Author Topic: Software that sounded useful, so you bought it, but then... (Read 37,362 times)

timns · « **on:** January 04, 2013, 10:34 PM »

Quite a few times I have tried some software that I'm sure would be useful, grabbed it quick, but then I find that I get no use out of at all.

This is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the product (although that is often a factor) but somehow it just doesn't "click" for me. Or maybe I'm just dumb and don't use it right - I'm sure the author of at least one such product would be delighted to agree with that statement

Does anyone else suffer from that problem? Not sure whether to share the list or not, as I don't want to dissuade you all about products that just don't come together from my point of view.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2013, 10:44 PM »

By the time I've actually paid for a few things, I usually pick pretty well. But in the trial/free dept it happens to me all the time! I was just posting a few weeks ago how I removed about 100 unused programs from my machine after they had all just showed up for random reasons at the time.

40hz · « **Reply #2 on:** January 05, 2013, 12:13 AM »

I think anybody who is in the habit of actually paying for software will run into that annoyance sooner or later.

Like TaoP, I'm usually pretty careful about what I pick so I haven't had too many bad surprises. Most that I did have bad experiences with were "vertical market" or "industry specific" (i.e. productivity and accounting) type programs written by small developers.

x16wda · « **Reply #3 on:** January 05, 2013, 12:47 AM »

Happens to me often. I find it difficult to resist downloading utilities that have been recommended by reasonable people, or that address an issue I've seen (even peripherally), or that just sound neat. Or ones that do the same thing I already have a utility for but maybe have an interesting feature. And since the landscape changes constantly I sometimes revisit topics that I've spent too much time on already (how many times have I looked at text editors?). Most of it gets installed and tried out and I get excited about it, but then something else comes along...

Happens less often with purchased products, but still happens. I can buy software based on an awesome demo but later find the workflow doesn't fit, or buy a product and the developers take it somewhere I don't like as much.

I think anyone who's willing to take a chance on finding a better way should see this happen now and again.

(btw, anyone want a copy of UltraEdit with lifetime updates?)

mahesh2k · « **Reply #4 on:** January 05, 2013, 01:10 AM »

I found many good programs from the small companies and developers better. Unfortunately it is the big brands that were not good with support and feature updates.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #5 on:** January 05, 2013, 03:16 AM »

I too try text editors and file managers. But I don't keep many. The text editor may have a feature that is handy only occasionally. If it's not too bulky then it may be worth keeping. Most of the time the File Managers don't last long unless they are portable and take very little space. Too many new hotkeys, buttons and other stuff to remember. I tend to go back to FreeCommander just to save the frustration.

What I find too is that technology moves on. I have no need to encode from (S)VCD anymore. The system imaging program that worked great on XP doesn't work so well on Vista and later etc..

Also freeware makes great strides. I don't renew paid programs when I find free utilities that work better for me. One example is Easus ToDo Backup Free. It works better than any paid program of its sort I've tried so far.

Office Suites tend to be removed after a short trial. I just don't need to do presentations at corporate meetings. They seem to want to throw all that and the kitchen sink in just to get a word processor that can do stuff with word files people insist on posting instead of something portable.

Curt · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2013, 04:26 AM »

I think I am the prototype on the thread's subject. I have purchased hundreds of useful programs that weren't useful at all - at least not to me. And then I upgrade to the new version, because now I have it, so I must upgrade it, or the initial purchase would seem wasted...

Just like our DC member Darwin I have now changed my ways. I am down to 145 programs installed, and haven't made a single purchase.. ehh... more than a couple of purchases since November. Hello, my name is Curt, I am a softoholic...

Tinman57 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 06, 2013, 12:29 AM »

Quote from: Curt on January 05, 2013, 04:26 AM

I think I am the prototype on the thread's subject. I have purchased hundreds of useful programs that weren't useful at all - at least not to me. And then I upgrade to the new version, because now I have it, so I must upgrade it, or the initial purchase would seem wasted...

Just like our DC member Darwin I have now changed my ways. I am down to 145 programs installed, and haven't made a single purchase.. ehh... more than a couple of purchases since November. Hello, my name is Curt, I am a softoholic...

You have software OCD!!!

wraith808 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 06, 2013, 12:50 AM »

Quote from: Curt on January 05, 2013, 04:26 AM

I think I am the prototype on the thread's subject. I have purchased hundreds of useful programs that weren't useful at all - at least not to me. And then I upgrade to the new version, because now I have it, so I must upgrade it, or the initial purchase would seem wasted...

Just like our DC member Darwin I have now changed my ways. I am down to 145 programs installed, and haven't made a single purchase.. ehh... more than a couple of purchases since November. Hello, my name is Curt, I am a softoholic...

I could have written that. I'm so glad that BDJ has taken to sucking hard in their bargains. It really saves me a lot of money spent on software I don't need. And it's not just software- during this steam sale, I bought a couple of hundreds of dollars of game. But I've only played one of them. I have a problem...

Jeffsw3 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 06, 2013, 01:20 AM »

I also tend to buy alot of software, I feel that if I use a program, even for a single task, then the programmer deserves to be paid for it. I budget so much each month for these purchases - just my way of supporting the little guy.

barney · « **Reply #10 on:** January 06, 2013, 01:29 AM »

Quote from: wraith808 on January 06, 2013, 12:50 AM

Quote from: Curt on January 05, 2013, 04:26 AM
I think I am the prototype on the thread's subject. I have purchased hundreds of useful programs that weren't useful at all - at least not to me. And then I upgrade to the new version, because now I have it, so I must upgrade it, or the initial purchase would seem wasted...

Just like our DC member Darwin I have now changed my ways. I am down to 145 programs installed, and haven't made a single purchase.. ehh... more than a couple of purchases since November. Hello, my name is Curt, I am a softoholic...

I could have written that. I'm so glad that BDJ has taken to sucking hard in their bargains. It really saves me a lot of money spent on software I don't need. And it's not just software- during this steam sale, I bought a couple of hundreds of dollars of game. But I've only played one of them. I have a problem...

Quote from: Tinman57 on January 06, 2013, 12:29 AM

[
You have software OCD!!!

Hell, I thought that was a requirement for DC membership

$:-\$

! I'm not much into gaming - more the Mah Jong, Sudoku type

- but I've got a terrabyte+ of software I've bought/downloaded over the years. Still have stuff from PCMag for Win31/Win98. Some of that has never even been installed. At times, I'll be surprised at the results of a file search, then install something bought a couple-two-t'ree years ago just to see what it does ('cause I can't remember

)

.

rjbull · « **Reply #11 on:** January 06, 2013, 08:41 PM »

From the APPLIED MURPHOLOGY site:

GLATUM'S LAW OF MATERIALISTIC ACQUISITIVENESS:
The perceived usefulness of an article is inversely proportional to it's actual usefulness once bought and paid for.

helmut85 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 07, 2013, 07:43 PM »

I can top this.

I own a full-price, NON-TRANSFERRABLE lifetime license of Xyplorer, and I don't even like this program (and almost never use it); didn't even like it when I bought it full price - whilst it's half-price two times a year at bits, and I knew this when buying, and yes, one week later it was half-price there again - now imagine all these women buying shoes in numbers, bad color, wrong size, and overpriced, one week before the sales begin, and all this without anybody holding a gun at their temple, just without any external reason!

(Ok, according to European law, sw licences ARE transferrable now, but as for personal, non-transferrable lifetime licenses, I'm in very heavy doubt here, and wouldn't take any chances!)

(And I KNEW this thread was going to spin out of control this way as soon as I read its title.)

(And no pun intended to the Lady we've got here among us; we're worse than any shoes-affinite woman out there, and we know it. OMG)

timns · « **Reply #13 on:** January 07, 2013, 08:00 PM »

Yes, BDJ has a lot to do with how I end up with all these things. I should look-ahead more to see what's coming, and try it BEFORE I just have a couple of hours to decide.

MrCrispy · « **Reply #14 on:** January 07, 2013, 08:36 PM »

I'm a paid user of Xplorer2 for years now. The other day I paid again for v2.0, and it turns out there really isn't that much new or different at all. I don't mind this, since it supports the developer and its an essential program, but I was really hoping for new features.

fenixproductions · « **Reply #15 on:** January 07, 2013, 10:48 PM »

For me it would be Axialis IconWorkshop. I think I had bought it through BitsDuJour and found out how overrated it is.

Very rare updates which brings almost nothing new. I admit that some time ago they have changes UI completely but other news were only icon packs.
Few years ago someone requested layers support and they did not implement it so far but gave Image Objects instead. And this is just drag'n'drop + Explorer panel.
There is still no nice mouse scroll zoom and tablet support is little bit strange.

I have it more than year and I recollect using it about 5 times. More often I create icons with Inkscape + Greenfish Icon Editor which are free.

J-Mac · « **Reply #16 on:** January 08, 2013, 05:24 PM »

I made the mistake of purchasing both Paperport Pro and Omnipage Pro two years ago. I haven't found any decent utility in either. I purchased them only because of a promotion from Nuance, from whom I had purchased PDF Converter Pro a few years in a row. The discount was substantial, totaling $129 for both. However neither has worked very well at all. Paperport almost always freezes whenever I use it, and apparently that is a problem for a lot of users. No help from Nuance, as usual.

Those are most likely the worst software purchases I have made.

Jim

helmut85 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 08, 2013, 05:41 PM »

"apparently that is a problem for a lot of users. No help from Nuance, as usual."

That's right two times, Paperport isn't worth much, and Nuance support is worth nothing. (On the other hand, I once bought, for several hundred euro then, believe it was 270 euro = 380 bucks, or was it even 340 euro?, an early version of Omnipage - terrible! Now, I own a free and crippled Omnipage version 16 (never bothered updating, in view of my big loss), and I'm rather with it: It's much, much better than the outrageously-priced early version had been!

In general, living in Europe and never buying from amazon.com (but often from amazon.co.uk/.de/fr, all with no probs whatsoever), I don't buy much anymore without first, and systematically, check for the product both in the web and especially in amazon.com - and of course, there you'd have been informed on both counts before spending your money. It's amazon.com, not .co.uk, not .de, not fr. - I want the sheer numbers: with 300 reviews, there's fewer chances of them all being manipulated than with just 12 or so on amazon.de/fr, for the same product.

On the other hand, if you have a recent version of Omnipage, re-install it and try to tweak it a little bit, it's not that bad at all for ordinary originals.

timns · « **Reply #18 on:** January 08, 2013, 09:33 PM »

Don't get me started on Nuance! They do a lot of cold-calling if you're dumb enough to provide a phone number when you register anything with them. I had to get quite impolite before they took me off the list.

rjbull · « **Reply #19 on:** January 08, 2013, 10:15 PM »

I received one of Serif's many offers a while back, this time for Omnipage Pro 15 at some very low price. I don't use it often, and find the UI so bizarre I have to re-learn it each time, but it does seem to work quite well.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #20 on:** January 09, 2013, 12:40 AM »

Quote from: timns on January 08, 2013, 09:33 PM

Don't get me started on Nuance! They do a lot of cold-calling if you're dumb enough to provide a phone number when you register anything with them. I had to get quite impolite before they took me off the list.

I get very leery of registrations asking for phone numbers.

40hz · « **Reply #21 on:** January 09, 2013, 08:59 PM »

It just occurred to me that about 90% of the apps I ever bought for my iPhone fell into this category. $:-\$

Many iOS developers show great wisdom in pricing their products as low as they do since it takes advantage of the "Life is Too Short for Some Things" phenomena. To wit: most people are far more likely to write off a non-performing $3 app rather than take issue with its developer and go through the incredible hassle of trying to get a refund through Apple.

app103 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 10, 2013, 02:38 PM »

I tend to outgrow apps, rather than install complete duds.

I end up installing apps that are the best thing since sliced bread, then replace with ones that are the best thing since low carb tortillas.

Replacing Snagit (after many happy years of use) with Screenshot Capture is a perfect example.

Then there is the change of how I think about and do things, that leads to things like replacing Dreamweaver with Notepad2.

Then there are all the games I just got bored with after playing them too much.

Darwin · « **Reply #23 on:** January 10, 2013, 02:49 PM »

^+1

I'm in the same boat, April!

J-Mac · « **Reply #24 on:** January 10, 2013, 03:51 PM »

Quote from: app103 on January 10, 2013, 02:38 PM

Replacing Snagit (after many happy years of use) with Screenshot Capture is a perfect example.

+1 I did the same about two years ago and have never looked back.

Jim