Yikes. I'm probably gonna bail out now that I know Spanning Sync will
act as a middle man. Why? I don't want to deal with a subscription fee.
I don't want to worry about SS's servers being available each time I
sync my calendars. I get the impression that Spanning Sync is used to
dealing with "companies" rather than individual Mac users. (The types
of users who flock to programs like TextMate, AppZapper, Disco,
Transmit, and NetNewsWire.) I don't want a program that "leaves open
the possibility providing sync services between
online services." I want a small utility that does one thing and does
it well. If you want me to use another one of your services, that's
fine. Sell me another product when the next one is ready.

I appreciate Spanning Sync's desire to catch bugs and implement fixes
transparently on the server side without users noticing, however many
of the Mac applications I use on a daily basis are constantly checking
for updates - and most of them install themselves automatically after
prompting me for approval. I don't think you're going to turn off users
by releasing an occasional update. If anything, I think they'd
appreciate the fact that you're actively working to improve their
experience.

I see the irony (there's plenty), but there is a slight difference.
First off, using Spanning Sync's servers adds a third party to the
conversation where previously it was just between the user and Google
(not counting the network providers of course). Also, I have no choice
but to trust Google. They're getting bigger and scarier every day, but
so far they haven't given me a reason not to trust them. I don't trust
Spanning Sync yet. (I know I'm holding them to a double standard by not
giving them the chance to earn my trust, but that's just the way it is
for smaller companies I haven't dealt with before.)

Justifying the middle man approach by arguing "it leaves open the
possibility providing sync services between
online services" doesn't make sense to me. Currently, (from what I've
seen) the preference pane doesn't mention anything regarding syncing
with other online services. Therefore, to add that feature, Spanning
Sync would have to release an update for their users to install -
something which they want to avoid doing. Until that happens why bother
going through their servers? Let the preference pane talk directly with
Google. Or, better yet, offer two versions. An inexpensive one that
takes the direct approach, and a corporate edition with all the other
bells and whistles :-)

Sorry, but playing the middle man will be a deal breaker for me.

Tyler Hall

On Nov 2, 10:30 am, "David Chartier" <dcha...@gmail.com> wrote: