I Heart Indie Software

February 25, 2009

I’ve posted a couple of times on Bee Docs’ beautiful app, Timeline. I bought a copy of the app a while back, and was pleasantly surprised when I recently received a handwritten thank you card from the developer. It’s significant to note that Adam has no idea that the Chris of eQuixotic is the same Chris that he emailed this thank you card to (as I blog in anonymity (and, in fact, near-utter obscurity)), so this couldn’t have been his way of saying “Thanks for mentioning Bee Docs on your blog.” No, he was simply thanking me for being a customer.

I can’t remember the last time I got a thank you card from Adobe, Microsoft, or Apple. Probably because it was…never ?

I’m a huge fan of indie software developers, particularly on the Mac side of the fence, where their offerings are often of the highest quality, have innovative features not seen in software from the “big guys,” and have surprisingly low price tags.

Pixelmator, VectorDesigner, Amadeus Pro, Layers – these are wonderful, affordable apps that see frequent use in my eLearning and presentation development work. Oh, and of course I can’t forget my blogging tool of choice: MarsEdit.

Many of these developers are dedicated to the point of obsession about updating their apps – and not just fixing bugs, but adding completely new features – without any upgrade charge. It seems every time I launch VectorDesigner, for example, there’s an automated (and free!) update waiting for me. It feels like Christmas each time I click an application icon to launch it.

And the level of personal attention some indie software developers provide is phenomenal. When Layers was released recently, I had an extensive email exchange with the developer regarding a glitch in the software and some feature enhancements I’d like to see. Not only did he immediately confirm the glitch through testing, but he provided me a link to download an updated version of the app within a day or so. Simply stellar.

I’ve had similar online conversations with other developers as well. Enjoyable – and incredibly refreshing.

So before you pull the trigger on your next multi-hundred-dollar software purchase from some faceless megacorp who couldn’t care less who you are, give your indie software developer a good once-over. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you find. I’ll be blogging in more detail on many of these tools in the future.

And Adam, I haven’t had the opportunity to play with Timeline much yet, as I haven’t had a project that required its use. But rest assured there will be a need, probably soon. And Timeline sits in my quiver, at the ready, to wow my customers and make me look like a genius.

And thank you for the thank you.

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