We all share a common problem: our keyboards are wholly SH**

Posted by 22111
Dec 1, 2013 at 03:25 PM

From my memory, it was 160 euro ; it is 140 $ now, and this is INCLUDING vat!

Also, please let me explain, I always speak of the uncrippled version, and speak of the price of that one, but it seems, your 50 $ “crippled” version is not that much crippled as far as the core functionality is concerned, so I think - without having had a deep look into details - that you are perfectly right by stating that for 50 $, people can get a perfectly decent version.

Perhaps you should communicate the strengths of this version more precisely. As we all know, most developers do cripple their “non-prof.” version in such a way most professional users are more than just incited to use the respective “prof.” version, and perhaps this is as true for PhE as it is for some other programs.

Also, I would like to say/repeat here that indeed, I have the persistant impression that you strive for flawless software, and this distinguished you from many/most other developers - it’s the “package around” your software offerings that has always made me shrink back from buying any of them, all the more so since i’m not your only “critic”, and in all those years, you don’t seem to have taken any advice, given to you, from various and mostly very serious people, to any degree of seriousness; in your language, that would be called “unbelehrbar” - of course, that’s just my irrelevant subjective pov, from reading your interaction with others, and comparing that to the former with mine.

As for “PhraseExpress vs. Phrase Expander” (couldn’t the one that came second, RENAME his software, please?!!!), and as for your claim above you made even for your 50$ version, could you better explain?

You see, I’m always willing to further the currently very-best offering in any one field I’ve got SOME expertise in, but my knowledge is not always on par. “Dr Andus” is certainly not my “friend” or such, but when he does something more, beyond pure “descriptive services”, I’m the very first one to acknowledge this as a highly valuable contribution to the promotion of really good software - we ain’t so numerous in trying to do this, even if facts prove that I’m “better” (and more motivated, too, for/) in this task than anybody else here is (we’re not speaking of promotion of your own sw, of course). (A blatant and highly instructive example of “destriptiveness” vs. “thinking about” is Prof. Kühn’s blog which is, as said, a gold mine for “findings” (I suppose that many of his “findings” now have become possible only by various, anonymous “I so admire your blog, Prof., have a look at this url, please, too!” contributions - but in fact, I don’t know anything about it), but where you will systematically find less “thoughts of the man’s own’s” than you’d initially expect.)

Thus, if your PhExpr has got similar “pre-AI” elements as your main competitor (as it seems now), you’d be well-advised to detail them up to a point at least, here, and I’d be the last person on earth to negate the qualities of your sw (if there are any, speaking of text expansion).

As some here around will know, a “strong” point of your text expander is the (prof. version only if I remember well) feature to “do macros”. Now I don’t want to start another sandpit war, but my impression is, this is the least accessible “strength” of your sw, since the language is proprietary, and not that evident: I once tried to decide if learning would be a good idea, and did not even come near to it, whilst AHK and AI were both of immediate appeal to me.

Also, why pay 160 euro or 140$ for a non-specialized macro language when both AHK and AI are there, waiting, for free?

What I want to express here, both AHK and AI are not that strong in string expansion, so what your competitor does, and what probably you are trying to, i.e. perfection text expansion, is not that bad an idea after all, and always see to that it will work together with AHK and AI - always remember AHK/AI is the cook (as they say), and PhrExpr is the waiter, and strive to become the very best waiter in the world - I’d be happy then to pay for perfect “delivery”, even though the initial “production” was for free (to remain within my non-perfect analogy).

I’m serious here: Start a real “smartness war” (not a “feature competition, though”) against PhraseExpander, and many of us will be clapping our hands in delight… and easily open up our money bags.