Action this day!

[exmpro]

Hi Dave.
This is a reaction to your post of 4 Jan. My reaction is late because I have just got round to revisiting the forum, and that is because the posts are all doom and gloom about the future of HB, and have been so for a number of years now. In your post you talk of having the sincere hope that 2021 will be better for HB, and of course I echo that wish.
However, what I am about to write, is not intended to be offensive; it is rather a reflection of the way I see the situation.
You have developed a first class product, which is unique in its versatility (I have often searched in vain for a substitute), but you are hopeless at marketing it.
Over the years many people have offered you suggestions for improving sales and revenues, but I cannot see that you have made any moves to implement any of these ideas. Wishing and hoping are not enough. Until you take steps to do something about marketing HB more effectively, things will only stagnate, and then deteriorate. Marketing is a bit like software, it needs constant attention and updating to meet new situations. Since it is obviously not your ‘thing’ you need to find someone who can do this for you, maybe on a commission basis.
Perhaps among the one million downloaders of HB there are people who would be willing and able to help you in this. You could try mailing the licence holders to see if there are any people who would/could help, or even to see what people think about other ways of financing the program. After all, if you charged everyone 1 dollar a year you would be a millionaire, every year over.
Best wishes
Michael

[idamtnboy]

I wholeheartedly agree. I just expended hours trying to get my databases to sync between Win 10 and Galaxy S7. The sync just does not seem to want to work at all anymore. What's frustrating is syncing goes smoothly with Deja Office PC CRM and SplashData, so it can be done. If there was another DB out their on par with the usability and versatility of HanDBase I'd jump on it in a heartbeat, but alas, there is no on par competition that I've found.

Dave, if you can't get back to it and get it updated to work with the latest iterations of Windows, MacOS, and Android, then please sell it to someone who can and will. Companion Link I think would be one good such prospect. I really don't want to see the same thing happen to HB that happened to SmartList to Go. Great program, and in a few respects better than HB, but after it was bought by DataViz they let it die on the vine.

[edwin2011]

Looks like iPhone stopped syncing to W10 also.

[curtterp]

Looks like iPhone stopped syncing to W10 also.

I just checked with my test systems, and I was able to sync from Windows 10 to my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I have all the latest updates from Microsoft and Apple.

HanDBase Desktop is Enterprise for iPhone v4.7.7 Build R2

what errors are you getting when you try to sync?

[edwin2011]

Looks like iPhone stopped syncing to W10 also.

I just checked with my test systems, and I was able to sync from Windows 10 to my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I have all the latest updates from Microsoft and Apple.

HanDBase Desktop is Enterprise for iPhone v4.7.7 Build R2

what errors are you getting when you try to sync?

Reaction was upon a post in iPhone section. Sorry for confusion

[curtterp]

Ok.. thanks for clearing that up

[Max]

Ok.. thanks for clearing that up

I'm very pleased to say that my iPhone still syncs nicely with the most recent HanDBase (4.6.0.2) 64-bit Mac desktop app.

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Hey there,

Sorry for my delayed reply. I appreciate your thoughts- I should have posted that update in a forum that allows discussion, so that's another apology as well.

I don't disagree with anything you said. When I say I hope and wish things are different, its not that I don't know what to do, its that I just don't have the proper amount of time. For example, its not that I don't know how to market, its that I don't know how to effectively do that within the 2-3 hours a week I can actually put into HanDBase these days. That time is filled with just keeping my head above water- answering support emails, and working on the Android rewrite of HanDBase that is required.
You'll rightly so, ask why don't I put more time into this. As of right now, I simply don't have it- things were very different when I was working on HanDBase full time. I know that's not a good excuse, its just the explanation of the reality of it right now.

Someone suggested to sell HanDBase to someone who would/could take over the development. Believe me, I have thought of that before! Despite a very loyal userbase, its not a very easy sell as it means a lot of products to care for and support. I know deep down that it would be something someone could be very successful with the proper love and care. I'm just not at a point in my life where I can take the income risk of quitting my reliable day job to take the chance on it.

I've also thought about subscriptions aplenty, cloud syncing for many years. But thinking about it or hoping/wishing for it, and doing it are two different things as you pointed out. I've recently been pondering the idea of farming out the work as well, and this is something that may prove more successful than waiting for me to suddenly have tons more time.

The good news is that I'm almost done with the HanDBase Android rewrite- just a few more issues to fix and then that can start testing that build to make sure there aren't any other issues with it.

The bad news is that this won't solve for the amount of time needed to make the major changes many of you are looking for. I always believed from the days when I competed with Smartlist and JFile and the like that HanDBase doesn't deserve anyone's loyalty- each customer should choose the right tool for them and if that tool doesn't meet their needs at the time, they should find something that does. That doesn't mean I'm not grateful to those like you all that are still here with me and HanDBase! It just means I understand if and when you do find something that works better for you and wish you all the best.

In the meantime, I am still trying to find a long term solution- whether selling HanDBase, contracting out work, etc. Even implementing these sorts of changes require more time than I have to dedicate so its very slow in coming.

Thanks again for your thoughtfulness and for wanting the best for the product!