I got a follow-up email from the original user who spurred this thread. I thought some of you might gleam some insight into the thought process of this user:
Original email: I love it., but I am going to uninstall it if you don't let it use the last location without having one of the location services on. First response: I curious as to how your threat of an uninstall is supposed to spur us into a frenzy of development activity? Response from above: Mr. Coryat, I am after a one click radar solution for my home page. I have tried three or four Radar applications and still haven't found one I like. Some take a pathetically long time to get the radar image to the point that you don't know when it is finished and when you are looking at a valid image. Others have only the radar info with nothing else. And so on. Yours was very quick and fast. Just what I wanted. You must be a good technician. It was tantalizing it was so good. But I do not leave any of my location options turned on. And I was curious how your design threat was supposed to make me change the way I use my Droid. Design is from the gut. And if you haven't figured that out yet - if you are only a technician with no gift for design, then get yourself somebody else to face the public and get back behind a desk doing technical stuff which you are probably good at. Any designer that could put out an app that doesn't recognize the importance of single click operation if it is actually feasible is the most out of touch designer I have met in 33 years of programming. You should be literally quite ashamed for even putting out such an unfinished app in the first place. Literally. Literally ashamed. Even if it wasn't in the original specs the fact that you could publish it without including such an obvious option to use the last location set if the Droid location options were turned off, shows that your gut doesn't know where it is and destroys your credibility. I like and agree with your info screen. I like the speed. But your "Problem encountered" screen comes up in an instant if the location options are off, so you have no excuse that it would slow things up or violate the philosophy of your info screen. Yes, you should start a "frenzy of development activity", but not because of any threat from me, which, if you can get you head around this, was totally misinterpreted by you - why would I think I even could threaten you? - it was not my intention at all, but rather because of your own pride in your work. <name withheld> My reply: The app is free, it has no ads or revenue steam. There are literally millions of satisfied users who think the app is fine as it is. Please feel free to write your own if you have the ability and when you do, your criticisms will be valid. I strongly suggest you uninstall our flawed app so you don't have to bare our shame any longer. John His response: Millions of satisfied people who use their location options, and when a few don't, it isn't worth your time to fix. That's certainly defines the pride you take in your work. No thank you. I will leave it installed. I like being reminded, even if in a negative way, of the quality of work I did over the years in the shops I worked in. Oh by the way, if you can't build your car, don't criticize it. What a stupid argument. You must be a young kid. <name withheld> My response: I probably just should ignore you but I want to at least try to explain my side. Radar Now! is an extremely simple app that does one single thing: display the NOAA radar sweeps from your location. The target audience are users of Android devices with their location service active and who are located within the area served by NOAA's radar. If you choose to not use location services, then our app isn't for you. There's a perfectly good website that NOAA publishes allowing entry of a location. Why should I add code and complexity that emulates that site? Just bookmark it and use your browser. Further, there are several very good weather apps from large companies that cover most everything that our app doesn't. They have teams of engineers and a revenue stream in the millions to devote to such efforts. As I stated earlier, the app generates no income and in fact, costs quite a bit to run. It uses two dedicated servers and probably 10 hours a month of my time to keep it running. Not to mention the numerous emails I receive suggesting enhancements that just aren't in the scope of the app. I read and answer every single one. The app exists solely for my enjoyment. Period. That's the only reason it ever existed and if I stop enjoying it, I will just as simply turn it off. You are not a customer. You are not a prospect nor are you in any way part of a revenue stream that would give you even the slightest hint of being able to demand changes to the program that in your opinion should be made. Comments as to the quality of the app and functions fall on deaf ears for these stated reasons. If a user does spot a bug or make a suggestion that I think is a good idea and can be done with a minimum of investment, then I do it. Otherwise it goes into the "future release" bucket. I wish I could devote my entire life to making and enhancing free apps for the entertainment of the general public but frankly, that 's just not what's going to happen. Any enterprise that doesn't earn its keep is bound to fail. You may have heard that saying, certainly you've seen it. Since you're such an experienced programmer with great ideas, why not just put in the three to five months effort it takes to produce even a rudimentary app. Put your money where your mouth is, as the saying goes and show me what you can do. Surely that's not too much to ask. Make it a "for pay" app and perhaps you can retire off the income. -John I probably should just have ignored him. This is sort of like trying to convince a nearly blind dog that blue and green are in fact different colors. -John Coryat -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en.
