[endoftheQ]

mmmhhh... interesting, I've read this thread through from start to finish, and realised that I'm no longer part of Omni's target market!

I'm fond of the Omni Group and have been a loyal user who holds boxed copies of OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle v.1. I believe that without innovative developers such as Omni the Apple Mac platform would probably not have survived the hinterland years.

I purchased the OmniGraffle for iPad App and have used it a couple of times. It should have been my primary mind-mapping tool, until another App (which cost just a few bucks) came along and blew it away.

OK, OG does a whole lot more than mind-mapping, but so what? I do 99% of any 'professional' diagrams in Microsoft Powerpoint. Why? Because I can send them to clients, colleagues, etc. who can open and edit them, whether they are using either a Mac or a PC.

The other 1%, which need to look truly classy? I do them in Adobe Illustrator, again because it's cross-platform.

I gather OmniOutliner is slated to appear on iDevices. It will need to have serious benefits over another outlining App I've already purchased before I'll put my hand in my wallet again, especially if it's going to be another of Omni's premium-priced offerings.

Oh, and the same goes for OmniFocus. I found a low-priced App (in comparison) that better handles my everyday personal to-do lists, and which more importantly Gets Things Done. In the past week that App has saved me around a couple of hundred dollars, solely because of its share feature.

Can it do fundi-GTD? No! So, do I actually care? No! Not for lists itemising shopping, errands, etc. I'm also now in the process of moving my business GTD to another App, and therefore OmniFocus looks set to be relegated to my third choice out of three.

In the past few days I've emailed two App providers who responded promptly and in detail to my feature requests. I was asking for downloading and Document Interchange from one, who replied he was in the process of incorporating the first into his next release and would add the second into the release after that (admittedly no time schedule, although in the past this App has been updated on an almost monthly basis). The second developer, where I asked to vote on a web interface and an Android port, replied that both would be available within four weeks.

Member's of this Board have been requesting that OmniFocus support tags, contacts, etc. since 2007.

In addition, Mr. Job's statement that developers should "price competitively, go for volume" has created that reality in the App Store, so that Apps over $10 are going to be the exception and that anything above will now, going forward, be perceived as overpriced, if not a complete rip-off, unless they offer compelling features.

The game has changed!

OK, Ken, you asked what might keep users like me within the fold? No, it's not a single, personal must-have feature request. I would respectfully suggest it's an OmniGroup format, as outlined by Marcus Sommer in the Omni Lounge.

If I could interchange the same data between 'Graffle, 'Focus, 'Outliner, 'GraphSketcher across my Mac and iDevices that would be compelling enough for me to stay loyal and feel that your programs at their current price-point were value-for-money, otherwise I'm sorry, but I believe that the product offerings from Omni are rapidly turning into a rather expensive Parade Gone By.... :eek: