Why I Won’t Purchase NetNewsWire Again
Version 2.1 of NetNewsWire is now available and as a registered user, the upgrade is free. That’s a good thing, because if I had to pay for it, NewsGator (new owners of Ranchero software) wouldn’t get a dime.
Is there something wrong with NetNewsWire? Not that I’m aware of. From all accounts it’s still as fine a piece of software as when I first purchased it — who knows when (update: turns out it was October of last year).
But the new version requires me to sign up for a NewsGator account in order to activate the software. That’s right, requires. You don’t sign up, you can’t activate. You don’t activate, you can’t use the software.
If I had wanted a NewsGator account, I would already have one. It’s not like I’m unaware of their existence. They just don’t offer anything that interests me.
This is just like when Radio Shack would ask for your Name and Address just to buy some fucking batteries.
The saddest thing is Ranchero/NewsGator already has all the information they forced me to provide: I had to provide it when I purchased NetNewsWire from Kagi software. I still have the email receipt (Invoice # 921219547). They even have my home address.
So obviously, I don’t have a problem sharing my information when it’s actually necessary and warranted.
Although I’ll be using NNW 2.1 for the time being, I’ll be looking for an alternative that doesn’t require me to sign up for any stupid collateral accounts.
Comments
Hi,
-Newsgator is actually quite good, sync between newsgator online and all your mac with NNW works pretty well :-)
-And as a pre2.1 customer, you get 2 years of updates for NNW, and Newsgator sync (NNW will continue to work after two years of course)
if i were you, i would just give it a try :-) (I was using .Mac sync before, but I must say that Newsgator sync is better because you never see a sync window, all is done background !
Sam
From my TUAW response:
As for the mandatory NewsGator account registration, talking about making a mountain out of a molehill. You had, to parse your phrase out, a “mandatory Kagi account registration” in prior versions, by the sheer fact that you registered it. All this does is move your registration information over to the new company that now owns NetNewsWire. Nothing Big Brother-ish about it; the amount of information that NewsGator has in association with your registration is probably less than the amount of information Kagi has in association with your prior registration, since you provided them with your credit card information and so on.
But you see, Sam, I don’t care about syncing with NewsGator. I only have one Mac and I have no time at work to keep up with the feeds I care about — so syncing with PCs is a mute point.
The big selling point of 2.1 and (presumably) the reason for the registration is this synchronising feature.
Mike, perhaps I am over reacting, however, all I said is that I won’t purchase it again not that it wasn’t a great product. The explanation given for why NewsGator requires a registration is perfectly sound, but the wording was terrible.
According to Brent Simmons, NewsGator simply didn’t want to create duplicate accounts. Then the accounts should have been optional.
This is simply an opportunity for me to check out alternative applications that may have every feature I want without the mandatory registration for a service I’ll never use.
Reminds me of the time I went to get some RAM at Fry’s. They asked me at the counter, “What’s your phone number?”
I simply replied, “No.” And it actually worked.
Jared, a lot of places are getting on board with the notion that your information is yours. Of course, if you pay with a credit card, any notion of privacy is silly. But when paying cash, I don’t feel obliged to give out any information.
In fact, when paying with a credit card, I always ask (in advance) for a paper signature slip. Digitised signatures NEVER match my real signature and I really don’t want that information lingering in some sort of online database. After all, there’s no way to compare a digitised signature for forgery: it’s all just bits.
Did you find an alternative?
I’ve decided to go back to thunderbird. Actually I prefer it as I can easily hide the individual feed folders from site, and only see my ’smart list’ (’search folder’ in thunderbird-speak). That way I don’t get distracted reading crap that I’m not really interested in! :)
the main reason I want to switch, is that I just don’t think a news reader is worth $30. If they accepted paypal, or only charged $5 maybe $10, then I’d get it.
Bevan, you’ve missed my point entirely.
NetNewsWire is a fine product, well worth the $30 Brent charges for it. I’d even go further and say I think it’s probably worth more than $30. There will always be people like you, Bevan, for whom the price of a product is always too high. If Brent had priced NetNewsWire at $10, then you’d be complaining because it wasn’t free. You don’t value Brent’s hard work and dedication. (Note: this doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person.)
I’m presently working on a Mac software product. I won’t be pricing it at $10. I won’t be pricing it at $5, either. I think $30 - $50 is probably the sweet spot for most applications for the Macintosh market. You’re welcome to tell me you won’t pay $30 for my software, either. It won’t matter to me, because I believe there are plenty of people who will pay a reasonable price for software.
Brent’s a good guy (at least from my limited email exposure with him) and I certainly wish him the best of luck with the NewsGator scene. And should I find myself in Seattle again any time soon, I hope he won’t have any hard feelings and even let me buy him a beer…
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