CW+

[smallhouse]

i tried to access the anna wave forecast today and was shunted to a signup page for cw+ .
no thanks.
i'll make do with wave buoys and the bom wind feed if i have to .

[dUg]

I am watching all this with great interest, having been heavily involved in what was probably the first ( surf related website ) in this country to adopt the model. That was 10 years ago, and it crashed and burned spectacularly along with a large amount of my time and mental well-being. I am pretty close to another fairly high profile "experiment" right now, where the stakes are much higher... yet I see them asking all the same questions and arriving at the same (often erroneous ) conclusions. I find myself asking... "so... what's changed?"

I do know that the advertising dollars don't add up. They barely added up in heady dotcom boom days of $80CPM.

Interesting times...

[dUg]

FWIW I thinks CW+ implementation strategy is missing the mark.

I can not trial it without putting credit card details in ... WTF? With web security these days (ask Vodafone, NAB, Westpac, QANTAS, etc) there's no way I'm giving my credit card details to trial something.

Plus, no guarantee that CW+ will continue, so why part with $70. If CW+ ceases, they're not gunna refund so that's a lot to pay for a leggie and 6mth sub to SW mag!

Gr8 2 c they've dropped the ad's running for CW+ b4 the webcams start on CW ... that was very annoying.

As for forecasting wind and swell, I've found seabreeze much better. Plus, you get live wind readings with history. Much better IMHO. Gr8 2 look at a southerly change moving up the coast and predict when it'll hit the local so I know when 2 ditch work!

Wingnut... they cannot charge your card for anything more than what is stated, BUT, like most of these deals it probably reverts to an opt-out arrangement. It's no different from your internet provider, telcos or web hosting companies where you give permission for a recurrent payment, but you have to implicitly notify them to cease the service ( and billing ).

Worst case you have chargeback on your credit card... 10 days and you get the dough back. There are far more risky propositions out there...

[smallhouse]

Yeah i understand how the creditcard /trial deal works, i cant be stuffed with the whole procedure, and then remembering to unsubscribe after the free trial before i get charged.
Just give me hassle free look at it if you really want to suck me in .

[The Mighty Sunbird]

And I agree with you TMC - it's not necessary to have surfcams broadcasting in HD.

I could do with a dutch tilt, though.

Is that similar to a German Bomb Drop?

[alakaboo]

I'd like some tilt shift. Something like this.

[Cpt.Caveman]

I got sucked in by the earlybird offer:

$70 for one year subscription with a free 6 month Surfing World subscription, a free leg rope and a free fin tool thingy. My SW subscription ran out a little while ago so I thought I'd give it a dig.

So far I haven't noticed anything breakthrough, it seems like the same old stuff with more detailed swell forecasting, plus better detail on the beach cams so its easier to see surface conditions. Thats about it.

[chrisb]

WTF

I just tried to get the surfcams for DY, Mona, Narrabeen etc on Coastalwatch.com.au and none of them responded.

Does this mean that you have to pay for the basic service that was free

If so theyr'e not getting my money and they should think about all the unnecessary car journeys and associated greenhouse gas emissions that they're causing

[Animal_Chin]

Yeah, all the Vicco cams were down this arvo too.

Had to DRIVE for 5 mins to actually LOOK at the surf.

And it was crap.

[dUg]

WTF

I just tried to get the surfcams for DY, Mona, Narrabeen etc on Coastalwatch.com.au and none of them responded.

Does this mean that you have to pay for the basic service that was free

If so theyr'e not getting my money and they should think about all the unnecessary car journeys and associated greenhouse gas emissions that they're causing

Just tried Narra, Avoca & Mona Vale cams ( the free, standard ones ), ... all fine. Avalon looked like it was down.

[chrisb]

WTF

I just tried to get the surfcams for DY, Mona, Narrabeen etc on Coastalwatch.com.au and none of them responded.

Does this mean that you have to pay for the basic service that was free

If so theyr'e not getting my money and they should think about all the unnecessary car journeys and associated greenhouse gas emissions that they're causing

Just tried Narra, Avoca & Mona Vale cams ( the free, standard ones ), ... all fine. Avalon looked like it was down.

Yeah, it looks like the closure was just temporary. Surf's up and I'm on my way.

[aaronn]

r u guys paying for this? below this AM Manly Camera
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/7196/33027498.jpg

[ajohnsen]

I got sucked in by the earlybird offer:

$70 for one year subscription with a free 6 month Surfing World subscription, a free leg rope and a free fin tool thingy. My SW subscription ran out a little while ago so I thought I'd give it a dig.

So far I haven't noticed anything breakthrough, it seems like the same old stuff with more detailed swell forecasting, plus better detail on the beach cams so its easier to see surface conditions. Thats about it.

Mmm, same here, Captain. It's not bad, but I won't be renewing.

My kids love the free leg-rope; they take turns in being a dog.

[ajohnsen]

The Maroubra cam hasn't worked properly (on CW+ and CW, er, neutral) for weeks now. It freezes and is heavily pixillated. It's not my computer because all the other cams work fine. I've emailed them a couple of times but no follow up. When it's a free service, you can't really whinge. When you're paying...that's another story.

[grapsta]

that maroubra cam is getting veeery annoying

[ajohnsen]

I've emailed them three times and have yet to receive a response. I expect to be ignored by Ebay, Amazon, Google and Yahoo, but not Coastal Watch!

C'mon Justine, you're normally pretty good at responding!

[ajohnsen]

Justy got a call from Justine who explained that the Maroubra cam was having modem issues and it's taken a bit of mucking around to identify the problem. Up and running now, though.

Thanks Justine.

Also, it's better to use the contacts on http://plus.coastalwatch.com/help rather than the feedback form which I've been using. I had no idea they had all those other options. Very well hidden!

[ajohnsen]

Yeah, so I know what youse are gonna say - sucked in!

Coastal Watch Plus just automatically renewed my membership.

It was experiment the first time. Can't afford the scratch second time.

MAybe was in the terms and conditions - more fool me - but disingenuous in my opinion.

Guarantee to not have me come back if you're sneaky. Might come back if not.

Ice-cream now. Cookies and Cream.