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The oldest vaporware in the Macintosh world?

Friday, May 30, 2008

The PC world has Duke Nukem, but at least they’re not taking money for something that’s never coming. Strider Software’s TypeStyler is taking orders and never delivering…

You know TypeStyler, right? If you read MacSurfer, it’s one of the first ads you see:

image

It didn’t work under 10.3 (ahh, those were the days) but it was under development and coming soon, and their email implored us to just buy it and run it in Classic OS 9 mode and when the new version would be ready, we’d be the first to know.

Now - that was then. We’ve broken up over 3 years ago and still I see the ad, unchanged, imploring gullible Mac newbies to invest in TypeStyler and wait for the never-coming OS X version. I’ve written recently asking where it is… “coming soon” is the reply, a virtual carbon copy of a mail I received 3 years ago.

Do they realize you can’t run it any longer since there’s no Classic OS 9 mode in OS 10.5? It’s been nearly a two years with Intel Macs and a year from 10.5’s launch… I’m sure they do, being developers and all, but when you check their website for information on compatibility:

“TypeStyler X is feature complete and we continue to do internal beta testing in Tiger for both the PowerPC and the new Intel Macs making sure all the pieces integrated so it won’t be much longer before our beta testers start seeing something”

...

“TypeStyler for Mac OS X is not just a port of TypeStyler 3 to OS X but an updated OS X application that takes advantage of the latest Mac OS X (for both PowerPC and Intel) operating systems. Until the TypeStyler for OS X is released most users have found the current TypeStyler 3.7.2 (one known issue) runs fine under the Classic environment of OS X of all past and currently shipping PowerPC Macs. The new Intel Macs do not support Classic.”

Ah, Tiger. That was fun too - many years ago. And small note to all PowerPC 10.5 users - don’t bother buying it, because we’re no longer using Classic either.

What galls me is that MacSurfer still allows the ad to run! How many people will waste their money, waiting for a working application that will—to all visible signs—never, ever come? If you were running an ad for a vaporware application that is, in effect, a bait-and-switch gimmick. And last I saw in the US, bait-and-switch was illegal.

There needs to be some pressure on MacSurfer to remove ads that are inherently fraudulent and deceitful. After 4+ years of waiting for an OS X app that’s “coming soon”, I think Strider Software is perhaps the most unreliable, vaporous and possibly dishonest software developer out there on the Mac.

Beware. 

(I’ve posted a follow-up to this, but without any further response from the developer)

Posted by Admin on 05/30 at 07:57 AM
Posted in: IT notes   • Comments (3) • Permalink

  1. Hi Jim,

    Ouch, I’m the developer of TypeStyler and your comments really sting.

    You are sure right that it has taken an incredibly long time to get TypeStyler for Mac OS X ready to ship. But that is due to the difficulties in bringing software that was built for the PowerPC into the world of Leopard and Intel processors—not from anything dishonest or fraudulent or deceitful.

    We have never cheated ANYONE and your suspicions of some bait and switch or other scheme are dead wrong. The fact is that I am motivated entirely by an urge to make software that people will use and love and be happy with.

    Our ad with MacSurfer is for the classic version—I know most people have now moved into the new world where classic doesn’t exist but millions of people have older Macs which will never be able to run Leopard and TypeStyler 3 running under classic is still useful to them.

    I’d like to apologize to you and any other Mac users who are offended by our extended development time. But we have been working non-stop for all these years and the new TypeStyler is running in Leopard on this Intel iMac that I am typing on and it really is “Coming Soon”.

    If you liked the old TypeStyler, I think you’ll feel the same way about the new one and you will be able to try it for free before the end of summer.

    Whew, I didn’t mean to write so many words but I just want you to know that we would NEVER cheat anyone and that is simply the truth!

    Please check out the new TypeStyler in a few weeks when it is available and hopefully you’ll see that we really were working in good faith to give Mac users a great piece of software.

    Sincerely and with Best Regards,
    Ken Stillman

    Posted by Ken Stillman  on  06/18  at  06:55 PM

  2. Ken,

    I’m sorry if you’re offended, but honestly - many of us have waited for this application for such a long time, and the “next summer” line really doesn’t hold much hope yet. Until I see it, I won’t believe it…it’s the same line for *years* now!

    My interest is with a friend who has to use it at her place of work, and is always bitching and moaning that she wishes her work Mac could be upgraded to 10.5, like the home Mac. The single reason? Typestyler. She bought a MBPro for the home office and then found Typestyler wouldn’t run, but she’s held out a year now.

    So, she’s got a new system at home and can’t use it for her work, even though she’s been promised “really soon now” for over a year. She’s got a POS G4 tower she has keep at an earlier rev (I think 10.3.x) at the office, while everyone else has moved on to Intel-based towers. She often stays late to finish her work because while her load has increased, her processor performance is limited to the G4—solely thanks to a dependence on Typestyler.

    I’ve told her to learn Illustrator’s Warp feature but much of her work, to remain consistent, needs to run in your app.

    Finish the damn thing already, or change your ad to reflect the realism of the product.

    Posted by Admin  on  06/30  at  09:14 AM

  3. Hi Jim,

    I understand completely why anyone would be irritated at how long it’s taken me to finish TypeStyler for Mac OS X.

    The only thing that bothered me about what you wrote was that you accused us of dishonesty. I have never cheated anyone nor has my brother Dave who runs our business.

    I write software to please people —I want to give people a tool that works and is enjoyable.  The idea that I or my family is trying to cheat anyone is beyond insulting. And you can’t show me one person that thinks I cheated them. Made them mad for taking too long—yes. Irritated them by making them use an old system just to use our software—sure.  I take full responsibility for all the delays but we can’t ship software before it’s ready; that would really make people mad.

    Do you have a brother? If so, is he a big believer in you and your work?

    Well my brother Dave is a huge supporter of mine and every time I’d tell him that I thought we could meet a certain date, he’d believe me and then have to take the heat for me missing the deadline. But he sure wasn’t trying to deceive anyone.

    We don’t even accept an order on our website until we have verified that the customer understands they are getting the Classic version with the new version to be delivered in the future.

    “Finish the damn thing already”—that’s great advice and just what we’re doing.  I’m hoping to have you and your friend thinking well of TypeStyler in the near future (I know, I know, we’ll have to prove it you—fair enough).

    I better get back to work….
    Ken

    Posted by Ken Stillman  on  07/04  at  04:55 PM

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