Processes not tools

Posted by tightbeam
Sep 25, 2018 at 02:01 PM

I did read your whole post, and while I also like to “fool around” with the software - much of it very good software - that independent developers create, I would not “rely” upon that software, as the chances of it being abandoned are quite a bit higher than Microsoft suddenly throwing in the towel. I believe an annual subscription to Office 365 costs $70/year, or $5.84 per month. If that cost is too onerous, then it’s time to put up a lemonade stand and earn a few extra bucks.

“Small developers work to satisfy the needs of the customer.”

Well, no. I imagine most customers come to small developers because they see that the developer already has created software suitable for their needs. It’s true that small developers give the appearance of being responsive to customer input - mostly because they have few enough customers that it’s possible to do so - but typically their pace of development is glacial, lacking as they do sufficient time, money, and infrastructure. How long, for example, has the new version of MyInfo been under development? Even Workflowy, with its largish customer base, went through an Ice Age of sorts recently, woken not by their grand concern for the needs of customers but rather the encroachment of Dynalist.

You probably meant to say, “I’m not criticizing that choice, but I would be uncomfortable relying on Microsoft[, exclusively], and with that I agree. I don’t think anyone can successfully argue, however, that Microsoft (or Apple or Google) isn’t *reliable* in terms of its ability to stay in the market.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:
I didn’t say I don’t use Microsoft products. I am forced to. I am saying
>I don’t want to rely on them exclusively. Microsoft’s aim is clearly to
>herd everyone into their Office 365 annual subscription system. When a
>company is that big, it usually means the customers have to adapt to the
>changes based on the company’s needs, and not the other way around.
>Small developers work to satisfy the needs of the customer.
> >I don’t use Apple’s Pages or Numbers. You’ve got to trust somebody’s
>hardware and operating system.
> >If you read my whole post you’d see that I addressed small developers
>and Scrivener.
> >tightbeam wrote:
>Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>>>I’m not criticizing that choice, but I would be uncomfortable relying
>>on
>>>Microsoft.
>>
>>How come? Are you also uncomfortable relying on Apple? the Scrivener
>>folks? any home-brew, cottage developer?
>>
>>
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