What a liar!
$10 wasted, but more importantly, less trust in Indies.
This crowdfunding started at the end of November 2014. The APP should have been in April 2015, but now it is February 2016…
These angry comments come from the comments section of Mou on IndieGoGo, a popular crowdfunding site.
Mou is one of the earliest Markdown language editors in OS X, and after its release, it became popular with most users who use Markdown to write and document. Although The technical content of Markdown as a personal work is not particularly high, under the environment of Markdown software at that time, Mou can be regarded as excellent both in TERMS of UI and user experience. It is really a rare Markdown editor.
Very popular
For most people who started writing in Markdown, most of them started using Mous, other than writing directly in plain text editors. As a result, Mou has gained great popularity both at home and abroad. At the same time, as long as There is a theme of Markdown in various technical communities, there will be people who use the amway Mou editor. To be honest, AT the beginning, I had no idea that Mou was developed by a Chinese developer. It was not until Mou became more and more popular that we learned more about it, and various tech media reported the developer Luo Chen that I woke up from a dream.
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MouStand
Due to the popularity of Mous both at home and abroad, Rochen began to follow the example of major foreign software companies in the production of peripheral products. In April 2013, Mou unveiled a series of side products, MouStand and related Stickers, in several different specifications with prices ranging from $5 to $199. The design of series products is very careful, but also with wooden boxes to package. But Luo Chen once told some friends on social media that she was just trying to cheat foreigners out of their money.
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Transfer of OWNERSHIP of Mou
In May 2014, LUO Chen, the author of the Mou, posted a post on V2EX saying, “We want to transfer the ownership of the Mou, including the source code, logo, website and domain name, to spread.” He said because of his interest shifted again (from the previous interview and his performance can see that he is an interested many people and easily transfer), the base price of 500000 RMB for Mou to auction, at the same time, he think transfer Mou means that it will is expected to be in the hands of a solid team more active development, that is a good thing.
Unfortunately, during the seven-day auction period, no agreement was reached with any company or individual, meaning the entire auction was not sold. After the failed auction, Luo Chen said in V2EX’s summary that the failed auction encouraged him to develop Mou as a career rather than a simple interest and continue to develop it on his own.
The raise of 1.0
In September 2014, Determined to make the Mou a career, Luo launched 25. IO, a company that develops and sells software such as Toau and Smaller in addition to the Mou.
In October of the same year, Mou started crowdfunding on IndieGoGo with a goal of $20,000. The funds raised will be used to form a team and develop Mou full-time. The official version 1.0 of the Mou will be released in April 2015.
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Meanwhile, Zhihu, a Chinese online question-and-answer community, and coding. IO, a code hosting platform, both donated $5,000 each to help Luo Chen better develop the Mou.
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The crowdfunding quickly reached its target, with the Mou raising $27,334 by the end of the day, far exceeding the original goal. During this period, all the supporters told each other and also brought many friends to raise money for this project. After the successful fundraising of the project, everyone was both happy and full of expectation that the software which was pushed to the altar could meet with everyone earlier.
The raise of 2.0
A few days after this wave of crowdfunding, Luo Chen began to speak out on Twitter in November 2014, expressing his enthusiasm for the iMac and complaining about the influence of the six-year-old Macbook Pro on his Mou development process. However, Luo Chen’s self-directed performance at this time is amazing.
When he complained, he tweeted back that he wouldn’t buy him a new iMac and let him forget about it. Interspersed with other users’ responses to his offer and the Mou’s official Twitter feed. Later, luo Chen said that he would replace iMac with Mac Pro and Dell monitor, which was also rejected by @25. IO and @mou one by one, which paved the way for his next crowdfunding. Except the official number here and he are both himself.
A crowdfunding campaign to Buy Me a Mac Pro was launched on November 4, 2014, with a target of $2,999. Of course, the crowdfunding didn’t work out.
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A skip
Beautiful days are always so fast, luo Chen was still full of joy with tens of thousands of DOLLARS raised, the agreed Mou 1.0 version of the hair day so quietly came. Since I failed to catch up with the crowdfunding on IndieGoGo at that time, I was able to book the 1.0 version of Mou on the Mou page of 25. IO at half price of 15 dollars, so I showed my support and also paid this amount to Luo Chen’s account.
I was also fully expecting to experience the 1.0 version of Mou. On April 4, 2015, I kept refreshing the 25. IO website waiting for the update of the page. Instead, I was waiting for an announcement.
Mou 1.0 is a little difficult than we’ve expected, we’re still working on several issues, not sure if we can finish it at the end of this month. If we couldn’t, we have to delay, very sorry about this.
The 1.0 version of the Mou will be released in June of the same year. Donors have also expressed understanding, anyway, it is less than two months, the money is also given how to wait.
A skip
Things goes well, we’re going to release Mou 1.0 this August. The release date will be August 31. No more delay this time.
On June 27, 2015, Luo Chen and his Mou skipped the ticket again, and at the same time published the above announcement, and promised that we would not skip the ticket again. At this point, everyone still maintained their own manners. Although some people complained and cursed, most of them still expressed their willingness to see a new Mou finally meet with you.
Or jump ticket
We planned to ship Mou 1.0 on August 31, but the New OS X brings Serious Compatible Issue, we’re still working on it. Sorry for couldn’t ship it on time, We feel so guilty. We’ll update this page upon any news. Until that, please continue enjoy the free Mou 0.8.7 beta, thank you!
On August 31, 2015, the history is always surprisingly similar. Luo Chen and his Mou are still skipping tickets. He says the new OS X system caused a lot of problems and he’s still working on it. He will let you know if there is any news on the official website, but this time he did not say when the next scheduled time would be. But even if the appointment is made, I’m afraid…
Antique gold and silver collection
You must be wondering why an antique silverware collection just popped up. Luo Chen, the developer of the Mou, has since branched out into new territory and registered a Taobao shop called Antique Silverware Collection. The store sells just what it says — antiques, gold and silver, collectibles, and they’re all expensive.
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Where do you think all the crowdfunding went? I can’t figure it out anyway.
Where are the constraints for indie developers
The farce is often referred to, as good Markdown editing tools have sprung up one after another, and users who supported the Mou have migrated to other editors. The money donated is just like a meat bun beating a dog, but from another perspective, it can be regarded as the usage fee of the Mou used for so long for free.
Some people say that Indies can’t afford to get rich and move on to other things. The founder of Internet Express got caught up in warcraft and was overtaken by Thunderbolt. The author of Dash got rich and played the game for a month. Others say it’s because indie developers are low paid, which is bad for the industry, and the core is money.
In fact, some people have collected the annual income of some famous independent developers (by selling independent software), and most of them range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, while Luo Chen, who developed Mou, earned more than 50,000 dollars in 2014.
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If you ask me, it’s not about money. It’s about natural selection.
At the end
Up to now, the Mou pre-sale page of 25. IO still shows the information about the release of Mou version 1.0 on August 31, 2015, and the channel for pre-purchase at half price is still displayed. Presumably, there will still be some unsuspecting person clicking the link and paying, and all he can get is a long wait.
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