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Scrintal now available for $60US/year for first 2,000 subscribers
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Posted by tightbeam
Oct 1, 2022 at 04:43 PM
All of that sounds wonderful, as does the offer of a refund for those who try the software and then don’t like it, but it doesn’t explain the harebrained “hype” strategy of accumulating a wait list and then, instead of providing a trial for those who have been on the wait list for months, asking for an “admission fee” in exchange for the privilege of test driving a beta. Scrintal is not the only (or even the best) game in town. I see, however, that Scrintal will be available in a free version in “Q2 2023.” I can wait.
Darren McDonald wrote:
I hear you. I was wanting to trail-test out Scrintal first to see if it
>was able to handle things like Japanese input before jumping into the
>deep end. I followed the developer’s communications with previous users
>and was very happy with the openness and fast response in answering
>queries which led to fast development. So, I had no qualms in signing up
>with a subscription even though Scrintal is still very much in beta.
>
>The developers claim that they have already secured seed money, so not
>really sure why they asked for discounted subscriptions. Maybe it was a
>strategy to target the next set of serious users. Either way, I usually
>give donations to encourage the development of software that looks to be
>most useful to me (Obsidian, for instance). Even with the historic low
>level of the Japanese yen at the moment, it was a no-brainer for me.
>
>Scrintal seems to check all the boxes for the type of software I am
>after- and it is still only in beta! I shouldn’t be so surprised though.
>The Scrintal team has a strong and fresh academic background, especially
>in the use of qualitative research. Scrintal’s allows you to bring
>together (see, brainstorm) seemingly random thoughts, research findings,
>and ideas visually using virtual cards to them be able to write
>long-form papers is very big to me and fits in well with the way
>qualitative research is done. It is software I needed to have right now
>to get through my research. :)
>
>satis wrote:
>This morning I got their email about this. Seems a tiny bit desperate:
>>not offering free trials, just a choice between paying for a year or
>>signing up for waitlist for beta access (which is what I thought I’d
>>done!). Cash crunch?
Posted by Dormouse
Oct 1, 2022 at 07:51 PM
tightbeam wrote:
> but it doesn’t explain the
>harebrained “hype” strategy of accumulating a wait list and then,
>instead of providing a trial for those who have been on the wait list
>for months, asking for an “admission fee” in exchange for the privilege
>of test driving a beta.
It’s precisely the same launch strategy as Heptabase.
Quite a few advantages to it - improves leverage in future funding rounds, reduces pressure on staff by limiting numbers, and only the seriously interested will sign up.
I understand the frequent comparisons to Hepta, but Scrintal seems a much easier match to Tangent/Obsidian users with links and tags automatically read whereas Hepta is more centred on mindmap functionality. Might still be feature-lite and a little rough around the edges but I can already see it being a comfortable fit in my workflow.
Posted by Dormouse
Oct 1, 2022 at 07:56 PM
tightbeam wrote:
>I see, however, that Scrintal will be available in a free
>version in “Q2 2023.” I can wait.
I doubt that the free version will be useful for anything except testing. I might be wrong, but I’d guess that they will limit the number of cards and/or boards that are available.
Posted by JDS
Oct 3, 2022 at 05:22 PM
Dormouse wrote:
>
>tightbeam wrote:
>> but it doesn’t explain the
>>harebrained “hype” strategy of accumulating a wait list and then,
>>instead of providing a trial for those who have been on the wait list
>>for months, asking for an “admission fee” in exchange for the privilege
>>of test driving a beta.
>
>It’s precisely the same launch strategy as Heptabase.
>Quite a few advantages to it - improves leverage in future funding
>rounds, reduces pressure on staff by limiting numbers, and only the
>seriously interested will sign up.
>
>I understand the frequent comparisons to Hepta, but Scrintal seems a
>much easier match to Tangent/Obsidian users with links and tags
>automatically read whereas Hepta is more centred on mindmap
>functionality. Might still be feature-lite and a little rough around
>the edges but I can already see it being a comfortable fit in my
>workflow.
The advantages you mention are true for the developers, not for the end user. Given the number of subscriptions we are all being asked to pay for today, it seems excessive to ask the end user to pay for a years subscription to essentially test a beta product. I often pay the subscription fee for a month or two to test a product, and have no problem with that. To cough up $60 to test an unknown product is a different matter entirely, andIi will not do it. Also, a 7 day trial with a money back guarantee is too short. The attitude here does not demonstrate much consideration for the customer.
Posted by Dormouse
Oct 3, 2022 at 10:36 PM
JDS wrote:
>
>The advantages you mention are true for the developers, not for the end
>user.
Absolutely. The end user advantages (if you choose to call them that) are only early access, a guaranteed long-term price (similar strategy to Obsidian Sync and Publish) and maybe the best opportunity to influence the direction of development.
But they have a limit of 2000 of these subscribers which I expect them to hit. Which makes it win win all round. Users who don’t want to commit don’t and the developers hit their target income. At least it’s less than Roam’s $500.
And the ones who aren’t sure have a week to get their money back. I agree that’s not long, though it’s no worse than a few months for me personally - I either know something won’t suit quickly or it takes months for me to learn that. In pre-subscription days I bought many products that I ended up not using which would usually cost me more than the $60 involved here.