Every so often, I receive an email out of the blue where somebody is just being absolutely lovely! Here is one I just received which really put a smile on my face:

Dear Alfredites (Alfredians?):

In my experience, any product — hardware, software, or even a simple piece of entertainment — promoted with excessive hyperbole is hard-pressed to live up to its expectations. I was therefore understandably wary of Alfred after reading the ebuliient user testimonials posted on its site. Nevertheless, two of my formerly-favorite Mac utilities, Quicksilver and Jumpcut, have indisputably grown long in the tooth, leaving me with little choice but to consider alternatives. I’d switched over to LaunchBar, but while it worked well enough, it somehow failed to thrill me.

Maybe, I thought, I’m just growing hidebound and set in my ways.

Then again, maybe not, because within a few hours of taking Alfred for a test spin, I was enamored of it, and my feelings have only grown stronger every time it has pleasantly surprised me in some subtle but important way. The thing that finally pushed me over the edge, the reason I’m writing to you now, was my attempt to launch Adium on a new system, one on which I hadn’t actually installed said program yet. Rather than simply throw up its hands, Alfred gracefullly offered me several search options, the first of which, Google, led to just about the fastest possible way of acquiring the missing app.

I’m left with no choice but to agree with Ben Davies: “Every design choice feels so deliberate and, just, unbelievably intelligent.”

Thank you for this amazing piece of work. I have no doubt that it has a long and lively future ahead of it; I look forward to witnessing — and benefitting from! — its further evolution.

Warm regards,
Dan

Cheers,
Andrew

Published with permission from a nice chap called Dan