Vaporware, pre-announcements, and conch-bleatings (oh my)

The Blog

by Linda Sharps on November 28, 2006

Years ago I worked for a Very Bad Software Company (no, they weren't located in Redmond). My job involved creating millions of graphics-heavy PowerPoint documents with little in the way of information but lots and lots of colorful stock art depicting great success for the company we were pitching to. We offered several different “technology solutions” that were “powerful and extensible”. Oh, and they also “engineered a rich, sticky shopping experience”.

(I am not even making that up. Rich. Sticky.)

It took me a while, but I finally figured out we had no actual products. What our company owned was some proprietary knowledge about delivering media over the internet, and around that nebulous concept a number of solutions were dreamed up by the CEO, who either truly believed they existed or thought they could be built immediately after a purchase was made (I was never quite sure which it was, I think it depended on the alignment of the planets and the amount of reality distortion in the man's head at any given moment).

Those products were vaporware, pure and simple. They did not exist, the “features” they offered varied based on who the salespeople were talking to, and the half-built, buggy technology that was supposed to be the base of all these fantastic offerings did nothing more than crash your entire system and maybe the computer of the person sitting next to you for good measure. Then it went and kicked your dog.

In its current state, OmniFocus is a little bit crashy, too. Okay, maybe our internal nickname for OmniFocus is Crashy Von CrashaLot, That-Which-Triggers-Kernel-Panic, but hey, that's why it's not in beta yet.

But it's not vaporware. It's just not completed. There's a difference, and it has to do with being sincere about what we want to offer, and not touting magical features that we have no idea how to build.

The reason we've been open about the entire process isn't to generate hype (goat trail: the Segway was hyped. Zune was hyped. Mentioning a product a few times on a blog with a readership of…well, a smallish readership? Not hype, unless you want to greatly elevate my contributions marketing-weasel-wise, which is fine by me but then we'll have to discuss a new benefits package involving chocolate covered pretzels delivered to my desk on a weekly basis); it was initially to gauge interest and figure out if this product was a good investment for us. We could have done research on our own and maintained radio silence about OmniFocus, but we wanted to start a dialogue about it and get your feedback early on.

We are not trying to persuade you to avoid looking for other solutions, and we're not trying to unreasonably build up your expectations. I don't consider what we've been talking about with OmniFocus to be a pre-announcement, which is something typically designed to generate early interest in a product and hopefully build momentum towards the final release.

Being upfront about OmniFocus was not a PR activity, or a strategic marketing decision, or anything involving a slide presentation and the word “paradigm”. It was rewarding to tell you we were thinking about working on it, and it was awesome to get all your positive feedback, but now we're in the boring part of the process where we feverishly code and have UI meetings and chew the ends of pencils and there's just…not much news.

Think of OmniFocus like a movie that's being filmed. You read who is starring in it, you maybe see some stills from the sets, you forget about it for a little while, and all of a sudden it's in theaters and people are writing comments all over its IMDB page debating whether it sucks or rules.

Or something.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we enjoy interacting with you guys, that's why we started this blog. It's not solely a vehicle for Official Product Announcements, and I hope you can appreciate some of the more informal conch-bleatings. It's more like we're talking with you instead of just issuing press releases, you know?

Now, let me just wrap things up by saying: we are still considering the “Feed Rowan the Disgusting Food Item of Your Choice!” booth display at Macworld, so I hope you plan on coming by and visiting.

Comments

However, movies get hyped a ton before they're released, so unless you're going to air commercials and have trailers for OmniFocus, comparing it to a movie isn't accurate.

Richard Neal

11.28.06 11:06 AM

[...] Along with the fact that I love everything the Omni Group does I couldn’t resist the low price which I could actually afford. I hope their GTD app is affordably priced (or maybe they’d at some point send me a beta, hint, hint, nudge nudge) so I can pick that up too. [...]

One Measly Dollar » Blog Archive » Omn

11.28.06 11:10 AM

The whole concept of GTD has pierced the “fog of awareness” surrounding me in the past few months. Although I haven't been too diligent in actually trying to work out a solution for myself, I've been exploring a few programs. And I'm not too enthusiastic about any of them yet.

The reason I'm waiting for OmniFocus (right now, anyway) is because I'm not sure that Kinkless or Midnight Inbox, etc. are exactly how I want to handle things. I don't know if OmniFocus is going to be that different, but I'm excited because of Omni's reputation for making awesome stuff. (Sure, I could be disappointed, but only because it might not do what I [think I] want it to do.)

I don't think OmniFocus can be considered vaporware, because there was never any real promise of an actual, hard deadline. Not even a year of release, even. To expand the definition of vaporware slightly, I'd use the infamous Duke Nukem Forever as an example of something that's promised, and is actually being worked on, but never gets finished. Though I'd say it's highly, highly unlikely, OmniFocus could fall into that category.

Dan Carlson

11.28.06 12:08 PM

Oh, my god I totally work for the company you describe. Why oh why is Omni located too far away for me to go and beat on your door begging for a job?

Mike

11.28.06 1:34 PM

Believe me, you don't want those chocolate covered pretzels coming around so often or you'll end up looking like me. So you're better off staying out of marketing.

DV Henkel-Wallace

11.28.06 2:51 PM

Calling OmniFocus vaporware was too harsh.

Vaporware is for products that don't exist and are meant only from keeping consumers from buying competitive products in hope that the vaporware will appear.

Besides, the people who want OmniFocus are mostly using the free* version of kGTD which is also a Omni product.

Either way… keep up the great work, the good coding and the constant blogging. I love it.

BZ

BZ

11.28.06 10:55 PM

I am glad that OmniGroup wants to “dialog” with us. There are few software companies today that care to discuss a product that is in the “thought” stages. In my opinion this is one thing that makes a company great! An openness with its customers and great products! Thanks for your frankness!

Terry

Terry Hatmaker

11.28.06 11:31 PM

Tell us more about the shiny pointy things with powers.

WrongSizeGlass

11.29.06 5:29 AM

Content to wait until it's nearly cooked (as in beta testing).

Cheers,

Matthew

Matthew Barker

11.29.06 7:30 AM

Omnigraffle is the reason I love your company but that post and the whole idea it represents is starting to compete. I'm not a GTD-er but I'll give it a shot when OmniFocus comes out. How's that for faith in a marketing weasel?

Tom

Tom

11.29.06 10:47 AM

Please put this on the list of features: an easy way to create a status report of the various projects, so I can easily jump through the hoops setup by pointy-headed bosses and the people they work for. An Automator action that can be used to generate an update email would be A Good Thing.

Al Willis

11.29.06 4:21 PM

FWIW, I used to work for a college radio station, and it seemed like only crazy people would call in with most of the requests. Later i was told only 1-3% of your audience calls in, and it's usually the people on the extremes. Assume the negative voices are outliers and keep up your guileless philosophy. Y'all are good folks.

ed

11.30.06 10:45 AM

We're in a similar phase of development with our Jaman Player for Mac. I was very pleased to write in the blog that the player is solid.

Keep up the good work. You may just be the best software company in the world.

Danielle

12.01.06 8:10 AM

I have to agree with Gruber on this one, but it's only a matter of semantics.

Gruber defines “vaporware” as a status without bias (based on impartial criteria), while you and many of the commenters define the same term as having a negative connotation. Gruber did not intend his statement to have that negative connotation (as I read it).

The point of this is that both you and Gruber agree on all the facts. (According to his follow-up article at DaringFireball.net.) The only difference is that the term he uses to define those facts means something different to you.

In that sense, you're both right, by your own definitions. The important thing is that you agree on the facts. And the fact is that he wasn't trying to denigrate your unreleased product by calling it vaporware, so you shouldn't be offended by it. If you are offended by it, even though you both agree on the facts, that reeks of pointless political correctness.

And nobody wants that! :)

BJ Nemeth

12.02.06 3:27 AM

Honestly, I had no idea there were official dictionary definitions of the term. I have never heard it used in anything other than a negative way, so I interpreted it with my own filter.

But I guess what I really wanted to respond to in this post was the notion that what we're doing, by talking about OmniFocus, is a Definitively Bad Thing (IE, “This is why you shouldn’t pre-announce apps”). This post isn't really aimed at Gruber, I just figured he wasn't the only one questioning our choices.

Linda

12.02.06 3:36 AM

I just came from Mr. Gruber's place, and I think I like you more. At least you have 1) a sense of humor, 2) a modicum of politeness, and 3) the guts to apologize when you've said something uncalled-for.

At least if I interpreted his >1000 (!) word reply correctly. He seems to equate friendly blogging with ulterior-motive press releases. Blargh.

Eli

12.02.06 3:40 AM

Hup! Beat me to it. And I'll agree that Gruber's intent was anything but friendly.

Eli

12.02.06 3:41 AM

Okay, look, I'm going to step in here and request a cease fire on both parts. Watching this escalate from a left-field zinger to a potentially polarizing debate is like watching my parents fight. I love you both! Is it my fault you fight? Maybe I should have registered that copy of OmniDazzle… then maybe you and DaringFireball wouldn't be so angry at each other all the time. If only I had bought one more “I * DF” t-shirt, this wouldn't have happened… But I only have one mere mortal torso!

Anyway, you get the idea. What is posted is posted. But I don't think it will do any good to anybody to continue this blog-for-blog tête-a-tête any longer.

Just my two cents. Now can we all get back to happiness and Mac-software goodness for the holiday season?

Rok

12.02.06 4:25 AM

[...] While usually I trust his opinion, professional blogger John Gruber overzealously lambasted the Omni Group, calling their forthcoming new application “Vaporware“. While it’s true that the Omni Group has two posts about their not-yet-ready GTD application, they’re still not hawking $1200 keyboards. Not only is his use of the dictionary pedantic and sophomoric, Gruber also ignores the context of why Omni might posts these announcements. [...]

The Book of Ryan » Blog Archive » &aci

12.02.06 8:45 AM

The bigger problem is that American Heritage Dictionary's neutral-sounding rote defenition aside, “vaporware” DOES generally have a negative connotation in actual daily use.

It doesn't ultimately matter what Gruber as an individual may have intended when he wrote the original post. It matters how most reasonable people will interpret it.

Gruber's a smart cookie; I think he knew perfectly well this would ruffle a feather or two, which is why the original linked list item included a snark… “that's why you don't preannounce…”

To fall back on a semantic defenition of the term may be convenient, but it's a cop-out.

babble

12.02.06 2:44 PM

anyone notice that Gruber very, VERY quietly changed this last line from (emphasis mine) “Maybe OmniFocus is going to be a nice app like OmniOutliner or OmniGraffle. Maybe it’s going to be a complex, over-designed TURD like OmniPlan. But today, it’s vaporware.” to Maybe OmniFocus is going to be a nice app like OmniOutliner or OmniGraffle. Maybe it’s going to be a complex, over-designed MONSTER like OmniPlan. But today, it’s vaporware.”

one is very confrontational and difficult to defend if people call him on it. the other is definable and easily defensed with myriad definitions and examples. (by the way, for the record, i don't find omniplan over-designed. i think it does what people who want an app like this have asked for, and it's gotten that way by being a public beta. i DO, however, find omnioutliner version 3 over-engineered… i thought it achieved the pinnacle of “outliner” at very 2 and is suffering under feature bloat in version 3… but i digress)

i guess professional bloggers need some sort of controversy to keep readership, or else people might just goo to other normal news sites for their app coverage. i'm taking bets on how many times gruber brings this up in the next month… twelve? fifteen? and just when we think it's lost steam, he'll hit us with a seventeen-page turd… er, i mean MONSTER of a dissertation on the subject, and people will be so exhausted with the discussion that we'll all shut up, he'll think he's won, and we'll all move on.

raj

12.03.06 1:35 AM

John Gruber is an asshole.

Joe Boxer

12.03.06 1:45 PM

Vaporware insults, part 2…

Wow–I’m really taking a beating on this one.

Without a doubt, the decision to pre-announce software may not be a good one.

I still think, however, that my commenters discount the Omni cult following. There

are many people who want to be in…

The Book of Ryan

12.04.06 2:10 AM

gruber is backtracking in almost comical fashion now. in order to seem like he wasn't implying anything, everything that we have foreknowledge of is vaporware, it's simply a matter of DEGREE.

you gotta be f'n kidding me.

raj

12.04.06 10:38 AM

Hi there,

I absolutly trust you because of the other fantastic products you've made so far.

Is there a way to get Alpha or Beta tester for OmniFocus? I like to get my dog kicked ;-)

Falko

12.05.06 4:25 PM

Well, now, Gruber's blog is occasionally itself just this side of vaporish, in terms of delivering content. But I wouldn't want to be without folks like Gruber and Siracusa, young curmudgeons with damned good insights into a variety of things.

That said, get OP ready and get onto OF. I'm about to take a stick to iCal and I really could use a better way to manage tasks.

I sent you a longer note as part of a recent crash report for OmniWeb because I had just about had it with iCal, but I think I was a little delusional with rage, so you shouldn't probably read it—unless of course you too are delusional with rage over iCal crashing or randomly adding new blank calendars—or because .Mac as a syncing service is really still pretty pathetic—or, maybe, you want something to laugh over while you eat way too much chocolate.)

John Laudun

12.06.06 2:00 PM

Not sure if this has been suggested, but Omnifocus definitely needs a voice recorder like outliner. Make it very simple like OO, and the audio is placed in the inbox.

Secondly, put it in the services menu so it is available across the operating system. Give it a simple keystroke that is both start and stop- so that any time an idea pops into my head I can hit command-control-shift-R (or something) to start the recording, and stop it. I can trust that the recording will get into my inbox and I won't have to worry about forgetting anything. Very GTDish.

Danny Zacharias

12.07.06 6:27 AM

I am looking forward to when you have more information and a beta of this product. I am using another product that I will not name. It is nice, but I am sure that you can do so much better.

Michael Klouda

12.08.06 7:58 AM

Hah…. All this ballyhoo reminds me of that saying (to paraphrase), “Academic fights are so ugly because there's so little at stake.”

Thanks for the update Linda.

Happy Santa Lucia Day everyone!

jim a

12.13.06 12:18 AM

You really shouldn't have made this post. Don't let them get to you and certainly don't show it/don't feed the trolls, and all that. Just go on doing what you're doing. Removing any blogs that get under your skin from your RSS reader, temporarily, will help.

Zach

12.14.06 12:27 PM

I whish to second the request for the possibilty to insert/do audio records in OmniFocus.

“Not sure if this has been suggested, but Omnifocus definitely needs a voice recorder like outliner. Make it very simple like OO, and the audio is placed in the inbox.”

Regarding the vaporware discussion I just decided to buy Midnight Inbox from Midnight Beep (http://www.midnightbeep.com/) although still quite buggy.

Once in beta I will examine OmniFocus to find out if it does a better job or if it comes closer to what my needs and subjective approach to GTD are.

Leonardo Burci

12.19.06 8:35 PM

I can't wait to see what you guys are cooking up… In the meantime, I have two feature requests:

1) Quicksilver integration

2) Ability to email things to my OmniFocus (via a central server I would imagine): sometimes I'll sit at work and think of errands I need to take care of when I get back home. It would be great not to have to write them on a post-it, but rather send a quick note to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)..

benjamin

12.20.06 5:21 AM

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