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Returnees Unite
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JCLATWORK |
I'm curious how many of us have drifted away from Toodledo and then come back. I had decided to give up on Toodledo because of the "less than artful" interface of the site. This is something that has bothered me (and a lot of other users) for a long time.
I went to Producteev for a long while--actually moved all of my tasks over and made it my daily platform. The site and iPhone app are very nice looking, the GCal integration is excellent, and the Gmail "click a button and make a task" lab is outstanding. But I am back to Toodledo now and happy. Why? I get so much more done with Toodledo! This is still the best product out there, whatever might nag us about it. Thanks, Toodledo. |
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Salgud |
Not sure if I fit in that group or not. I was looking for a new task manager a couple of years ago, and tried TD for a couple of hours. But I decided that, while it had great features, it was just not as pleasant to use as others, and I ended up using RTM for a while. Then back to Things. And now back here.
I liked RTM's interface better than TD's, but it seemed like a British sports car to me; drive, fix, drive, fix... always tweaking it to get it right, and after a few months, it still wasn't right. I still think Things has the best interface in the business, and if I were happy with it as is, I'd still be using it. But development is glacially slow, there continue to be serious bugs not getting fixed, and the forum support is nil. CC has no desire to communicate with their customers and their forums have degenerated to almost entirely petty bickering and accusations. I'm ashamed to admit that I have gotten caught up in some of that in my frustration. So finally, I came back to TD. It has MOST of the features I want NOW, and the pace of development seems excellent to me, not to mention the daily feedback and communication by the developers and the generally friendly and respectful attitude of the users. While it took me a couple of months to get TD the way I want it, I got it done, and now, it's what I've wanted for a long time, a "trusted system" to use David Allen's words. I seldom lose anything in TD, and every morning, when I open my "Today" Saved Search, I see what I need to do today. I might have to reschedule or re-prioritize a task or two, but in a couple of minutes, I'm off and running. That's what I want in a task manager. That and a pleasant place to come and compare notes and experiences with other users. |
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Andrew A |
Tried a few... have been to some of the "GTD" task managers (always chuckle when I see an inbox since the GTD thing to do would be to not have one since you could file as you were entering the task, I digress), and keep on staying here and pay.
Why? It works. It's flexible enough to suit my interpretation (see rant above) of how things should work, and therefore it does work. It doesn't impinge my workflow by forcing their sense of it onto me. So I USE it. First step to any system is that it must be used and EASY to use. Not a chore, not something where you get lost in devising your system and lose site of getting things done. |
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kevin_hatch |
Quick rant - then I'll try to move on - but no promises. ;-)
I too am a long term subscriber to Toodledo. I've left, poked around, tried dozens of other solutions, and every time I come back. It's almost like shopping around has acted as a cheap (and self-abusive) form of intellectual entertainment. I don't know, I can't explain why I've done what I've done. But I can tell you this - I've wasted hundreds of hours looking at alternatives, trying them, evaluating them and then leaving them to come back to Toodledo. Nothing else even comes close to the funcationality and productivity that I experience when using Toodledo....nothing. I'm not wild about it's name - it's too cutesy for my liking - and I use the tool for serious work. I'd like the name to be more serious, like the work it helps me get done. And I don't absolutely LOVE the interface either. I don't hate it, like many have complained - I'm just not passionately positive about it. But all these complaining comments I've read about the UI design and the "staleness" of the interface....frankly, they just makes me laugh. Have we really become so shallow as a society that people are selecting their applications by visual appeal over how well they get the job done?!??! That's just sad - it says something about us as a culture....as a society....maybe as a species. Get over it people. Use what works for you. Use what makes you more productive. Function trumps form.... every .... single .... time. It's stunning to me that we're still learning that lesson. Ok - you product design goobers out there - flame on!! To the development team at Toodledo - thank you!! Keep up the fantastic work. I know that when you've got the spare time and money that you'll get back around to "prettying up the house". Until then, I'm just happy to be getting my stuff DONE. |
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Salgud |
Posted by kevin_hatch:
Quick rant - then I'll try to move on - but no promises. ;-) Nothing else even comes close to the funcationality and productivity that I experience when using Toodledo....nothing. Agreed. I'm not wild about it's name - it's too cutesy for my liking - and I use the tool for serious work. I'd like the name to be more serious, like the work it helps me get done. And I don't absolutely LOVE the interface either. I don't hate it, like many have complained - I'm just not passionately positive about it. Agreed. But all these complaining comments I've read about the UI design and the "staleness" of the interface....frankly, they just makes me laugh. Have we really become so shallow as a society that people are selecting their applications by visual appeal over how well they get the job done?!??! That's just sad - it says something about us as a culture....as a society....maybe as a species. Get over it people. Use what works for you. Use what makes you more productive. Function trumps form.... every .... single .... time. It's stunning to me that we're still learning that lesson. Sorry if you consider disagreeing flaming, but, nonetheless, I disagree. I believe that if the only thing that mattered with a tool was functionality, all guitars would be brown wooden boxes with no finish, no inlays, and plastic frets. All cars would be gray metal boxes with gray vinyl upholstery and black steel rims, and all software would look like TD. I am a believer that form follows function, and I find it disturbing when designers sacrifice function to form, and make things unusable. Great design, whether it's a guitar, a car or software accomodates both. If I had the money, I'd be driving a Ferrari 458 Italia because it's the best of both (ok, maybe not so much on the reliability end, but when you drive fine art, there are drawbacks.) At home, on my iMac (which I chose because it incorporates both style and practicality), I have an overlay on TD which is much prettier than the bare bones version. Can't do that at work because I don't have admin privilidges, so I use it bare bones here. Which is ok because it's so useful. But I would like it even better if it were prettier. I know TD is working on this, and can't wait to see TD with a facelift! I probably want this enhancement more than any of the features I've asked for in these forums. I highly value the esthetic of any tool I use, and would definitely choose one that had a better look to one that didn't, if the functionality were the same. Might even sacrifice some functionaility to get the esthetic. But I am here using TD instead of Things because, as beautiful as Things is, it just doesn't work for me. Each of us decides what is and isn't important to us when we choose a guitar, a car or software. I try not to make judgements about other's choices particularly if they're different choices than mine. I admit, I do have a problem with those who see no value whatsoever in esthetics, but then, they don't understand my placing such a high value on them. One man's ceiling is another man's floor. |
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kevin_hatch |
@Salgud,
I completely agree, with ALL your comments in fact. You're not even remotely part of the audience that baffles me - or you wouldn't be here reading this - lol. You've clearly and very carefully thought about all of these issues and made your choices in a way that works for you. That's great. I'm baffled by the folks that try it for 2 months, get it working for themselves, then bail to another solution that's prettier, only to wind up complaining on those boards that the functionality falls short. This isn't a condition that's unique to software. It's called life ... lol ... and I'm way too cynical to believe I've got any unique or special insight into this behavior. Thanks for all your great input. It makes for better design and a better solution overall. |
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Salgud |
Posted by kevin_hatch:
@Salgud, I completely agree, with ALL your comments in fact. You're not even remotely part of the audience that baffles me - or you wouldn't be here reading this - lol. You've clearly and very carefully thought about all of these issues and made your choices in a way that works for you. That's great. I'm baffled by the folks that try it for 2 months, get it working for themselves, then bail to another solution that's prettier, only to wind up complaining on those boards that the functionality falls short. This isn't a condition that's unique to software. It's called life ... lol ... and I'm way too cynical to believe I've got any unique or special insight into this behavior. Thanks for all your great input. It makes for better design and a better solution overall. I agree with your agreeing. :) And I'm also baffled by those same people. The situation on Cultured Codes (Things) forums has been deteriorating for over 2 years because the developers have gone searching for the Holy Grail of synching and have virtually abandoned their users in general and their forums in particular. They've gotten so hung up on this quest that they've had virtually no enhancements to the software for 2 years, and only a few bug fixes. So the forums have degenerated into a war between the apologists and the antagonists, both waiting, hoping that CC will get back to basics and develop the software someday. I never needed cloud sync as much as others, but it's development was/is holding up all other development. So none of the many promised features were coming for the forseeable future, and their most dedicated users wait and quarrel endlessly. I gave up last July, and remembering my brief encounter with TD a year or so ealier, I came back and I'm glad I did. It has many of the features I wanted and which were promised in Things, but TD has them NOW. And every couple of months they put out a new release with additional features, most of which I want. Yes, I am waiting on some things I'd like to see in TD, but that's the case with any software. Just as importantly, if not more so, TD developers are here answering questions and solving problems and correcting the misinformation I give daily. There is very little strife here, we pretty much get along and keep negative opinions to ourselves. That's the culture here, and I like it, especially after the protracted battles of CC forums. I still go back and visit them sometimes, to see how they're coming along, and they aren't. Very unfortunate. I believe, and so do a lot of others, that they have the best basic design, both from a functional standpoint and esthetically, of any task manager around. But, as I've said in their forums, it's like the beautiful woman I met years ago, took out once, and discovered she had a heart of anthracite coal. I'll take the ugly sister with the heart of gold anyday. |
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marisa_whitfield |
Agree totally with Salgud & Kevin
Have tried at least briefly most of the other solutions out there, but I found that whenever life got really, really tough and stressful, Toodledo was the one I could absolutely rely on. A bit like putting on comfortable sweats, they may not look fantastic, but boy, are you glad to put them on. I don't HAVE to have cloud sync, but my goodness it helps! Especially with 2 mobile devices. The other thing I love is that with TD I'm not restricted to one app on my devices, there are several I can use. All have their good/not so good points. I love the fact that I can access my lists wherever I am as long as I can get an internet connection, that's all I need. Like others I periodically go back and look at the Things forums to see if anything has changed (or looks likely to change), but it never has. Such a shame. Still, love the way help is always available here and such a lot to learn from other users, not just in the way they use TD, but the way they manage their lists. Good stuff. |
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kevin_hatch |
Posted by kevin_hatch:
@Salgud, But, as I've said in their forums, it's like the beautiful woman I met years ago, took out once, and discovered she had a heart of anthracite coal. I'll take the ugly sister with the heart of gold anyday. LOL - absolutely PERFECT analogy. This message was edited Feb 20, 2011. |
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