@tjluoma,
There was no accusation. I simply pointed out a potential conflict of interest, that of recommending sponsored items while discussing them on the podcast. My main focus, and my primary problem with the Mac in the last two years, has been with the Fujitsu scanner problems and PDF files. The Fujitsu scanners have been repeatedly recommended without disclosing the problems.
Thank you for pointing out the MPU podcasts containing PDF file topics, including mention of PDF Expert. I completely missed those or didn’t remember them. The obvious answer to my question is, “Neither” - Katie and David did not overlook the competing app or fail to mention it. It was I who overlooked mention of the other apps in the podcasts. I will correct that portion of my post above accordingly.
Partly true, but hardly the whole story - see below. And … this misses the point, which is: Known, significant issues with ScanSnap scanners for Mac users should be disclosed if those scanners are recommended.
Fujistu scanners are not perfectly suited for Mac users for two reasons: 1. MacOS updates “break” Fujitsu software, and Fujitsu is slow to respond with software updates. 2. The newly-released Fujitsu Home software contains substantial use restrictions that are not typical for this type of device; these should be clearly disclosed if the scanners are recommended to Mac users.
The full version of this saga is that Apple re-wrote PDFKit framework (and the Preview app) during the macOS Sierra release, specifically version 10.12.2, in late 2016. Various bugs related to pdf files surfaced, most notably in the Preview app and with scanners (especially Fujitsu) creating pdf files for macOS. Note that Apple is notable for its frequent public releases of beta versions of macOS updates. Despite the availability of the beta releases, Fujitsu has been quite slow for at least the last two years in responding and releasing software fixes to ScanSnap Manager. These various problems have been widely reported.
Because my primary use for the ScanSnap is converting paper documents to OCR’d digital pdf files, I encountered these problems immediately in late 2016 and diligently searched for solutions or work-arounds. Fujitsu finally released software updates after several weeks’ delay. Fujitsu software relies on portions of macOS to function, yet Fujitsu does not adequately keep up with and respond to Apple’s widely-publicized and pre-released OS updates. This is a significant problem for many ScanSnap users - macOS updates repeatedly “break” Fujitsu software; Fujitsu can’t keep up, or isn’t keeping up.
Now … fast forward to December 2018. Fujitsu finally released its updated software (ScanSnap Home) to comply with the macOS requirement for 64-bit software going forward. There are serious problems with this software for ScanSnap owners who are Mac users:
- The software is not compatible with older but perfectly functioning expensive scanners. The older, but functionally similar scanners, are now obsolete and cannot function with Fujitsu software under macOS that requires 64-bit software.
- The new software (“ScanSnap Home”) features unusual (for this type of device) software licensing and use restrictions. I could be wrong on certain details, but my understanding is that the software license for newly-purchased scanners is limited to one user and five computers. You must register or “activate” a license, and you will eventually run out of licenses if you install the software on other computers, move the software to another disk drive on the same computer, or upgrade the OS software (“clean install”) multiple times on your same computer. In other words, you are not free to use your expensive scanner freely - you must abide by Fujitsu’s unreasonable (in my opinion) software restrictions. Other users in this forum have described difficulties encountered with the license hassle - for example running out of licenses due to installation of new versions of macOS on the same computer.
- It gets worse for those who already own more recent (and still sold by Fujitsu) scanners like the iX500. New software is available, but there is apparently only one computer license available and no way (at least for now) to buy or obtain additional licenses.
This forum is replete with other ScanSnap users describing these problems. To my knowledge, David and Katie have said very little about these significant issues in their podcasts - despite the repeated sponsor messages that come across as personal recommendations for Fujitsu scanners. (I’m counting on @tjluoma to correct me if I missed any disclosures that David or Katie may have made 
)
All considered, I stand by my comments above related to the Fujitsu ScanSnap issues. If David and Katie recommend Fujitsu scanners, disclosures should be made related to problems with those scanners for Mac users.