ForumsSearch



Search results for "Posted by RicardoSwe"
Author Message
RicardoSwe

Posted May 03, 2019 in: Feature Roadmap and New Pricing Plans
Score: 1
Received email with subject line "What's New with Toodledo? Toodledo for Business, Paypal, design progress, and more"

I went to the blog post. I tried to login to leave a comment.

Blog will not allow me to login. Says my email does not exist in the system.



My feedback --
I'm concerned that with so much new energy being focused on Toodledo for Business there will be a loss of focus on the core product as used by single users. I've heard that won't be allowed to happen, but the blog focuses on the business end and team usage. Should reassure your core individual users that they are always part of the game plan.

I feel like I'm on a roller coaster with no control. Waiting for the crash.
RicardoSwe

Posted Jul 08, 2018 in: Future Plans
Score: 1
A couple other thoughts --

I use Toodledo as integrated with other products. For instance, there is a great book on time management that is fully based upon Toodledo -- The One Minute Todo List, by Michael Linenberger. (Amazon.com link won't post properly). The author made arrangements with Toodledo for one-click implementations of options to fit the time management scheme. I use this time management system all the time and the "linkage" between the author's methods and Toodledo is critical. I have had to "redo" the "linkage" once or twice. I worry that this feature will disappear.

Toodledo has a long list of dozens of 3rd party integrated tools. https://www.toodledo.com/tools/directory.php I have tried many of these, such as 2Do for iPhone. What will happen to the linkages between all these products? I can only assume the efforts to integrate with other tools will continue.


This message was edited Jul 08, 2018.
RicardoSwe

Posted Jul 08, 2018 in: Future Plans
Score: 0
Naturally I am quite worried about this transition. My concerns are based on similar situations with other products. I know we cannot stop the clock. Time marches on. But some anticipation and careful planning can help avoid easily foreseeable problems.

Here are a couple recent examples of products that have gone through somewhat similar changes:

WeatherUnderground.com
This is a unique weather service extensively developed by small dedicated team of programmers. The product is unique in drawing on an extensive network of private weather stations (amateurs) and integrating the data to produce data rich information in a well designed format that is simply not available *anywhere* else.

A few years ago IBM made the owners of WeatherUnderground.com an offer they could not refuse and bought the company. Promises were made to subscribers that IBM would devote resources to the site to keep it vibrant and operating. Then, over about five years, IBM started pulling programmers onto other tasks. Help inquiries started to take days or weeks to receive a reply. The previous owners admit that they no longer have influence over these changes and acknowledge the site has regular problems. Today, WeatherUnderground.com still exists, but it is progressively bug ridden. For instance, they made an iOS "widget", but it's broken more often than not. Fixes are slow to come. IBM's commitment went away as their eyes wandered to other business opportunities.

Adobe Lightroom
Adobe dominates the computer photo processing sphere, both with professionals and high-end amateurs. Adobe Photoshop is well known; Adobe Lightroom is a rich but easier to use similar product. About a year ago, Adobe announced that they were splitting Adobe Lightroom into "Lightroom CC Classic" and "Lightroom CC".

The classic version is the traditional, well developed product. The Lightroom CC version is an all web-based product. Both products are subscription based. Naturally, the new web-based version costs significantly more, such as requiring a subscription to a large online storage capacity for photos; there is no local storage option as with the classic version.

The new "Lightroom CC" as rolled out is quite limited with many many features of the classic version unavailable. Adobe promises the web-based version will grow and develop. They also say they will continue to develop the classic version. But not many users believe this story.

In typical Adobe fashion, they screwed up the product naming so it is quite hard to distinguish one from the other even with careful knowledgeable reading. The names "Lightroom CC Classic" and "Lightroom CC" do not convey the differences at all. Which to buy? Adobe pushes subscriptions to the new Lightroom CC almost exclusively. Lightroom CC Classic is still available, but it is extremely hard to locate on the Adobe Lightroom pages. A user needs to know exactly what to look for or they will be led to the "new and improved", more expensive but limited functionality product.


The moral with these two examples is how easy it is to take the eye off the ball as a product buyout goes forward, effectively abandoning a well functioning product and going to a substandard, broken or dysfunctional product. Is this progress? Yes, it is. Time does march on, but good products quickly get forgotten -- this happens within 2-3 years. Within 5 years, the old well functioning product is almost surely forgotten. Data gets orphaned. Users go looking elsewhere for the functionality they want. Rarely does the new product become the new standard.

The best idea I can think of for Toodledo is to split the product into a "classic" version and a new "premier" version, as KurtMainWorkSpace proposed above.


This message was edited Jul 08, 2018.
RicardoSwe

Posted Jul 08, 2018 in: Future Plans
Score: 2
Posted by KurtMainWorkSpace:


...Those of us who never say anything or complain are happy with the solution the way it is now and don't want a lot of changes. New owners and ambitious programmers commonly want to make a lot of changes to show how smart they are and justify their existence. The software and high tech businesses are full of examples of how new ownership screwed up a great mature solution by injecting new values and goals -- wanting more customers, higher profits, industry awards, fame, or whatever personal or financial reason. In the end, they lose their old loyal customers, fail to find enough new users to support their new, higher cost structures, and drive a great solution into bankruptcy.

Maybe you would be willing to consider the following: Perhaps you can "freeze" the solution where it is right now. Don't fix something that ain't broke. Rebrand it as ToodleDo Classic, ToodleDo Premier, ToodleDo Opus1, or whatever name you like that drives a stake in the ground and says "this is what we have today, everyone loves it, and we're not going to ruin it for people who depend on it to manage their lives and businesses."...

...Then, in parallel to that, make a copy of the current codebase that your ambitious programmers and creative users can play with, add to, iterate, change, modify, morph, adjust, advance, revise, refine, and enhance into whatever they want. Give this a name like ToodleDo Labs, ToodleDo Advanced, ToodleDo Opus2, or whatever name you like...

...I personally would not object to you eliminating the free subscriptions to maintain a revenue stream to keep the Classic platform running smoothly. The cost of the Gold subscription is well worth the price, so maybe you will want that to become the table stakes for everyone who wants to stay with the Classic platform?

---

Whatever you decide... good luck. You're in for a fascinating ride!


KurtMainWorkSpace -

Well said; thank you. You have some very good ideas.

A couple comments -
I am a paid subscriber of Toodledo, but it was years of the free product that led me to finally climb on board and pay. I think the free version of a product like Toodledo is necessary to attract new users. Most people will not immediately pay money for an untried product.

I really like the idea of making two branches for Toodledo going forward -- one as "Toodledo Classic" and another as "Toodledo Premier", concentrating on keeping classic as close to the current Toodledo as possible and putting creative changes into the premier product. If premier proves successful over a long period of time, the classic users will migrate.

Thanks for your ideas Kurt.

Ricardo
RicardoSwe

Score: 0
Jake --

Thanks for your suggestion about using due dates as if they were start dates -- so as to have alarms.

I went back and looked at the new Tasks layout versus the current layout. The only real difference in the MYN configuration that I can see is the notes icon and trash can icon are moved back to the left side in the new layout. I'm now left wondering how the MYN configuration managed to move them to the right. As I understand Michael Lindenberger's book, they're put to the right since they're less frequently used.

So are there instructions available for moving these two icons "back" to the right side?

Also, one new question --- I'm not sure i'd want to do this, but can the priority "names" be changed to match MYN's, such as "Critical Now" for Priority 2 High and "Opportunity Zone" for Priority 1 Medium. Just curious.

Thanks --
RicardoSwe

Score: 0
I just changed over to trying the Toodledo configuration for Michael Linenberger's MYN task management system. So far so good. Looks like it will definitely help me better with my large task lists. Keeps me focused on just immediate and urgent/high priority tasks.

Two questions and a wish re MYN:

When can/will the "MYN configuration" be updated for the new Tasks look? I think it's already close but I think some parts differ.

How can I get into edit mode for tasks already created, i.e. when I create a new task I think I have more options to choose than with already created tasks where I edit directly on the main task view.

Wish: I'd like to be able to set Alarms with Start Dates. With MYN, due dates are almost never used, and so, as currently setup, Toodledo cannot give me alarms.


Long time user of Toodledo, new subscriber (to support your work) & appreciative user...
Thank you!!
RicardoSwe

Posted Aug 27, 2010 in: Toodle Do "freezing" in Firefox
Score: 0
Same here. Toodledo site is freezing firefox. Every time.