Hacker News Reader

Comment by eddieroger | Hacker News Reader

The users don't have to deal with it. No one forces you to use 1Password. They've been asked and stated their position and don't owe anyone anything else. If the folks in the thread (or here for that matter) don't like the answers, don't use the product. Pretty simple.

View on HN

Are we allowed to say why we don't like what they are doing?

Are we allowed to tell other people why?

Then what is the problem??

Sure, complain away! This is the Internet after all. My problem is the fake pity for users who make the conscious choice to use the problem despite - or regardless of - it's faults. If you don't like how AgileBits handles Dropbox permissions, either don't give it Dropbox permission or don't use 1Password. Complain, sure, but don't pity users for the sake of hyperbole. I read the original post in this thread as genuine pity for AgileBits, which I share - they get to make the application they choose, and users may or may not use it. But hyperbolic pity for the users? That's my problem.

Without users your product is nothing regardless of how great your product is. You are nothing without your users. You are what you are because of your users. Many companies forget that Agilebit is one of them. Throwing your users under the bus just because you can is not acceptable.

As someone done Dropbox integration for many of my clients, I know how easy it is to implement app folders.

I know it and you know it. We all know what kind of game agilebit is playing here.

I've never implemented Dropbox in an app, so I don't know. But what you don't know is that the people who message AgileBits on their website are even customers in the first place. And even if they are, which I'll concede because I don't care, there were a handful of them. Presumably this is a handful out of thousands? Millions? If it mattered to more people, more people would complain. That was my point.

They addressed the ease of implementation, and have a valid point - it breaks backwards compatibility. That is something I do know about, and it's a terrible thing to do. Yes, they could write a migration path. Yes, they could write all the documentation in the world to go with the migration path. But, yes, it will cause their existing customers - who aren't complaining, save a handful - pain, since the app will stop working as expected, even if only briefly. And that still doesn't address the fact that AgileBits gets to make the app they want to make, and we have the choice to use it or not.

The ease of implementation was never their rationale not to, and even was acknowledged in the thread. And my primary point was that they're only accountable to users as far as they can keep them, and have the freedom to make the application they want.

Its very convenient for them to use backward compatibility as an excuse. but in reality its simply not true. they can implement the change totally transparent to the user. have seen people do crazy things with dropbox integration in on 2 day hackathan's. in this case of moving the storage to app folder, shouldn't take more than coupe of weeks for an junior engineer. only things is whether you are willing to do it nor not. Apparently agile bits are not willing to do. (who would't like to access entire dropbox folder of the users ;) )

Keep in mind that, since dropbox did not have app folder concept initially, many companies used to have access to entire dropbox then moved to app folder model later. they did not break backward compatibility and they didn't make the excuses.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com