Ultra Recall reviews

[schferk]

Interesting discussion here throughout page 37, between "J-Mac" and "Dormouse":

http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/i...topic=2362.900

They openly discuss problems UR might have with MS integration, and "Dormouse" advocates that the work for MS integration gets harder, and less rewarding.

People there openly state that UR did indeed announce in 2008 or so that development will be stalled, and that we've seen exactly this, with the exception of the - also announced - necessary work for making UR work with Win 8 and such.

There's a blatant charge from "Dormouse": "has since just provided a path for people who upgrade their OS. I applaud that; takes away the feeling that it is an urgent matter to find an alternative." - in plain English, this means, that even minor adjustments ain't done because kinook loved his clientele, but just to assure that no more people than absolutely necessary will be leaving, by doing the least possible work here. I hope "Dormouse" is mistaken here, but often, openly cynical assertions are sheer truth.

He also well summarizes my idea on the market (without giving me credit, of course, but he concedes reading this forum attentively):

"I would really prefer that the program were popular and still actively developed, but I don't think that programs like these are the way that the market is moving. Developers everywhere are aping Apple or apping iOS, because that is where they think the money is. Programs are dumber but prettier and it is simpler to see what to do. The antithesis of UR really."

That's exactly what I did say here, in many more words, some weeks ago, except for him not going so far as to follow me in my conclusion:

You'll remember I said that's the reason why UR, in order to survive - and get a much more interesting market as well -, has to resolutely adopt the way I've advocated and detailed here, since, this becoming more and more common sense for everybody, in the "consumer market", there is no place left for applications like UR, exactly for the reasons detailed by me and summed up by "Dormouse" in his "The antithesis of UR really."

Of course, there is also and ever that problem of developers too much inclined in wanting to "be decently paid", instead of doing some work in order to produce excellence, all the more so considering that such outlays would pay if done in a strategic way (cf. those details).

A last word - and why I put this post into this thread here: It's evident that people who are very quiet here, do harm to this program where lots of multipliers are present. And can you blame them? Here, they don't think they will get any valid answer for constructive criticism. So they turn elsewhere and have at least the satisfaction of their criticism, now deconstructive, being heard - by third parties who'll decide over budgets and which programs will make it into their networks.

And no, allowing for such developments is not smart.

[Dormouse]

Originally Posted by schferk

Interesting discussion here throughout page 37, between "J-Mac" and "Dormouse":

http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/i...topic=2362.900

I think my point of view is rather mischaracterised here. I think that Ultra Recall remains more functional than its direct competitors, and appreciate Kinook's making upgrades to endure compatibility with new OSs. I appreciate that people may want more new features for the price of the upgrade, but feel that it is a straightforward decision; Kinook needs to decide what makes best use of their time; we need to decide whether a particular upgrade is worth it for us. (I won't upgrade to 5 because I won't "upgrade" to W8 - if I were going to, then I'd go for 5 too).

Originally Posted by schferk

There's a blatant charge from "Dormouse": "has since just provided a path for people who upgrade their OS. I applaud that; takes away the feeling that it is an urgent matter to find an alternative." - in plain English, this means, that even minor adjustments ain't done because kinook loved his clientele, but just to assure that no more people than absolutely necessary will be leaving, by doing the least possible work here. I hope "Dormouse" is mistaken here, but often, openly cynical assertions are sheer truth.

I ascribe no motivation to Kinook, but assume they are acting as sensible business people. I am sure Kyle is emotionally attached to UR, but doubt that he can work just from love. Equally, I don't see that Kinook is acting just to avoid people leaving. They are enabling them to continue with UR if they upgrade their OS; that is 100% a good thing from a users point of view.

[Dormouse]

Originally Posted by schferk

He also well summarizes my idea on the market (without giving me credit, of course, but he concedes reading this forum attentively):

Actually, I visit this forum very rarely (maybe once a year or less). I did visit recently when I realised that there was a v5, skimmed a few posts but did not read many very attentively because they just seemed uninformatively negative about an upgrade being made available or their wishes for development not being met. And, I'm afraid that I haven't read any of your posts in detail at all - they are just too long and too verbose.

I largely agree with the OP here:

Originally Posted by mikeg

I'll try to keep this short. There's at least one other thread on this topic, but it's closed and I have a different take from many of those posted (with some notable exceptions).

• Ultra Recall Pro has remained my repository of choice for storing and organizing all kinds of information.
• I've yet to find a similar product I like better (and I've tried many).
• For software I depend on every day, ~$16/year ($50 roughly once every 3 years) is very reasonable.
• The generous licensing that allows installation on multiple computers used by the same person makes the above cost even more reasonable and especially paltry compared to what I spend on stuff I use only once or rarely.
• There's also no extra charge for support after nn days like many vendors nowadays.

but noticed that the thread was largely dominated by your very long posts taking the thread in a completely different direction.

[Dormouse]

Originally Posted by schferk

You'll remember I said that's the reason why UR, in order to survive - and get a much more interesting market as well -, has to resolutely adopt the way I've advocated and detailed here, since, this becoming more and more common sense for everybody, in the "consumer market", there is no place left for applications like UR, exactly for the reasons detailed by me and summed up by "Dormouse" in his "The antithesis of UR really."

Of course, there is also and ever that problem of developers too much inclined in wanting to "be decently paid", instead of doing some work in order to produce excellence, all the more so considering that such outlays would pay if done in a strategic way (cf. those details).

I don't think that developers wanting to be decently paid is a problem at all. It is entirely reasonable unless they are just doing it for pleasure or as a charitable enterprise.

I suspect that I would disagree with you about the likely success of your proposals, but would need someone to give a brief summary of what they are to give an opinion.

The market trend has been dumbing software down as well as making some uses easier (the two are not the same). UR is a highly complex program with many functions; if it were dumbed down it would be a very different thing. I think that most users (including me) value it for that complexity and would not want it reduced (and most feature requests I've seen are for extra complexity, options etc, rather than less.

[Dormouse]

Originally Posted by schferk

They openly discuss problems UR might have with MS integration, and "Dormouse" advocates that the work for MS integration gets harder, and less rewarding.

I have no idea how Kinook perceive the current playing field, but I would be concerned about Microsoft's direction of travel. A single OS for phones, tablets and desktops does not seem like the best context for programs of this type. And MS integration becomes less rewarding as their market share slips.

For me, I have for many years used MS programs as little as I can (I find them just too 'heavy', rigid and dictatorial - and often not functional enough), and the close integration between UR and MS Office has meant that I use UR very much less than I otherwise would have. I can set it up differently, but I think that people who use office a lot obtain much more benefit from UR.

I don't know if MS's strategy with W8 will be successful, but I would certainly not have bet as much of their business on it as Steve Ballmer has, let alone the ex(?)-Microsoftie betting the whole of Nokia's future on it. And, if I were Kinook, I would be cautious about the way ahead.

[schferk]

"I've not been able to get UR to work with MS Office docs running internally on my current computer (W7 64 bit; UR4). I agree about the aggravation that the previously excellent support appears to have gone. Doesn't bother me directly,

as I never get in touch with support on any software

- either I can see how to make it work, or I don't use that function - but indirectly it does

because I make substantial use of any tips etc available on the forums."

Well, that's called consumerism, yes? And of course I thought it safe to deduct more than just casual reading was a prerogative to "make substantial use of any tips etc available". My fault.

[Dormouse]

Originally Posted by Dormouse

Actually, I visit this forum very rarely (maybe once a year or less). I did visit recently when I realised that there was a v5, skimmed a few posts but did not read many very attentively because they just seemed uninformatively negative about an upgrade being made available or their wishes for development not being met. And, I'm afraid that I haven't read any of your posts in detail at all - they are just too long and too verbose.

Originally Posted by schferk

"I make substantial use of any tips etc available on the forums."

Well, that's called consumerism, yes? And of course I thought it safe to deduct more than just casual reading was a prerogative to "make substantial use of any tips etc available". My fault.

Consumerism???

Kinook has given a number of very informative tips and given instructions on dealing with specific problems. I have always found them by specific searching (usually with Google, as it might throw up something from elsewhere). Did it a lot when I was first finding my way around UR some years ago, and very rarely indeed since - partly because I haven't had any problems, and partly because I have not been using UR extensively.

Using the forum as a support repository is not at all the same as reading the forum attentively.