Big To-Do in the Land of To Do
Originally posted 2010-05-16 07:41:50
I love software updates, and both my iPhone and my iPad offer me plenty. I’ve downloaded enough apps, both free and purchased, that I can count on available updates a few times a week. Like unwrapping a gift, updating software brings mystery, surprise, and intrigue. What’s fixed? What’s new? And yes, sometimes, What did they break? Always, though, software updates offer the thrill of getting something you didn’t have before. Launching App Store on both iPhone and iPad and checking for updates is part of my daily routine.
Yesterday morning, I launched App Store on my iPad and saw a list of updates, which made me smile in anticipation of what new things these bits held. Just as I was about to tap Update All, I saw that the release notes for Todo for iPad by Appigo listed \”Removed RTM sync service.\” Whoa! That’s a gift in the same vein as a pair of opera tickets from your wife for your birthday or that neon-hued hula tie your kids gave you last Father’s Day. As a long-time Remember the Milk user into the second year of Remember The Milk Pro, at $25 per year, I wanted removal of that sync service as much as I wanted to write code on a Windows Vista box. Time for some digging on the Appigo and Remember the Milk sites.
And it took some digging — this wasn’t front-page news for either company, but both companies speak to the issue. You can read Appigo’s version here and Remember the Milk’s version here, or you can accept my synopses below:
Appigo: When we ported Todo from iPhone to iPad, we ported the RTM sync code as well. We thought nothing of it — Todo for iPad is a natural extension of Todo for iPhone, so of course we should continue to sync with RTM. We didn’t change any of the sync code, so it’s practically the same app. Suddenly, with neither notice nor warning, Remember the Milk cut off sync access from the iPad version of Todo. They shouldn’t have done this. They should have contacted us first, let us know where they thought the breach in the terms of our agreement was, and we should have taken the time to work something out. RTM is less than 1% of our users, though, so for those users we’re offering a Toodledo Pro account free for six months, and let’s put this ugly mess that RTM foisted upon us, behind us.
Remember the Milk: Our API is free for non-commercial use, but to connect to us from a commercial app, you have to have an agreement. Appigo has an agreement with us for the iPhone version of Todo only, not the iPad version. They know this. We alerted them long beforehand. We warned them of the consequences of releasing an iPad version of Todo that includes RTM sync without a proper commercial license, and they chose to ignore us. We’re not surprised — they’ve abused our API in the past — but we are disappointed. We will no longer do business with them. If you upgraded to Remember the Milk Pro on 5/12 or 5/13 because you bought Todo for iPad thinking you could sync with us, we’ll refund your money.
My Analysis: Someone’s lying, obviously, because either RTM warned Appigo, as RTM claims, or they didn’t, as Appigo claims. My guess, and it isn’t a stretch, is that RTM warned Appigo, and Appigo played chicken because they were willing to live with the consequences. I assume RTM charges a fee for a commercial license (the site doesn’t explicitly say that, just that commercial use requires prior arrangement), and Appigo didn’t want to pay again. They paid for their iPhone license, 1% of their users take advantage of it, and they don’t want to give RTM any more money. They figured RTM wouldn’t cut them off, but that if they did, they could make RTM look like the bad guys and could move customers to a service that’s easier (read: cheaper) to work with.
So who do I side with in this dispute? Neither, because neither sides with me. I originally bought RTM Pro, after using RTM Free for some long period of time, to use RTM for Blackberry, and then kept RTM Pro when I transitioned to the iPhone last year. I move among several devices (Linux desktop at home, Windows desktop at work, MacBook Pro at home, work, and in between, iPhone anywhere, and now an iPad that hasn’t yet settled into a routine) and I need to access and complete my \”to do\” list wherever I am. That means I need a cloud service, but I also need optimized interfaces on smaller or slower-connected devices (iPhone and iPad). I originally used RTM’s app on iPhone, but found Appigo’s Todo and much prefer it to RTM’s iPhone app. Todo on iPad is gorgeous, fit perfectly (at the time) into my workflow, so of course I bought that.
So, after $65 (2 x $25 for RTM Pro, $9.99 for Todo for iPhone, $4.99 for Todo for iPad), I had a task solution I was happy with, and now this happens. I’m squarely in the target demographic for both companies: I’m someone willing to pay money for a task list solution, despite the scores of free solutions available. And both companies ignored me in a quest to save money or be right. One telling quote from Remember the Milk:
Unfortunately sometimes we’re forced to make tough decisions like this, even if it makes some users unhappy. We won’t be coerced into allowing API abuse, just because enforcing the terms might make us unpopular.
For the moment, Todo for iPhone still syncs with RTM, though the latest update from Appigo (which I haven’t yet downloaded) removes that sync option. All of my tasks still sit in RTM. My guess is that RTM has the moral upper hand in this dispute, but now I trust neither company because, regardless of who’s right or who’s wrong, I’m the one who’s stuck with having to take steps to fix my situation. Besides, I think RTM is being disingenuous by trying to make the issue about API abuse when I assume it’s really about money. I use a task list app extensively, so I need to measure my next steps carefully. Do I sign up for the free Toodledo account and use Todo on iPhone and iPad to sync with them? Do I ditch Todo, go back to RTM on iPhone, and hope RTM finishes their iPad app soon? Do I go find another service that’s not involved in this mess? Do I just put my tasks in a text file on my Dropbox account so it syncs to all my devices, and perhaps use Lifehacker’s todo.sh? Do I use this mess as an exercise to write something useful in a new language and write my own task list manager in Erlang, perhaps so I can do more things faster? These are all good questions — ones that I’d rather not answer right now, because frankly I’m too busy with other things, but must anyway.
In a world of cloud services and interoperability, trust becomes more important. As I work with cloud services, I have to think: As someone who holds my data, are you going to stay in business? Are you going to back up my data? Are you going to do your best to keep hackers out and data in? Are you going to read or sell my data? Are you going to give me ways to use my data across other cloud services? Are you going to keep my interests at heart? Are you going to be diligent stewards of the data I entrust to you? You’d better answer these questions well, or my data and money will go elsewhere.