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ADM -- Just What Is Going On?
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Posted by dan7000
Mar 5, 2007 at 04:53 PM
Hi Graham,
I totally agree: they need to communicate about this. And I should have mentioned in my earlier post: the whole business of kicking people off of the yahoo group and basically stopping all support is just rude and indefensible.
I should also note that I’m NOT totally happy with ADM right now. It’s really unlikely that any software developed in 2006 will still be working well on Windows 2015. I really NEED the information that I’ve compiled over the last 3 years (all my notes from law school)—and I will still need it, to some degree, in 2015.
So at this point I’m really struggling with finding a KM program which is worthy of my investment of time and information over the next few years, and which is most likely to still be supported in some form over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, I just don’t see it in the current crop of KM tools. Notemap is distributed by a big company, but sometimes that makes it even more likely that it will be discontinued, when the decision is profit-driven instead of dream-driven.
-Dan
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 5, 2007 at 09:40 PM
I don’t think there is any defense for Eric Somer’s actions.
First, charging for a beta is unethical in my opinion, even if you finally do come out with a stable version. The whole point of having a beta release is to get your loyal users to provide feedback and to create buzz about the new version. Some developers actually give free licenses to their beta testers… which is nice, but not necessary. Charging for a beta is just not right (even though Micro Logic also did this with InfoSelect, but I wouldn’t hold them up as a model for commitment to their customers).
Second, releasing a beta is a promise that a stable version will be released, and when you fail to follow through on that promise, it is only natural for your customers to question your ethics.
Finally, if he’s accepting payment for his product and then not delivering the code to unlock it (which, according to one report here is what is now happening), that’s fraud.
At best Eric Somer is incompetent, and at worst he’s a crook.
I’ve never bought ADM, so why am I even commenting? Because I think it is a black eye on all small software developers. It may make people think twice about investing in a license for UltraRecall, or Whizfolders, or Zoot… and that’s why it pisses me off.
Steve Z.
Posted by Jan Rifkinson
Mar 5, 2007 at 11:12 PM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>I don’t think there is any defense for Eric Somer’s actions.
>
>[snip] I think it is a black eye on all
>small software developers. It may make people think twice about investing in a
>license for UltraRecall, or Whizfolders, or Zoot… and that’s why it pisses me off.
Steve Z,
Boy do I agree with this statement.
As I said in an earlier post, I do my best to support independent developers & Eric’s behavior makes me question that decision. It also belies the fact that those of us who do go the extra mile to support independent programmers frequently invest a lot of our own time—nothing is free in this world—to help the developer in the only way we can. That’s another slap in the face.
[rant] Some may take offense to my saying that I feel like I may have run into a snake oil salesman. I guess I could have said something else.
Everyone has their own sense of ethics but I think there’s a baseline & IMO Eric Sommer fell below that baseline, if not for treating his customers the way he has, then for committing the greatest sin of all, IMO: shutting down valid conversation by people who cared about his product. Censorship, & anyone who practices it, is a non starter in my book.
And I’m tired of parsing what’s right from what’s sort of right or kind of right or right under certain circumstances or a teeny weeny bit right or right for some people but not for others. IMO, certain things are black & white. Honesty is one of them. [\rant]
—
Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield, CT USA
Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Mar 6, 2007 at 10:31 AM
Jan Rifkinson wrote:
>
>Everyone has their own sense of ethics but I
>think there’s a baseline & IMO Eric Sommer fell below that baseline, if not for
>treating his customers the way he has, then for committing the greatest sin of all,
>IMO: shutting down valid conversation by people who cared about his product.
>Censorship, & anyone who practices it, is a non starter in my book.
Jan, I don’t get it. Didn’t you for a time control the membership roster of the “Fans” group, and didn’t you enforce censorship in that group?
Posted by Jan Rifkinson
Mar 6, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Stephen R. Diamond wrote:
>Jan Rifkinson wrote:
>>
>
>>Everyone has their own sense of ethics but I
>>think
>there’s a baseline & IMO Eric Sommer fell below that baseline, if not for
>>treating
>his customers the way he has, then for committing the greatest sin of all,
>>IMO:
>shutting down valid conversation by people who cared about his product.
>
>>Censorship, & anyone who practices it, is a non starter in my book.
>
>Jan, I don’t get
>it. Didn’t you for a time control the membership roster of the “Fans” group, and didn’t
>you enforce censorship in that group?
No on both counts. You’re thinking of the development list that was run by Eric.
—
Jan Rifkinson
Ridgefield, CT USA