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Folding Text 2.1 out -- now abandoned by Hog Bay
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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Oct 13, 2015 at 06:52 PM
Wow, this is so typical of Jesse Grosjean of Hog Bay Software.
If you are a Folding Text user, you probably got the e-mail announcement about version 2.1. Though it has been a while (maybe two years) since the last update, it was encouraging to see continued development (as was promised in the initial release). Then you get to the last paragraph of the e-mail announcement:
“Going forward Mutahhir Ali, who also worked with me to create FoldingText, will maintain FoldingText. Mutahhir will focus on bug fixes and keeping FoldingText working into the future.”
In other words, Hog Bay is washing its hands of the app, and the best we who have invested in the app can expect are bug fixes and OS adjustments. Okay, so that’s better than nothing. But when Folding Text was released, Jesse touted it as his replacement for TaskPaper, which was his replacement for Mori, as he searched for the perfect app. I’ve said it before, Jesse is a gifted developer, but buyer beware. He takes his apps to a certain point then apparently loses interest and moves on to his next genius idea.
The promise with FT was that there would be a lot of modes added to make it even more flexible and useful. That promise has not been fulfilled. FT works fine, but it continues to have rough edges and feels like an incomplete project to me. I’d welcome contrary views.
Steve Z.
Posted by Paul Korm
Oct 13, 2015 at 07:29 PM
Folding Text always seemed like a one-man skunk works effort. I was shocked to see that there was an update in the App Store today—I had given up FT for dead years ago.
The blurb in the App Store mentions nothing about the support changes Steve reported—though the App Store isn’t the likely place to learn about that. It’s interesting that the App Store is still selling FT for $29.99. That’s a hefty price for software that’s officially on the edge of its demise.
I don’t feel bad about about a small team or one-man show giving up on their product, or making big promises then backing down from them. It’s got to be a long, tiresome slog supporting these apps after 3 or 5 or 10 years or more. So, if they want to go off and do something else, then do something else. I’m fickle about what software I use from year to year, so they can be fickle about what they make from year to year. It’s not like our safety relies on this stuff—it’s just software ;-)
Posted by Franz Grieser
Oct 13, 2015 at 07:39 PM
Paul: Yes.
AND when it comes to long-term availability of the data stored I prefer going with someone who sticks to what he developed (Tinderbox, Curio, Scrivener…) and not with someone who is known for leaving his products behind every 2 or 3 years.
Posted by jaslar
Oct 14, 2015 at 12:57 AM
Well, I’m sorry to see that. I think Steve Z is right: Hog Bay now has a solid rep for producing genius products that lose steam.
On the other hand, the TaskPaper format really is brilliant. And although I’ve given up on other versions (Taskmator?), I like the implementation in Editorial very much: TaskPaper format, markdown, plaintext. So good ideas (mostly) live on, and get incorporated in some fashion or another into our tool chests.
On the third hand, I haven’t spent a lot of money on Hog Bay software, so don’t feel quite the sense of (justified) betrayal others may feel.
Posted by Prion
Oct 14, 2015 at 01:14 PM
Yes, but it was hardly Taskpaper that invented the on-the-fly mark-up-ified display of plain text material.
Org mode came before that and is a *lot* more powerful, too, but there may have been programs doing similar things even before that.
jaslar wrote:
>.... I like the
>implementation in Editorial very much: TaskPaper format, markdown,
>plaintext. So good ideas (mostly) live on, and get incorporated in some
>fashion or another into our tool chests.
>