DASEIN888  Yeah, MacJournal is well-executed and represents what Mariner is capable of, but the rest of the new batch epitomises mediocrity, not best in class. That's what they should be seeking.

I really want to like and support Mariner, but each time I hold my breath and buy another one of their products, I am once again disappointed with the sloppiness. Mariner needs to focus like a laser and ensure that a perception of excellence is what one feels when using their products. I use to get that but now it's the last thing that comes to mind.  
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DASEIN888  I keep seeing Mariner products on discounted sale nearly everywhere, and I'm on their mailing list and get discounted promotions all the time. It started sounding like desperation marketing over a year ago.

Go back to your roots, to the quality you had in Mariner Write. There was pride in that piece of software that has since disappeared.

Forget the discounting of increasingly mediocre products, and for having so many products that overlap. Mariner is developing a seriously damaged reputation, Logan, and you guys will go the way of other similar strategies over the past 20 years... Trying to grow too big and doing nothing right.

I see on the Mariner website that Contour is being ported to the iPhone.

Huh? That's your priority? You're porting Contour to the iPhone? Why? What is the purpose of porting a screenplay outlining programming to the iPhone? Such a misguided strategy for your resources, when so many of your existing products need serious work.

I'd recommend fixing Montage and Contour first, as both have a lot of basic problems that are obvious to any user and haven't been addressed in over year. You promised over a year ago that both would be integrated so they work together, but they still don't. You'd have a kick-ass programme if you brought together Montage, Contour, and Story Mill.

Instead you have three has-been products that really are over-priced and under-performing. So you have to keep discounting them.

Nearly every scanner comes with software similar to Paperless. Why are you wasting time with offering yet another?

I'd read Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Logan. Return to Quality, with a capital Q.  
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DASEIN888  Unfortunately, Mariner has lost the plot with their acquisition spree over the past couple of years, I think.

I've purchased several of their products, including this one, and overall there are two problems with every one: 1) half-baked implementation with bugs and/or 2) half-baked implementation that misses obvious opportunities.

I loved Mariner Write. But with each acquisition the thought behind either each new product or the adaptation of each acquisition is somewhat careless or just plain sloppy.

Mariner needs to slow down and clean up their existing product line. The existing ones are mediocre, but they have the material for consolidating some of them and making GREAT products.

But they prefer to offer their products at half price in numerous promotions, and people still fall for it.

Logan, you guys have such great potential to create great products. Stop with this spree of buying up products that are beyond your core expertise. Make what you have perfect and excellent.  
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DASEIN888  Sorry, forgot to rate...  
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DASEIN888  I have to agree with Trenino. I work as both a published novelist and produced screenwriter, and I've long looked for an alternative to Final Draft. I've tried both StoryMill and Montage, and constantly I am wishing features of StoryMill were integrated with Montage--and that they were a combined product.

StoryMill, of course, is an acquisition once called Avenir and so its development has a different legacy and comes from outside of Mariner's mindset.

The overall problem with both is that they constrain a very creative process and don't let a writer wiggle around within the software to find the 'sweet' spot. If StoryMill and Montage were combined, and if Montage were production-grade (as is Final Draft), then it would be a brilliant product. Nearly any writer would feel comfortable working within the product and not feel boxed in by predefined process.  
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DASEIN888  Well, I've been quite happy with Intego products, for the most part. Their UI (Virus software) can be odd and needs work, but the products have always delivered. This product makes it easier to do something, and that's good for me. I would like to know more about the product, e.g., what sort of encryption it uses and the like, but I'm fine with it and will buy it.  
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