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Polaris Packrat - Jack, I told you so

by A.S.

On your page about CRM history, you said:

"Spare a thought for poor Polaris Packrat, or more importantly, their users. Fantastic Contact Manager in the DOS days, and they even successfully negotiated their way to their first Windows version - no small undertaking. Then they released their networkable version for Windows. Disaster struck! They had to, ala Firestone, recall their products, and disappeared, never to be heard of again. Sad, but true.

Moral of the story - don't transfer your QA budget to Marketing"


The true moral of the story is "don't advertise or ship an upgrade before it is ready."

I was the Direct Marketing Manager at Polaris during this time. I can tell you that the cause of their woes was that the CEO refused to listen to the one person in the company who not only knew that PackRat 5.0 was broken, but was willing to put his job on the line by telling Jack that I was not going to passively stand by while he bullied all of his managers to ship a broken product. After staying on for 18 months to try and help save Polaris, I eventually resigned when, after three months, they stopped paying us "to help save the company."

During the year before we shipped PackRat 5.0, I was advocating naming the new product (it was a totally re-written product, from the ground, up) "The Ultimate PIM Construction Set," while continuing sales of PackRat 4.

There is no joy in being able to say, "Jack: I told you so."




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  • Comments for
    Polaris Packrat - Jack, I told you so

    Click here to add your own comments

    Dec 02, 2011
    Wow, Packrat..
    by: Former user -beta tester

    Even though I'm OK with Outlook today, I still often tell people I still don't have the quality of integration I had with Packrat 4.13 and the Winword 2.0/Excel 3.0 etc. generation of stuff running Win 3.11....

    I was a huge fan of Packrat, and a beta tester for both 4 and the late unlamented version 5. I didn't even know there was a version 6. That's how definitively I put the Packrat down with version 5.

    I was on the boards and remember the flames and the disaster. Leach was such an *ssh*l* in all of that - refusing to acknowledge the problems far after it was too late and serious users had moved on.

    Convenient that Outlook came out as halfway usable around that time, killed them. Deservedly so.

    Nov 08, 2011
    Are you serious?
    by: giuliop

    - So, what is your PIM of choice?
    - The Ultimate PIM Construction Set
    - Wow, all right. But what's the product name?
    - No, it's "The Ultimate PIM Construction Set"
    - Are you joking? Really?

    I'm sure you really wanted to save Packrat, but if you still can't see the ugliness and non-marketability of that name, I'm afraid there was really nothing to be done.

    Aug 28, 2011
    Packrat Professional under Windows 7 64 bit
    by: Anonymous

    I have a copy of Packrat Professional version 6.1.2.3 which runs fine under Windows 7 64 bit. I never did a formal install on Windows 7, I merely copied the installation directory from another computer which was running Windows XP when I upgraded my laptop.

    Packrat Professional 6.1.2.3 was a version I acquired years ago as an upgrade from Packrat 4 when Polaris underwent a brief spasm of life in the late 90's.

    The software is functional in every respect and I still can't find another PIM that does everything that Packrat does.

    Jul 15, 2011
    Running PackRat 4.1 on Windows 7
    by: Joe

    Thanks, A.S., for your insider's view of the PackRat 5.0 debacle. The problem got worse when Polaris stonewalled instead of 'fessing up. Well, that recurrent mistake is not limited to Polaris.

    PackRat 4.1 has served well since 1992 in tracking clients, vendors, and friends. I used it in Windows 3.1, 98, XP, Vista, 32-bit 7. Considering that it was the first Windows release, the code has been remarkably robust.

    I am now running PackRat 4.1 on Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit}. I installed PackRat on XP and Vista by using accessories>commands to create a home directory C:\users\Joe\Packrat (all directory names in path not to exceed 8 CHARACTERS) and then invoking INSTALL.EXE on a CD copy of the PackRat installation floppy. Vista was subsequently upgraded to Windows 7 with application programs, including PackRat, left in place.

    Alas, I had no success trying to use commands to install PackRat on the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, which refuses to allow running of the 16-bit INSTALL.EXE. Don't know if it would work running XP under 7 Professional. Would appreciate any comments by 64-bit Windows 7 users of PackRat.




    Jun 06, 2011
    Running PackRat in Windows 7
    by: Anonymous

    I am still running PackRat 4.1 How do I get it to run with Windows 7?

    Boris: What is the "simple little twist to make it a "networked" under Windows 7?

    I have considered moving to AskSam. Any comments?

    John jjl@knowledgemachine.com

    May 20, 2011
    You said it right!
    by: CONFUSER

    Boy do I agree!!! I was one of THE FEW Outside Beta testers for Polaris Packrat V 5.0. I spent hundreds of hours working with a few other DEDICATED people who were obsessed with saving Pack Rat. It was (And if i could figure out as some below have, how ti use 5,0 today I would. I was even partly responsible for getting Jack to TRY to sync it with the Palm. What a kludge! Still it was the most awesome PIM ever made. I wish someone would buy the rights from Jack, redo it right. They would make millions.

    I sure do miss it, but I still

    Jan 13, 2011
    I interviewed at Polaris!
    by: Peter

    for a tech writer position. It was a new concrete building. All the insides were bare concrete too. The receptionist was so busy answering phones that she had to stand in a slight crouch, she couldn't sit down.

    The guys who interviewed me at Polaris were real nice, but they chose the other finalist. I would love to have worked there. I ended up in car rentals for 4 years, and a year after that got into high tech.

    Dec 20, 2010
    Still using PackRat 4.0
    by: Anonymous

    I run in an Win XP VM on Windows 7. Nothing compared to PackRat contact manager

    Oct 01, 2010
    Nothing like Packrat
    by: Anonymous

    I've looked and looked and tried many different PIMs and contact managers and there's nothing that compares favorably to Packrat... even 18 years after their self-crafted meltdown with Packrat 5.0.

    These people managed to put a product that was "Cash" into "Trash"!

    I still use 4.0.. and at the current rate of innovation in PIMs, will probably still be using it 25 years hence.

    Feb 15, 2010
    Still Use PackRat 4.0
    by: Boris Lunding

    You are correct. It is sad as Packrat 4.0 was great and 5.0 bombed. I personally have been using 4.0 for going on 17 years - we use it everyday in our business. Kept using the 4.0 and have it working on all platforms -even the latest versions of Windows - and best yet, there is a simple little twist to make it a "networked" program so it can be shared by all our computers. They had the greatest software in the palm of their hand; to date I have never seen anything that comes close to organizing, keeping phone and address information (nice direct dial from the click of the computer) tracking time, scheduling, etc. Unbelievably awesome!

    Nov 12, 2009
    I have A Copy of PackRat that still works
    by: Anonymous

    I have a copy of Packrat contact manager that I just opened up it has been in my archives for years. It really was a revolutionary product in it days. Ironically it still works on Server 2008.

    Thanks JayRock in Sacramento, CA

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