Slashdot Mirror
Intuit Drops DRM from Future Products
MisterKoffee writes "ExtremeTech has a story about Intuit dropping Product Activation and Digital Rights Management for most of its future products, including TurboTax, in response to a customer backlash."
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If your customers threaten you enough, you'll eventually lose bad schemes like DRM.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
Their DRM was so potentially dangerous it was silly. Good to see that they are pulling back from their stance. I don't see microsoft taking the hint, though.
...you print FOUR times total!
I usually need at least that many times because of spotting errors and fixing them up!
Good job Intuit! If this garbage is gone then I WILL purchase your product again.
TurboTax 2003: The Quickening, starring Sean Connery as the dead-but-not-really DRM engineer who must again protect Connor from having his head (Tax-)Cut off./
It's all well and good hoping that other companies will follow their lead, but unfortunately some companies can afford to hold out on DRM until their customers are forced to accept it; though Intuit may have gone out of business from the customer backlash if they had kept this up, the same may not be true for other companies.
Note to M1-ers: a curt but otherwise insightful message is not "Flamebait" or "Troll".
Thank goodness enough people got pissed about this. Intuit justified the DRM scheme by exaggerating their software losses. They said they sold x copies of TurboTax, yet 2x tax returns were filed using their software, implying that piracy cut their sales in half. They didn't mention how someone might legally do their own taxes and their mom's taxes on the same piece of software.
Ironically, H&R Block, the main benificiary of the consumer ire towards Intuit, is considering adding DRM to their TaxCut software for next year.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
You won't see Microsoft take a hint from Intuit or anyone else. They're far beyond the level of market share where they have to concern themselves with trivialities like consumer satisfaction.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
"Adding digital-rights-management software to the company's tax preparation neither paid off financially in attracting new customers, nor in consumer satisfaction, Intuit spokesman Scott Gulbransen said."
Just how was adding DRM supposed to attract customers and increase customer satisfaction? This sounds distinctly like a marketing/public relations spin attempt.
--Ben
This is excellent news for the paying customers of Intiut products. Unfortunately, this is probably excellent news for software pirates everywhere.
I believe Intuit may see a drop in the sales of TurboTax next year if they remove product activation. Around small offices, I know that the software would be passed around like a bad cold if they didn't have to register the software to actually print out their taxes.
Effective copy protection -- and frankly, theirs was pretty darn effective, compared to most -- at this point has to be intrusive to actually work.
The only way around it would be to patch the code to prevent the lookup, and that's more work than your average person is willing to do.
Theirs certainly was intrusive. Aside from the possible damage to my machine from questionable tactics such as boot-sector munging, their policy of requiring only a single PC being able to use the software is the biggest real objection.
I have multiple PC's at home. I do most of my work in the living room, but it would be nice to be able to alternately work on my taxes from the upstairs office. No can do, without a second license. At least Micro$oft's Activation method lets you have two copies in most cases.
If they really want effective copy protection, the product should come with a USB dongle. That's still annoying, because it may cause you to go out and get a hub and still use your other USB devices at the same time, but I'd live with that.
Would it be fair to then hand my USB dongle to my buddy so he can do his taxes? I'd say yes -- because I would not be able to use it while he has it. Intuit would probably say no. On the other hand, my buddy would probably be more likely to go out and get his own copy for next year.
Ooh! And give a discount to those who have last years' key!
That contrasts with their current policy of offering early versions to registered users, and a price usually $20 higher than BestBuy will have just after XMas.
Design for Use, not Construction!
If you include DRM -- you will sink like a lead balloon. The customers have spoken. Now, we just need to turn the heat up on Microsoft. Why wasn't their a backlash like this for Microsoft? People need to tell companies that they won't stand for this type of behavior. Let's hope that Microsoft is taking notes. Palladium is going to have the same problems as Intuit did.
This is a perfect case of a company bending to the demands of its customers. Intuit is probably not going to kill DRM though. Any idiot can tell that making a product naked before the world will make it much easier to pirate. Probably Intuit will come up with a different way to enforce the license on its software, perhaps something like Microsoft's Product Activation or something equally intrusive. At least they're not dancing in my boot sector any more.
This is great, but for a different reason. They're differentiating between those who pay, and those who don't. Those who pay, don't get the DRM. That's very nice. Those who don't, (demo, marketing versions), get it, and can't get rid of it. If this convinces people to pay, without inhibiting them in any way that really matters (especially paying customers), great! This is FINALLY a good application of DRM!
They expected to see sales growth by adding product activation? I want some of whatever they're smoking.
They lost my money and my future business because of the tax software registration/lock down fiasco. They showed the software industry about how much the general public will take in terms of software liscensing.
I'm shocked that the so called backlash has caused Intuit to do this. It flies in the face of yesterday's earnings news. According to the news Intuit sales on its tax preparation software increased dramatically over the same period last year. My assumtion being that the copy protection was indeed effective and caused many more people than usual to fork out their $14~$35.
This Slashdot story comes as a real shock after yesterdays market news. I'd really like to know some more accurate details on the decision.
They've already lost me as a customer. I will not be returning, due to their lack of respect for me.
There are other tax software vendors, and lots of other financial packages, and I will continue to look to their competitors. It's not like their software is far and away the best out there, and I'm forced to use it.
Am I the only person who feels that this entire argument should be moot? The IRS is perfectly capable of allowing consumers to file online tax returns. Several states, including DC (my home is in the district) allow online tax forms to be filled out. All are quite advanced, allowing deductions and the proper calculations to take mere seconds. Most are relatively error-free.
The IRS though, caving to groups like Intuit and full-service prepares like H&R Block, has taken the novel approach of allowing people to submit taxes online, but only if approved through a private company. Yes, there are a few folks who can use telefile, but for anyone making any decent wages, there's no free equivalent to telefile for federal forms. I'm don't itemize my deductions, yet even taking the standard deduction makes it "impossible" to use telefile.
This is one area that the government could step in and provide a useful service for free, just as the states have done so. There's no reason for them not to, except for frantic lobbying by certain interests.
They're far beyond the level of market share where they have to concern themselves with trivialities like consumer satisfaction.
This just goes to show that companies like Microsoft are short-lived in the grand scheme of things. Intuit responds to customers to survive as a business...it really shouldn't be any different for Microsoft. It's just that, for Microsoft, it is a matter of long-term survival, otherwise they will simply burn up in their arrogance after just a few more years.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
There constant marketing to me and cross-marketing over the years already let me know Intuit viewed me as a profit center not a valued customer.
This DRM silliness was the straw that broke my back. I tried H&R blocks software and found no real difference. Now H&R has me as a customer. And, I strongly frightened my family and friends awy from TurboTax.
The big problem is that Intuit, H&R et al aren't bound by the same sacrosanct statutes as the IRS. So, there is no legel provision stopping them from selling/giving away your person informaiton and your income statements.
With them treating me as a profit center (as opposed to a customer) I have lost faith that they're not (at least capable of) storing and selling my info either when I use electronic filing or when the software silently phones home.
I always accepted that such behaviour was technically possible, but not something they would do, until the DRM coupled with excessive cross-marketing.
My relationship with them was based on trust and now they've lost that.
I'm one of those people who protested to Intuit. I had purchased the software, so I used it, but never again.
While I am very glad they have seen the light, there is still their implicit accusation that every single one of their customers is a thief (which, IMHO, is what DRM implies). I'm glad they're dropping DRM, but they should be groveling to their customers. Until they do, I'll be buying from their competitors (that don't use DRM, of course). Intuit should be made to feel pain, and I mean deep hurting where it counts, their bottom line. While the RIAA and MPAA are out there making examples of people, it is time we made an example of Intuit. Despite this turnaround, they should be made an example to the whole corporate world that technologies of control are unacceptable to consumers. If Intuit's revenue were to drop 50%, believe me, it will chill the market for DRM products.
Here's what I suggest if you, like me, are a user of Intuit software:
1. If you are a TurboTax user, switch to a competitor next year (one that doesn't use DRM either).
2. If you are a Quicken user, either switch to something else, MoneyDance, GNUCash, etc., or at least DO NOT UPGRADE. If you seriously think about it, what could a new version do for you that the current one doesn't?
Hit 'em. Hurt 'em. Teach 'em a lesson.
No more Intuit products for me. And I have NEVER copied a single product of theirs. EVER. In fact, that's why I'm so angry with them.
Software companies that offer real value for money have little need to resort to copy protection. It's the ones that don't that always wind up resorting to nonsense like copy protection. But, of course, the copy protection lowers the value of their product even more, which simply makes the decision to jump to a competitor even easier. Even Microsoft is starting to see this.
Something tells me that Intuit isn't going to see continued growth and profits next year, though.
I'm glad to see that Intuit finally came to their senses. Too bad they did it so late, as I've already switched to H & R Block's TaxCut. Now all my data has been switched over, I see no reason to go back. Who should I support: The company that changed it's mind about screwing me, or the company that never tried to screw me in the first place?
The tragedy is that anyone with half a brain could have told them their scheme wouldn't work. Moreover, they've aliented not only millions of potential customers, but millions of formerly loyal customers as well. I had used MacinTax (the Mac version of TurboTax) for seven to ten years. Now, unless H&R Block does something stupid or discontinues the product, I have no compelling reason to switch back.
It's good to see Intuit come to it's senses, but the damage is already done.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Another reason why copy protection will never really exist.
Don't you just love the way they call it "copy protection", rather than "copy prevention", a more accurate term?
The reasons why are clear - "protection" makes it sound like a feature that the customer will benefit from, whereas "prevention" makes it more obvious to the average Joe that it's not their interests that are being protected but that of the software/CD/whatever vendor.
Yes, I respect a company's (or an individual's) rights to prevent me from mass redistribution of their work but, where the copy prevention mechanism is sufficiently complex as to require user interaction and/or impacts on reasonable customer expectations, I think it would be more honest if the relevant details were made clear up front so that customers could make more honestly informed decisions.
I'm not just thinking about the DRM used by Intuit here but of DRM in all shapes and sizes. A prominent warning on the box that a software product may require the user to do x, y and z in order to work properly, or that a "CD" does not adhere to established standards and thus won't work in any PC, Mac, games console, most in-car stereos or any newer hifi system that is sufficiently advanced (and why this is so) would be more preferable than the current situation.
A tiny, obscure little message in 10 point font hidden on the reverse of the packaging somewhere near the copyright notification just doesn't cut it. If companies are really interested in the rights of the consumer (which is something that they always say but rarely ever show) isn't honesty up front the least that we can expect from them?
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
intuit and complained, you should notify them and let them know you appreciate there removal of drm.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Their total sales went up, but I recall reading that their Market Segment Share (how they did relative to competitive products) went down. So More people used software to do their taxes this year, so the pie was bigger, but Intuit got a smaller percentage of the pie. While total sales are important, MSS is JUST and if not MORE important. Here's a referance. Intuit wants to stopp the loss in MSS.
I still had to send the IRS my W2 forms when I filed online (the only time) they made me send my W2 forms in anyways. But if I filed by phone they took my voice as my signature, at least that was the IRS' answer when asked. Never once did the file by phone ask you to speak, it was touch tone the whole way, a mute could use it. Whats the point of going electronic if you can't go electronic? ALL federal tax's should be freely doable on their website.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
If I'd known about this DRM problem (and believe me, it was a problem) before we bought Turbo Tax 2002, I'd have used TaxCut 2002 instead. But frankly, this is just the straw that broke the camel's back. Intuit treats loyal customers like idiots, sending us CDs that cost us full price to activate when frigg'n Safeway sells Turbo Tax with a rebate so the real cost is just $10. Plus we file electronically for free where my wife works. But Turbo Tax won't print the required form for electronic filing until you pay $10 to use Intuit's "service." Fuck that shit, we're through with Intuit.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
I wonder if US/Canadian tax software is something more than an plain electronic form
The annoying opinion of an drooling anti-Microsoft linux geek?
It correlates with one of the Liberatarian things ESR says that actually makes sense. Monopolies are unstable in a free marketplace, because, eventually, people will find new options or new ways of doing things. Microsoft can piss off only so many people and so many nations before, well, they either wise up or go out of business completely.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
If you file paperwork, the IRS is required to keep a copy of everything you send them. So every year, I send them the majority of what they would request during an audit, bank records, etc.
I've used software to prepare my return, but always file by mail. That way, they have more to deal with. I am not about to pay, to go through a private company for a filing. If the IRS makes it simple to file digitally, then I might ease up on them. Right now I say Choke 'em on paperwork.
I used to wonder what was so holy about a silent night, now I have a child.
"In addition, we didn't get the revenue and profit growth we expected."
I think they'd be trying to find a way to keep DRM while resolving it's problems if their bottom line had been better. I don't think it's as much about the backlash as we'd like to believe.
Overall, the experience was positive. We used different services, but both services had the usual wizard-like walkthrough, error-checking, etc.. And we both got our refunds in short order.
I'm now recommending online filing to everyone who asks. It can be significantly less expensive (depending on the service) and you don't have to deal with the DRM issues.
I read them the riot act about this via email. I finally recieved this reply today ..
Dear Valued Customer:
In response to your comments on the implementation of product activation technology in tax year 2002 TurboTax® software, I wanted to let you know that Intuit will discontinue product activation in next year's TurboTax desktop products purchased at retail or direct from Intuit.
We are absolutely committed to listening and learning from our customers. We clearly need to better understand all of our customers' tax preparation needs and how they use TurboTax.
While we remain committed to protecting our intellectual property, going forward, we will only introduce digital rights management technologies that maximize customer experience and preserve customer satisfaction.
Again, thanks for your feedback.
Regards,
Tom Allanson, Sr. Vice President
TurboTax
Well - they saved me as a paying and happy customer!
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
While the QNX stuff is generally of excellent quality the FlexLM thing is a persistent source of problems. Installation and upgrade have never gone smoothly, with obscure services not starting or being misconfigured by the installer, client authentication going wrong more times than it should (i.e. ever), and occasional file-locking problems that require a reboot. At least in my case, licence management seems to generate as much traffic with the QNX support folks as does their actual product (host and target) in its entirety.
Worryingly, the licence is bound specifically to one licence server. I _imagine_ that if the machine (a laptop) were destroyed, lost, or updated, then there would be some means whereby I could persuade them to issue another licence, but it's bound to be a sticky point.
I wouldn't care if everything worked properly and transparently, but it doesn't. My vendor is essentially treating me like a thief and simultaneously making himself look like a bozo (which he isn't - the rest of the QNX stuff is great).
On the last occasion it took several days to resolve the licence manager issues - had this been at a more critical time then this would have been a dealbreaker. It leaves me with a rather bitter taste in my mouth, and I'd think twice before recommending QNX to another client, purely for this reason.
So is their bizantine DRM saving them money, or costing them? I think Intuit can answer that for them.
## W.Finlay McWalter ## http://www.mcwalter.org ##
.. they said that though they've taken it out, they might put it back in in the future if they felt they needed to.
Obviously they WANTED to keep the DRM, but the market pressure forced them to do otherwise. They said that there was no financial incentive to keep the DRM in the product. We have to assume that their interest in DRM was driven by other concerns, since as they've taken it out and said that they might put it back in in the same breath. Evidently some of the people at that company are still strongly in favor of DRM, or this somewhat ambiguous statement wouldn't have been made in the first place.
To those people, the consumers of the world have an announcement of our own to make: "DRM is poisonous to future sales. Don't put it in your products, don't use it, don't even hint at it, because we're not buying it!"
Well, looking through my tax software that I have purchased and deducted on my return every year since 1999..
1999 - TurboTax
2000 - TurboTax
2001 - TurboTax
2002 - TaxCut
Its nice to see that Intuit is talking about not using the DRM software next year. I've always wondered if the less expensive TaxCut software was equivalent in quality to the TurboTax software. Since the DRM was implemented this year, I had an incentive besides price to check it out. So I did. As an added bonus, the TaxCut Platinum Home and Business is half the price of the equivalent TurboTax product. However, now that I've switched to TaxCut I think I just may stick with TaxCut. To be honest the TurboTax software made me feel more comfortable, and the final check on my taxes did seem more thorough and helpful. I'm glad Intuit seems to be listening to its customers by not repeating the same mistake again, but since I've already switched I have less incentive to switch back.
JOhn
Campaign for Liberty
Haven't we already talked about the difference in power between a company with a monopoly on the market and one that is in a competitive market?
I'm a die-hard GNU/Linux and Free Software advocate (even to the point of occasionally prefixing "linux" with "GNU"), but seriously, what alternative to Microsoft exists in the marketplace?
The home user gets a copy of Windows on the PC s/he buys through virtually every common outlet. (Wal-Mart on line offers Linux based PCs, but not in their stores yet). The games they want to run are Windows-only.
In business, it is hard to find OEMs pushing Linux for desktop machines. Sure, you could go to one of the Linux-friendly VARs, but most of them aren't geared up to provide sales and support to large corporations.
I'm not saying this situation is forever. Linux is gaining ground in all markets. But, for the present, Microsoft still has their effective monopoly power. They're strongarming the motherboard OEMs into implementing Palladium. They'll have it in a future version of Windows. And what choice will consumers have? There won't be a choice. And that, my friends, is what monopolies and cartels do.
A plan for consumer friendly computing:
1. Educate. Talk to your friends about DRM and what it means.
2. Agitate. Join the EFF. Write your congressional delegation. Boycott companies (like Intuit) that use DRM.
3. Have integrity. Don't violate copyright. Don't copy software illegally. Don't copy music illegally. Don't copy anything illegally. This is the least popular thing I have to say, but it is IMPORTANT. Every copy is bullet in the other side's arsenal. Evey copy is an argument for them to push legislation that takes away our freedoms. We must not be hypocrites if we want to have the moral ground to expose their hypocrisy.
4. Exercise the rights you have. Rip every single one of your CDs to mp3 or ogg files. Copy them onto every kind of media you have. Make use of your fair use rights. Return hardware that doesn't let you do this. Return (or better, don't buy) copy protected media. Even if that Macrovision protected DVD is your favorite movie (here you are hampered by the fact that products are not labeled adequately -- that's where writing congress comes in -- lobby for consumer protection laws. Our opoonents have lobbyists -- be one yourself for our side. Believe me, letters make a difference).
5. Talk. (Actually a variation on item 1, but it is really important, so I'll repeat it). Spread these ideas. Put up a web site. Join in onine discussions here and elsewhere. Get the "idea" of digital freedom into the popular conciousness at every opportunity. True, this isn't slavery or Jim Crow, but this is a civil liberties issue, and it is time we started drawing people's attention to it.
Intuit responds to customers to survive as a business...it really shouldn't be any different for Microsoft.
In SOVIET RUSSIA, customers respond to COMPANIES.
Microsoft has put themselves into a position that they no longer have to respond to customers - customers respond to them, end users, OEMs and third-party software authors alike. New DirectX versions (among other things) drive the video card market. New Windows versions drive new versions of other software, both MS and otherwise. New licenses on MS products drive system costs. Having a ninety-something percent market share will do that.
Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
They lost me as a customer. Taxcut did just as well for me and I have no reason to go back to TT from Intuit.
BC
You know, unless you have a small business or some other complicated feature on your tax return, it's pretty easy to do your own taxes by hand. For a normal wage slave with a T4 or two and normal deductions (tuition, RRSPs, etc), doing it yourself doesn't take much longer than following Quicktax's interview process.
I'd used Quicktax for several years before this one, and I decided to skip it because of the restrictions in this year's edition, and because I was curious as to whether the software actually saved any time. As it turned out, the software would have saved me about forty-five minutes over the course of doing returns for my wife and myself (from what I recall from last year with Quicktax).
Now, both telefiling and efiling are free, but telefiling takes a lot longer, since you have to enter in the data from a bunch of lines by hand. So add another fifteen minutes extra to the total to telefile. Since I don't make more than $30/hour, I figure I came out ahead doing them myself, and I got my refund just as quickly as someone who'd efiled.
Intuit responds to customers to survive as a business
They have to because there is competition in the tax prep business. The desktop and office product business does not. I believe going into this, Intuit truely felt they could bully the customers a little bit and get a way with it do to the market share they had in the past and its close tie in with other products used by customers throughout the year. They now see their grip was not as tight as they thought.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
It correlates with one of the Liberatarian things ESR says that actually makes sense. Monopolies are unstable in a free marketplace, because, eventually, people will find new options or new ways of doing things. Microsoft can piss off only so many people and so many nations before, well, they either wise up or go out of business completely.
I have always said that a free market/capitalist system is a self regulating system. I *know* MS will lose marketshare and be a shadow of its former self in 10 years because EVERY other monopoly has done the same. IBM was busted for monopolistic policies in the 70s. By the time it was over, IBM did more damage to itself in the marketplace than the courts did. Now, they are a responsible corporation, perhaps party due to the fact that they have been humbled in the past. They are even the biggest corporate contributor to OSS now.
The self correcting aspects may not be instant, or even fast, but it happens. Most 'monopolies' from 30 years ago are no longer, courts or no courts. Xerox, AT&T, all US car makers combined, the big 3 tv networks, CNN, etc. They are all still viable businesses that at one time had near or total monopolies. The market place decided they should no longer be, NOT the courts.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
I googled for the name of the installed program and didn't look close enough. Use the open source one instead.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
Right, but I think they misread the consumer response, which is unfortunate. They think people are telling them to get copy-protection off their products. Actually, most of us (I think) were saying, "Stay off our boot sector."
Problem there is that those of us who don't like software that screws with boot sectors and AV protection get lumped in with software pirates in their eyes. They've said that they think there were ulterior motives behind the "no bootsector" complaints, sort of in the same way that pot smokers support the hemp fabric industry - and it ain't because they have any vested interest in rope.
It would be nice for somebody like the EFF or whatever to really sit down with companies like Intuit and convince them that most of us don't at all have a problem with copy protection that doesn't reduce the functionality of the software or cause security/stability problems.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
When I first read the headline I saw " Intel Drops DRM" and I was about to do the Happy Dance on Palladium's grave.
Well, let's hope we still get to see that headline.
Someone you trust is one of us.
By their actions, they called me a theif.
When I complained, they said the complaint was because I had "other interests" than using the software.
They ignored my complaints for months.
They reserve the right to do it again if they want.
Now why would I give my money to someone that insults and ignores me? Why would they expect me to?
Nope. I'm gone for good.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
After very vocally bailing out from TurboTax this year (several phone calls to express my displeasure, and informing them I'd think about coming back when they removed DRM), I chose TaxCut as the next best thing based on many writeups and reviews of various other products. I use the Home & Business version, to handle my home business Schedule C.
I'm sorry to report that when it comes to usability and user interface, TurboTax has TaxCut licked, no matter how you look at it. Just a short list:
- Installation and "automatic" update was fairly painful, in that the state form didn't integrate well and it took a couple cycles thru before everything was working right.
- One feature actually took a tech support call to H&R Block, and manually editing a setting file, to get working right.
- the TaxCut interview was a marginal copy of TurboTax's rather slick, and easily readable version.
- The error check complained about things that were not errors, just things that were legitimately missing from various paperwork I had (it apparently wanted me to make up an address to satisfy it, although the W2 had no information where it THOUGHT there should be some - sorry, I'm not going to fudge info like that for the IRS!)
- Every time I saved and came back later after digging up some additional documentation, to even GET BACK to the "ready to file" screen I had to run thru about 30 mouse clicks to questions I'd already answered, and put up with the return error check all over again (including several "errors" that were NOT errors).
- The help functions stunk. There was no real context-sensitive help for tax questions; in TurboTax when you ask for help, you get specific details about that topic or line of the form from numerous documents. In TaxCut you only got help for the entire form, and have to read thru the help to find the relevant portions. None of the help documents were really keyed to the specific line of the tax form.
- Working with the actual forms was non-intuitive, and I was uncertain what would happen at some points - would this form be added, or could I just look at it to see what's there... etc.
- Many more irritations.
Just to be less biased, I should mention that there were a few things I liked better. For example, it was easier to get thru some interview areas where multiple questions could be answered at once, versus TurboTax's rather nitnoid one-thing-at-a-time interview. Despite the install/update/fix the install frustrations, the installation was faster and seemed to leave less crud on my disk. Also, many of the interview questions did a better job of explaining what the question really meant, and a couple times, I changed my answer from previous years because I finally understood the real thrust of the tax form's question. Still, these were small sparks in an otherwise frustrating experience.
As a result, it's going to be a very difficult decision next year. I want (badly want) to spank Intuit for this almost unforgivable fiasco, and really want them to suffer for a couple years because of this. They need to focus on a good product. But on the flip side, they DO already have a good product that by almost all accounts is years ahead of the competition. And furthermore, I want to reward them for listening to (and better yet, acting on) the complaints.
So "what to do, what to do..." - do I stay mad at them, or forgive and move on?
I'm almost hoping that Intuit pulls some stunt again this winter, like trying to sneak in something a bit less obvious but still too DRM-ish, or that H&R Block does add some DRM to TaxCut, to help make my decision for me.
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music
Actually, IBM was NOT busted for being a monopoly (in the US that is) in the 70's; they just spent a really long time in court before the whole thing was eventually dismissed. People moaned and whined about what a big bad monopoly IBM was until they lost control of the PC market and everyone forgot about the horrors we'd all suffer if someone didn't do something.
The same thing is gonna happen to MS; it's just a matter of time.
Jared
Dear Valued Customer:
In response to your comments on the implementation of product activation technology in tax year 2002 TurboTax(R) software, I wanted to let you know that Intuit will discontinue product activation in next year's TurboTax desktop products purchased at retail or direct from Intuit.
We are absolutely committed to listening and learning from our customers. We clearly need to better understand all of our customers' tax preparation needs and how they use TurboTax.
Okay, here comes the fun part:
While we remain committed to protecting our intellectual property, going forward, we will only introduce digital rights management technologies that maximize customer experience and preserve customer satisfaction.
Sounds like this still leaves them the option of going with another form of DRM. Doesn't sound like a total retraction to me.
Again, thanks for your feedback.
Regards,
Tom Allanson, Sr. Vice President
TurboTax
So, I wonder what parasite program we can expect to see for the 2003 tax year program? I can hardly wait (...to buy Tax Cut again).
DT
Is this thing on? Hello?
history anyone? do they really teach only 30 years backwards in the backyard-geek-education-system?
standard oil trust ring a bell? dissolved on it's own because people found better ways to do it? NO. other examples exist.
the courts are supposed to keep the monopolies from forming all together, not acting when it's too late. several big mergers have been called off in recent years because of this (they couldn't get permits because it would have created a too big force on the market)or rearranged so that the merging companies sold off certain partions of their companies to not become too big. smart companies try to play nice and not become so out of control that they get chopped up of course, and generally try not to break laws(shocking as it is it's not ok for companies to try to twist the law as far as it will go for profit).
theres places for necessity monopolies.. on small scale(public services for example). but theres places where it hurts the economy and that's why the laws are like that. it was tried and sentenced to be a bad idea.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Cyno,
( $money - $tax_bracket_cutoff_amount) * $tax_percentage = $tax Subtract the amount you paid from the amount you owe. But somewhere in there you need to subtract the taxes you paid to your state, etc. Its really quite simple.
I'm glad you can file a 1040-EZ, where what you say is entirely true.
But in many cases, "the amount you owe" is not a simple calculation. Depending on your situation, you may be able to deduct your mortgage interest, various other expenses relating to business activities, and other things.
Then, of course, if you are 1099ed, you have to add that income to your gross, and you'll may to pay additional Social Security and Medicare because of the 1099ed income.
I suppose you don't have a landline or have cable running in your market?
Legal monopolies, and in the cases of Bellsouth and Comcast (YMMV), there's not a humble or self-correcting thing about 'em. Debatably, things have gotten worse in those industries, and I'd wager it's worse in the overwhelming majority of markets in the States. Much, much smaller scale than MS's near-*global* stranglehold, but it's parallel nonetheless.
Some industries *don't* self-correct after monopoly breakups (Bell Di/Trivesiture comes to mind immediately), abuses or an overwhelming amount of pissed off customers.
The software industry may be on an alternate track than old-school industry as well.