Re: Thank you! and... Advice?

One possible replacement for ShadowPlan (especially for people using Shadow Plan under Classic on webOS) is Outline Tracker.  I've added a number of improvements since my original notice:
http://outlinetracker.com/outlinetracker/support.html#versions
and unified the Shadow Plan export templates to use both Start Date and Target Date:
http://outlinetracker.com/outlinetracker/migration.html#ShadowPlan


> > 
> > On Wed, 10 Nov 2010, deepoctave wrote:
> > 
> > # Jeff,
> > # I would like to thank you for the great product you created in ShadowPlan.  
> > The ways I've used ShadowPlan during the past ten or so years is legion.  I used 
> > BrainForest before I found your program, and I used little cascading slips 
> > yellow sticky notes in columns on pieces of 8-1/2x11 paper before that!
> > #
> > # I'm not a "computer guy", I'm just an elementary orchestra teacher 
> > compensating for an ADD brain, trying to make good use of my time.  Lesson 
> > plans, a place to put account numbers for equipment repairs, supplies and music, 
> > a list of books I'd like to read, dimensions for an endpin holder for my 
> > cellists, and ad infinitum.
> > #
> > # It's been incredibly useful tool.
> > #
> > # I haven't written to you, not have I been on the forum for a long time because 
> > it all worked so well for me.
> > #
> > # The other program that I couldn't do without is MobileDb from Handmark.
> > #
> > # Several hundred instruments owned by my public school system in an urban 
> > setting are inventoried on it, over 1,000 pieces of school orchestra music, my 
> > mileage as I travel to six schools during the week (four per day), all of this 
> > and much more have resided on my Palm Tungsten E2 which is headed into its 
> > seventh year...
> > #
> > # However, it is now going the way of all things electronic with a dying battery 
> > and it has been predeceased by a 2004 Windows XP computer by several weeks now.  
> > And at this point I still have never owned a cell phone like the rest of my 
> > world.
> > #
> > # The last few weeks have been a "catch up" time in terms of how the world has 
> > changed while I've been busy teaching these kids: my new Windows 7 laptop won't 
> > sync my T-E2, won't run MobileDb with Excel, and has made ShadowPlan impossible 
> > to use; lots of "Smart" phones are out there, but they aren't apparently smart 
> > enough to let me continue to organize my life like the Palm did.
> > #
> > # Reading over the past year's worth of postings (not that many to go through!), 
> > I discovered that although there are appreciative and loyal customers out there 
> > for you, the way forward for ShadowPlan seems dark.  And without MobileDB and 
> > ShadowPlan, I'm feeling quite nervous about what I will be doing to keep 
> > organized with ... what?  Should I get a Dell Streak?  A HT Evo?  I don't want 
> > anything to do with Apple...  Anyway, I apologize for rambling.
> > #
> > # What I really wanted to do when I realized what the situation was is to sit 
> > down and write this letter of appreciation.  Just as my students have no concept 
> > of the sweat and tears it takes to make them into string players (for them as 
> > well as for me), I can only infer from my own experience and your comments what 
> > it has been like for you to provide this software.
> > #
> > # So, THANK YOU!
> > #
> > # Any advice you wish to give about what I do in the future will be welcome.