(Archived) Evernote: Think of HP's multifunction devices

[wynand32 0]

Evernote folks, in the interest of bringing things back to a positive note, here's something you should think about. Consider it free marketing advice...

HP plans on putting webOS on its Internet-connected multifunction devices that print and scan. That means, the Evernote client could relatively soon be running on millions of devices with built-in scanning and print capabilities. Come on, seriously, guys: how can you miss the incredible possibilities here?

If I were you, I'd be pouring resources into the webOS client, and working directly with HP and Palm to integrate into their marketing plans for the new devices. Evernote could be the premier information management application running on devices that are part of an integrated family of connected systems: smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and multifunction devices, all running webOS.

Are you seriously just sitting back and waiting to see what happens with webOS "post-HP"?

[engberg 89]

Thanks for the feedback. We certainly haven't given up on HP or Palm, and we would love to see the platform be successful.

We're just maintaining more different projects than we have engineers (when you count all of the mobile phones, browser clippers, etc.). So in any given month, we're working on some of them and not others.

This month, we don't happen to have anyone working on: WebOS, Windows Mobile, Firefox clipping, SMTP email gateway, Twitter gateway, etc.

Next month, the list will change.

[aboutwebos 0]

Thanks for the feedback. We certainly haven't given up on HP or Palm, and we would love to see the platform be successful.

We're just maintaining more different projects than we have engineers (when you count all of the mobile phones, browser clippers, etc.). So in any given month, we're working on some of them and not others.

This month, we don't happen to have anyone working on: WebOS, Windows Mobile, Firefox clipping, SMTP email gateway, Twitter gateway, etc.

Next month, the list will change.

Dave,

The feedback is appreciated, but you still haven't answered the basic question: when do you intend to fix the outstanding bugs in webOS that are causing data loss? I don't think you'd be getting nearly so much blowback if the client were stale but stable. It's one thing to say that you're not working on new features for the client because of a backlog; it's another thing entirely to say that you're not fixing major bugs because of it.

I still submit that you should either fix the bugs or remove the app from the Palm App Catalog and let people know that you're not currently supporting it. And do note that these issues have existed for many months--it's not as if they just popped up and you're only now finding yourself overwhelmed. Otherwise, you're basically telling us that fixing data-losing bugs in your currently shipping webOS client is less important than, say, adding new features to your Android client.

Please let me know your thoughts. I'd love to respond to my readers and followers on Twitter that Evernote is making the responsible decision here.

Thanks!

[engberg 89]

We have many bugs on each of our platforms, and we don't have specific dates when each will be fixed. I.e. if a fix has gone through QA, we'll say "in the next release".

Thanks

[aboutwebos 0]

We have many bugs on each of our platforms, and we don't have specific dates when each will be fixed. I.e. if a fix has gone through QA, we'll say "in the next release".

Thanks

Dave,

You've told the webOS community that development on the client has been put "on the back burner" because there aren't enough users to justify working on it. That means, you haven't even decided if there will be a "next release," let alone when it might arrive. And, it also means that you're not actively working to fix bugs that are causing users to lose data.

Certainly you can see that this is fundamentally different than telling us that fixes are in the queue, but that you just haven't quite gotten to them yet. Meanwhile, the app remains in the App Catalog with serious bugs that are far more than simple nuisances.

Don't you think it's a bit irresponsible to let customers blindly download and use a client that might cause them to lose data, and that you have no current plans to fix? At least, you could put some sort of disclaimer in the app's description outlining your current position regarding webOS, and let users decide for themselves if it's worth the risk.

Anything would be better than doing nothing, as you are now doing.