Comments on: Quicken: Defective by Design? http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/ The personal web site of Brendon J. Wilson, a software developer living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Fri, 16 May 2008 03:05:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Kevin Walton http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-158121 Kevin Walton Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:45:23 +0000 http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-158121 I went through the same process last year when I was told my Quicken 2004 would no longer let me download all my bank info. It still works fine though. Well, aside from the occasional hang. I went through the same process last year when I was told my Quicken 2004 would no longer let me download all my bank info. It still works fine though. Well, aside from the occasional hang.

]]> By: Brendon J. Wilson http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-154223 Brendon J. Wilson Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:03:02 +0000 http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-154223 Ron - I'm sorry, but I just don't buy this explanation. I see no sign of any dramatic difference in functionality between the versions - nor any reason that the file format used to download the data from the bank would have changed. I mean, what data is there to transfer? A dollar value, a currency descriptor, a description of transaction, and possibly a category. I see no indication that the functionality has changed in any fashion that would require a new file format. Besides - the file is downloaded from the bank, not Quicken. So shouldn't it be my bank telling me which versions they will support? I think it's more likely that Intuit is also providing the software to the banks, and hence is probably forcing upgrades on them too. David - (disclosure: David is a friend from my PGP Corp. days) - actually I did try Mint! It seemed nice, has a very clean UI design; however, it lacks the ability to track investments. Unfortunately, I just moved back to Canada, and so I've had to abandon it until your empire expands northwards. ;-) Ron - I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy this explanation. I see no sign of any dramatic difference in functionality between the versions - nor any reason that the file format used to download the data from the bank would have changed. I mean, what data is there to transfer? A dollar value, a currency descriptor, a description of transaction, and possibly a category. I see no indication that the functionality has changed in any fashion that would require a new file format.

Besides - the file is downloaded from the bank, not Quicken. So shouldn’t it be my bank telling me which versions they will support? I think it’s more likely that Intuit is also providing the software to the banks, and hence is probably forcing upgrades on them too.

David - (disclosure: David is a friend from my PGP Corp. days) - actually I did try Mint! It seemed nice, has a very clean UI design; however, it lacks the ability to track investments. Unfortunately, I just moved back to Canada, and so I’ve had to abandon it until your empire expands northwards. ;-)

]]> By: David Michaels http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-153932 David Michaels Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:57:56 +0000 http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-153932 Hey Brendon! Quicken notoriously does things to try to get users to upgrade and hence pay for their software again. I recommend using Mint.com as a free online alternative. And we put a lot of focus on making the UI elegant and as effortless as possible. -David (full disclosure: I work for Mint) Hey Brendon!

Quicken notoriously does things to try to get users to upgrade and hence pay for their software again. I recommend using Mint.com as a free online alternative. And we put a lot of focus on making the UI elegant and as effortless as possible.

-David (full disclosure: I work for Mint)

]]> By: Ron Rodarte http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-153727 Ron Rodarte Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:06:04 +0000 http://www.brendonwilson.com/blog/2008/02/25/quicken-defective-by-design/#comment-153727 Hello Brendon, the actual reason for the Quicken change is the type of file that is transferable into the Quicken program has changed with the times. The Quicken of 2004 is not like the Quicken of 2008 in that advances in file transfer systems allowing increased functionality for the transfer of datum from your bank to your Quicken account have become critical and teh old file tralsfer systems, if used at all at your bank, will not be used much longer or may only be used by a few banks by choice. As well, we all have fond programs that just become too tedious for the program writers and security personnel to keep finding ways to strongbox the data - it just doesn't get easier as the years go on and the programs are hacked away at until the engines just don't do it anymore. Thus the newer programs and the "sayonara" to four year old programs and tech support for the old dogs. Which, by the way, tech dogs age one power of ten faster than biological dogs, which age pretty fast any way. Invest thirty bucks for a basic Quicken update, you can save money sometimes with online specials and store specials almost all year round. Sometimes the dog just won't go for a walk, so let it sleep. Buy a new Quicken. Cheers Hello Brendon, the actual reason for the Quicken change is the type of file that is transferable into the Quicken program has changed with the times. The Quicken of 2004 is not like the Quicken of 2008 in that advances in file transfer systems allowing increased functionality for the transfer of datum from your bank to your Quicken account have become critical and teh old file tralsfer systems, if used at all at your bank, will not be used much longer or may only be used by a few banks by choice.
As well, we all have fond programs that just become too tedious for the program writers and security personnel to keep finding ways to strongbox the data - it just doesn’t get easier as the years go on and the programs are hacked away at until the engines just don’t do it anymore. Thus the newer programs and the “sayonara” to four year old programs and tech support for the old dogs. Which, by the way, tech dogs age one power of ten faster than biological dogs, which age pretty fast any way.
Invest thirty bucks for a basic Quicken update, you can save money sometimes with online specials and store specials almost all year round.
Sometimes the dog just won’t go for a walk, so let it sleep. Buy a new Quicken.
Cheers

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