Archive for March, 2011

Japan relief

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

I’m sure all of you are aware of the devastation in Japan. I, like many of you, want to help out. So, I’m donating all sales revenue for tomorrow, March 18, 2011, to relief efforts. This will include revenue from sales here on this site as well as the Mac App Store, but not from Amazon (as I currently have no way of figuring out when sales at Amazon happened).

As I did last year with Haiti, I will be donating to UMCOR, the relief organization associated with the United Methodist Church. If you’re not into the church thing, don’t worry. This is an organization that is focused on helping people with their basic needs, as I’ve seen first-hand when I volunteered with them in the past. Even better, they get lots of volunteer labor, so funds donated to them can be used efficiently.

So please spread the word. Tomorrow is a great day to buy Pear Note. You’ll get some great software, and help those in need as well.

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Pear Note on Amazon

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

A few months ago, the only place to purchase Pear Note was right here. Then the Mac App Store gave you another choice. Now, Pear Note is also available for purchase from Amazon through their Software Downloads store.

Pear Note on Amazon

What you get from Amazon is identical to what you get here. The only difference is that you’re paying Amazon instead of me directly.

A plea for reviews

If you check out the listing on Amazon, please think about rating/reviewing the app there. I do not think you are required to have purchased the app through Amazon to review it there. So, please consider rating/reviewing it there to help Amazon shoppers checking it out.

Also, if you’ve purchased Pear Note through Apple’s Mac App Store, please don’t forget to rate/review Pear Note there as well. It’s a great way to help others find Pear Note.

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Pear Note use in user experience research

Friday, March 11th, 2011

I love hearing about people using Pear Note in different fields. Harry Brignull just posted about his use of Pear Note in user experience research. I know several others have also used Pear Note in fields that have interviews or sessions with individuals.

If you use Pear Note in some way beyond the norm, please let me know. I’d love to post about it here or have you write a guest post.

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A new beginning

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

You may not realize this, but up until now Useful Fruit has been a side business. I worked a day job 4 days a week, then did Useful Fruit on Friday, in the evenings, and on weekends. That may sound like a lot of time, but it’s also the time that has to cover my family, my church, and other activities. But it was enough, and was a great way to get started as I didn’t have to worry about running out of savings or finding other sources of fundings to get going.

That said, since starting on Pear Note for iOS development, this has not worked well. Supporting and maintaining one application while trying to develop a new application is hard to do on the side. Consequently, Pear Note for iOS has taken a lot longer than I wanted, and is still far from being done. I apologize to all of you who have been waiting patiently for it.

This post is not just an apology though. It’s an announcement of change. Today was my last day at the day job. From this day forward, I am now working full-time on Useful Fruit. I’m not going to promise a release date, but I will pledge to pick up the pace significantly.

But Chad, I saw your revenue numbers last post and they don’t look like enough to run Useful Fruit and support your family.

Yes, you’re right. The additional revenue from the Mac App Store helps, but I definitely need to increase revenue to sustain this full-time. I’ve got some savings that can buy me some time to do that, but feel free to tell all your friends, acquaintances, and grocery store cashiers to check out Pear Note to help me get there :) .

Posted in Business, General | 4 Comments »