Comments on on...: Has Inquisitor gone scurrilous?

I do understand your probs with him... Now he is n...

2009-11-18T14:48:39.019Z

I do understand your probs with him... Now he is not updating inquisitorX anymore for Safari 4 on Snow leopard. I'm starting to search for a good alternative...

I wouldn't say he's done something bad 'once'. A s...

2008-09-25T18:29:54.816+01:00

I wouldn't say he's done something bad 'once'. A software mistake of his also messed me up.
I'd paid for the program, but he never answered an email, helped, or took any responsibility. He could have EASILY fixed my problem, but didn't.
I'd say: stay away. Why get burned again?

I only use Inquisitor for custom search engines wi...

2008-09-24T21:57:59.076+01:00

I only use Inquisitor for custom search engines within the Safari search bar.

If Dave wants to make money that's fine with me. I've paid for Acquisition, Xtorrent and Inquisitor in the past.

I have iChatted him once or twice and sent him a couple of emails. He is curt, obnoxious and rude.

He screwed me too. I bought Acquisition, and then ...

2008-05-11T20:45:08.842+01:00

He screwed me too. I bought Acquisition, and then mistakenly downloaded and tried to install a newer version that wouldn't run on my computer. Unfortunately it wiped out my old paid copy. I wrote him several times, but he told me it was my fault, and he wasn't going to do anything about making an old copy available.
In short- despite having paid for it, I have no functioning software. Not a happy camper.

I have to say that I have NEVER gotten a response ...

2008-01-10T11:05:31.857Z

I have to say that I have NEVER gotten a response from ANY e-mails that I have sent. I had to go to my credit card company and have them refund my money after a 30 day stretch where he never replied to a single support request!
I'm OK with the whole Inquisitor issue my issues are with how he treats people that have PAID FULL PRICE for his software and he then leaves you in the cold.....
David.... PLEASE IMPROVE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT.... Or people will get wise and bypass your programs.....

@jamie - My bad experiences with Watanabe weren't ...

2008-01-10T07:33:11.815Z

@jamie - My bad experiences with Watanabe weren't because of anything `pissy` I did or asked. I reported bugs or problems using software (Acquisition) or with licensing and his responses were either insulting or standoffish. I could understand it if I was not a paid user of Acquisition - you know someone that used the app with the re-occurring nag-notice. But I have paid for his apps, even paid for Inquisitor. And my experience with him is not unusual or unique.

I agree he makes nice apps - or at least I like them when they work.

Unfortunately for Mr. Watanabe, it's not a bunch of people ganging up on him. In this case, where there is smoke, there is fire. And if anyone needs to grow up, it is Watanabe.

Thank you for letting the community know that Inqu...

2008-01-10T05:41:00.460Z

Thank you for letting the community know that Inquisitor covertly participates in affiliate programs.

Mr. Watanabe should disclose this fact on the Inquisitor web site or in the software itself. I'm surprised he doesn't understand that secretly messing with search results is a problem.

I have no problem with Inquisitor's participation in the affiliate programs per se. Mr. Watanabe deserves remuneration for his great software. It's the lack of transparency that's the problem.

Oops, to make it clear, that's a patch against the...

2008-01-10T05:35:21.085Z

Oops, to make it clear, that's a patch against the InquisitorCore binary, which typically resides in

/Library/InputManagers/Inquisitor/Inquisitor.bundle/Contents/Resources/InquisitorCore.bundle/Contents/MacOS

It's probably a bad idea to trust random strangers on the internet like me patching something like this. A compromised Safari input manager hack could probably kill your dog. If you're nervous you might want to apply the patch and compare the changes in something like HexFiend yourself. It only NULs out some terms and URLs, x's out some affiliate strings, and changes an amazon string to be obvious it's been inserted (from when I was testing it), and changes the Inquisitor text to Search.

I've got an xdelta patch that kills off the insert...

2008-01-10T05:25:45.916Z

I've got an xdelta patch that kills off the inserted results and affiliate strings in URLs. It also changes the "Inquisitor" text you get by default in all of your Safari windows in the search field, it just has "Search" now. Mostly a personal annoyance and I wouldn't call that part evil at all.

inquisitorevilbegone

It's made with xdelta3, usage works like this:

xdelta3 -d -s old_file my_patch new_file

I gotta admit. I think half of the stuff David ha...

2008-01-10T02:57:11.903Z

I gotta admit. I think half of the stuff David has been accused of is people being pissy about misunderstandings and typical mob mentality.

Kill the guy he did something bad once! No I don't know much about it but I read about it somewhere!

Lets always assume from now on that he means something evil.

Grow up people.

He builds beautiful software. That it is built on top of open source software is of no consequence.

That he ads affiliate links to a free product doesn't is virtually a non issue.

The sense of entitlement some people have is just beyond my understanding.

He places a small (dark) note on the main page, bu...

2008-01-10T02:15:48.471Z

He places a small (dark) note on the main page, but I for one won't have it.. action: *uninstall*

1. I was one of those guys that paid $5 for Inquis...

2008-01-08T07:47:35.851Z

1. I was one of those guys that paid $5 for Inquisitor when it first came out. I was pretty pissed that Watanabe made it a free product without offering refunds to those that purchased it. Now this crap really irks me.

Yes, Inquisitor is useful and helps my browsing - no doubt. But there should be some disclosure to customers.

2. The developer, Mr. Watanabe, is a jerk. I was an early adopter and paid user of Acquisition - his first major software offering. Nearly every support email I sent him was returned with a rude response, if at all. I've had luck in pushing him with follow up emails, but his attitude has not changed even after his applications have garnered him some success.

Recently, Acquisition got a major upgrade, but no warning was made to users that they had to pay for it in the automatic upgrade notice that popped up with the software. Furthermore, the latest version wipes out your saved searches and partial downloads without warning. What kind of nonsense is this?

3. You would think that a developer with such talent would learn that support for paid customers is important and that at least a minimum of courtesy is required. Unfortunately for Mr. Watanabe, he has failed to learn this over the years.

The fact that he is potentially making money off Inquisitor searches is just further indication that Watanabe thinks of his self first, and his customers last.

Sure, every developer should make some profit from good products - we all agree with that. And Watanabe makes some nice software IMHO. But that alone doesn't justify his actions.