Gang,
Thanks for the active discussion. That is why this forum exists. There is a lot covered in this thread:
About Katie’s Goodbye
@Aaron_Antcliff was right. I had talking points outlined for my goodbye to Katie at the end and I just started falling apart. I literally couldn’t get words out. I didn’t expect to get so emotional. It really caught me by surprise.
On Fujitsu
I’ve been seeking clarification from the Fujitsu about what their exact plans are. I don’t want to say something on the podcast about this and find out later that I’m wrong and have you all mad at me for giving bad information. I’m definitely going to have opinions about other ways to use older hardware once I sort out what the best options are.
On Advertising in General
Thanks for the ad read feedback. I do generally use most of the stuff our sponsors make. I don’t think we’ve ever disclosed it but we have turned down multiple sponsors in the past because I didn’t feel comfortable recommending it.
I am genuinely enthusiastic about our sponsors. You can disagree with me, but please don’t attack my intentions just because we disagree. We’ve always gone out of our way, when we have a content show that covers an area that a sponsor works in, to cover the other companies as well. PDFExpert was one example but I’ve also talked at length about other PDF apps, including LiquidText, which I think is truly special. I’m currently working on a show about Things (a direct competitor to OmniFocus) with a special guest that is a Things power user.
It would be great if we could do the show without sponsors but it takes a lot of time to produce this show. Between planning, pre-production, recording, and post-production, we spend a lot of time producing the show and I still have to pay for my shoes somehow. There are costs too. I’ve been paying personally for all the server costs for this forum. (I disliked Facebook that much.) Sponsors are here to stay. I’ll do my best to get better at it.
About Forum Participation
I’m sorry I haven’t been as present in the forums lately as I’d like to be. I wasn’t trying to dodge this conversation. We had a very serious injury in the family and I spent a lot of time at the hospital and I’m still digging out. Also, sending Katie off right and getting Stephen started properly all took some time.
About MPU
I don’t mind criticisms at all. Sometimes I listen to a show and think I’m the worst podcaster ever. I’d only ask that you understand I am only trying to make MPU great and everything I do here comes from a place of love. If you are thinking about not listening, I’d encourage you to give Stephen a chance. We’ve done a lot of planning and have some great shows lined up.