Mike--although my real focus is the mobile edition of PD, I'd use the Desktop version, if it existed, as a shortcut for setting up or editing user dictionaries, flash card sets (which we, pretty much, can do already), drawing on other (desktop) resources, that sort of thing,. I.e., the desktop for me would become more of a convenient adjunct to my mobile version than an app in its own right.
Pleco Desktop
- Thread starter james
- Start date
Like many others here, I also believe it would be nice to have the power of Pleco's dictionaries on my desktop, but the main features I am looking for are the convenience of managing user dictionaries and flashcards as well as having them automatically sync with my PlecoMobile 
So three votes for editing / organization, one vote for document reading - interesting. This almost makes it seem like we'd be better off doing a web app, though that doesn't help much on the licensing front (it's not that much money, just a license we paid for years ago in anticipation of developing a desktop version that's going to expire if we don't use it soon). thph2006, if you're still reading, is an editing / organization companion app the main thing you're looking for too?
I send and receive Chinese emails and surf some Chinese websites as well as read a few Chinese articles. I would like to be able to mouse over characters or phrases and get definitions as well as other information such as pronunciation. When I can't remember a Chinese word while typing it would be nice to just type in the English word, mouse over and get the Chinese definition with examples of use so I can pick the right translation for the context.
While that would be my main use having all the other features of Pleco on the desktop would be nice.
While that would be my main use having all the other features of Pleco on the desktop would be nice.
My first post here, at last 
Checking latest hardware news made me look here again. I have lost the ability to learn Chinese live recently [my teacher moved], so I am thinking about getting some other ways to do it again. I was thinking about getting Pleco since returning from China over year ago, but... well, there are many buts when it comes to that. First but - platform choice, either WM or Palm or Iphone now. We all know problems with them, WM being non-user friendly [so all that HTC UI hacks] and not very open, Palm is stuck in previous century with no hope on the horizon and Iphone is well... I just don't want to touch anything that comes from Apple and pay huge premium for their brand [and I know how to operate computer well and I don't want their limits]. I understand why people choose Iphone and why it's wise to offer Pleco for it, but it's not for me [and I see here that many people feel the same]. Second but would be pricing - I don't really need smartphone that much, sure it'd be cool to have e-mail, mp3 player, dictionary etc in one device, but so far price:efficiency ratio was really bad. $600-900 for small device that will be obsolete soon? Or $100-300 + 2-year plan with huge fees? Not for me. I could spend such an amount if I got good product that would last a while, thus I had big hopes for Tegra chipset, promising really good battery life, HD capability, etc. They promised to deliver devices at least year ago, but nothing appeared [except for new Zune, huh]. Now they are coming with Tegra2, which at last seems to be what we've been waiting for - reasonably priced tablets with good power.
I really think those tablets may be the best tool for learning Chinese and using Pleco. They should be affordable [$300-500) and have similar power to netbooks. Big [well, 10"] touchscreens supporting multitouch. I was hoping for Android smarphone support [I agree with mike's worries here though], but getting Pleco for tablet sounds even better. Desktop app could be probalby just a part of it [with some functions removed? no touchscreen does not leave many options]. I am especially tempted by Notion Ink's Adam with Ubuntu on it [instead of Android, which is probably as bad choice as iphone's OS on iPad]. Anyway, tablet version of Pleco would probably have to support various weird OSes again, as manufacturers will use everything [from WM7 though Android to Ubuntu Mobile and normal Windows7].
BTW, would it be possible to do different language versions of Pleco? At least in Poland we are getting more and more people learning Chinese, but English-only would be a problem for them. The problem is that there are probably no good Polish-Chinese dictionaries [there was one done afaik, but it didn't get printed because of budget problems]. But at least UI + flashcards or some learning tools translated could be interesting, especially for universities [we have some that recently opend or open sinology studies].
Checking latest hardware news made me look here again. I have lost the ability to learn Chinese live recently [my teacher moved], so I am thinking about getting some other ways to do it again. I was thinking about getting Pleco since returning from China over year ago, but... well, there are many buts when it comes to that. First but - platform choice, either WM or Palm or Iphone now. We all know problems with them, WM being non-user friendly [so all that HTC UI hacks] and not very open, Palm is stuck in previous century with no hope on the horizon and Iphone is well... I just don't want to touch anything that comes from Apple and pay huge premium for their brand [and I know how to operate computer well and I don't want their limits]. I understand why people choose Iphone and why it's wise to offer Pleco for it, but it's not for me [and I see here that many people feel the same]. Second but would be pricing - I don't really need smartphone that much, sure it'd be cool to have e-mail, mp3 player, dictionary etc in one device, but so far price:efficiency ratio was really bad. $600-900 for small device that will be obsolete soon? Or $100-300 + 2-year plan with huge fees? Not for me. I could spend such an amount if I got good product that would last a while, thus I had big hopes for Tegra chipset, promising really good battery life, HD capability, etc. They promised to deliver devices at least year ago, but nothing appeared [except for new Zune, huh]. Now they are coming with Tegra2, which at last seems to be what we've been waiting for - reasonably priced tablets with good power.
I really think those tablets may be the best tool for learning Chinese and using Pleco. They should be affordable [$300-500) and have similar power to netbooks. Big [well, 10"] touchscreens supporting multitouch. I was hoping for Android smarphone support [I agree with mike's worries here though], but getting Pleco for tablet sounds even better. Desktop app could be probalby just a part of it [with some functions removed? no touchscreen does not leave many options]. I am especially tempted by Notion Ink's Adam with Ubuntu on it [instead of Android, which is probably as bad choice as iphone's OS on iPad]. Anyway, tablet version of Pleco would probably have to support various weird OSes again, as manufacturers will use everything [from WM7 though Android to Ubuntu Mobile and normal Windows7].
BTW, would it be possible to do different language versions of Pleco? At least in Poland we are getting more and more people learning Chinese, but English-only would be a problem for them. The problem is that there are probably no good Polish-Chinese dictionaries [there was one done afaik, but it didn't get printed because of budget problems]. But at least UI + flashcards or some learning tools translated could be interesting, especially for universities [we have some that recently opend or open sinology studies].
Mike,
Get off the dime and get working on the desktop. It is needed by way more people than you can possibly imagine.
We need one and want one. We've waited patiently for years.
If you can't deliver it hire someone to do it.
Quit crying the poor mouth you are not in any dire financial straits.
Just do it!!!!
Get off the dime and get working on the desktop. It is needed by way more people than you can possibly imagine.
We need one and want one. We've waited patiently for years.
If you can't deliver it hire someone to do it.
Quit crying the poor mouth you are not in any dire financial straits.
Just do it!!!!
Jim / scoff - noted. So it seems document reading and flashcard / dictionary editing are the main priorities among people posting here; is anyone interested in regular dictionary functionality too or is that already adequately covered by our handheld software / not really something you need to do when you're at a computer?
Zeldor - welcome to PlecoForums.
I wouldn't say Palm is stuck in the previous century with webOS - admittedly the Pleco experience on it is less-than-ideal, there's only so much we can do with a Palm OS emulator, but with the new native development kit you can actually make the case that it's a better platform for some sorts of development (e.g. games) than even Android.
A desktop version of Pleco on Mac OS would probably share a lot of code with the iPhone/iPad version, since at a low level they're almost identical, but the user interface controls offered on Mac are completely different than those on iPhone so we'd be stuck heavily redesigning the interface regardless. In general, though, I do think it makes more sense to design a desktop version with an eye towards tablet usage of its dictionary search (if any) and document reading functions at least - we'd want to have the reader function work with both passive (mouseover) and active (tap) selection depending on whether you were using a mouse or a pen.
But it's unlikely we'd support any OS specifically for its tablets, at least not unless the tablet market ends up being dominated by a single company (which seems extremely unlikely), so a tablet for Pleco would probably need to be running some flavor of iPhone / WM / Mac OS / Windows. A native Linux version is unlikely but we could certainly do some testing to try to get Pleco working well in Wine at least - seems like that ought to be relatively easy for a non-game application.
Different language localizations are a possibility, but as you say the dictionary availability is a problem. Interface localization is also complicated by the sheer length of our instruction manual / constant additions and tweaks to the configuration settings; we'd need someone on some sort of a regular contract to re-localize every new version for us. So probably only possible for a few popular languages like German / French / Spanish / (of course) Chinese.
MALAILI - I wasn't suggesting we were in dire financial straits, but there's a strong correlation between the money we make and the cool stuff we can license; if we'd gotten the iPhone version out 6 months sooner it probably would include the Oxford dictionary. So a money-losing desktop version means a lower likelihood of seeing a classical Chinese dictionary / Chengyu dictionary / Western medical dictionary / thesaurus / etc in the near future. The Pleco spending hierarchy goes mandatory fixed costs (payment processing / web hosting / etc), then software development, then licensing, so if we're only making enough money to support the first two then the third category suffers.
So there's definitely a tradeoff involved if we decide to commit more resources to a desktop version and fewer resources to something more profitable like (possibly) iPad. That doesn't mean we can't do a desktop version, just that the optimal amount of investment in it might be lower than in some other products - might not be quite as polished or frequently updated, might be missing a few cool features from our iPhone software, etc. We can, of course, adjust that investment level if the desktop version proves successful, but in the initial release it might, for example, not have its own sync system but instead require you to drag your flashcard / dictionary database files from your handheld to your desktop and back.
Zeldor - welcome to PlecoForums.
I wouldn't say Palm is stuck in the previous century with webOS - admittedly the Pleco experience on it is less-than-ideal, there's only so much we can do with a Palm OS emulator, but with the new native development kit you can actually make the case that it's a better platform for some sorts of development (e.g. games) than even Android.
A desktop version of Pleco on Mac OS would probably share a lot of code with the iPhone/iPad version, since at a low level they're almost identical, but the user interface controls offered on Mac are completely different than those on iPhone so we'd be stuck heavily redesigning the interface regardless. In general, though, I do think it makes more sense to design a desktop version with an eye towards tablet usage of its dictionary search (if any) and document reading functions at least - we'd want to have the reader function work with both passive (mouseover) and active (tap) selection depending on whether you were using a mouse or a pen.
But it's unlikely we'd support any OS specifically for its tablets, at least not unless the tablet market ends up being dominated by a single company (which seems extremely unlikely), so a tablet for Pleco would probably need to be running some flavor of iPhone / WM / Mac OS / Windows. A native Linux version is unlikely but we could certainly do some testing to try to get Pleco working well in Wine at least - seems like that ought to be relatively easy for a non-game application.
Different language localizations are a possibility, but as you say the dictionary availability is a problem. Interface localization is also complicated by the sheer length of our instruction manual / constant additions and tweaks to the configuration settings; we'd need someone on some sort of a regular contract to re-localize every new version for us. So probably only possible for a few popular languages like German / French / Spanish / (of course) Chinese.
MALAILI - I wasn't suggesting we were in dire financial straits, but there's a strong correlation between the money we make and the cool stuff we can license; if we'd gotten the iPhone version out 6 months sooner it probably would include the Oxford dictionary. So a money-losing desktop version means a lower likelihood of seeing a classical Chinese dictionary / Chengyu dictionary / Western medical dictionary / thesaurus / etc in the near future. The Pleco spending hierarchy goes mandatory fixed costs (payment processing / web hosting / etc), then software development, then licensing, so if we're only making enough money to support the first two then the third category suffers.
So there's definitely a tradeoff involved if we decide to commit more resources to a desktop version and fewer resources to something more profitable like (possibly) iPad. That doesn't mean we can't do a desktop version, just that the optimal amount of investment in it might be lower than in some other products - might not be quite as polished or frequently updated, might be missing a few cool features from our iPhone software, etc. We can, of course, adjust that investment level if the desktop version proves successful, but in the initial release it might, for example, not have its own sync system but instead require you to drag your flashcard / dictionary database files from your handheld to your desktop and back.
radioman
状元
My two cents via some random thoughts.
I have for a long time believed that that desktop is for organization of my study materials, and the ideal place for doing that in the cloud via HTML5. Having an HTML5 implementation would be even better if Pleco's Dictionary backend is there, I can look up things, save things, etc., to aid in flashcard development (although not a priority as I can use other avenues already available on the internet for that support). However, I do not consider the dictionary backend to be essential. But perhaps the best part to that would be that if I am organizing flashcards in that environment, the likelihood of me loosing my data is very low as it is in the cloud.
My learning is done on my portable device (which provides me much more opportunity to study because its always with me).
With regard to Apple's iPad, my thought is that, while many question the device's relevance, I believe it will find its way into educational uses that will prove revolutionary. Apple sold a TON of iPod Touch devices, and 500 bux to store all your books, etc. is just not that much money to have a device that does it all (including skype calling, messaging, etc.). And with the custom chips and batteries, I am thinking this will prove compelling, especially as you are into hour 7 in your school/work day and still beating on the device. Having continuous, convenient access to power is quite the enabler.
If the crown jewels to Pleco is the software for future educational applications and portable platforms, then maybe outsourcing the older Windows versions is less risky, more baked, and could make some sense. But even outsourcing requires a fair amount of management effort.
Well not exactly cohesive idea presentations here but let me summarize my own wish list.
1) Flashcards for iPhone.
2) iPhone to iPad I think should happen and happen fast - including new enhancements that can be provided by the bigger screen.
3) HTML5 flashcards organizational support on the on the desktop a way to manage cards
4) Add HTML5 dictionary functions for desktop.
I have for a long time believed that that desktop is for organization of my study materials, and the ideal place for doing that in the cloud via HTML5. Having an HTML5 implementation would be even better if Pleco's Dictionary backend is there, I can look up things, save things, etc., to aid in flashcard development (although not a priority as I can use other avenues already available on the internet for that support). However, I do not consider the dictionary backend to be essential. But perhaps the best part to that would be that if I am organizing flashcards in that environment, the likelihood of me loosing my data is very low as it is in the cloud.
My learning is done on my portable device (which provides me much more opportunity to study because its always with me).
With regard to Apple's iPad, my thought is that, while many question the device's relevance, I believe it will find its way into educational uses that will prove revolutionary. Apple sold a TON of iPod Touch devices, and 500 bux to store all your books, etc. is just not that much money to have a device that does it all (including skype calling, messaging, etc.). And with the custom chips and batteries, I am thinking this will prove compelling, especially as you are into hour 7 in your school/work day and still beating on the device. Having continuous, convenient access to power is quite the enabler.
If the crown jewels to Pleco is the software for future educational applications and portable platforms, then maybe outsourcing the older Windows versions is less risky, more baked, and could make some sense. But even outsourcing requires a fair amount of management effort.
Well not exactly cohesive idea presentations here but let me summarize my own wish list.
1) Flashcards for iPhone.
2) iPhone to iPad I think should happen and happen fast - including new enhancements that can be provided by the bigger screen.
3) HTML5 flashcards organizational support on the on the desktop a way to manage cards
4) Add HTML5 dictionary functions for desktop.
Why you believe that handheld devices are what everyone wants to use to learn Chinese is beyond me. I use my windows mobile device whenever I am in class or have free time when I am out, but I use my laptop computer whenever I am at home which is by far more often than my being out. Additionally, using a laptop is much easier.
Almost everyone has a home computer and could easily purchase your software; were it available.
I truly believe you are missing the boat on a market far far bigger than i-phone will ever be.
Do some market research. I don't know everything, but I am positive your wearing blinders.
My tone was received as intended, it has been several (many) years since we were promised a desktop version and it appears we are no closer than when the promise was first made.
Almost everyone has a home computer and could easily purchase your software; were it available.
I truly believe you are missing the boat on a market far far bigger than i-phone will ever be.
Do some market research. I don't know everything, but I am positive your wearing blinders.
My tone was received as intended, it has been several (many) years since we were promised a desktop version and it appears we are no closer than when the promise was first made.
There are a number of factors that would determine my level of interest in a Pleco desktop. At present I use Wenlin which has several definite advantages over Pleco. First, being a desktop app it is very good for typing Chinese. I use it for composing all of my assignments in my Chinese class, for composing emails, basically anything I write in Chinese I do using Wenlin. Second, it provides an historical analysis of characters that I find very helpful in learning new characters and understanding their etymology. It also has other features that make it useful. There are two big downsides with Wenlin however. It has the ABC dictionary and a small, not very useful English-Chinese dictionary and that's it. So Pleco's dictionary support is far better. Second, there is no mobile version of Wenlin and my understanding is that there probably will not be. Indeed, Tom Bishop, Wenlin's developer, referred me to Pleco when I asked him about a mobile version of Wenlin. Third, Wenlin's flashcard system is far inferior to what we have on Pleco.
I think Pleco has the handheld market sewed up. At this point my main interest in a Pleco desktop would be access to more dictionaries than are available on Wenlin, esp. English-Chinese. But my understanding is that Wenlin 4.0 is going to be released soon. I don't know what they have in mind for this new release, but if it is a very significant upgrade it might make a Pleco desktop version less compelling, ESPECIALLY if Pleco is released on the iPad, which seems very likely, and if Wenlin is not available on the iPad, which also seems likely, at least for the next release. I will almost certainly buy the Wenlin upgrade when it appears. Whether I would ALSO buy Pleco desktop would depend on whether it offered significant features that Wenlin 4.0 would still lack, and which I would want on my desktop as opposed to on on iPhone or iPad. I think that the iPad will make a very good platform for reading and for work with flashcards. If they significantly improved their dictionary support AND if Pleco were to become available on the new iPad, I would probably opt for Wenlin 4.0 for my typing and "research" needs (I don't think I'll want to do a lot of typing on a iPad) and Pleco on iPad for reading and flashcard practice and continue to use Pleco on iPod Touch or on Windows Mobile when I am away from home. At that point I don't know if a Pleco desktop would add anything vital. Basically I think the release of the iPad changes the picture significantly. Given that Pleco is already running in the iPhone and iPod Touch and the potential that the extra screen real estate has for significantly enhancing Pleco's usefulness as a study tool, I am at present more interested in an iPad version than a desktop version, esp. in light of the imminent upgrade to Wenlin 4.0. The large format touch screen of the iPad just seems to make so much sense as the next step for Pleco. I think an assessment of the potential market share for a Pleco desktop would have to take Wenlin 4.0 into account, whereas I wouldn't expect Wenlin 4.0 to compete as directly with Pleco iPad.
I think Pleco has the handheld market sewed up. At this point my main interest in a Pleco desktop would be access to more dictionaries than are available on Wenlin, esp. English-Chinese. But my understanding is that Wenlin 4.0 is going to be released soon. I don't know what they have in mind for this new release, but if it is a very significant upgrade it might make a Pleco desktop version less compelling, ESPECIALLY if Pleco is released on the iPad, which seems very likely, and if Wenlin is not available on the iPad, which also seems likely, at least for the next release. I will almost certainly buy the Wenlin upgrade when it appears. Whether I would ALSO buy Pleco desktop would depend on whether it offered significant features that Wenlin 4.0 would still lack, and which I would want on my desktop as opposed to on on iPhone or iPad. I think that the iPad will make a very good platform for reading and for work with flashcards. If they significantly improved their dictionary support AND if Pleco were to become available on the new iPad, I would probably opt for Wenlin 4.0 for my typing and "research" needs (I don't think I'll want to do a lot of typing on a iPad) and Pleco on iPad for reading and flashcard practice and continue to use Pleco on iPod Touch or on Windows Mobile when I am away from home. At that point I don't know if a Pleco desktop would add anything vital. Basically I think the release of the iPad changes the picture significantly. Given that Pleco is already running in the iPhone and iPod Touch and the potential that the extra screen real estate has for significantly enhancing Pleco's usefulness as a study tool, I am at present more interested in an iPad version than a desktop version, esp. in light of the imminent upgrade to Wenlin 4.0. The large format touch screen of the iPad just seems to make so much sense as the next step for Pleco. I think an assessment of the potential market share for a Pleco desktop would have to take Wenlin 4.0 into account, whereas I wouldn't expect Wenlin 4.0 to compete as directly with Pleco iPad.
Heh, reading through old posts it seems that even my "sometime this decade" comment seems to have been wrong - then again, given the absolute business necessity of an iPhone port, the only way we could have had a desktop version out before 1/1/10 would have been if we'd dropped support for Palm OS in Pleco 2.0 (the actual biggest reason why iPhone was, and desktop is, so far behind schedule), and that would have generated at least 10x as many angry posts at this subject has.
radioman - thanks. Even if we do in fact do a native rather than an online-based desktop version, I think it would involve heavy use of HTML, if only because on a desktop, rendering a lot of the UI in an embedded web browser is both easier and less platform-dependent than building it with native user interface elements. (and there isn't the sort of gap between the quality / speed of web-based and native interfaces that there is on handhelds)
Your priority list roughly matches my own at this point, since iPad development looks to be very easy indeed and could serve as a very good testing ground for some of the things we might like to eventually do on desktops. (even in the organization sense - what's the best way to manipulate a large, hierarchically-organized batch of flashcards, for example)
MALAILI - so you're asking someone who's been running a successful business making handheld Chinese learning software for 10 years if he really believes people want to learn Chinese on handhelds?
dcarpent - I can't disclose what I know about Wenlin's product plans, but I do agree that they have an outstanding product that does a lot of what people seem to want a desktop version of Pleco to do. And that that makes our doing some of that a bit redundant with so many other things (like an iPad version) we could be working on. Which is why I'm glad that most of the posts here seem to be looking for something more like the "companion product" I originally envisioned / discussed on PlecoForums rather than a full-on port.
radioman - thanks. Even if we do in fact do a native rather than an online-based desktop version, I think it would involve heavy use of HTML, if only because on a desktop, rendering a lot of the UI in an embedded web browser is both easier and less platform-dependent than building it with native user interface elements. (and there isn't the sort of gap between the quality / speed of web-based and native interfaces that there is on handhelds)
Your priority list roughly matches my own at this point, since iPad development looks to be very easy indeed and could serve as a very good testing ground for some of the things we might like to eventually do on desktops. (even in the organization sense - what's the best way to manipulate a large, hierarchically-organized batch of flashcards, for example)
MALAILI - so you're asking someone who's been running a successful business making handheld Chinese learning software for 10 years if he really believes people want to learn Chinese on handhelds?
dcarpent - I can't disclose what I know about Wenlin's product plans, but I do agree that they have an outstanding product that does a lot of what people seem to want a desktop version of Pleco to do. And that that makes our doing some of that a bit redundant with so many other things (like an iPad version) we could be working on. Which is why I'm glad that most of the posts here seem to be looking for something more like the "companion product" I originally envisioned / discussed on PlecoForums rather than a full-on port.
NO, I am not asking you if people want to learn Chinese using a handheld. I'm using a handheld. There is no doubt about it. What I am saying is that the desktop market is infinitely larger and I repeatedly trying to impress this "fact" upon, but you don't seem to get it.
Do some market research and see for yourself.
Do some market research and see for yourself.
I don't deny that desktops are a big market, I just don't know if they're a big market for Pleco - between the number of other desktop Chinese dictionaries, the number of good free dictionary websites, and the fact that many of our best-loved features (like handwriting input) don't translate well to desktops, a "full" version of Pleco for desktop OSes won't necessarily be all that successful.
I would definitely like general dictionary functionality although I must admit that I see being able to mouse over a character and get a definition and other info as one part of dictionary functionality. I don’t really see that as a reader function because my computer can display Chinese without Pleco.
While I was in China my cell phone with Pleco was very much a part of my “Chinese world”, translating SMSs, entering characters I came across in a variety of situations, finding the Chinese translations of my English thoughts, etc. However, now that I am back in Canada my Chinese world is mainly on my computer, translating emails, reading Chinese articles, surfing Chinese web sites, etc. I think many of your customers will end up on a similar path, using Pleco on a mobile device while they are studying but eventually returning home and dealing with Chinese more on their computer than on a mobile device.
Kingsoft has software that does more or less what I want but the quality is poor. Wenlin does also but it is pricey, restricted to their own dictionary and not a very elegant solution. With Pleco I was expecting and wouldn’t mind paying for a solution that would be well thought out, elegant to use, reasonably priced (do not read cheap) and would include all the dictionaries I have now and others I would likely purchase when (if?) a desktop version becomes available
Some months ago I made a comment about you still having a bit of time left in your "decade" prediction which I meant as a humorous nudge and which you seemed to take as a direct criticism which it wasn't meant to be but I said nothing more at the time.
I think some people are annoyed to various degrees (the various degrees seeming to cover a surprisingly large range) because when the iPhone came along you said that it was going to take precedence over the desktop, there would be a temporary delay but you didn’t specify any time line because you didn't want to make any commitments re: release of the iPhone Pleco which you might have trouble meeting. From the way things were presented my impression was that the delay would not be overly long. It has however turned out to be a lengthy delay and even now there is no clear indication of when we can expect a desktop version or possibly even if we can expect one.
I clearly understand all your financial considerations and the difficulty of making decisions and predictions in a rapidly changing market, however, I feel if you had initially come right out and said that a desktop version was going to be delayed, likely or possibly for a considerable time, that you regretted that and apologized for that but business decisions made it necessary the majority of your customers would have felt some disappointment but understood and accepted that without much complaint although assuredly some comment.
As it stands, having dealt with Pleco (read Mike) for a long time, I understand that while there was no intention to deceive but it could easily appear so to others.
I apologize for the length of this but thought it important to try be as clear as possible to better enable to you to understand the thinking of at least one of your customers.
While I was in China my cell phone with Pleco was very much a part of my “Chinese world”, translating SMSs, entering characters I came across in a variety of situations, finding the Chinese translations of my English thoughts, etc. However, now that I am back in Canada my Chinese world is mainly on my computer, translating emails, reading Chinese articles, surfing Chinese web sites, etc. I think many of your customers will end up on a similar path, using Pleco on a mobile device while they are studying but eventually returning home and dealing with Chinese more on their computer than on a mobile device.
Kingsoft has software that does more or less what I want but the quality is poor. Wenlin does also but it is pricey, restricted to their own dictionary and not a very elegant solution. With Pleco I was expecting and wouldn’t mind paying for a solution that would be well thought out, elegant to use, reasonably priced (do not read cheap) and would include all the dictionaries I have now and others I would likely purchase when (if?) a desktop version becomes available
Some months ago I made a comment about you still having a bit of time left in your "decade" prediction which I meant as a humorous nudge and which you seemed to take as a direct criticism which it wasn't meant to be but I said nothing more at the time.
I think some people are annoyed to various degrees (the various degrees seeming to cover a surprisingly large range) because when the iPhone came along you said that it was going to take precedence over the desktop, there would be a temporary delay but you didn’t specify any time line because you didn't want to make any commitments re: release of the iPhone Pleco which you might have trouble meeting. From the way things were presented my impression was that the delay would not be overly long. It has however turned out to be a lengthy delay and even now there is no clear indication of when we can expect a desktop version or possibly even if we can expect one.
I clearly understand all your financial considerations and the difficulty of making decisions and predictions in a rapidly changing market, however, I feel if you had initially come right out and said that a desktop version was going to be delayed, likely or possibly for a considerable time, that you regretted that and apologized for that but business decisions made it necessary the majority of your customers would have felt some disappointment but understood and accepted that without much complaint although assuredly some comment.
As it stands, having dealt with Pleco (read Mike) for a long time, I understand that while there was no intention to deceive but it could easily appear so to others.
I apologize for the length of this but thought it important to try be as clear as possible to better enable to you to understand the thinking of at least one of your customers.
Yeah, I think this is the key. I'm not sure that there are a lot of people who are willing to spend upwards of $100 for Pleco Desktop when there are so many "good enough" free software and websites available on the desktop today. I'm sure Wenlin's sale has suffered a lot, too. I was willing to pay $200 for Wenlin five years ago, but today I would hesitate at paying anything at all for a desktop dictionary program. Now if Mike could make a desktop program that's well-integrated with the mobile edition, particularly with respect to the flashcards, I would probably still buy it, if it doesn't cost too much. For most people, I think, Pleco Mobile is a must, whereas a Pleco Desktop would be a "nice to have."