Newsletter March 2009

Hi All,

Here it is, the newsletter for March 2009.
Yes, I know, I'm late, but hey, it's still March :-)

Of course, this one is all about the results of last month's Collectorz.com
survey. Sit back and enjoy this very long newsletter. But, long as it may
be, don't stop reading halfway because there's a great tip at the end!

But first:

** We're on Twitter! **

Wanna know what we're up to?
Want the latest news on all new builds, the iPhone apps, Collectorz.com
Connect, our online databases, the Mac editions, Photo Collector, MP3
Collector and everything else we're working on?

** The Collectorz.com Survey **

Last month we asked for your opinion, and WOW, you really gave it to us.

We were hoping to get at least 300 responses, but within one week we had
1,200! Thank you all for that amazing result!

The survey was designed to be as open as possible, not asking specifically
about feature requests, or your questions, problems or anything. Leaving
you the freedom to tell us about anything on your mind.

Some of you were clearly confused by the "vague" questions, but most
grasped the opportunity to tell us their deepest desires, be it their most
wanted features, their daily annoyances and problems, including wild
"outside the box" ideas for new products and services.

And that's exactly what we wanted to get. Again, thanks!

I have personally read all responses... made a lot of notes and kept score.
And there sure was loads of useful information in each and every reply.

First, I was happy to find confirmation that we are working on the right
stuff at the moment:

** iPhone / iPod Touch apps **

The single most requested feature was being able to view collection lists
on an iPhone or iPod Touch. And that's exactly what we are working on now.

Within a few months, we will release our Collectorz.com apps in the App
Store. Just sync your list from your Windows or Mac program and take your
collection with you, including cover images.

Tip: follow our tweets to get the latest news on the iPhone apps:
http://twitter.com/collectorz/

** Collectorz.com Connect : Online Cataloging Service **

This is the biggest project going on here: web applications for cataloging
and sharing your collection online, using just your browser and storing
your data on our servers. Just log-in from anywhere and any device, no
downloads or installs needed.

We received many positive reactions to this. I'm glad that you like the
idea of easily sharing your list with other people, the mobile access (to
prevent duplicate purchases) and the feeling of having your data safely
stored on our servers.

But I also found concerns about security and privacy, and about possible
data loss. Let me tell you that we will do everything we can to protect
your privacy and your data. And we will make sure you can export/backup
your data to your local PC anytime. You will never loose your data.

Finally, some readers seem to have concluded that this new service will
replace our existing Windows and Mac programs (and subsequently got quite
angry about that).
Rest assured, Collectorz.com Connect will be an additional (and optional)
service. I am sure, it will be a viable alternative for some of you, but we
will in no way force you to move to the online system.

And again, the latest news on Connect is always on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/collectorz/

** Other feature requests **

Here's the top feature requests for each of our programs:

- Movie Collector: Support for movie trailers.
Great idea and definitely something we will consider.

- Book Collector: Better support for e-books (Kindle in particular) and
author pseudonyms.
We've seen these requests in emails too, so yes, both are on our "to do" list.

- Music Collector: Better and more features for music files.
Yes, that's the missing link indeed. Our solution: merging the Music
Collector and MP3 Collector products. Coming this year: Music Collector 9.

- Comic Collector: Automatic Current Values + Mac edition.
Both excellent ideas, but both major projects with many technical and non-
technical difficulties. Maybe some day.

- Game Collector: Eh... no feature requests?
You all are either 100% happy or too busy playing Kill Zone 2 (another fine
example of Dutch craftsmanship).

- Photo Collector: Just revive it!
And that's what Ronald is doing at this very moment. Photo Collector 2.0 is
coming soon.

- MP3 Collector: Just revive it!
See above. This one will be merged into Music Collector, to create the
ultimate music cataloging tool for both CDs and music files.

** Requests for features that are already there **

Strangely enough, I also received many requests for features that are
already there. Like:

- Allow extra images besides front and back cover -> Use the Links tab in
the Edit screen.

- Printing selections -> Select in the main screen, choose Print, then
choose "Selected items".

- Changing field names -> Use Tools / Field Names.

- Correct Author sorting on Last Name -> Just make sure the author's First
and Last names are filled in in Tools / Edit Lists / Authors and all will
be well.

** Common questions, frustations and annoyances **

Finally, there were quite a number of cries for help and problem reports.
Some of you sounded quite frustrated, clearly having struggled with a
problem for a long time.

Which in turn was quite frustrating for me, because in many cases the
problem could be solved with just one quick look at our Support pages, or
by *just asking us for help*.

And the survey was anonymous, so I couldn't just reply to help you. Aaargh!

Still, these response were very useful too. I'll make good use of them to
improve our software, our website, our manuals, our FAQs, everything.
It's clear that "ease of use" is the way to go. Good, because that *is*
exactly where we're going.

However, I would like to end this newsletter with an important request to
you all:

If you have a problem or a question, it will do you no good to keep it to
yourself. We're good, but we can't read your mind! We are, however,
awesome at answering questions and helping out.

So take action and check our Support pages. If your answer is not there,
just contact us using the contact form.

We're here to assist you.

And we're friendly too :-)

Alwin
Collectorz.com