What's all the fuss?

Unless you live under a rock, you've heard that Ancestry.com is saying bye bye to Family Tree Maker. 

I'll admit, I was a bit surprised by the announcement, but after thinking about it from a business perspective,  I got it. 

I've worked for software companies most of my career. Still do. Software as a Service (SAAS) became a thing about 10 years ago. Then, along came all the hoopla around the "cloud". It makes perfect sense that Ancestry would eventually choose not to invest any more $$$ in development of an old-fashioned software program. That's so last century. 

So they're doing away with FTM and moving everyone to maintaining their tree on their web site, which by the way charges nearly $400 a year to maintain all the resources. See, it's all about the money. 

That's not as offensive as it may sound, all about the money. Without income, they won't have the resources to continue to build the empire. Or pay people to scan and index records. Or maintain their site. Or look good to their stockholders. 

So, I get it. 

Still, it's a bummer.  We'll lose features now in FTM but not available in the online trees on Ancestry. Well, shoot. Stuff happens. 

The world hasn't ended. The world still turns. We all woke up this morning. It's all gonna be ok with or without Family Tree Maker. 

I promise.