Just purchased thanks
Looking forward to seeing what this cycle brings.
I see posts about people, afraid or not wanting to prematurely upgrade as there might not be any developments of use or interest for them.
I've mostly upgraded every year, there was a gap where I didn't.
Regarding upgrading. I've upgraded, blindly. There might not be any developments that I use or interest me. That isn't high on the list of importance for me upgrading although desirable.
I'd rather see JRiver flourish and continue to live on. It's amazing software. In which over the years, there's been many a suggestion of a personal want for a feature that's happened. I'm always appreciative when that happens. In the midst of that, the software doesn't circle around me as in I'm the centre of the universe regarding it, that sometimes, there's a feature, I'd really like to see. For whatever reasons it doesn't happen. Either an idea is unworkable, requires too much time to develop in reflection that perhaps only a few customers will use the feature. Compared to the cost of development, I guess would be regarded as money wasted. As users need to use a feature with regards to cost to get that feature to justify the time, effort and costs in bring such a feature in.
Sometimes perhaps I haven't fleshed out the idea of a feature before requesting in hope of discussing well enough or conveyed it in the best light. Whatever the reasons. Sometimes there's the notion of an idea of a possible feature in the sense of a person themself, really wants and would find really useful but doesn't happen. It is gutting, I guess when you'd like a feature so much, that perhaps it's either just expressed that it'll never happen, esoteric to a point of not people using it therefore not gonna happen. I guess the gutting times, is when well you'd like a feature so much, suggest it and it literally gain no traction at all in any form of discussion, with either anyone in the company with and or from discussion with other customers. Things like that are never taken personally.
Times like that, I wish I was a software engineering expert. Where if I wanted a feature so bad in the software that wasn't going to happen that I could reverse engineer the code a little, make a mod and patch the program, so I have the feature for myself. Such a thing is most likely against the terms and conditions. I'm interested in programing, but it's a thing I've never studied intently. So when looking at it from the outside, it's loos so complicated to point of being unintelligible. That I admire the skills of software developers. It's a great feat to even understand such things even a little, never mind create and implement them.
Regarding upgrades. I choose to upgrade, I pay to use the program, in that I'd like to see features I can use, so that comes first. But in supporting the program and company to continue, such being a secondary reason, While it's a secondary reason, because a personal use comes first. That secondary reason, also and this contradicts but is true, comes before the primary reason of using the program, becoming the primary reason before the primary reason, where in the first instance choosing to pay and use the program will always be the prime reason because I paid to use a product for personal use.
So even though in a development cycle, there may be minimal to even no developments that interest or for me to use. Doesn't deter me from upgrading. Reasons are, well a feature may not be of interest or of use to me, but that doesn't mean it would not one day be interest or use to me. The notion of time being money and time in development costs. I imagine the developers have in mind whether shared with the customers or not, have a kind of mind map, like in chess the concept of always being several steps a head, regarding yearly development cycles, a rough destination of where they they want to get to with the program in several year even perhaps. In that a fluid as customer input can change things, but a rough knowing of which steps in regards to features and development, they want to visit first and in which order to in a sense get to that destination.
So my personal sense. Is. I may not see a feature, of interest, of use or that I'd want in a development cycle. But I know, somewhere on the journey, there will be. I also know the company and developers, perhaps not expressing the way I do but have such a kind of mind map of a destination in mind. Time being money and development costing. Me not contributing in a cycle. In the sense I'm just one customer. Doesn't really change the developers destination in mind or what steps and points in the journey of feature development they are going to visit first where undoubtedly they'll eventually get to and develop features I want, find interesting and use. If I view this like a journey in the car, were all heading towards the same destination, for shared similar but also within having distinct reasons and expectation of that desired destination. Where making ground as in travelling on that journey being akin to development the more miles that are made in that hypothetical car or bus. As customers our input to that journey which allows us to get to the destination, our money in paying for upgrades is like fuel for the car. The more fuel, the more development and more ground that can be covered, I don't want to express a sense of no fuel. So I'll just say, the more fuel in the tank, the less of a chance or running out of fuel before arriving at a fueling station, in metaphor, having in a sense if and when that happens having to push the bus to the fueling station and top up to continue the journey. So the more fuel the better, while some of the intermediate destinations to the overall destination, perhaps don't interest me or I'd use. The reality for me, is if that tank is always topped up. I'd see intermediate development destinations of the overall destination, quicker, more frequent than opposed to me, expressing, I'm not interested in this part of the journey, so I'm not contributing to the fuel.
So I'm not heavily focused of the sense of the program having dividing lines, being a version number to version number, such lines which express, distinctiveness, a unique journey in itself. I do recognise it. The notion of such lines between version to version but I also blur those lines because each version although distinct in their each separate sense of a journey. Each version together is part of an overall journey to a destination. Like a family going on a holiday, want to see and do things. Not everyone, gets their own way. Not everyone wants to see the same destinations in that holiday but go anyway as it's a holiday together. And in that holiday, you'll get to do activities and go destinations that you don't care for but others to. Sometimes you'll get to activities and destinations that you care for and they don't and sometimes, you'll get to activities and destinations where everyone's is interested and happy to be there. It's just the nature of a collective journey. That such, give, take and receive happens. With. separate and together with everyone.
Apologies, I think I went overboard with metaphors and analogies lol. It's just how my mind works these days.
