Thank you for this final episode with Katie. Iâve listened to every one of your episodes (463 episodes!) and have learned a lot over the years. This will be my last as a listener.
This is partly because of Katieâs departure, and partly because of the inevitable law of diminishing returns over so many episodes, but mostly because of how youâve continued to refuse to address shortcomings of your sponsors on the podcast. Having no comment on Fujitsuâs lack of software updates for your beloved ScanSnap until they finally came up with a shabby stopgap, or TextExpanderâs lack of any meaningful updates once they moved to a subscription service, even after so many comments in the MPU forum, made me finally comprehend how beholden you must be to your sponsors. What fooled me along the way was how authentic you seem to be in the ad spots.
I know, I should have known. Itâs a business and I get it. I somehow expected better from you, though I understand this might be unrealistic in todayâs podcast business model, particularly as you are bound by obligations to the overall Relay FM network. Iâm hopeful that podcasters in the future can find a way to remain objective and independent without selling out to sponsorship obligations. Or, maybe treat ad spots as they really should be - ad spots, and not personal testimonies of how you personally use and love the apps.
Anyhow, I wish you both the best and will miss you both, as well as this forum. Signing off.
Hey! I was the first piece of folllowup on the last Katie Floyd episode of MPU!
Iâm officially the answer to a MPU trivia question!
What a great farewell episode for Katie!
When she mentioned that the original Mac came in a bag that really brought back memories!
Best wishes and happy new year from Tokyo!
I really enjoyed listening to this last episode.
And for me it will NOT be the last episdoe I listen to.
I hope youâll have Katie on as a guest from time to time? (please, Katie??)
Lastly I wish everyone a happy 2019, and am really looking forward to the next few hunderd episodes.
Just finished listening to the episode. Once again, I wish you all the best @katiefloyd!
And since I started listening only about 2 years ago, I figured there is something I should do nowâŚ
Obviously, from now on MPU wonât be the same. Still, Iâm looking forward to hearing what @ismh will bring to the (virtual) table.
And even though I have to side with David on the Star Wars / Star Trek topic, this is how I want to bid farewell to you: Live long and prosper, Katie!
This post could have been written by me. Suffice to say, I fully agree with every word you wrote.
Generally concerned as you, however in this episode he did address the lack of software updates for older ScanSnaps and said he is investigating VueScan. However he did not mention the restrictive licensing of ScanSnap Home when that update is supported.
Frankly, Iâve found their recommendations good although typically expensive. Perhaps more suited for small/home businesses than personal use, but you must consider thatâs their backgrounds! As usual, exert due diligence.
Great episode and I want to wish @katiefloyd the very best in her future endeavors. I was particularly touched by @MacSparky sentimental send-off to Katie, there was an immense welling of appreciation and thankfulness that shone through that I could feel coming from his heart. Maybe thatâs sappy on my part, but this was a great sendoff and poignant note that hit me right in the feels.
This was such a lovely episode @MacSparky and @katiefloyd. Katie, your perspective and expertise on the show will be missed, and I wish you well in your future endeavors!
I enjoyed this bittersweet episode, and of course love the Star Trek reference in the episode title. All the best to you, Katie and I hope theyâll have you back on as a guest someday!
There are already good podcasts to listen to if you want to listen to criticism of software, device support, etc. Iâd prefer each show stay in its lane. Strange moment to flame out. And why quit the forum?
Lovely last show for Katie. I went back and listened to Michael Hyatt again afterwards â sheâs right about that being a good one. Try to get him back on the show!
I agree with the sentiments expressed by @Bob, @vco1 and @tomalmy. Listening to a couple of yearsâ worth of episodes makes it clear that some of the software and hardware comments (and lack thereof) are influenced, perhaps in an indirect or subtle way, by sponsors. One example is the virtual absence of discussion about recent Fujitsu ScanSnap problems and the new Fujitsu software restrictions. Even back in late 2016 and late 2017 there were severe problems and incompatibilities between macOS Sierra updates and Fujitsu software (and Preview app as well) that were not discussed, to my knowledge. In my opinion, these problems should be discussed when they are brought to Katie and Davidâs attention. Creating, filing and using PDF files is crucially important to business users and âpowerâ users. Katie and David have consistently and extensively promoted the PDFPen app, but there has been no discussion (that I know of) of other competing apps, especially the popular PDF Expert app.
Correction - @tjluoma (see post below) pointed out MPU episodes that mentioned PDF Expert - thank you. I missed those or just did not remember, my apology.
Is this because of commercial sponsorship, or because Katie and David simply overlooked obvious competing apps?
Katie and David are professionals who discuss technical issues and workflows. I appreciate the valuable advice and do not want to overstate criticism, but I expect that advice to be unaffected by conflicts of interest. My suggestion to David and his new associate is to be more forthcoming about potential sponsor conflicts of interest and to be more exhaustive with software and hardware recommendations without regard to sponsors.
Edited - expanded comments on the recommendations/disclosure issue in later post below âŚ
The first mention of the ScanSnap came on MPU came in episode 3. MPU didnât even have sponsors until episode 18 (sponsored by Smile). As best I can tell, the first time Fujitsu sponsored the show didnât come until episode 79. Based on a bit of googling, ScanSnap was mentioned in the show notes for at least five of the first 78 episodes. David clearly had a thing for the ScanSnap before they were ever a sponsor.
@ChrisUpchurch - thank you for the exhaustive research! I always look forward to your posts - lots of good information.
And I, like David, had a thing for the ScanSnap. My ScanSnap was a reliable and capable performer ⌠until it wasnât, starting in late 2016 as mentioned above. Scanning to PDF files was frustrating for a prolonged period.
Perhaps I should clarify the point I tried to make. David and Katieâs sponsor messages came across as personal and heartfelt recommendations. Fair enough, and no doubt that is true - they clearly had favorable experiences with sponsorsâ products. But when substantial problems arose involving macOS updates and Fujitsu ScanSnap software over a long period of time, and those issues were brought to David and Katieâs attention, there was virtual silence. My expectation was that those problems should be at least announced and discussed so that listeners would not be misled by enthusiastic endorsement without a disclaimer of known issues for Mac users.
This sort of accusation is something that should not be made lightly. And definitely not without taking 2 minutes to do a basic Google search to see if youâre just completely off-base.
For example, âHave they done a show within the past 6 months that talk specifically the topic you mentioned? And if so, did they include it?â
Spoiler alert: There was and they did. (June 11th, 2018)
And another mention of it from last month (November 12th, 2018):
And from their previous show on PDFs⌠which also mentions PDF Expert.
Or here:
Or here:
Or here:
Personally, I donât deal with PDFs as much as they do, so Iâm still rocking PDFpenPro version 8. Why? Because itâs an expensive app and I didnât need all of the features that someone who deals with PDFs a lot might want or need. It still works fine for me. I bought PDF Expert too, because it was cheap, but I havenât used it much, because I donât do all that much with PDFs.
As far as the issue with ScanSnap and Sierra, as I recall that was a problem caused by something Apple did with regard to how PDFs are handled. It caused a lot of PDF-related issues, not just with ScanSnap.
I just started listening to the episode and wanted to post my most sincerest well wishes to you @katiefloyd. Youâve been a joy to listen to and your Star Trek influence will be missed!
Podcasts come and go⌠When shows center on Italian deserts I drop them. Not because they are terrible but they add little of value to my life.
Iâm into baklava, apps, and ways of getting stuff done. I also enjoy writing but get bored with my thirty-first post on Drafts and Ulysses. So I ask myself whatâs the better use of my time? What can I do to enliven others day? Yep diminishing returns⌠lurks. Diminishing my focus ⌠By choosing this what am I saying no to?
I would agree with Bobâs sentiments. I think it is an inevitable result of the business model. I also learned a lot from this podcast over the years.
I have enjoyed my ScanSnap, but have been affected by the software upgrade problems/neglect. It is aggravating that this product that I held in such high regard has slipped. I am unclear about the true value of the new versions of the hardware. I hear complaints on the Web. I would love to hear first hand experience from people I trust (D & K) but they are backed into a corner.
As individual podcasts get more and more sponsors, there is a problem (for the listeners) that you are unlikely to hear much evaluation of products in the same space as the advertiser(s). If there are a lot of sponsors for a podcast, this effectively blacks out large areas of potential content that I am interested in. For a successful and delightful podcast like MPU, large voids of coverage develop.
I think that D & K have always been honest, acknowledging when mentioning a product in a discussion, that it is or was a sponsor. I appreciate that. But still there is a problem when one is trying to get an objective comparative evaluation of competitive products or when a product (such as Scan Snap) starts to auger in. D & K seem to only accept sponsors that they know and like. The problem develops when the landscape changes.