REALLY Bad Software

As I write this, I'm wondering if using the word "software" is even appropriate for the product I'm about to describe. I'm thinking that "ripoff" or "vaporware" or "scam" might be more appropriate descriptions of PocketMac for iPhone by Information Appliance Associates. I should have known that something wasn't right when I could not locate an evaluation copy to download. The publisher does not offer one. What they do offer is a 90-day money back guarantee. From experience, I know this is the software industry euphemism for "we know this product is crap and that you'll never buy it if you try it for free". Desperate for a solution to sync my iCal with my Lotus Notes mail store, however, I rolled the dice and purchased a copy. Doh! Snake eyes. The install worked as you would expect a commercial product to work. That's about the nicest thing I can say about PocketMac. After installation, it was all down hill. The first time I launched the application, I got an error message indicating that an unhandled exception occurred and the application quit. I figured "no big deal"...I'll just reboot and it should work. Several attempted tweaks and reboots later, I was no further along than my first attempt to load the app. I then attempted to call technical support for assistance. Low and behold, there is not a single telephone number published on the PocketMac web site (save for the sales number - what a shock - that is answered by a machine which will unceremoniously hang up on you after a few attempts to opt-out for an operator). I soon discovered that technical support is provided only through web-mail unless you want to pay $59 a pop for phone support incidents (bear in mind that the product itself costs only $30 and the little fact that I should not have to pay for support for a product that doesn't work to begin with). I submitted a description of my problem. Two hours later, I sent a ping since I hadn't gotten a reply yet. Two more hours, another ping. And another two hours, another ping. After waiting all day for a reply, it was finally time to pack up and head home from the office. A couple of hours after I got home, I logged in to the tech support site and, eureka! An answer. It was a short and sweet response with a file attachment. I placed the file where I was instructed to place it and PocketMac finally loaded without an error message. Now I had a nice, pretty little window with some attractive icons in it. Woo hoo! I attempted to run my first sync with PocketMac. I dialogue box popped open asking me for my Notes server connection information. I tried several permutations of the connection string all to no avail. I received "path does not exist" error messages each time I tried to run the sync. Again I thought to myself, "no big deal....I'll just look at the manual where they are bound to have an example of the connection syntax they're looking for". But...what's this? No manual? No documentation of any type? That's right. Nowhere in the product download, nor on the PocketMac site, will you find the first tiny scrap of user documentation. It's as though you're supposed to know how to use this crap by osmosis.

This morning, I realized that if I've had this much difficulty just trying to get the software to run, let alone perform fairly complex data synchronization, that I would very likely not be happy with this product in the long run. I submitted a request for a refund in accordance with their money-back guarantee. I have yet to get a response from them. I don't anticipate a problem getting a refund based on the many complaints about this product I've seen posted elsewhere, but I suspect it will be a while before I see that thirty bucks again.

If you're looking for a reliable data synchronization tool for your Mac system, I suggest you avoid PocketMac like you would an Amway salesman. If, however, you are looking for a hemorrhoid wrapped in a .dmg file, go ahead and lay down your money and take PocketMac for a spin.