What happened to the "Pastor going iPad only?" thread?

[Andrew G]

I've been actively following the "Pastor going iPad only?" discussion (a thread started in 2018 i believe), even getting email notifications for new posts. I click to come to view it in the forums and it either says

 

Oops!

You do not have permission to view this topic.

OR

Sorry!

We could not find that topic.

 

I don't seem to be able to find it by searching or looking through the forums either.

 

I'm hoping it is just a technical glitch or something to that nature...

[Kristin]

Unfortunately it got deleted along with another thread.  
 

 

[ukfraser]

Interesting, I know I have contributed to that ipad thread but checking my activity, those posts are also not showing up!

Edited July 11 by ukfraser

[Solly]

Ah, was this the classic "mv thread.txt dev/null" move?

 

Enquiring minds want to know.

 

--Joseph the curious

 

 

[KevinPurcell]

This is a little strange. I know of at least one user post in this thread that was deleted.

 

 This is not the Accordance we all used to know and love. 
 

UPDATE: I was wrong. This persons post was on another thread and it’s still there. 

Edited July 11 by KevinPurcell

[Kristin]

1 hour ago, KevinPurcell said:

 This is not the Accordance we all used to know and love. 

 

I miss the days when a thread deletion was rare and we all felt that Accordance reps cared about the customers concerns.

[Robb B]

Here's my major contribution to that thread, since it was deleted instead of given an answer.

 

I've been an Accordance user since 2005. I had purchased some theological journals in another app when I decided to give Accordance a try at the recommendation of a former seminary professor. I can still remember placing my order for Accordance and waiting a few days for my installation CD-ROMs to arrive in the mail. Over the years, so many more CDs arrived with new modules to add to my growing library. When I lived in Wichita I drove to Dallas one weekend for an Accordance seminar, where I had the opportunity to meet Roy and Helen Brown. I was blown away by the seminar and all the things Accordance could do that I did not realize were possible.

 

It wasn't long after that when Roy invited me to Orlando to train to lead Accordance seminars as a contractor for Oak Tree. I remember going to the Browns' home and seeing where Roy's office was as he crafted and coded Accordance so carefully and with so much passion. His enthusiasm for God's Word and for the product he had developed to help people like me dig into the Word deeper was contagious. 

 

In those days, Helen frequented the user forums, directly (sometimes VERY directly) responding to user's questions, ideas, and complaints. Every iteration of the software was an exciting event. I stayed up all night with my newborn baby installing Accordance 8 and its related packages to give my wife a break so she could get a full night's sleep (and because Roy released 8 around 11pm Central Time!) and I knew I had new features I needed to try out in the upgrade. It was a win-win situation.

 

Sadly, that doesn't even feel like the same company that develops Accordance now. We almost never hear from anyone but Nathan. Nathan does a good job with what he has, but it feels like as users we've been hung out to dry, with no communication, no updates, and no concern. The worst part of that is that the user base for this software isn't using it to do something inconsequential, but we are teachers of God's Word, using these tools for ministries God has called us to do. Seeing how this has unfolded is like watching something I love die, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

 

At this point the lack of communication could be read any number of ways, but the one that seems to be the most likely option is that Accordance has nothing new to report, development has stalled (at best), and they know making that public will cut into current sales. They are milking what's left of the user base for everything they can before the inevitable shut down or sale to another company. If that's what's happening, it's shameful.

 

If that's not what's happening, fixing that perception would be the easiest thing in the world. Communicate. Tell us why we should stick with Accordance and give us proof of life (screenshots, new features included in those screenshots, new modules under development, etc.). What do you have to lose at this point, unless you are just allowing things to die slowly while extracting every last possible cent from your most loyal customers?

 

Accordance is still my favorite Bible study app. What Roy did with his interface and the speed of the application is brilliant. It would be a shame to let it die.

 

Accordance, it's your move. What's next?

[Mark Allison]

8 minutes ago, Robb B said:

Communicate. Tell us why we should stick with Accordance and give us proof of life (screenshots, new features included in those screenshots, new modules under development, etc.)

 

Yes. Just communicate. Even if projects are stalled or not proceeding as you'd hoped. We'll all understand. We love Accordance. We're invested and care deeply about the future of the best Bible Software in the world. We'll pray for you and with you. 

[Robb B]

1 minute ago, Mark Allison said:

 

Yes. Just communicate. Even if projects are stalled or not proceeding as you'd hoped. We'll all understand. We love Accordance. We're invested and care deeply about the future of the best Bible Software in the world. We'll pray for you and with you. 

Amen.

[dmwebb6]

  All users on this forum want Accordance to succeed.  However, we need more than a simple affirmation that the company is doing fine.  Accordance has been less than honest about features and their timing.   As users, we could have tolerated some of that if we could get some better communication and better answers as to why we are having more than two-year delay on promises.   Personally, I believe that we have been more than patient with Accordance.    Over the last year, Accordance has gone from being my main Bible program to being relegated to second place.   It would regain its standing if bugs were fixed, syncing was delivered, and the iPad app updated.  I cannot, however, wait years to see those things come to pass.   We are individuals of limited resources so I have to make a decision on where I will spend my money.   At the present Accordance is making my decision very easy.  The deleting of the posts instead of a response from the owner (or someone representing him) has only raised my concerns.  Accordance may think they are protecting themselves, but such a response is only harming Accordance and its reputation.  

[darrylmy]

1 hour ago, dmwebb6 said:

We are individuals of limited resources so I have to make a decision on where I will spend my money.   At the present Accordance is making my decision very easy.

 

I'm actually of the opposite opinion: Accordance is making my decision difficult. Although I am vexed over the the Accordance of today post-Browns et al., no other Bible software allows me to study at the speed of thought with the original languages with a high degree of flexibility. If I have an idea or want to check out a grammatical, lexical, syntactic, etc. curiosity, I can quickly open a new workspace, open a new tab, or whatever the situation calls for, and I can enter the very intuitive search commands with keyboard shortcuts and, bam, the result are right there instantly. No other tabs with truncated text whose selection requires me to open or go to yet another tab. My train of thought doesn't get interrupted by the design of the program. I could go on and on, but the point is this: Yes, I paid for v14, but am still on v13; yes, the deletion of entire threads is very troubling to me; yes, the new management cannot compare to the glory days of Accordance; yes, I feel like I cannot trust the company... But... this is the best software for studying the original languages. Period. (In my opinion. And I'm sure many here will agree.)

 

This is why Accordance is actually making the decision very difficult me—I don't want to be forced to use another program because of their poor communication and everything that has been discussed (though I own the other). So all that to say: I do hope for the best for Accordance. And to me, the best case scenario is that we see all the grievances addressed and Accordance starts thriving again. Worse case scenario, Accordance gets bought out by the competitor and hopefully all my investment will be transferred over to the new software... time will tell.

 

Actually: best case scenario: Accordance is sold back to the Browns for a fraction of the price and the Brown's et al. retake the helm and steer Accordance back towards a stable development cycle and relationship with us, their customers. One can hope right?

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

The two threads have re-appeared and are unlocked. I've forwarded today's threads over to management for review. I'll try to post more coming up as I can. I'm behind on some other work I need to get caught up on first.

[Kristin]

15 minutes ago, Dr. Nathan Parker said:

I've forwarded today's threads over to management for review.

 

The concern is, Nathan, with all due respect, we have heard you say these words many times in the past. Yet the corruption remains, no screenshots of progress, etc, etc. So I think a lot of us at this point need more than "I'll pass this along," as those words have as yet never actually resolved any of the issues. 

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

4 hours ago, Kristin said:

So I think a lot of us at this point need more than "I'll pass this along," as those words have as yet never actually resolved any of the issues. 

 

I certainly understand, empathize with, and feel your frustrations (especially concerning user file formats). Whenever I have new updates I can share with you, I certainly will.