Because, as of now, a tool they've come to rely on is essentially done.
I relied on Spool. They got bought, I was bummed, then I moved on. This isn't the end of mail apps as we know it.
Eventually it will stop working, and the user will have to switch.
To Mail.app. Or Gmail. Or any other number of email clients out there.
I'm sure some customers are disappointed. But at some point it's not about the customers--it's about you. If you want to sell your company, you're going to do it no matter what customers want. Customers can't know whether a company is the "sell now" type a priori, and that sucks, but it's also the nature of business.
Yep, this is the reason open source tools are the best to "rely" on. I prefer open-source code editors, because if I'm gonna take the effort to master their more advanced features, I want them to stay available. I'm thinking of switching back to mutt for email.
> I'm sure some customers are disappointed. But at some point it's not about the customers--it's about you. If you want to sell your company, you're going to do it no matter what customers want. Customers can't know whether a company is the "sell now" type a priori, and that sucks, but it's also the nature of business.
That's fine. And I'm not expecting companies to come out and say that. I'm also not against them selling out. What I am against is software companies not providing an upgrade path.
An easy solution would be to open source Sparrow. There. Done.
And don't think this is all about Sparrow. It's about indie developers in general. It's a warning. Sell your products! We'll buy! But understand that if we come to rely on your products that we've paid for, when you effectively stop development on it, you are doing your customers harm.
It's why I prefer open source tools (and yes, I've taken advantage of this fact). And the tools I do buy are from companies that have proven they will continue to invest in their products.
Hopefully that explains it more clearly. I'm not against them selling themselves. However, I feel like they slighted their customers. Especially since I know some of those customers had expectations based upon comments they'd made.
True, but you are proving the OPs point about having subscription-based pricing. I remember when I first bought Things when it cost $50 and they still haven't even shipped proper syncing. I felt like my money was stolen from me. If they had subscription pricing, they'd actually have to care about their customers post purchase. We'd have the power to stop their income stream much more directly.
I relied on Spool. They got bought, I was bummed, then I moved on. This isn't the end of mail apps as we know it.
Eventually it will stop working, and the user will have to switch.
To Mail.app. Or Gmail. Or any other number of email clients out there.
I'm sure some customers are disappointed. But at some point it's not about the customers--it's about you. If you want to sell your company, you're going to do it no matter what customers want. Customers can't know whether a company is the "sell now" type a priori, and that sucks, but it's also the nature of business.