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Omni Group Layoffs

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Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#181

Post by ken »

gurkendoktor wrote: post #155
joeberon wrote: post #120

Unfortunately Omni's software is pretty old and bloated at this point, although I've only used OmniFocus and OmniGraffle. The former is very powerful but this is a blessing and a curse, in that the UX is very cluttered and quite intimidating. I honestly think that Things has exceeded it now, being less customisable but also capturing the essence of what makes OmniFocus good without getting bogged down in too much cus…

The flip side of it is that OmniFocus needs to be so customizable because the defaults are not great. (I feel the same about the default styles in OmniGraffle.) I was a die-hard OF1 user, but they've completely lost me with the OF2 redesign. Large checkboxes on the right stress me out on mobile (that's where my scrolling finger rests), and it took months before there were layouts in OF2 for Mac that had the same info…

Planning and scheduling tools are weird. Everybody has their own system already. So software is either simple (and doesn’t work for most people) or incredibly complex (and requires massive customization). Or they say “just redesign your whole life around our app!”

I’m not even sure which one OmniFocus is trying to be.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#182

Post by ubermonkey »

ken wrote: post #179
joeberon wrote: post #120

Unfortunately Omni's software is pretty old and bloated at this point, although I've only used OmniFocus and OmniGraffle. The former is very powerful but this is a blessing and a curse, in that the UX is very cluttered and quite intimidating. I honestly think that Things has exceeded it now, being less customisable but also capturing the essence of what makes OmniFocus good without getting bogged down in too much cus…

15 years ago I loved Omni software. I hate the term “bloated” for software but I agree it’s gotten massively more complex for no benefit to me. I’d use my old version of OmniOutliner if I could (there’s no way to run PowerPC applications on a modern Mac). It was nearly perfect, with only one or two obvious flaws. Sadly, instead of fixing those, they seem to have added a million word processor styling options. They’re…

Right there with you. I'm still on an old build of 1P; I feel like eventually I'll have to migrate to something else, because I don't want their new version AT ALL.

I eventually quit using all the Omni tools for the same reasons -- OO was PERFECT and now is a mess, OF got a terrible redesign, etc.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#183

Post by edwinyzh »

rdslw wrote: post #87

I would, and I'm actually considering, to offer them $2000 just to compile me Omnifocus 1 (latest of v1 branch) as 64bit app, as it's currently 32bit and can't work due to CatalinaCurse. Omnifocus 2 was a joke in any category, while I have mixed fealing about 3 (speed, ergonomics, features). Anyone want to chip in? :)

Is is Omni Focus 1, right? (https://www.macworld.com/article/1132832/omnifocus1.html)

I don't use it, But I'm curious as to what are the major changes of v2 which disappoint you? I like the v1 interface as shown in the above mentioned article.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#184

Post by jpwgarrison »

snickmy wrote: post #61

I would love to hear more how the COVID19 has exacerbated the business down period. I naively thought that enterprise software would not see a strong impact from COVID19 in the first 2-3 months.

99% of all businesses are planning on at least two really bad quarters coming up. Very few have cash reserves to cover shortfalls. If you’re planning out the rest of the year, and you were already in a little trouble, you have to cut expenses immediately.

I’m not sure Omni is as tied to quarterly planning/reporting; but for those who are, and are on the regular calendar schedule, this all happened just in time for a lot of the potential Q1 end of quarter sales to dry up as everyone tightened up.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#185

Post by ubermonkey »

mywacaday wrote: post #94
filleokus wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if I'm an outlier here, but to me the Omni Group is/was almost like an extension of Apple themselves. Like with Panic's or CultureCode's applications, they just work in the way a seasoned Mac user would expect. They fit into both the look and feel of the Apple ecosystem and support all integrations you would expect. Of course the market for high-quality Apple only software is small. But I think they woul…

I have spent a lot of time using GTD and trying to find the right software for me. Omnifocus is always at the top of GTD software lists but I'm stuck on Windows and would love to have a windows option.

I saw lots of discussions of this back in the day, when the GTD cult (I kid) was really in ascendance. All the really good implementations I saw, though, were Mac tools.

There ARE some options that are text-based, I think. And if you really want and are nerdy enough, you can do it in OrgMode. But I dunno what nice polished native apps exist for Windows.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#186

Post by Wowfunhappy »

mantap wrote: post #164
microtonal wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but neither do the maintenance costs. That depends. On macOS the churn is high. But there are probably a lot of Windows applications from the nineties that still run unmodified.

macOS indeed requires additional effort. But regardless of that customers tend to get annoyed and stop giving you money if you don't ever fix their bug reports.

You fix the bugs in paid updates, and users decide whether the bug fixes are worth the cost.

It's a good balance—if you spend extra time on worthwhile changes, the users need to pay for that time. The users can also decide to stick with what they have if they don't think your changes were worthwhile, which may be a perfectly reasonable path.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#187

Post by Wowfunhappy »

mcgrath_sh wrote: post #123
7777fps wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with the subscription model? Vendors get recurring money and aren't incentivized to make sweeping changes to have major releases to get more money for the same product; consumers can manage cash flow by only paying while they need it, there is a lower barrier to purchase, and vendors have more predictable income.

The mental overhead of renting every piece of software I own would be exhausting, not to mention consistently expensive. Subscriptions come out of a different part of the my budget than purchases do, and it is an ongoing expense I have to factor is versus coming out of my funds once every few years, if I can afford it at that time. There are several pieces of software I would have gladly bought at 2-3 times their ann…

I don't think you're in the minority.

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#188

Post by vharuck »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #178
new2628 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a good point of course -- my issue is that this amortization has become totally divorced from use. For example, a taxi driver also needs to amortize the upfront cost of their car, but the more they drive, the more the car wears down, so it is all predictable, and somehow feels "fair". With digital goods, you may sell it twice, or a billion times, what you earn is independent of how much cost you sunk into it…

Yes it seems like new rules are needed for synthetic businesses of this sort. I've argued elsewhere on HN, that the reward for building an automated system should be, pay for building the system. In America at least, we consider the entire lifetime output of said system to belong to the builder. That is unsustainable. Imagine a future where everything is automated. There will be no need for workers, and not much furt…

Wouldn't that discourage automation? By which I mean, wouldn't the economy optimize for busy work instead of producing more value for less effort?

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#189

Post by Wowfunhappy »

toss4732 wrote: post #110
alain_gilbert wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think subscription is that bad. Development and support is never ending. Single purchase, you also get "single development", and then it dies. At some point the market is not infinite.

I think companies should use something like what Jetbrains does with its IDEs. You get a lifetime access to the version you paid a year subscription for. Keep the yearly subscription up, and you are getting updates, getting a more recent lifetime access, and the sub gets cheaper.

Yes, this is also what Sketch does, and it's great!

Re: Omni Group Layoffs

#190

Post by JoeAltmaier »

vharuck wrote: post #188
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it seems like new rules are needed for synthetic businesses of this sort. I've argued elsewhere on HN, that the reward for building an automated system should be, pay for building the system. In America at least, we consider the entire lifetime output of said system to belong to the builder. That is unsustainable. Imagine a future where everything is automated. There will be no need for workers, and not much furt…

Wouldn't that discourage automation? By which I mean, wouldn't the economy optimize for busy work instead of producing more value for less effort?

Referring to reassignment of automated machine output? I don't see this slowing automation much. It makes for a simpler, more reliable process across the business. Why deal with hiring people when automation solves it forever?

And even if some folks do decide to go the 'boutique' route and hand-make something, there is always another person who will go the automated route and cut their prices by 90%. Free market after all.

It will be upsetting for sure. Lots of entrenched interests in renting automation at high rates. Maybe have to do it in a phased approach - VAT or some such?

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