Dear Intuit,
I am writing this email in utter frustration. For the 5th time this week while traveling, I have had to struggle through how to enter in transfers from one account to another on the web when away from my desktop. I thought that this was my problem. In actual fact, the problem is that Intuit has not stayed apace with the 21st century.
Why is it so hard to imagine that Intuit has not released a web version of Quicken when small startups have already done so? Why is emailing, texting or using mobile web pages to enter splits and account transfers to your Quicken account not feasible? Why does it take owning a Palm (hello???) to keep your data up-to-date on-the-go? Why does
Actually, let's ask more basic questions:
- how is it that putting all of your financial data on one computer will work for the 30% of US households who have more than one computer?
- how do you expect home desktops to ever more effectively manage 7 years worth of financial data than a networked server?
- why does it COST me money to have my details synced with Quicken at Citibank when others do it for free?
Now I know the rumor is that Intuit is working on a Quicken for the web. That's not the issue. The issue is: Why is it not here already? My guess: Intuit spent one and a half years analyzing cannibalization effects of the web business (let me answer that for you: it will -- get over it!) and trying to identify a financial model for it, instead of just doing what's right for its users. They have out Microsoft'd Microsoft.
Moreover, if Intuit is working on a web version, why has it not opened up its beta site for testing by all current Quicken users? Why is it that to beta test Quicken on the web, we have to join mint.com?
You're losing me, Intuit. Years of tracking my financial progress in one software package are about to be dumped simply because you're slow, you're conservative, you're bureaucratic and you're not reflecting the needs of the very users who brought you to prominence in the first place. This user is having to switch to free websites to get the service he needs and it pains him.
Sincerely, A very disappointed and long-term Quicken user
PS In case you are not adding RSS feed generation capabilities, email notifications, email receipt capabilities where it can accept emails as alternative to transaction entries, and automatic filing of receipts and statements sent to your personal quicken.com email address, go back to the drawing board. Or for that matter, if you're not adding sharing of data across email addresses in secure ways and creating an API so that those of us with ideas to make your service better can do so, please re-think your plans. You are web 0.5 in a web 2.0 era. And unfortunately, at this point, it's what I expect.