Sep

10

Lack of Updates

Filed Under Editorial 

This post should probably be about the lack of updates to BentoUsers but it isn’t (see the footnote for a brief comment about that), it’s about the lack of updates to Bento itself. The idea came from a post in the Bento forums. Essentially the discussion revolves around people wanting to know why there have been no significant updates to Bento since it was launched and why there have be no updates at all since February when 1.0v2 was released.

These days people are becoming more and more used to software developers being responsive to feature requests, quick to roll-out bug fixes and issuing regular software updates. Therefore when a company like FileMaker Inc. doesn’t follow what is seen as the standard practices people question it and want to know what is going on with the development of the product.

However the reality of the situation is that those companies which are faster to respond are generally able to do so because they are small and dynamic. Often when you email them to report a bug you are sending it directly to the developer of the software who can look at his source code, hopefully fix the bug and issue an update in the same day. The same person handles development, support, releasing the software, updating the web site, etc. These micro-ISVs, Independent Software Vendors, do what they do because they love developing great software and they love the relationship they have with their customers. Being able to fix a bug and issue a new version of their application gives them a warm glow and they know that being so responsive helps them to build a great relationship with their customers and that helps their sales.

However, with slightly larger companies and even with micro-ISVs it is more usual that the developer will fix several bugs and perhaps implement a handful of feature requests before releasing a new version. The simple reason for this is that building and testing a release of an application takes time, as does updating the web site, notifying sites such as MacUpdate and VersionTracker and, if there are significant new features, sending out press releases to sites such as TUAW.

Large companies such as FileMaker and Apple have many more procedures and processes to follow than the smaller, more dynamic companies do. Applications such as Bento are not developed by one person and development done by several people is always more complex than just one person writing and managing the code. There isn’t a lone developer who will prioritise a bug or decide to implement a feature request, instead there is a team of developers, a project manager, most likely a product manager, a marketing team and a long-term development road map which all have to work together to drive the product forward. No longer can a bug be reported, fixed and a new version of the software released the same day.

Understanding what is involved goes some way to explaining why companies such as Apple only release bug fixes for applications infrequently and why updates to products such as iWork occur on a roughly annual basis. It is simply too complex and costly a process to push updates out quickly. In addition new features are kept for full version updates, i.e. version 1 to version 2. rather than being added to ‘point’ releases, i.e. version 1.1 or 2.3, because if features are held back for full version updates then there is more justification in charging for them.

Now, going back to Bento specifically, we know that Bento has been a great success for FileMaker Inc. so it is safe to say that version 2 must be well into development by now. It is also obvious that the product will have an internal road-map and that the road-map will detail what features are going to appear in what version of Bento (it is likely that the road-map will cover not only version 2 but also version 3 and maybe version 4 and beyond). Therefore the lack of any of the features which are commonly requested in the Bento forums being issued via an update to version 1 is understandable. FileMaker Inc. want to make money out of Bento so encouraging people to upgrade to a new version (or, if they follow Apple’s model, simply asking people to pay a full purchase price again) is best done by releasing a new version which contains several new, compelling features which have been requested by many people.

However, what I don’t understand is the lack of any bug fixes since version 1.0v2 back in February. Taking one example, there is a bug which causes the CSV exports to be badly formed if you export text which contains double-quotes (see here for more details). I’ve actually provided a way for people to fix their CSV files but FileMaker have yet to issue a version of Bento with this fairly significant bug fixed. There are several other bugs that I know about and I sincerely hope that FileMaker are not planning on releasing version 2 of Bento as a paid upgrade and simply dropping support for version 1 because that leaves those people who choose not to upgrade with a buggy application. I would hope that if version 2 has to be paid for that they also issue a version 1.1 which resolves the outstanding bugs, or at least the significant ones.

Going into the future, I would like to see FileMaker Inc. be more responsive to bugs and issue more frequent bug-fix versions of Bento because users will not always wait for the next full version of a product to see if the bugs which have been annoying them have been fixed.

Footnote
The lack of updated to BentoUsers has simply been due to a lack of spare time. I’ve been very busy at work since June learning about Cocoa and writing my first Cocoa application (most of my previous development work was done using Visual Basic). Yesterday was the deadline to get my application finished for our biggest trade show, IBC, and so I will now have time to devote to the site again.

Comments

15 Responses to “Lack of Updates”

  1. cal on September 11th, 2008 6:27 am

    It is my experience, having been in the IT industry for 22 years, that ISV’s, and even large corporates such as Apple and Micro$oft, address bugs in less than a 7 month time frame – particularly something as glaring, crucial and obvious as the CSV export.

    The lack of support has left me wondering whether I will bother with a Bento upgrade if I have to pay for it… Filemaker have shown a lot of disrespect to their user community by continually ignoring them.

    I love how easy it is to create simple databases using Bento – for more complex stuff I use cocoa or MySql, but for something like an Exercise Log it is perfect. But as soon as I wanted to print something I had problems. All I wanted to do was print the table view to take to my Personal Trainer, but the columns seemed to come out in some random order. Now printing is a very basic requirement – one of the most basic – so to have Filemaker ignore it for so long leaves me feeling that I just need to get over it and find a product that meets my requirements…

  2. George Holcombe on September 20th, 2008 7:17 pm

    Yes, I agree. I’m looking around for something more adaptable than Bento and less expensive than Filemaker. You can get so far in Bento and the ease of use is exhausted by the lack of function particularly with printing. They really ham-strung what looked like a good app.

  3. Roseann H. on September 20th, 2008 11:10 pm

    A third agreement – while initially promising, I am still searching for another option. I am spending too much time on such things as trying to alphabetize Collections, only to find out it’s a silly bug (you apparently have to close and reopen the application for the re-sort to be refreshed in the view). This is absurd when I have 30+ collections to organize. And the lack of export / print funcationality – oh my! Bento is clearly more eye candy for home users and “lite” business users but when push comes to shove, I can’t see using this for organizing the complex lists, events, and relationships I must maintain.

  4. Andreas on September 21st, 2008 11:40 am

    I too started very enthusiastically with Bento but have been dis appointed that bugs such as the “collection sorting update” have not been addressed with a minor update.

    It’s hard to see why Filemaker are not at least putting out bug fixes.

  5. Woody on September 21st, 2008 11:02 pm

    I thought Bento was going to be just what I needed, but after waiting and waiting for Filemaker to fix a few things I begain to feel like I had paid them 50 bucks to be a beta tester and was getting nothing back. I have moved on and started to find other solutions. Not found it all in one App, but at least I’m getting things done and not wasting time waiting on Bento. I was hoping to be able to sync Bento with my IPod touch,, No luck their either. With all the updates Apple has put out lately, Leopard,IPhone, IPods and Pro Apps, I would have thought File maker could have at least put out a point upgrade so we could print out a decent report.

  6. Wayne Gates on September 24th, 2008 5:20 am

    Have to agree with all of the above and hope that Filemaker are getting very close to releasing either a new version, or at least a bug fix version for Bento.
    It is very disappointing that software with such promise has been left so long without at least fixing some extremely annoying problems.

  7. Eric Bickmann on September 27th, 2008 3:26 pm

    I think a consensus has been reached for anyone with more than a file system requirement… I liked the way Bento presented itself in its initial roll out. The software made an Apple type roll out, but frankly 7 months later the Apple is pretty tasteless at the core.

    I think that for the most part the type of enhancements that most of us are looking for are not radical improvements and might have been included in the initial software, certainly so many month later with an upgrade.

    I’ve searched for rumors of an upgrade, but there is not even a hint of an upgrade. Like so many others, I’m moving on as well.

    Print controls, sort and filter options and a merge to Pages should be simple enough to accomplish for a serious software provider. Heaven forbid a data to iWeb function!

    Maybe the plan is that they are trying to drive us all to Filemaker. The problem is that there is a real user friendliness in making the move to Filemaker, which made Bento so promising.

  8. Simon on September 27th, 2008 3:34 pm

    I’m not sure if there will be an upgrade to the 1.0v2 release in terms of bug fixes, etc. but I do know that version 2 should be coming along shortly, certainly before the end of the year. Unfortunately I don’t know if this will be a full-price upgrade, free for version 1 users or a involve a partial payment of the total price to upgrade.

    I’m also not able to say what will be new in version 2 nor whether it will please people or add to the exasperation but you can be sure that I will be writing a full and frank review of it once I get a copy.

  9. Rosalyn Williams on October 16th, 2008 4:26 pm

    How do we upgrade? Is it free? Very frustrated.

  10. Simon on October 16th, 2008 4:31 pm

    Unless you bought Bento version 1 in the last few weeks (sorry, I’m not sure of the exact cut-off date) then you have to pay the full price again. Not a popular decision by FileMaker Inc.

  11. Gary Wolfe on October 16th, 2008 7:24 pm

    FileMaker, Inc. needs to reconsider such a stupid decision as having users pay the full price again. I feel that I was gipped, cheated, etc. by the first version, which operated well below the hype. A plain spreadsheet organized things better, easier, and faster than Bento. What assurances are there that Bento 2 is that much of an improvement over Bento 1. I want a simple database type program, but it needs to live up to the hype and actually work. As a home user I’ll never spring for the price of Filemaker so if that is what they are after, good luck.

  12. Jack L on October 17th, 2008 2:44 pm

    I recently bought my first Mac since I used an Apple II in 1983. One of the things that held my back was 20 years of data in Q&A, a database the Symantec stopped supporting in the early 90′s. I was thrilled to find Bento – at first. As I learn about its limitations and the lack of response to customer suggestions, I’m having second thoughts. I’ve successfully converted my various DBs, but haven’t paid for a license as yet and will likely wait to see if the mythical upgrade becomes reality and whether it brings Bento up to what my 20-year old Q&A provided.

  13. MegC on October 17th, 2008 11:26 pm

    Can’t believe we (Bento 1 users) have been treated this wayby FM. Very, very bad PR! Early September I made the switch from PC to Mac and Bento was up there in the dream. Sour taste now, especially if FM are following the ‘Apple Model’ in new software releases. Although I find this hard to believe with the number of updates, patches etc I’ve already received from them.
    My retail business doesn’t advertise but relies on repeat customers. If I sacked all my original customers like FM are doing, I’d be closing my doors! R.I.P. Bento!

  14. Bruce Wofford on October 17th, 2008 11:29 pm

    Ditto Jack’s situation applies to me. I was just told of Bento an hour ago and I haven’t even downloaded the trial. I’ve just replaced an aging XP desktop with an iMac, which I did fully realizing Apple’s target user has never included the person from a corporate environment who became spoiled by robust PIMs like Outlook. With over 4,000 Contact and half as many Calendar records, I’m not about to reduce my expectations to that afforded by Address Book and iCal. So, like other posters here, I’m enthused to see products like Bento to validate my perception of this void. However, after reading these posts, I will temper any enthusiasm with caution before embracing this product.

  15. bma on January 28th, 2009 5:55 am

    Daylite may be a more ‘robust’ PIM option for those in need…

    I suspect the many small business users cannot afford glitches despite the promise of this application & its suitability…

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