Jan/28/2009: UltraRecall will be on Bits du Jour with a 62% reduction:
http://www.bitsdujour.com/software/ultra-recall/

Dominik

On the Bits de Jour website, I posted the following review:

This is a good, stable, mature program that didn't go far enough. I tested ver3 & committed all my data to it for many, many months until the developers announced on their forum that no further development of the product would be undertaken.

When this fact became a conversation with several surprised & disappointed users, they changed their announcement to something less specific.

When I questioned them about this change in language several times, they banned me from from their forum.

They do reply to technical questions & have promised to resolve any bugs which they have done.

Sadly, at this point -- based on their actions -- i have no faith that this program will be developed further. Having said that, it may be enough to satisfy your needs.

However, there are a few other programs on the horizon that might end up doing it all. Refer yourself to the outliner forum @ http://www.outlinersoftware.com/ for discussion on those possibilities as well as a discussion on Kinook's UltraRecall

--
Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield CT USA

To his credit, Kyle Alons, Kinook developer posted a reply to my comment @ the link listed in Dominik's post.

Sounds like the same double talk to me but I sincrely hope I'm wrong. They say sales have picked up. That's good for Kinook (I'm rooting for them) & maybe good for UR users. The proof is in the pudding. We shall see.

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Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield CT USA

I'm glad you posted to the discount site, and also glad that Kyle Alons responded.

Kinook has, as others have noted, significant issues with their communication and public relations performance.

It is unfortunate - the program has many merits, although I have chosen not to use it.

The program deserves to continue development. Perhaps the public discussion you helped to provoke, Jan, is responsible for the uptick in sales.

The other issue Kinook has is that its help files are not all that helpful - either they are a long description of features or resort to geek-speak.

Daly

Jan Rifkinson wrote:

To his credit, Kyle Alons, Kinook developer posted a reply to my comment @ the link
listed in Dominik's post.

Sounds like the same double talk to me but I sincrely hope
I'm wrong. They say sales have picked up. That's good for Kinook (I'm rooting for them)
& maybe good for UR users. The proof is in the pudding. We shall see.

--
Jan
Rifkinson
Ridgefield CT USA

I used to use UR. It's very sad to read of the current tangle. I thought that by the standards of the time, only a few years ago, it was a very good programme indeed - if one could work out how to use it to its fullest effect. I was surprised by the extent to which I could not really understand parts of the help files. I thought perhaps it was just me. The words were there, but they seemed to communicate much less than the developers clearly intended. I always thought that if they bought two weeks of the time of a freelance experienced in wriitng help files and tutorials, they could have transformed the picture.

Daly, I'm not sure anything has changed (one can only hope) but I am bemused by the flock of people who have run to the Bits de Jour website to post their support for Kinook & UltraRecall after I posted my review there (and here).

As heart warming as all that outpouring of love may be, It doesn't change the fact that Kinook stated / then amended their announcement that there would be no further development of UltraRecall. And it doesn't change the fact that when I questioned this change in language, they removed me from their forum. Both these facts are unfortunate.

However, Kinook is not alone. I've personally experienced this development issue with Agenda, Ecco, Ariadne & ADM. In fact, I would give Kinook more credit than the other 4 because -- at least -- they issued a statement of intent to their customers (as badly worded as it may have been). And I wish them every success. Further development of UltraRecall would only make my daily life easier but I think new customers have a right to know what was said & what wasn't said before they commit their time & data to the product. Perhaps Kyle Alons has provided the real roadmap. Like I said, the proof is in the pudding & we shall see if UltraRecall is developed further.

None of this takes away from the fact that UltraRecall is a fine program that works. And as stated, if it works for one as is, nothing else is necessary or required of the developer except what they have stated & have done: correcting bugs & making sure compatibility issues are resolved. They also support the product & answer questions -- as techie as they may be. User friendly is not a hallmark of Kinook's communications nor are their help files but that's another story.

--
Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield CT USA

I tried to get into UR a while back, but the learning curve was too steep and I didn't have the time. I even asked on their forum for examples of how others used the program but got little back except pointing to the examples that come with the program. What I was looking for was war stories and practical examples from others on how they were using UR daily and how it did/didn't meet their needs before I would be willing to invest a lot of my hard-to-come-by time in building a personal system around the program. Without being able to see how others had incorporated it into their work flow, I wasn't willing to risk trying to learn it.

Long story short...a dearth of practical work flow examples kept me from trying to learn the program. Small obstacle...but a fatal one.

Hugh wrote:

I used to use UR. It's very sad to read of the current tangle. I thought that by the
standards of the time, only a few years ago, it was a very good programme indeed - if one
could work out how to use it to its fullest effect. I was surprised by the extent to which
I could not really understand parts of the help files. I thought perhaps it was just me.
The words were there, but they seemed to communicate much less than the developers
clearly intended. I always thought that if they bought two weeks of the time of a
freelance experienced in wriitng help files and tutorials, they could have
transformed the picture.

I tried to get into UR a while back, but the learning curve was too steep and I didn't have the time. I even asked on their forum for examples of how others used the program but got little back except pointing to the examples that come with the program. What I was looking for was war stories and practical examples from others on how they were using UR daily and how it did/didn't meet their needs before I would be willing to invest a lot of my hard-to-come-by time in building a personal system around the program. Without being able to see how others had incorporated it into their work flow, I wasn't willing to risk trying to learn it.

Long story short...a dearth of practical work flow examples kept me from trying to learn the program. Small obstacle...but a fatal one.

Hugh wrote:

I used to use UR. It's very sad to read of the current tangle. I thought that by the
standards of the time, only a few years ago, it was a very good programme indeed - if one
could work out how to use it to its fullest effect. I was surprised by the extent to which
I could not really understand parts of the help files. I thought perhaps it was just me.
The words were there, but they seemed to communicate much less than the developers
clearly intended. I always thought that if they bought two weeks of the time of a
freelance experienced in wriitng help files and tutorials, they could have
transformed the picture.

sorry for the double post...my bad

Long story short...a dearth of practical work flow
examples kept me from trying to learn the program. Small obstacle...but a fatal one.

i haven't seen a program that does that in my life ... what you see is usually some small examples from different parts, but how they are put to gotether is ultimately up to the user. This is especially true with UR and it offers a lot of flexibility, for good or bad ... and the examples they provide are quite good, even a simple GTD one with all the items/tasks/predefined searches etc.
maybe if you tried one such program in your hard-to-find free time, maybe you'd find out how much more free time you'd have after that ... there is no free lunch ... no risk ... no reward

Perhaps I didn't explain myself well, but the gratuitous slap about "maybe if you tried one such program in your hard-to-find free time, maybe you?d find out how much more free time you?d have after that.." was off base. You don't know me and you don't know my situation...

I look to the experience of other users before I buy almost anything that requires a significant dollar or time investment. For example, I wouldn't buy a car, major appliance, expensive stereo or TV, etc., before looking into the experience other's were having with that brand/model/whatever. I do the same before trying new software that could require a lot of time...examples where I took care before I invested time adopting a new piece of software include every version of Windows from v3.0 through Win 7 beta...every version of MS Office from DOS based MS Word thru Office 2007, etc., etc. It's not the only factor in my decision, but it is a factor.

I was looking for examples of other's specific experience with UR that might parrallel what I would use if for before starting to use it. Without that kind of insight, I chose not to try, but rather to move on. Particularly when the online tutorials spoke of developing custom templates, etc., I wanted to know how others used the tool and their experience in adopting it to their needs. As an engineer for NASA I get to use a *lot* of software and trying out yet one more piece of software is definitely not something I feel like doing without some indication the attempt is worthwhile.

A single customer...a small decision...an insignificant influence on the fortunes of that company or it's software. But perhaps useful insight to a developer on how to convince potential users to use your software. Just trying to add to the community about what matters by explaining one of the things that matters to me.

Here it is again today 10 January 2011: http://www.bitsdujour.com/