Cultured Code/Things Redux
May 19th, 2008 Oliver StarrCategories | Software
Wow. I’ve taken a bit of a beating related to my commentary about the expiration date issue experience by users of “Things” the GTD oriented software by Cultured Code. When I authored the original post my intention was to point out that anything that causes a person to feel like there’s the possibility that their trusted system can’t be completely trusted is a pretty significant problem. My opinion was that having software expire unexpectedly, whether it is beta or not could cause some people to determine that such software is apt to surprise them again.
For Cultured Code I’d say that my commentary has actually been good for them. For one thing, it’s pretty clear that they’ve established a very loyal group of users - users so passionate that they’ve not only argued vehemently against my points, even against my acknowledgment of certain of those arguments, but took such umbrage to my commentary as to insult me personally and even insult this site in general. Those are some passionate users and the folks at Cultured Code ought to feel pretty good about that even if the behavior of some folks was - well - less than cultured.
One user wrote a particularly lengthy admonishment that argued that I should point out that Things is still in beta. Okay, no problem. Things is still in beta, still others pointed out that the problem was fixed very quickly (though how quickly is relative to what time zone you inhabit and when you discovered the issue), another comment points out that it was possible - at least according to the commentators Google search results - to extract your data with some process or other and of course people were quick to post work-around advice in the forums.
So perhaps my reaction was a bit too extreme - however what I will say is this; one of my reasons for the nature of my post was based upon what I’d read in the forums. What is interesting is that some of the people that have been the most vociferous in attacking me had their own none-too-pleased remarks previously… here’s a sampling:
I’m not sure if this is related to the other topic on the expiration of the alpha version, but I’d like to report that my version 0.9.1.1 has most definitely expired today. The version on the web site is the same as what I have on my Mac, and downloading this version gives the same message–version expired. The only options presented to me are to quit the application, or visit the web site (and do what!!).
It’s rather annoying to have my list of tasks unavailable at work today. I’d be quite willing to pay for a working version right now, if that were possible.Ditto. My 0.9.1.1 also expired - originally downloaded from the main website. Downloaded again but same error message.
I understand that it’s beta software but would it be possible to not lock us out of the data, please? I’m already impressed enough by Things to know I’ll be getting a copy when it comes out so your revenue from me is practically assured! Well, assuming I can get my data back!
Same here, definitely downloaded a fresh copy and it still won’t run. Now, let me explain why this is unacceptable:
Yes, this is a preview and we knew it would cost $ at some point, and might even expire. That’s fine, I’d definitely pay for this app. However, no exact expiration date was ever given explicitly in the program. I have a list of things to do this weekend that I now cannot get to, thanks to this surprise expiration.
This was a bad move on CC’s part. An expiration date should’ve been given so we could at least prepare for when the app would shut down and lock down our data.
Same here. Latest version, my entire GTD list locked up and unable to be accessed, and downloading makes no difference.
Like David above, I’d happily pay the $39 or $49, but not having access to my list is completely screwing up my day.
Yes - I’ve been a beta user for a few months now. I live and breathe via Things, Needless to say I was shocked to get the expiry message on my beta version. I’ve been planing to purchase as soon as version 1.0 hits the streets, I hope there is some resolution soon as my business revolves around these tasks.
I thought I might find a thread like this after I was greeted with a rude expiration message this morning!
Hopefully we can have a resolution soon.
Aaargh.. another frustrated Aussie here.. a long list of things to do in THINGS, and now i am locked out.. setting my date back will lock me out of the company VPN, but i guess i can just print out a hard copy and go back to my old/antiquated ways for a few days.. not that i want to though..
Oh, believe me, it’s happening here in the U.S. already! I just rebooted, and boom - there went Things.
It’s already 9:30PM here, so maybe by the time I wake up this will all be a distant memory… Yeah, wishful thinking, I know.
Bugger.
Makes you wonder if the Cultured Code crew use Things themselves?
My Things expired, too. This will definitely make me rethink using this program for my gtd items in future.
Yet another frustrated Aussie down here in Melbourne. tastiger stole my thunder: bugger, bugger, bugger.
not sure if I’m quite at that stage yet, but certainly it would be nice if Things offered web sync/ access similar to something like Evernote.
Cultured Code majorly dropped the ball on this one; see this thread for the main discussion
Yeah.. At least let us pre-pay for the app and continue to use the trial version.. or something.
I also have grown accustomed (uh.. full-on-addiction) to my list and don’t want to go mucking around with my dates. I’m breaking out in a cold sweat.
Wow, major party foul, Cultured Code.
Thank god I happened to check the forums tonight (still 5/15 for me, and pre-9:00). I’m saving those tasks as a PDF immediately.
Same here in Indonesia. Please do not lock the main window. For anyone who lives in +GMT this is a nightmare in the morning.
I imagine waking up to 600 angry/frustrated users that got locked out should be… interesting. (I, personally, sent a scathing-ish bug report.)
missed the main discussion and had posted elsewhere.
add my voice to disgruntled.
what I hate most about the type of incidents is that I’m not a big enough geek to know what’s actually gone wrong and who’s fault it is so I vainly attempt to rectify a fault that I assumed I caused.HELP! mine expired as well and I actually have IMPORTANT stuff in it! please do something about this ASAP culturecode coders.
I’m in trouble. I guess I shouldn’t have relied on a beta program - but I had no idea I could get locked out! I need my projects lists back!
There are more of course, but I’m sure you get the point. So I’ll wrap this up by saying that I don’t disagree that I may have reacted somewhat harshly to this particular problem and I will add that the folks at Cultured Code did a good job of supplying a fix as quickly as they could. Nevertheless, it seems to me that this whole situation could have been avoided in the first place if the expiration message was a little bit more informative so that people weren’t left hanging and not knowing what was going to happen to their data. This is simple enough to do, doesn’t cost anyone anything, shouldn’t be limited to 1.o versions and would have prevented the messages above.
Final words - to those that took exception to my commentary and did so with class and solid arguments; thank you. I am not afraid to admit when I am mistaken and I appreciate it when well meaning people take it upon themselves to call me on any errors or misjudgments I might make. To those of you that also disagreed with my commentary but took it upon yourselves to be rude and insulting instead of offering a contrary opinion, maybe you should consider decaff…
wow, sounds like you got some angry letters! dont take it too personally…
The Things problem seemed pretty clearly to be a human error for a beta- im sure the expiration note would have been more informative if it were intentional!
i hope my earlier comments were not among those that caused you dismay. i appreciated your addressing the topic, just wanted to give my own interpretation of not feeling especially abandoned by CC-
word up, Oliver!
There is no suitable alternative to Things so a beta/development issue like this must be overlooked, especially since sticking to Things is preferable to going into another “between systems” cycle.
Beta software is not without risks, and every user of beta software should remain keenly aware of this. But think back on your larger Things experience and be glad that it is as excellently usable as it is.
I think the really telling tale on this whole debacle is not that Cultured Code made a silly mistake. Lord knows we have all done that thing we did without thinking about it and awwwww… crap. I pretty much do it daily, it’s just a matter of due course.
No, what’s really telling is how Cultured Code reacted to it.
Fixing a silly mistake is easy. Publicly apologizing is not.
But they did it. In twitter. In their forum. On the previous bog posts comments. In their own blog post.
I have no qualms about my continued support. I’m betting when all the dust settles, no one else will either.
I agree with Zenrain. Mistakes happen, taking responsibility is the main thing. I would also caution GTD Times from appearing overly critical here. You have sponsorship (and authorship) from Things competitors. There is nothing wrong with that, and I am NOT suggesting that that played any role in these posts. As a fan of your site, I just want to warn against any appearance of favoritism b.c. it would hurt your credibility. Thank you for thoughtful posts and a great site.
Gosh. What a fuss. Hands up everyone who lost all their data? Hands up everyone who lost ::any:: of their data?
Maybe I’m just foolish, but when I saw the dialog box come up, I thought “Oh, they’ve started doing time-expired betas. Fair enough.” Most of the apps I’ve beta-tested (and there have been many of them, public and private) have done precisely that, from the very start or at least as they approach Release Candidate status.
The idea behind it is generally twofold: (a) to gently euthanase deprecated versions by the time the release ships, and (b) to encourage people to pay for v1 instead of thinking “Well, I’m on the last beta prior to release and I’ll just stick with that rather than paying for the real thing.”
Denouncing Cultured Code for making a simple mistake which didn’t cause anyone any problems (apart from the expenditure of energy on headless chicken imitations) and suggesting they’ve somehow made a “critical error” and blown their business plan is silly. If anybody’s made a critical error, it’s GTD Times.
“Trusted systems” are important, but so are “Trusted commentators”, and to throw your mittens over the verandah over a little dialog box that you didn’t like the look of might make some readers question your judgment. Citing the equally Chicken Little instant responses of some commenters doesn’t really support your argument. There is no point of view on earth so demented that one can’t find people to agree with it. To say “Look! Look! Lots of people spat the dummy over this one!” is to mistake statistics for judgment.
I hope readers of this site will have the good sense to see that this minatory brouhaha is, in truth, insubstantial vapouring. Things is a beautifully-designed, utterly reliable and elegant system. Things is also STILL IN BETA. And even in beta, it has lost me no data, ever. More than can be said for Microsoft Office, now on something like v.11.
I have to admit I’m getting a bit tired of people taking it upon themselves to continue beating me up without bothering to read the THIRD POST on this topic.
Weighing in days late on the second of three posts seems more like gratuitous bashing than it does a comment made for any legitimate reason.
As with all the other commentary here I have approved the one above too in spite of what feels to me like beating on someone just for the sake of dishing out abuse. Oh, well, as I said before when you leave a forum open to everyone to voice their opinion, some people will be nicer than others…
This issue isn’t about “beta” software, or the cost of software, or the risk of software.
It’s about trust.
The blog post on CCs site admitted they were planning to expire people out of their data until the upgraded (likely at a cost).
Regardless how good a software package is, or how much it’s worth $49, users should never find themselves expired out of their data with, or without notice.
If a user wants to continue using version 0.9 of any software, even after version 4 has released, a company will only damage their reputation and give up trust by forcing users to buy the next version … or do without access to their data.
Users cannot trust a company that intends or intended to lock them out of their data unless they upgrade. Its just unacceptable.