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I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

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Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#101

It looks good, and I like your pricing model more than the Standard Notes one (I don't want to drop $149 at once on a web app, but the 75% discount for doing so makes the monthly price seem way too expensive). Two things that stop me pulling the trigger: 1. I need a web app. I want to be able to call up my notes from a computer, anywhere, without installing anything. 2. A 60 day trial seems like the wrong way to test…

The author here. > A much smaller (5-10MB) quota with no time limit That's interesting and I basically agree with your opinion. You will be more comfortable to try it. But I suspect that many free riders will come eat the server resources. This is not a startup. I would rather like to be small.

I also sell my own software and I would pass along the following feedback:

1. Take breaks every now and then 2. People complaining about your software is good: that means they want to use it but something is preventing them from doing so. 3. Finally, don't do anything for free.

Good luck :)

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#102
post #72

It looks nice but it being Electron and subscription-based means I won't buy it. I'm pretty happy with Quiver.

I get the sentiment against Electron, there are horribly bloated applications out there which are a direct consequence of how (badly) Electron was built and designed. However, this particular application appears to work exactly as intended and uses all of 150MB of RAM and 0.1% CPU on my (admittedly quite beefy) laptop. Maybe, just maybe, this is actually a pretty well-built application? I understand if someone won't…

Your comment snapped me out of the RAM-obliviousness in which I usually live and work. I know memory is plentiful on modern PCs, but 150 MB of RAM for a note-taking app!?

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author here. > A much smaller (5-10MB) quota with no time limit That's interesting and I basically agree with your opinion. You will be more comfortable to try it. But I suspect that many free riders will come eat the server resources. This is not a startup. I would rather like to be small.

Another point is that 10mb is a lot of text, especially for users like me who use these types of note-taking apps as todo lists. For persistent notes I already have directory I store locally w/ cloud backup, but a webapp would be nice for my running todo list. That will hopefully never top 10mb,so a free user like me would really eat into hosting costs. Perhaps a solution to people like the OP who are concerned about…

In my note taking "system" (vim on a text file inside a GNU screen session) for work, I think I've only hit 1MB total for the last 10 years.

If the OP is going to do a time-unlimited demo, it should be really small, like 5K or less. The point is the same: try it out for a little while, and see if it works for you.

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another point is that 10mb is a lot of text, especially for users like me who use these types of note-taking apps as todo lists. For persistent notes I already have directory I store locally w/ cloud backup, but a webapp would be nice for my running todo list. That will hopefully never top 10mb,so a free user like me would really eat into hosting costs. Perhaps a solution to people like the OP who are concerned about…

In my note taking "system" (vim on a text file inside a GNU screen session) for work, I think I've only hit 1MB total for the last 10 years. If the OP is going to do a time-unlimited demo, it should be really small, like 5K or less. The point is the same: try it out for a little while, and see if it works for you.

Or maybe limit the number of notes that can be taken to 10 or 20.

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#105

If this is aimed at developers, why would they want to use it over their existing editor? I use VSCode and I write markdown in it all the time. A lot of other common editors also have support for it. Why would I want to use a seperate tool?

Good question. My answer is I see this tool as a note taking app that uses Markdown. Not a general Markdown editing tool, though it may also handle that functionality. Does that make sense?

I write code all day in VSCode/Intellij, yet I write all my notes in the Apple Notes app. While not perfect (I would prefer to write them in MD), it currently has the fewest trade offs for me. The most important feature being that I can easily view/write notes anywhere on any of my devices.

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#106
Basically all the comments here are just critiques. My 2 cents: excellent work, its extremely hard to stick with something for 3 years, especially with people's constant criticism and worries it isn't "big enough". The attitude of the developer seems quite wise and seasoned. Hearing things like "I'm making tools I use" and "I'd rather be small and opinionated" or "I'll take paying customers over droves of free users" makes my heart warm. Congratulations and good work -- ignore haters and people with "suggestions" after their cursory 30-second glance at your work you've been eating / breathing for 3 straight years. My go-to response to such things has become "wow in X years I didn't think to google 'note taking app', thanks for that amazing suggestion!" :P (end salty solo-dev rant)

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#107
post #38

I've been a happy user of this product for about half of its lifetime (in the middle of my 2nd yearly subscription). If I were to build one, it would be quite similar: intuitive design, some GTD support, Markdown support. It has all the features that I need, and the developer is easy to reach when there's a problem (I've been mentioned in a few changelogs). I appreciate the openness of the developer about the feature…

Hi Aleksandar, Great to know that you are continuing to use my app! high five

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#109
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get the sentiment against Electron, there are horribly bloated applications out there which are a direct consequence of how (badly) Electron was built and designed. However, this particular application appears to work exactly as intended and uses all of 150MB of RAM and 0.1% CPU on my (admittedly quite beefy) laptop. Maybe, just maybe, this is actually a pretty well-built application? I understand if someone won't…

Your comment snapped me out of the RAM-obliviousness in which I usually live and work. I know memory is plentiful on modern PCs, but 150 MB of RAM for a note-taking app!?

Its a note taking app that renders HTML. Arguably, this is an ideal case for an electron app. 150 MB for a internet connected, syncing, HTML rendering note app doesn't seem unreasonable to me

Re: I've been building a Markdown note-taking app for 3 years

#110
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author here. > A much smaller (5-10MB) quota with no time limit That's interesting and I basically agree with your opinion. You will be more comfortable to try it. But I suspect that many free riders will come eat the server resources. This is not a startup. I would rather like to be small.

I also sell my own software and I would pass along the following feedback: 1. Take breaks every now and then 2. People complaining about your software is good: that means they want to use it but something is preventing them from doing so. 3. Finally, don't do anything for free. Good luck :)

The author here. Thanks for the advice. Yeah, getting many complaints means that you are solving the right problem.
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