Author Topic: GemX - missing in action (Read 284456 times)

celtichare · « **Reply #100 on:** September 27, 2007, 05:12 AM »

I've given up on GemX - such a shame since it seemed to promise much - I'm looking at various other apps - I like the look of TreedbNotes Pro, really powerful and good for my research and writing but what a shame the PIM side to it is slightly lacking. I like the pop up calendar which gives week and month views but why not push it that little bit further and make it a fully functional calendar with a visual grid for appointments trather than a list of tasks? Sorry if this is a bit off topic but i guess those of us who have been stung by do-O are now desperately trying to replace it with something that delivers on functionality.

beldeamon · « **Reply #101 on:** September 27, 2007, 01:42 PM »

Hi Folks ..back on this thread after a little break.

Things dont seem to have changed on the Gemx front then .......<<sigh>>

I've migrated my mail out of do-0 into The Bat, a very painful process but i got there. I'd forgotton how easy Mail was ;-))

After a tour of the Gemx site last night, I noticed that on the resellers page, you can find a address and a contact phone number. Before i do so myself, i wondered if anyone else had tried this line of approach ?? Very direct, but at least we would know one way or the other if the company is still functioning.

Be good all and greetz from the UK

do-O forum user : Grumman

Darwin · « **Reply #102 on:** September 27, 2007, 01:58 PM »

Hi beldeamon - hadn't thought of phoning the company. I think I'll give it a try after the weekend (have a meeting to attend out of town - leave this afternoon). I seriously doubt that I'll get an answer but you never know...

doublewitt · « **Reply #103 on:** September 27, 2007, 05:01 PM »

I've given up on GemX - such a shame since it seemed to promise much - Sorry if this is a bit off topic but i guess those of us who have been stung by do-O are now desperately trying to replace it with something that delivers on functionality.
-celtichare (September 27, 2007, 05:12 AM)

This is just me, ofcourse, but I think sometimes that "people" in general at the ex do-O forum were too negative in a sense. What I mean is, there were too many requests flooding in and too much negativism in general instead of praising them for such a comprehensive work. Will you find something like do-O? I doubt it, let's face it, do-O is outstanding despite some things... there is nothing out there to match it. Just before closing the forum, they did mention that they were getting sort of "fed up" with the style of posts. They definately didn't get enough encouragement - afterall, the persons behind the project are people like you and me, and they are vulnerable to criticism just like anybody else. For example, when they launched the spreadsheets section, they got hit really bad - why? - many other apps launching the same tool provided pretty well the same spreadsheet format - I can name some. And they didn't get such criticism. But the do-O forum got swamped. For a "start" the spreadsheet implementation was OK, but yes, we were approaching a full year without any updates in it... that deserved a strong comment on the other hand. You don't leave your clients hanging on a limb like that for a full year - that's simple common sense - or business sense.

They got rather "fed up" with the bug reports as well. If you put yourself in their shoes, it's no fun getting bug reports with lots of little (comments) that distract you from your work and throw your concentration off somewhat. It can get aggravating sometimes. Users didn't submit their reports in an objective manner.

Afterall, the GemX team did an extraordinary work! It's a shame to see things the way they are... it really is.

do-O was a very big project. On the other hand, that's why I like TreeDBNotes PRO. It's "light" as a pim and it's not "over-functional" and heavy. The developer is open-minded and "listens" to suggestions...

doublewitt · « **Reply #104 on:** September 27, 2007, 06:44 PM »

Hi beldeamon - hadn't thought of phoning the company. I think I'll give it a try after the weekend (have a meeting to attend out of town - leave this afternoon). I seriously doubt that I'll get an answer but you never know...
-Darwin (September 27, 2007, 01:58 PM)

Offline Support Services
Telephone and Fax Support is not offered as a standard support service. However, for any emergency support you may contact us by telephone / fax at + 31 320 845932. PLEASE remember this is only for EMERGENCIES, not to be used for normal support service you can obtain through online services. Keep in mind we are based in the Netherlands. Our normal business hours are 9am to 6pm CET [Central European Time]

Darwin · « **Reply #105 on:** September 27, 2007, 06:49 PM »

Heh, heh... Might just have to give that one a go next week. Thanks tipto... er Doublewitt

Darwin · « **Reply #106 on:** September 28, 2007, 11:58 AM »

Well, SWREG is now in on the act - my request through them for a refund has not been responded to yet (60 hours ago and counting). I expect that they'll tell me to take it up with my credit card provider who I expect will tell me that there is nothing they can do given that I've already paid off the balance for August... Doesn't really matter, I'm just hoping that GemX is prompted to make some sort of a statement on the homepage indicating what's going on. Right, I'm off to start posting complaints on shareware sites...

borengate · « **Reply #107 on:** October 01, 2007, 04:17 AM »

Hi everybody,
I'm another complaining GemX products user. I've been posting several comments on the GemX forum until it "crashed". However, today I'm less frustated after discovering this forum and all the GemX users that I used to read on the original company forum. Thanks for your optimism and ueful information.
Just to say that I'm so desperate that the last weekend I moved all my stuff from DO3 to Outlook 2007. I do seriously begin to doubt that GemX will be back.

Best regards

bo

Beth UK · « **Reply #108 on:** October 01, 2007, 05:50 PM »

I'm another complaining GemX products user. I've been posting several comments on the GemX forum until it "crashed". However, today I'm less frustated after discovering this forum and all the GemX users that I used to read on the original company forum.

Hi Bo - welcome in from the cold! Fortunately you've come to the right place as you'll find great discussion about alternatives for organizer software and loads of other stuff too.

Darwin · « **Reply #109 on:** October 01, 2007, 06:21 PM »

Yes... I haven't wanted to "push" donationcoder too much (it sells itself very well!), but this is a fantastic place to discuss software, problems that you are having with software, and so on. Welcome to the boards, Bo

Josh · « **Reply #110 on:** October 01, 2007, 06:53 PM »

So, has anyone found a good replacement for DO? I am tempted to swap to outlook 2007, if i can figure how to keep the folder list expanded when restarting outlook.

borengate · « **Reply #111 on:** October 03, 2007, 02:26 AM »

Hi everybody,

I've been looking for a good replacement of DO for several weeks and the answer is that I finally migrated all my stuff to Outlook 2007. I have to say that I never used DO as e-mail client because I feel very comfortable with Thunderbird and/or Outlook. However, DO is a excellent manager for calendar appointments, tasks, contacts and password manager, planner, notekeeper, etc. So, I checked other software to replace basically these functions. Here is a list:

1) Agenda MSD (http://www.msdsoft.com): excellent PIM for everyday appointments, contacts and tasks. It is very flexible, light, and it has some great and useful functions (history of records) but, on the other side, the interface is, in my opinion, not very pleasant and outdated. However, updates are very frequent and it is a cheap product. Actually, I use this program together with Outlook 2007.

2) Agenda-at-once; Time and Chaos; WinOrganizer: I've tried all these programs but I didn't find the (perfect?) equilibrium that I found in DO. So, you can try and udge for yourself. Every program has its pros and cons, it is difficult to rate them since every user would have its own opinion.

3) Rainlendar (http://www.rainlendar.net): very nice, light-weight, flexible and simple organizer for everyday appointments and tasks. However, it lacks other functions of their older brothers (althought theprogram is not intended to replace heavy-weight organizers).

4) Notekeepers and Outliners: I'm a crazy fanatic of outliners. I've purchased TexNotes first and Pro after the update. TNP is a fantastic and flexible outliner and notekeeper but for me is too heavy (Painting and Draw functions are leftovers and, in my opinion, not necessary in these type of programs). After TNP I decided to tried other outliners (MyNotesKeeper, TreeDBNotes Pro, MyInfo, NotesOrganizer, etc.). In my opinion, the best replacement of TNP is Whizfolders Organizer (now in its DeLuxe Edition; http://whizfolders.com/?did=mws). Very nice and flexible program, especially to take notes from the web, scracht pieces of information and, last but not least, as a cross-linking note program. Those interested in a note manager/outliner should try this piece of software. It is cheap and the supporting team is good.
In the freeware section, the old KeyNote (http://www.tranglos....om/free/keynote.html) still has the first position in the list. It is a pitty that the project is closed down and no more updates will be released. The program is very flexible, light-weight and open-source.

OK friends, these are my findings. I didn't check e-mail managers since, as I said above, Thunderbird ad Outlook are, in my opinion, unbeateable on this field. I do hope that this brief sumary would help.

Just a final question... there is anybody out here that is still confident that GemX will be back on business?

Best regards to all, our union is our strenght.

bo

Beth UK · « **Reply #112 on:** October 03, 2007, 09:00 AM »

Bo said:

is anybody out here that is still confident that GemX will be back on business?

I wouldn't like to say one way or another on that one. I used Gemx products for quite a while before DO was ever released and I do remember a period of time when it seemed nothing was happening - and then suddenly DO was released. Their recent 'vanishing' has seemed quite odd though because of the numbers of users who will so obviously have given up on them.

Josh · « **Reply #113 on:** October 03, 2007, 09:06 AM »

I am considering moving to outlook 2007. That is, if I can figure out how to fix my one minor annoyance with it :-/

Darwin · « **Reply #114 on:** October 03, 2007, 11:42 AM »

Just to update everyone, SWREG, who handle gemx's online retail transactions have not had any response to their request to them for clarification on what's going on, either... They e-mail on my behalf on Saturday asking for a response within 48 hours and there's been nothing but silence since...

doublewitt · « **Reply #115 on:** October 04, 2007, 02:42 PM »

It's now Thursday, and still nothing...??!!!

What can you do with pims, outliners, and notes managers... in this world of differing opinions and needs? What's useless to one is paramount to another... it gets difficult sometimes...

In general, I think that the developer world has disappointed us somehow. It's such a struggle on the net to find the suitable app for most. I've been through plenty enough myself. Are they really in-touch with the needs of clients? I wonder sometimes. In all cases, developments are so slow. I figure that in 2007, we should have been confronted with loads more APPS and interesting developments. When you think of how long computers have been out there, - and you are still looking for the suitable notes APP - good grief, when will this torture end? It's true, that there is lots of junk out there that only considers a "tiny" aspect of notes management, and many available APPS have a last update recorded in 2004, 2005, 2006... In the past, I spent most of my time "waiting", "downloading", "installing", "requesting", "uninstalling", over and over again instead of organizing!!! It became such a distraction. Manytimes, I thought of hitting the "off" button on my computer and going back to the standard paper & pencil routine. Developers are just not turning me "ON" somehow.... I believe that most are just "contenting" themselves with a software but are not really finding the appropriate solution. It's more like: "well, what can you do? - that's the best I could find." Developers are just not producing it! The software industry seems to be lagging behind.

Darwin · « **Reply #116 on:** October 04, 2007, 03:47 PM »

Well... an update of sorts: SWREG e-mailed GemX about three hours ago giving them 48 hours to contact me and advising them that failure to do so will result in SWREG issuing me a refund. I feel quite conflicted about this because I really was/am hoping that gemx hasn't gone away... Sadly, it seems to me that they have. To date, I have 7 unanswered DSM's with them, 3 unanswered e-mails, the blog comments, this thread, 5 messages through SWREG... Not looking too promising, folks

superboyac · « **Reply #117 on:** October 04, 2007, 04:04 PM »

There are two sides of this argument, the user side and the developer side. In many ways, this information management is still in the pioneering stages. Even though PIM software have been around as long as computers have been, only recently have we started seeing the genre beginning to mature. So we can't expect the perfect PIM to be out there at this point. Also, information management is a wildly variable term depending on the individual. The needs of one person are very very different from another, so again, one software can't cover it all. PIM software is so broad in its application that almost any program out there can be a PIM software in some form or another.

That's why the best solution is not to expect one software to cover it all, but use different programs to accomplish specific functions. Notetaking, email, clip capturing, photo organizer, desktop search, file cataloger, calendar, appointment maker...each one can potentially be it's own application. By expecting it all in one package, you're going to get frustrated because you're expecting the software developer to think exactly like you, which will never happen.

doublewitt · « **Reply #118 on:** October 04, 2007, 04:47 PM »

Well, I understand your point of view. It seems that's the common trend of thought. But, to me, it's not less painful because if you use 10 applications for example, as you say, well, you can also become easily frustrated at 10 developers lagging in development, updates, support issues, and so on. Your problem can, in a sense, be 10 times bigger! So where are we at?!! I also find that "specialized" APPS, though they are good - no doubt, have endless options I don't need - but others do, ofcourse. Anyways, I guess, each client works towards a (temporary) and acceptable solution. Maybe that's why I like TreeDB - it's light as a pim.

doublewitt · « **Reply #119 on:** October 04, 2007, 05:15 PM »

Well... an update of sorts: SWREG e-mailed GemX about three hours ago giving them 48 hours to contact me and advising them that failure to do so will result in SWREG issuing me a refund. I feel quite conflicted about this because I really was/am hoping that gemx hasn't gone away... Sadly, it seems to me that they have. To date, I have 7 unanswered DSM's with them, 3 unanswered e-mails, the blog comments, this thread, 5 messages through SWREG... Not looking too promising, folks
-Darwin (October 04, 2007, 03:47 PM)

Whatever internal problems they might have, you don't leave your clients out-to-lunch like that. They've lost clients and will find difficulty in re-gaining them. Any serious company would think of posting a message to their clients. It's when they do absolutely nothing like that - it makes you wonder... and it's too bad, yes, if they are permanently gone - but we have to move on...

Let us know what happens...
thanks

Darwin · « **Reply #120 on:** October 04, 2007, 05:20 PM »

Yes - this is a point I have made repeatedly via each of the avenues for communication available to us: at least post something on the homepage letting existing and prospective customers know how things sit. I *REALLY* didn't want it to come to this. As you say, though, time to move on.

zak11000 · « **Reply #121 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:26 AM »

Don't really agree with the comment above that the problem was that people were too negative on the GemX forum. Its not our job to massage their ego's. But I do agree that they took the criticism personally. When they set up the forum, I think they were expecting for it to be a constant source of affirmation, but it wasn't - people were posting the problems they were having when using the software and they took the criticism personally.

They are selling a product and charging money for it. They are supposed to be mature adults running a profesional company that has responsiblities towards their customers, not children looking for praise.

My opinion is that the GemX team or whoever is behind the software is good at programming but has a lot of issues to deal with in the real world. Their behaviour on the forums was always strange - in a sense we were baby-sitting them, making sure they don't get insulted.

Its common courtesy to let people know whats going on - especially people that have paid money to buy a product. If you keep people in limbo, and they have done this so many times, you are basically manipulating them to get attention. How many times have they dissapeared from the forum for days.

My personal opinion is that they will resurface after a few weeks/months (once the attention from their dissapearance starts to lessen and people start to move on) with some more updates, etc.. and an explanation why they dissapeared. They have obviously done this in the past. Its just pure emotional immaturity... They are getting attention now with everyone wondering what's going on. But that's not going to last forever and when it starts to run out - they will resurface as if its normal that they dissapeared leaving everyone to wonder what's going on. You are not dealing with adults here in an emotional sense. Also explains why they never finished what they started and had no real interest in fixing old bugs and instead kept adding new modules noone really asked for. Its not a real company - its a person(s) with a fragile ego that has one talent - programming and an overwhelming need for attention and reassurance.

As the software now seems to be abandonware - maybe someone should post the latest 3.097 version somewhere...

Amature Psychologist

doublewitt · « **Reply #122 on:** October 05, 2007, 09:12 AM »

Don't really agree with the comment above that the problem was that people were too negative on the GemX forum. Its not our job to massage their ego's. But I do agree that they took the criticism personally. They are selling a product and charging money for it. They are supposed to be mature adults running a profesional company that has responsiblities towards their customers, not children looking for praise.
-zak11000 (October 05, 2007, 08:26 AM)

I didn't make the statement to make people feel like they've done something wrong but rather as an indication of how they (GemX) perceived things. I think everybody likes to receive comments about a job well done though - it's only normal!

Josh · « **Reply #123 on:** October 05, 2007, 09:27 AM »

Yes, but does that mean they should disappear like they have due to the number of bad comments? It seems to me they took on more than they could chew. Instead of focusing on core functionality, they kept expanding and adding new things to the program. While this is a good approach in one aspect, its a poor one in the fact that they neglected several major pieces of functionality which should have been fixed (Reminder bug anyone?). As I've said before, if they cant handle the heat of the software world, they shouldn't be baking a product like Do-O.

zak11000 · « **Reply #124 on:** October 05, 2007, 09:32 AM »

I know - it was evident to me as well that that they were taking everything personally. That is why occasionally I pasted "glowing comments" on their forum. I know that all people enjoy praise - its only human. But you don't exclusively rely on other people for it. Have some healthy self-belief instead.

Lets face it - if you want to run a professional business and charge money for a product - you behave in a professional way because you have taken on a responsibility towards the customers (otherwise you get into a situation where people migrate to another forum to post their frustrations about you and ask for their money back...). Isn't it strange - that do-organizer which is better than other PIMs gets so few downloads compared to them. They are incompetent at everything except programming.

If you are after praise and affirmation - post the software as freeware.

If you are trying to run a profesional company and make money, then grow-up!

You'll see - they will be back and nothing will really change and the dissapearing act will keep on happening. They will keep coming up with new modules without fixing the old ones.

This is why they are keeping their website running and still selling the product. You are not dealing with a real company here but with immature people.