Quote from SideShowBob:
Jim come on -- didn't IB already say they'll implement that? Either way IB is the way they are and I don't think my poll vote will change it one bit. Maybe that will change when they're a publicly traded company -- maybe not.
Look how many people voted for weekend connectivity and they rejected it. I understand they need some server downtime -- but why do they need 36 hours? For example Tradestation (which certainly has it's own issues -- see my other posts about getting burned by them) is up 24/7 most of the time (they do perform maintenance from time to time -- for example this past weekend -- but they're generally up all weekend providing data). IB could improve in a lot of ways very easily (for goodness sake why do we need to read about bug fixes on ET from non-IB posters!) but they don't seem to have the management impetus to do it. And why don't they monitor their own bulletin board? And why can't they find a way for TWS to log to their end so we're not endlessly sending them logs for no reason?
SSB
Yes, IB did previously "implement" suggestion # 1072, in Aug 2006, but then they failed to do what they said they would do. The purpose of suggestion # 2185 is to remind IB of what it said it would do, and to persuade IB to do what it said it would do.
IB is not a single individual. IB is a organization. An organization sometimes can't immediately get it right on a sweeping policy change, and sometimes needs a reminder and a motivation and another chance to really make the change it said it would make.
IB does pay attention to the features poll and to customers in general. I believe that they will make this change, instead of just giving it lip service, if enough customers vote for it. I know that there are at least some IB employees who want this change to be made. I know that they want it enough so that they have actually held a meeting with IB's chairman to discuss it.
Why not vote for it, sideshowbob, just in case you are wrong, and the vote really does matter and reallly does help make the difference? Would it kill you to vote? Please reveal whether or not you voted on this.
Just because IB has rejected some suggestions, for which customers voted, doesn't mean IB will reject all good suggestions and that voting never matters. I think this was a very unreasonable argument on your part. IB has adopted an enormous number of customer suggestions, some from the poll, and others from other sources of customer feedback. I also think that IB may have very good reasons for sometimes telling their customers "No." I don't think they can succeed as a company if they allow all decisions to be made by the majority vote of its customers.
I think you really don't have any idea how difficult it is for IB to do the things they do, and how much work is involved in making changes, and how difficult it is for them to be able to recognize and to decide which changes should have resources allocated so that those changes can be made.
I think customers who are too busy to participate in IB's decision-making process, but who do have time to bad-mouth the company publicly, are part of the problem. I think that if you have not voted for # 2185, then you are contributing to the very problem about which you complain. If you disagreed with the substance of # 2185, and you witheld your vote for that reason, then I wouldn't blame you for having a different opinion. But if you do agree with # 2185, and you aren't willing to take the time to participate in the process by voting for it, and you are just blowing off steam by bad-mouthing the company without doing anything constructive to solve the problem, then I think that you are part of the problem. I think that you must vote for the change, before you earn the right to criticize the company for not making it.
