Jared,
No worries - I'm working as hard as I can to make it worth the wait. The first alpha testers seem to really enjoy the new design.
I think I was having a bad day as I had just re-read a very negative review someone named "Switchblade McGillicutty" posted regarding my book on Amazon. In addition to calling me "insecure" because I have a PhD, he apparently thinks I'm soon going to retire in the Bahamas on the massive profits from my new book by pushing BeerSmith. The guy has no idea that I've been contributing thousands of hours and pages of content (for free) to the brewing community for over 8 years now, or that I published the book at the request of a number of regular blog readers who actually wanted to have the content in print.
I offered to discuss his concerns offline with him but no reply from him at all. Very frustrating...
Brad
As someone who not only has a Ph.D. but also spends his time in the academic world pursuing and disseminating knowledge, I can tell you that I feel your pain. It's tough having to read the "critique" or "constructive" criticism of your work by people who have no idea how much time, energy, resources, sacrifice and dedication went into it (in my case its the spoiled 18-24 year old millennial who doesn't understand that you don't get an A simply for paying your tuition). I wish I could say we're all made of Teflon and all the negativity bounces right off but as a human being its tough to read what amounts to little more than anonymous hate mail from people who for whatever reason view you as the enemy despite the fact all you did was your best. I can say though, that even though I have my share of haters I also have my fans as evidenced by the "best professor ever" and "wish I could have him for every class" comments I also sometimes receive. I will say that though I don't care to read the negativity I've accepted the fact that its simply part of the job and so long as I'm doing my best there will be those that don't like the results of my effort but there will also be those that do. That certainly seems to be the truth here and again, when you publish anything, in today's connected world, having to deal with trolls and self-important, self-appointed experts is just part of the job and something you'll have to deal with. Having said that, given the number of people waiting on the edge of their seat for the newest version, I'd say you're doing a pretty good and for every negative opinion there is AT LEAST 10 that appreciate and applaud your efforts.
$0.02
