xPad Status
posted on march 30, 2004, tag: xpad
It's been a long time since I've posted an update to the xPad timeline, and since people are starting to get antsy and angry about it, I figured I would take a few minutes to clarify what's going on with development.
I'm behind. That's pretty much what it comes down to. Version 2.0 has been planned but not really developed. Version 1.1 and 1.2 are coming, but aren't done yet. To be honest, I haven't been doing much xPad development the last few months. This is mostly due to the fact that the release of 1.0 was 9 months of solid work that burned me out.
It's extremely fun to do, but application development is not my day job. xPad does not make nearly enough money for me to live off of (not even for more than two months) and I'm not entirely thrilled about the idea of spending another 5 months killing myself to put out a 2.0 that will only make a small amount of money. Don't get me wrong—I did enjoy doing it. But it was all I did, all the time, and it was tiring. I have rent to pay and a life to live. For a long time, xPad was my life. Katia didn't really like that, and I didn't either.
The break from xPad has been nice, and I'm not thrilled by the idea of going back to it. So I'm taking it really slow. I know that probably angers some of you. Most of you, even. But that's life. I would feel much worse if xPad 1.0 was bug-ridden and didn't work and was useless and you had bought it in advance thinking eventually it would be usable. But that's not the case. xPad is a functional, useable, almost bug-free application that is worth $10. Even if I never released another version, I would feel confident in the fact that I had given people their money's worth. I can only hope people who bought the application feel the same.
I'm not saying there won't be another version of xPad. No matter what happens, there will definitely at least be a 1.1 to fix a few things that bother me (the most notable being that Command+left/right arrows switches documents and therefore disables basic Cocoa text-editing shortcuts). But 2.0 is not coming in the near future.
My position on this might change. I can't say with certainty how I'll feel about xPad in a few weeks or even tomorrow. I go through development phases and this is one of them. It would be different if I was surviving off the application, but it's still just a hobby.
Feel free to comment with your thoughts. I'm open to hearing how you feel about all of this.
Comments
There are 19 comments, comments are closed
Timen on 03/30/2004:
Well, all I have to really say is that I believe you haven't marked xPad nearly enough for it to make money. Buy some ads. Sure they might be expensive, but it will pay off.
Jon Gales on 03/30/2004:
Heh. Give me comission and I'll sell you some software :).
I love xPad. I have 10-15 documents usually, and it's real handy.
dez on 03/30/2004:
I think that sounds entirely fair enough. BTW I've entirely given stickies the flick and use xPad as one of my main organising toosl. I even bought two licences one for home and work. And it's worth more than $10.
Phil on 03/30/2004:
xPad is one of the most truely Macintosh applications that I've seen come out in many years. There's gotta be something that'll change your mind. I have a baseball bat.
acous on 03/30/2004:
i think anyone who does creative work as a hobby should completely understand your feelings. doing stuff like that drains you and it can take a long time before you get back in to enjoying it. in my experience it does happen eventually, but i guess it may not for some. i've not seen any bad comments yet, i don't really expect to - xpad is a great app in it's current state and i'm happy it's one of the few apps i've ever payed for :)
Dan on 03/30/2004:
I think it's a great app, and we here at Realmac Software would be happy to take over the development of it ;)
Jonathan on 03/30/2004:
xPad is great so far Garrett. Don't stress yourself out over it. Take care of yourself and Katia first. Priorities my friend - priorities.
TFS on 03/30/2004:
Well, as far as I'm concerned what you say sounds pretty reasonable and fair enough.
As a Lawyer (as opposed to human-being...), and since the app is very stable and does the job as advertised (I keep 90+ docs & images and counting...) I do not foresee any problems. Not that I won't love to see some of the feautures discussed in the forums sooner than later... ;-)
Phil on 03/31/2004:
No worries Garrett — I still use xPad daily in it's current guise with very little problems, so take your time ;-)
By the way, the Google Ads are quite amusing. I didn't know you also made metal detectors...
Riz on 03/31/2004:
Have you thought about releasing the code as an opensource project or enlisting the help af a group of trusted 3rd party independent developers to help you move the code forward? I'm sure there are a lot of other developers out there who would be interested in helping out. Myself included - besides, it would be a great learning opportunity. I think it would be a shame to see such a great application fade away. If you were making lots of cash from it I wouldn't suggest an open source route but given the time you have invested you may get a greater return on your efforts from seeing the application grow. I dunno, it's just a suggestion (this is my first post to your blog after all). Whatever you decide I wish you all the best.
Richard on 03/31/2004:
Yours is such a typical dilemma. Seems to happen to almost everyone who makes shareware, unless, of course, a modern version of Guy Kawasaki discovers you and talks you up.
xPad as it is is a fine product and if you did nothing more to it I'd feel totally good about having paid for it. However, I think the clock is ticking to either sell it to RealMac or someone else or put more of your own time into it.
The interesting question is: is it just a matter of money buying you time to do the work or is it having lost interest in development or both?
The excitement of a new product can push us through money issues but once that excitement wears off it's just a job, and "just a job" might not be enough... actually is never enough to spark creativity and all-nighters excited about putting new features in the hands of users.
Chris on 03/31/2004:
I know exactly where you are. I spent several weeks creating a little app that I use here and there. At the time I was making it, I was excited about the possibilities and features I could include. After a while, that enthusiasm died down. I was able to finish the first version, but have zero desire to pick it up again.
So don't worry about the development cycle slowing down to a trickle. What you've already released is a great little app and I have no worries about spending the $10 on it. Plus, I'd rather you worked on it when your heart and head are into it.
dion on 03/31/2004:
I think one of the solutions that can both let this app grow and relieve you from programing is make it open-source. Add enough documentation about your source and put it on the web. I believe someone will take over.
jason on 04/01/2004:
i agree with all the 'take it light' suggestions, but it would be irresponsible as a software developer to simply let xpad languish as opposed to at least passing it off to a new person or, preferably, a new team. you did a stellar job with v1 and you should obviously take great pride in that. it is smart and professionally designed.
on the user side though, it is frustrating to invest time and energy incorporating a peice of software into everyday workflow and find out the future developmeent cycle hinges on the interest of one person. i don't want this to come off negative at all... really great work! but please, for the user's sake, commit to a roadmap or a new developer because there really is a lot of potential yet to be realized.
Louis on 04/01/2004:
I purchased it too and enjoy using it. Great app.
Sourceforge, my friend.
Chris on 04/20/2004:
I purchased it today, and hope you continue development. As it is, I think it's better for you to check in every few months with your users, even if it's to say, "Nothing is happening" or "I am thinking about/would never hand off development to someone else."
acous on 05/06/2004:
yeah, i agree with Chris... i'd be interesting in hearing the status of xpad in any case.
TFS on 05/14/2004:
Well Garret, you posted your thoughts on 03/30/2004 asking for comments... You've got plenty of them... I think its fair enough to expect some answer from you... at least to the ones we purchased a license. Are you considering opening the project up?
jason on 05/19/2004:
bueller... bueller... bueller...