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I understand that, and I've been buying their software for at least 10+ years, starting with CandyBar. My point is, for the effort it requires, I don't see it

I understand that, and I've been buying their software for at least 10+ years, starting with CandyBar. My point is, for the effort it requires, I don't see it paying off. I would bet money that Nova will be discontinued in less than 5 years, while VS Code will not.

tra3 5y ago
If we put aside get-rich-quick options, if they are breaking even, for some value of breaking even, then why not?.. But you're right it doesn't seem to be sustainable long term with a wealth of free options available.
reaperducer 5y ago
Perhaps you and the people at Panic have different definitions of "paying off." Keeping a company afloat, bring proud of your work, working with a good group of people, and providing for one's family sound like pretty good payoffs to me. Much better than obsessing over all the things that FAANG-types talk about on HN: What "level" engineer I am, pre-counting stock options (fake money) before vesting, or worrying about whether the project I work on will be cancelled because it "only" makes $10 million profit a year.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
eyelidlessness 5y ago
It seems pretty likely they will either continue to develop Nova, or replace it with a newer app, indefinitely. They’ve been consistently shipping a code editor (Coda until 2020, now replaced with Nova) since 2007. Apart from uncharacteristically losing interest, I think the only reason they’d stop developing Nova or some spiritual successor is becoming unsustainable as a business. Fortunately for Panic, there are still a lot of Mac users who are happy to pay for quality native apps.
- lekevicius 5y ago
  Coda was quite dead before relaunch as Nova. Even if not outright discontinued, if Nova got to the stage Coda 3 was, that would not be great.
  - eyelidlessness 5y ago
    I mean, ‘they stopped releasing to go back and do it better’ doesn’t feel less dedicated.

tra3 5y ago

If we put aside get-rich-quick options, if they are breaking even, for some value of breaking even, then why not?.. But you're right it doesn't seem to be sustainable long term with a wealth of free options available.

reaperducer 5y ago

Perhaps you and the people at Panic have different definitions of "paying off." Keeping a company afloat, bring proud of your work, working with a good group of people, and providing for one's family sound like pretty good payoffs to me. Much better than obsessing over all the things that FAANG-types talk about on HN: What "level" engineer I am, pre-counting stock options (fake money) before vesting, or worrying about whether the project I work on will be cancelled because it "only" makes $10 million profit a year.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

eyelidlessness 5y ago

It seems pretty likely they will either continue to develop Nova, or replace it with a newer app, indefinitely. They’ve been consistently shipping a code editor (Coda until 2020, now replaced with Nova) since 2007. Apart from uncharacteristically losing interest, I think the only reason they’d stop developing Nova or some spiritual successor is becoming unsustainable as a business. Fortunately for Panic, there are still a lot of Mac users who are happy to pay for quality native apps.

lekevicius 5y ago
Coda was quite dead before relaunch as Nova. Even if not outright discontinued, if Nova got to the stage Coda 3 was, that would not be great.
- eyelidlessness 5y ago
  I mean, ‘they stopped releasing to go back and do it better’ doesn’t feel less dedicated.