Bartek Bargiel is an amazing person. He – a professional Java developer – became interested in the Mac and decided to learn what developing for the Mac is like. Since he was interested in David Allen’s GTD methodology too, he created iGTD, his very own task management application. iGTD quickly became the most popular free GTD-style task management application for the Mac.
Early on, we were very impressed by what he did. Even though he had a demanding day job, he was doing this all on his spare time. Yet iGTD had more features than Things did! Imagine our surprise when we discovered that Bartek was working for a company in Stuttgart – the very city where our office is based! We had to meet him…
It turned out that Bartek was actually working remotely from Poland, so meeting him wasn’t that easy after all. However, he managed to stop by our office a few months later. The guy who would eventually step through our front door turned out to be one of the nicest, most likable people you could imagine.
But before we met in person, Bartek let us know that he liked Things so much that he switched to it as his main task management application. And that he also decided to stop developing iGTD and recommend Things to his users instead. (Insert sounds of heads exploding)
We were speechless. And I don’t mean this as a figure of speech. We were literally speechless. Of course we wanted him as a member of Cultured Code! When we finally met him, he told us that developing iGTD completely on his own had become somewhat of a burden and that he would much rather work together with a team. What a wonderful coincidence. We knew we wouldn’t let him go, ever!
Bartek has since decided to quit his daytime job and come join us instead! Right now, he is in the process of helping his successor at his old company get up to speed.
So, I am very happy to finally be able to say this: Welcome Bartek! We are thrilled to have you!
Once it became apparent that Bartek would continue to work on Things instead of iGTD, we felt quite responsible for existing iGTD users. We asked Bartek what we needed to do to make Things a viable option for iGTD users. I’m pleased to say that Things 1.2 is the result of us taking his advice. He also requested that we give free Things licenses to everyone who donated to iGTD, and we were very happy to oblige! Everyone who donated will receive an email with one or more free Things licenses, making sure that the value of licenses will exceed the amount of money donated.
We are releasing our Things 1.2 “Welcome iGTD” update today. Our main goal for 1.2 was to bring keyboard support to a level iGTD power users would expect. One of the famous features pioneered by iGTD and subsequently copied by other task managers is the so-called “F-key trick”. For many supported applications, it allows you to quickly create a task with information already filled in for you. For example, in Safari, a task is created with a link to the currently viewed page added to the notes section of the to-do. With the help of Bartek, we have now integrated his F-key trick into our Quick Entry dialog.
For everyone interested in switching from iGTD to Things, Bartek also created an iGTD Importer you can use to transfer your data. You can download it from our Wiki.
Please also read the following article for more details on what is new in Things 1.2.
I’d like to close this article by thanking Bartek for all he already did for Things. He was instrumental for providing our AppleScript support in Things 1.1, making sure that everything was in place for the iGTD importer he has now provided for the 1.2 release. The Quicksilver, LaunchBar, and Google Search Bar plug-ins we released today are also his creation. Thank you Bartek!
Pinging is currently not allowed.
Wow! Before I used things I used iGTD! Loved that program a lot, but something about Things pulled me away (sorry!). Amazingly glad to hear you guys are working together now!
This is just to freaking much! I’m going to pass out from exitment!
Wow! What a nice surprise! Welcome Bartek, it’s great to have you back in the GTD-sphere.
Wow! Sounds like Bartek and Cultured Code were meant for each other!
Hahaha…Great post. I love the “sounds of heads exploding” part. ;-)
Welcome Bartek and what a great decision to get him join the team.
You guys rock.
woohoo! ;D
Respect! Welcome Bartek! I used iGTD before Things, loved the F-key trix, and now it is in Things 1.2. Holy Mother.
Rasmus,
Denmark
Loved Bartek’s iGTD. Great to hear he is joining Things crew. Thanks for the plugins and the F-key trick. I’m a keyword guy so much appreciated. Continued success.
Great news! Bartek all the best for you ;-)
The euphemistic side of EEE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish
;-)
Would be a shame not to start my post with a ‘w’ as well guys!
Sorry Pishabh ;-)
Welcome Bartek, you’ve clearly made an impression already, I’m excited to see what you guys come up with!
Cheers,
Lewis
Bang, bang, bang!
Wow, three big shots in a week–fantastic.
I’m not an iGTD user, but now i wish i was one and had donated, too =)
One question, Jürgen: when can we see a sketch of Bartek on the ‘About CC’ page? =)
Too cool! I’m a former iGTD-er as well, thrilled to see the two join forces!
Wow, this is exactly the path that brought me to Things. I started using iGTD, became addicted, but then became frustrated by the lack of updates. When Cultured Code came out with iPhone and Mac versions of Things, I switched. Glad to hear these two lineages are coming together.
Bartek, gratulacje! Rób polską wersję językową :)
When I first researched different GTD apps many months ago, I narrowed my choices down to iGTD and Things. Great to hear the creators of both apps are now all on the same team. Just remember to keep it simple and clean guys! Ease of use beats feature bloat every time!
I think it’s great that Things is now reaching out to iGTD users. Classy move guys! It’s the right thing to do
Holy Wowsers! Cultured Code and Bartek joining forces? Nothing better than that. I also used to use iGTD, and loved Bartek for his Eastern European mentality (I myself am from Hungary, and Polish and Hungarians are like two brothers). But what I mostly liked about that software, were the excessive keyboard shortcuts and the F-key trick.
I am so pleased to have both in iGTD.
I was sorry to see that Things took over iGTD as far as development was concerned, but it’s just plain AWESOME to see you guys working together!
Keep on rockin’!
to have both in *Things* – ofc.
Freaking awesome guys! I loved iGTD until Bartek got too overwhelmed. Glad to see he’s working on it’s worthy successor.
Hehehe Polish Mate :)
Polska!:D
Have fun ;d
This is definitely the best what could happen to GTD’ers on Mac. Bartek is a genius and iGTD has been far ahead of Things. Hopefully, he will help to close the gap…
Congrats Bartek! Waiting for Polish translation :).
Tak Bartku, teraz Ci nie przepuścimy. Ma być Things po Polsku ;-)
There is no greater joy than seeing companies “doing the right thing” for their associates and customers! The way you have handled the iGTD users speaks VOLUMES about the character and the quality of your company and is obviously reflected in the product you produce.
I am proud to be a customer and to be able to continue to support Cultured Code.
Welcome, Bartek!
I reluctantly made the transition from iGTD to Things last week and earlier tonight moved my last task over. Would have loved to use the tool to do it.
I think it’s great news to hear that the developer of iGTD choose Things.
Btw. If someone is interested in syncing Things between multiple macs I wrote an article about how easy it is: http://font.is/?p=1298
Great story guys, love to read about the inside of the compagny that makes this nice app. It is the 3th app that allways runs ons the computer, netx to OSX en Firefox =]
Thanks Bartek for all your past work and I am Looking forward to seeing what the marriage brings.
This makes me very happy.
Bartek is a very talented developer, as well as very friendly and responsive to his users.
I chose Things over iGTD for iPhone sync and reluctantly gave up the keyboard power of iGTD. To now have both is brilliant.
Congratulations Bartek, welcome.
Congratulations CC, well done.
Hooray! I have fond memories of iGTD, but I’m now addicted to Things. Now Bartek Bargiel is on the Cultured Code team! This looks like the start of something amazing.
While I am happy that Bartek was able to make his after-hours job into a full time business affair, I am saddened that iGTD is no longer being developed. Although you added power user features to Things, one of the features that really differentiated iGTD and made me switch back to it time and time again is the fact that it had a “Priority” color coded item.
I keep switching between Things, iGTD, and other apps, but I just understood the priority list in iGTD and it was easy way to distinguish what I am doing from what i should be doing.
As a donor to iGTD, and current user of Things, I am very pleased. Sounds like a perfect match!
Respect for Bartek! I used iGTD since 2 years and was great soft. I think that features of iGTD + simplicity, usability of Things = Things x2 :)
Congratulations Bartek, Welcome
This is great news. I love Things, so I’m cautiously excited about the idea of another great mind adding to the development. I chose Things over other GTD tools because it was the only one that didn’t require more work than it would save. But if Bartek loved Things, then I’m sure he going to help add features that make things work better, not create more work.
Congrats to everyone, I’m looking forward to the next version!
Cool. Good to hear Bartek has landed on his feet! Very please for all concerned. I had moved from iGTD to another app, but I am now frustrated by its development, particularly the iPhone app. I look forward to trying out the new version of Things – I wasn’t too fond of earlier versions… it just wasn’t iGTD! :-)
Darryl
Welcome Bartek ! Great decision have him join the team.
Damn, I should have waited one more month before switching from iGTD to Things… :-)
This is what i call serendipity =)
I’ve been an iGTD fan and best feature for me was the F-key trick. Now, I’m very happy with Things. So happy to see you guys working together!
I’m excited about the many amazing things you can do with Things but remember to keep it simple guys. This is exactly why your creation is the BEST GTD app out there.
You really are living up to your name – you are the ‘Cultured Code’ ;p
May your tribe increase!
Great news. I was using iGTD for a long time and I was waiting for iGTD2. But last week I started to move to Things because of the iPhone App. Thanks to the iGTD importer it’s now easy to import all my tasks. But I’m curious what happens to the sub-sub project items? That’s one thing I would also like to see in Things …
cool.
Now the decision which app to take (iGTD or Things) is kind of easier.
Waiting for the polish version, too
greetings from Wrocław
I was starting to get into iGTD and looked forward to using it. I am sorry, but I find the price for Things too much at USD50.
Great news.
Welcome Bartek :)
This sounds like win-win situation. I have been using iGTD for a while before migrating to Things simply because I liked the interface more but I have always respected iGTD as a great work. I hope that working on Things will be an inspiring experience for you, Bartek.
Great news – and congratulations, Bartek. Are you going to put a posting on the iGTD forum explaining the move?
Also, I echo andhika – let’s see a picture of that handsome face again!
So many great things coming out of Cultured Code. Good to see Bartek is now on the team as well. Welcome!
It’s nice to see Eastern Europe is strong as always in IT :)
I have always wondered where Bartek Bargiel and iGTD went, it is heartening to learn it has all turned out so well. I will now try the importer to scavange for anything left behind in iGTD. To all at CC I look forward to your keeping doing what you think is right for Things at the pace CC judge to be appropriate. IMHO a lovely program
Fantastic, and Kudos to you all at Cultured Code for easing the transition for iGTD users with the lincenses. I’m not an iGTD user (have used Things since it was beta), but I’m impressed with your handling of this and look forward to the results of the new partnership!
Totally rad!
I’m excited to see how the collaboration proceeds. Although I prefer the simplicity and pared down feature set of Things vs iGTD I really respected it as a useful app and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
Amazing news!
Bartek, czekamy na Things po polsku!
Really glad to hear this news, and because of it, I purchased a Things license today.
I vastly prefer the way iGTD works, even though I beta tested Things. Example: the to do list easily sorted by priority and showing all items due (iGTD), rather than up to a certain depth in all projects (Things). Also, of course, all of the keyboard shortcuts for changing due dates and other attributes.
I hope Bartek’s ideas will influence the design of the product, and that I won’t regret paying for Things this early on. Thanks, Bartek, and also CulturedCode for having the wisdom to hire him.
Congratulations! I was another switcher from iGTD once Things released TT. Have always missed the pause feature from iGTD – maybe I’ll get it now :)
‘You are a busy man, aren’t you? And there’s an easy way to track all things that have to be done… and to get those things done!’
Actually, I’m a busy woman. I was interested in this, but apparently you don’t want my business. I’ll look elsewhere.
The 1.2 update to Things + the plug-ins is a dream come through. i am relieved to be able to take iGTD off the Dock and still feel good.
@not_a_man: I guess you are referring to a piece of text on
http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/
Despite its look, this site is neither owned by Bartek nor by Cultured Code. We tried to contact the person who is running it, but haven’t received a reply yet. Bartek’s official iGTD site is here:
http://www.igtd.pl/things/
Contrary to some of the other posters, I found iGTD difficult to use and its user interface off-putting and tried several other systems before finding Things while it was in Beta … which I took to immediately. I think Bartek’s a great addition to the team, and I truly appreciate what he did with iGTD, but if the interface goes too far in the iGTD direction, you’re going to lose those of us who fled to Things for something more intuitive and natural for our workflows and personal style.
I also strongly dislike Quicksilver, but use and appreciate Launchbar. Yes, I know there are those of the opposite opinion, but if the design of Things radically changes, you’re at risk of losing a portion of your market who came to Things precisely because it’s not iGTD. And yes, I gave iGTD a fair trial … three times. I just couldn’t get into using it on a daily basis. My experience with Things has been the opposite: I took to it like a duck to water, and haven’t looked back.
Welcome, I was another switcher from iGTD into things and I’m sure you’ll do a great great work!!
Empower us iPhone users: Integrate delicious! Add search!
I have a lot of sentiments for Germany and its IT companies, thus it’s nice to hear such news… Good luck guys! Trzymam kciuki!
I’m so stoked! Bartek’s iGTD was my task manager of choice before Things. It was awesome, and I did miss a few of the iGTD features in Things. I’m thrilled that the great minds of both are now together.
Great news!!
I am an ex iGTD user too. Was worried Bartok might have got in some trouble as development of the app came to a halt.
What a delightful surprise to wake up to as Things asked if I want 1.2. I flick to the blog and WOW, our hero is here, and he’s been significantly involved in the background already.
Bartek was the one that introduced me to GTD via his incredible software, I found the book, David Allen, the process, the lifestyle. I stuck with iGTD almost all the way – it was amazing. I nearly donated, but it was in the time when it looked like there was no future, so I happily put my money to Things.
This is a FANTASTIC development. Thank you Bartek for being here, thank you Things crew for making a very very smart move, I’m thrilled. I am a bit too excited to download v1.2, so I’ll have a nice cup of tea first :)
Like everyone else, I’m quite excited about the whole meeting of great minds!
I hope the best for everyone and await new and exciting things for ‘Things’!
(like syncing?)
It’s so unexpectedly generous of Cultured Code and Bartek to extend a Things license to iGTD donators. A gesture like that says a lot about a company.
(former iGTD user to Things iPhone (now Things Mac too))
Thanks!
Congratulations to Bartek and Cultured Code — a great combination!
I compared Things, iGTD, and some other solutions. I thought the user interface of Things made it the best to-do list I’ve seen on any computer platform, but because of the cost and cool features of iGTD I chose to use iGTD. I like the flexibility of iGTD — Contexts and Projects both — and most of all I like being able to sync all my iGTD data between a Mac at work and two Macs at home with .Mac/MobileMe. I think when Things gets this capability I’ll stop being cheap and buy a license.
This is exciting news!
This sucks. No more free GTD alternative ;-(
Congrats to you all! iGTD is/was a fantastic accomplishment — you will be a great team!
Have to agree with Michael Clark above (although I’m already a user of Things) — syncing between work and home Macs is a HUGE priority for me. Whether it’s via mobileme, or another solution, I’ll be hoping that we see it in the near future…
Good luck and keep up the great work!