Surfulater 3 - huge price hike (166%) + where is the Firefox add-on?

[J-Mac]

There is a $10 discount which makes this only $69 for new customers.

-nevf (November 14, 2008, 05:15 PM)

Neville,

I looked and didn't see the discount. The "Buy Now" link on the Surfulater home page says "Special offer inside" - which I thought was probably the $10 discount you mentioned here - but once I click on it the eSellerate cart shows the $79 price - no discount mentioned.

Has the discount expired?

Thanks!

Jim

[sazzen]

You will soon - on March 4 - be able to purchase Surfulator for $39.50 at Bits.  In the past, I'd have killed (well, maimed, anyway) to get it for that price. Since I couldn't afford it I bought  Ultra Recall at a reduced price only to learn, here, that it is no longer being developed. However, I can't really complain as I got it at a VERY good price. I'd like to try Surfulator but having already paid for the other program and being very strapped for $ these days it doesn't make sense to buy yet another license for yet another very similar program. Oh yeah, AND I am a Firefox user.

Regarding pricing:  Any developer can charge anything they wish for their products. A buyer can only pay or decline. As shareware prices rise, I must decline more and more. $80.00 is a lot of money to some of us. With the trend toward high upgrade prices and limiting upgrades to the one year mark, I have (sadly) accepted the fact that the version I pay for is the one I will be keeping - forever.  Anyway, to my way of thinking, upgrades are not always improvements and more than once I've gone back to a previous version that I was happier with.   

[wraith808]

Don’t feel bad...  I purchased Ultra Recall only a few months ago and the developer just posted last week that it is basically being abandoned.

-J-Mac (November 13, 2008, 10:29 PM)

Where did you see that?  He's still releasing versions as of 2/24/2009, so it doesn't seem to be abandoned...

[mwb1100]

You will soon - on March 4 - be able to purchase Surfulator for $39.50 at Bits. 

-sazzen (February 26, 2009, 10:56 AM)

Just a bump to the thread as the discount is now available for the next 22 or so hours...

http://www.bitsdujou...software/surfulater/

[J-Mac]

Don’t feel bad...  I purchased Ultra Recall only a few months ago and the developer just posted last week that it is basically being abandoned.

-J-Mac (November 13, 2008, 10:29 PM)

Where did you see that?  He's still releasing versions as of 2/24/2009, so it doesn't seem to be abandoned...

-wraith808 (February 26, 2009, 11:24 AM)

Have you been to their forum? Or the outlinersoftware.com forum? The developer removed his Roadmap post and replaced it with a statement that Ultra Recall would no longer be actively developed due to the poor economy. After a large outcry by users along with a lot of posts at various forums, he replaced that statement with a much smaller Roadmap - with most of the significant future improvements missing. Since then he has released three minor bug-fix updates.

I still use it - Kyle says that he won't abandon UR and that he will definitely support it through Windows 7 compatibility. But probably no innovative changes to it.

I believe there were some comments about this on the Bits page when it was offered there a week or so ago; you can still see that page if you search there. I'm still using it since it is still a great application as is, though I hate to see development stopped on it.

Jim

[tomos]

You will soon - on March 4 - be able to purchase Surfulator for $39.50 at Bits. 

-sazzen (February 26, 2009, 10:56 AM)

Just a bump to the thread as the discount is now available for the next 22 or so hours...

http://www.bitsdujou...software/surfulater/

-mwb1100 (March 04, 2009, 12:22 AM)

that's a good price

I was thinking about the thread title - to be fair to Surfulater it went from 59 to 79 dollars which is a 33% price hike rise, as opposed to the 166% mentioned - which is also correct, but over a period of years, and starting from a reduced price as Neville has said.
Would you consider changing or removing that number from the thread title Carol?
I guess it's a piece of software I like a lot which is why I ask as well

[Carol Haynes]

No what I printed was accurate. Whilst I agree that $39.50 is a more reasonable price it is still (IMHO) expensive compared to other shareware.

The reason I won't be going for it even at that price is that I object to their upgrade policy even more - which is what started this thread.

I bought a copy of Sufulater 2 but when it came time to upgrade they want the full price again because I bought version 2 'too long ago' to qualify for the upgrade price.

If you read my original post that started this thread this means I would have to pay 166% more than I originally paid to purchase version 2 in order to upgrade to version 3. (If you want me to show you the sums I am willing to do that).

By the way Sufulater 2 was originally $39.99 not $59 - so even then there had been a 50% hike!

I realise that people charge what the market can bear to make a buck but I started this thread to simply say that I think their price hikes are unreasonable and their upgrade policy stinks. This member of the market won't bear it and I won't be locked into software that is produced by a developer that behaves in this way. What's the next price going to be? $129.99, £249.99 - pick a number!

[tomos]

fair enough, just thought I'd ask.
I felt it gives the impression that there was just recently a 166% price hike which isnt the case, but -
in the context of the upgrade - yes, I think to put a time limit as opposed to a version limit on the upgrade is a mistake guaranteed to alienate early purchasers of version 2.

Me, I bought Version 1 so I wouldnt qualify for an upgrade price either way, mind you as I've said above I'd prefer to see larger upgrade price for older versions as opposed to full price.

[wraith808]

Have you been to their forum? Or the outlinersoftware.com forum? The developer removed his Roadmap post and replaced it with a statement that Ultra Recall would no longer be actively developed due to the poor economy. After a large outcry by users along with a lot of posts at various forums, he replaced that statement with a much smaller Roadmap - with most of the significant future improvements missing. Since then he has released three minor bug-fix updates.

I still use it - Kyle says that he won't abandon UR and that he will definitely support it through Windows 7 compatibility. But probably no innovative changes to it.

-J-Mac (March 04, 2009, 01:54 AM)

Ah, I found it.  Probably completely overlooked it, as I purchased it years ago, and still only have a few items in it.  I recently uninstalled it.  Tried surfulater also, and promptly forgot about it.  Evernote has been the best for me, as it syncs across platforms.  I'll probably try a few others I saw in the forums also (Zoot and Knowledgeware looked promising), but that's just because I'm a software addict 

[tomos]

Re: Surfulater upgrading policy

I've asked for a clarification in their forum about upgrade pricing
will let you know when I get a response

-tomos (March 05, 2009, 03:23 AM)

well it turns out this whole upgrading thing was a misunderstanding based on the wording in the email sent out to announce Version 3

Hi Tom,
Anyone that has purchased Version 2 can upgrade to Version 3 at 50% off as per the "What is your upgrade policy?" section on our FAQ and Purchase Web pages. If they purchased Version 2 within 90 calendar days of the release of Version 3, then the upgrade is free. I hope that is clear.

-http://www.softasitgets.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=6431#poststop

So from Version 2 you can upgrade to version 3 @ 50% off

[Carol Haynes]

That's a change of stance - the original wording was free upgrade if purchased within the last 90 days but there was a time limit on previous purchase before which upgrade was not possible as an additional condition (I can't remember and no longer have the email but I think it was 2 years).

[tomos]

That's a change of stance - the original wording was free upgrade if purchased within the last 90 days but there was a time limit on previous purchase before which upgrade was not possible as an additional condition (I can't remember and no longer have the email but I think it was 2 years).

-Carol Haynes (March 10, 2009, 07:51 AM)

Yes,
the email announcing the release of v.3 said two years.

I think it was simply a case of what they wanted to say and what they said were two different things, as opposed to it being an actual change of stance (but that's just my interpretation, who knows, maybe it was a change of stance - if so, a sensible one)

[tomos]

I notice they now say in their 'webshop'

Upgrading?
I have purchased a previous version in the last:
Three months (FREE).
More than three months ago (50% off).