Has anyone tried this?

http://novlr.org

If eBook export is still "in progress," that's a deal-breaker for me. I should look to see if it offers anything beyond what Scivener + Markdown + Dropbox gives.

As it stands now, Novlr is to Scrivener what a pencil is to a typewriter -- an that perhaps is its only allure: simplicity. I wish these folks well, but who would want to spend $120 a year for less functionality than you get with Scrivener for twice the cost of the one-time purchase of Scrivener? They will end up dropping the price or failing, I think.

Off line mode, is a good idea, however.

Steve Z.

I think they try the basic capitalist business model here:

If you don't have enough customers you have to raise the prices to pay your bills.

.... oh wait ....

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

who would want to spend $120 a year for less functionality
than you get with Scrivener for twice the cost of the one-time purchase
of Scrivener?

People who can't install Scrivener (or run any executables), i.e. the Chromebook generation.

More than 50% of US schools now use Chromebooks, and these kids are growing up quickly:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/113650/20151207/google-chromebook-now-owns-over-50-percent-of-educational-tech-market-share-in-us.htm

I follow https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/ and people are starting to ask for Scrivener-like functionality but they want it online because they don't want to buy either a Mac or a Windows machine.

But I'm not trying to justify their pricing strategy. Someone will come along and offer something similar for a lot less, and that might bring the price down in the end.

Super Note Card (remember this old one, which used to be called Miss Lonely Notes at one time) is now an online app. I haven't used it, but it seems to offer a lot more power than Novlr and they charge just $25 a year. SNC isn't as "elegant" looking as Novlr, but it already has a lot of the features that are just on the "pipeline" for Novlr. And I suspect SNC is not exactly brimming with users -- based on the fact that the most recent entry on the user forum is 46 days old.

Like I said earlier, I do wish the developers luck. But I think they're going to have a tough row to hoe.

Steve Z.

I did a quick overview of online writing apps -- very quick and superficial. I was not overly impressed. The one that most impressed me is called Shaxpir (pronounced Shakespeare), although they say it is a cloud-based desktop app, so I'm not sure it really qualifies. Anyway, its subscription is $8 a month. Not cheap, but cheaper than Novlr, and it appears a lot more sophisticated, closer to Scrivener.

There's a demo video: https://youtu.be/IFG8fpYkDxA

Steve Z.

Thanks for the tip, Steve.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I did a quick overview of online writing apps -- very quick and
superficial. I was not overly impressed. The one that most impressed me
is called Shaxpir (pronounced Shakespeare), although they say it is a
cloud-based desktop app, so I'm not sure it really qualifies. Anyway,
its subscription is $8 a month. Not cheap, but cheaper than Novlr, and
it appears a lot more sophisticated, closer to Scrivener.

There's a demo video: https://youtu.be/IFG8fpYkDxA

Steve Z.

Wow, this one actually looks impressive. Although the video is more focused on fiction writing, I can clearly see how the features would be useful for non-fiction.

But of course, it's $8 per month while Scrivener, which gets the job done well for me, was a one-time purchase.

Interesting what Dr Andus says about Chromebook users. There does appear to be a kind of "divergence" going on - the opposite of the tech pundits' enthusiastically embraced convergence. And the invasion of educational institutions by Chromebooks suggests it's a genuinely powerful trend. I suppose that's backed up by the number of folks who use their smartphones as "work" computers - a much larger percentage of users than I ever realised.

I'm not convinced by what looks like a 'design by committee' approach to adding new features. That seems like a way to end up with a complex and incoherent product.

IMHO the product owner should listen very carefully to user feedback, but then make the ultimate decision on the right direction for the product. I'm not going to add a feature that doesn't fit with my vision of Hyper Plan, regardless of how many people ask for it (but that vision could change in time).

--

Andy Brice
http://www.hyperplan.com

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

who would want to spend $120 a year for less functionality
than you get with Scrivener for twice the cost of the one-time purchase
of Scrivener?

But how much did your Macbook Pro cost? ;) The whole economics changes with Chromebooks. You can buy a Chromebook for $200-300, pay the annual subscription for Novlr, and still be saving some money many years down the line (while there is no change to the performance of the machine, thanks to the lightness and simplicity of Chrome OS).

MadaboutDana wrote:

There does appear
to be a kind of "divergence" going on - the opposite of the tech
pundits' enthusiastically embraced convergence.

In a way Google is releasing some value back to the masses. The average user does not need all the power and functionality of a Mac or a Windows PC. Most Mac and Windows users have been subsidising the techies and sophisticated users who actually use what these machines and OS's can offer.

A Chromebook instead costs a fraction of the money but comes without all the baggage of the more mature OS's, which makes it much better at its core tasks (internet use, note-taking, media consumption).

MadaboutDana wrote:

use their smartphones as "work" computers - a much larger percentage of
users than I ever realised.

Yeah, that's the next stage. The smartphone functionality (and user base) is folded back into the laptop, as Chromebooks are becoming Android enabled, and there are even rumours of a hybrid Chrome OS/Android OS codenamed 'Andromeda.'

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

Super Note Card (remember this old one, which used to be called Miss
Lonely Notes at one time) is now an online app.

Stephen, many thanks for this information; I have a challenge for which I believe this kind of tool would be ideal. Normally I would hesitate to rely on an online application, as I often work offline, but for this specific work I would need to be connected anyway, so it should not be an issue.

I rarely have the time to visit the forum these days, let alone contribute, but it's great to see it alive and kicking. I have come to rely on a limited number of tools compared to my exuberant past, but every once in a while I will find here a suggestion which is a time saver for me. Perhaps because of my CRIMP past, I can usually decide very quickly if a tool really provides added value, and whether it's worth adopting. Or at least I think that I can decide.

Cheers, alx