OT - versiontracker vs. macupdate

Mark M. Florida markf at squareblue.com
Wed Feb 4 08:39:00 PST 2004


On 2/4/04 8:41 AM, Video International at videoint at jb3.so-net.ne.jp wrote:

> Mark,
> 
> How does versiontracker.com not care about the user?
> 
> Thanks,
> Rick

It's not that they don't care about the user, it's that they care about
pageviews, banner ads, and pop-ups *more* than the user experience.  One
used to be able to download updates straight from the front page -- now they
redirect you to another page as the download starts...  Not to mention that
their site is an abomination of web design...

MacUpdate has a super-clean, super-fast, user-friendly site that still lets
you download updates from the main page -- WITHOUT POP-UP ADS OR REDIRECTS!
And it offers services (like watch lists) for much less than
VersionTracker's "premium" membership (or whatever they call it).  There's
also a cool OS X menu item that lists the latest app updates in your menu
bar (and it's free).

http://www.macupdate.com/help/benefits.php

Maybe I'm just anti-corporate, but ever since VersionTracker was CONSUMED by
MacWorld (and the Ziff-Davis juggernaut) it has gone downhill fast.  The
same with MacCentral and MacFixIt.  It's just sad that what were once the
best Mac sites on the web are now second-rate bit pushers -- all thanks to
corporate agendas...

(sorry for the rant)

- Mark



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