Software: A Perspective 
by John Cardiff
Last updated: 03 Sep 2008
  
None of the genealogy programs available today existed 10 years ago. A few names like PAF and Brother's Keeper are the same, but even those DOS efforts were re-crafted for Windows.

Virtually all genealogy programs are the products of very small programming shops, where just a few people burn a lot of midnight oil and watch the competition like a hawk. Most of them are Mormon, fiercely honest and terminally nice.

Such small operators can't afford advertising campaigns. They depend upon their customers to get the word out. Ads? Heck, most couldn't market their way out of their basements. (Which has dealt serious blows to more than a few.) Even their web sites, their primary link to the outside world, are uniformly bad. Poorly designed, they provide only minimal content, which discourages sales.

As recently as five years ago, programs like the now-deceased Roots III retailed for $399(US) -- enough to attract bigger software shops into the market. Today genealogy programs start at zip, zero, free, and top out well under $100(US).

While prices have fallen, users' expectations have shot right through the roof. Perfection for free immediately seems to be the only thing that keeps customers happy in the real-time Internet era.

Developers secure their income stream by releasing annual improvements and selling customers the update to the next version number. Yet they can ill afford ever-increasing development costs in the face of such retail price drops. Its an ongoing income vs. costs squeeze.

With almost a dozen programs in the market, and a dozen months in a year, there is usually one program that has just been upgraded, another due to be upgraded any day, and one scheduled for revision next month.

So whenever you decide to buy a few will be coming soon, while others will be looking long in the tooth. Sometimes customers simply buy the most recently upgraded program because that's the one getting this month's buzz. And to a certain extent, that's fair. The most recent release should (in theory) have the best collection of bells and whistles.

But sometimes things go horribly wrong. Software development isn't easy. A comma out of place here, a paragraph of code overlooked there, and a program can fall from "perfect" to "buggy" in no time at all. Every genealogy provider has had it happen to him. The best recover, release a fix or a patch, and move on. The less fortunate simply fold their tent.

Whenever you buy, you'll have to decide whether of not to wait for the "coming soon" fix from the fellow(s) scrambling to save his bacon. I have no advice for you here, now that you have a perception with which to proceed. The choice is yours. But don't be too hard on the fellow who slipped this time. The other fellows turn is coming soon.