Usually when people are merely looking for ”attention-grabbing” , they are also inclined to leap from app to app to app, chasing the shiniest, newest fad.
I’m not referring to that kind of user. I’m still talking about people that want a tool to get a job done.
For example, the original Macintosh professional user still needed to get a job done, they just chose a Mac to do it because the original Mac OS and MOUSE (original acronym, not shouting) not only allowed them to get the job done but also created a stronger connection between the user and their work. It doesn’t make the tool less powerful, actually the opposite: the more a user feels a desire to use a tool, the more powerful it becomes.
I’ll use an extreme analogy to drive my point home, pun intended (NB not drawing a precise parallel to DEVON’s apps, just illustrating my point).
You need a hammer to hammer in some nails.
One hammers in a nail every ten seconds but feels absolutely fantastic to use, you really love picking up that hammer. The other hammers in a nail every five seconds but it has nails sticking out the handle (want to make sure no one suggests wearing gloves), you should probably avoid people that love using this hammer.
Obviously, virtually everyone that wants to hammer in a nail chooses the first hammer unless, possibly, the first hammer had an even greater issue, eg, it needs to be replaced after hammering every nail.
But, I say “possibly”, because one’s a financial constraint and the other’s emotional: most people that can afford it will probably resign themselves to buying a lot of hammers; at least until, one day, someone produces a hammer than can hammer a nail in every five seconds and feels absolutely fantastic to use.
I wholeheartedly agree that substance is greater than style, but they’re not mutually exclusive, far from it. The latter amplifies the former.
Again, DEVONthink 3 looks fantastic now and I’m seriously assessing the entire ecosystem to see how many nails it can hammer in for me.
Hope my feedback comes across well and that there are similar changes coming to bring the rest of the product line together.
PS Great company principles, very admirable.
PPS To make a full assessment, is there a DEVONthink To Go trial?
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