and Pilot
News should be ashamed
of publishing it.
Dr. Hilton Goldstein
CEO and Founder of
Hilton Software LLC
MY RESPONSE
March 8, 2013
WINGXPRO7
REPLY TO HILTON GOLDSTEIN LETTER
Mr. Goldstein,
I am honored that you read PLANE AND PILOT NEWS and express an interest in my column. I thank you for taking time to respond to issues I addressed with reference to WINGXPRO7. I will try and address your letter one item at a time.
You seemed to miss my point on your disclaimer. When you take money for a product that is advertised as an aviation program and state that the program might work and it might not, then you require someone to accept this statement in order for the program to run is a very weak argument. In my opinion WingX would have a hard time defending this is court. Maybe someone more knowledgeable in this field should have written a better disclaimer for your company. Your analogy of someone being raped is way off base and displays anger and is an invalid argument.
The next issue is quality control. I stand by my statement that when WingX works properly it is the best Aviation App on the market. Mr. Goldstein seems to differ with me on the definition of quality control. I have written several emails to Mr. Goldstein when the App did not work. The latest issue with WingX was that Safe Taxi did not work correctly when released. WingX’s release did not show an area near a runway in yellow and when on a runway in red. In fact the safe taxi diagram did not turn yellow until one was on a runway and it only turned red on takeoff rollout. I emailed WingX and they corrected the safe taxi issues. My statement of poor quality control is that this should have never been released until it was tested and worked properly.
Mr. Goldstein compares his App to TomTom and Garmin automotive apps stating that they have several bugs. At no time did Mr. Goldstein compare his App to ForeFlight. Foreflight does not have the features that WingX has, yet when ForeFlight releases an update it works without bugs.
WingX has more features than any other aviation App. I emailed Mr. Goldstein on 2 counts to request actual winds aloft and actual temperatures in flight. This has been available on ADS-B In for months and is available on ForeFlight but not WingX. As of the writing of this column this feature is still not available on WingX.
Mr. Goldstein calls my column a “hit piece” on WingX. I disagree. I was pointing out the disclosure statement and lack of what I define as quality control. I am a paying customer of WingX and hope that my previous column along with this column will result in increased quality. I appreciate what WingX has accomplished and at this date feel there are only 2 aviation apps worth owning, WingX and ForeFlight.
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