GYST does now have a free demo version.

SInce we are building the world’s first Web 2.0 artist software I am really keen on learning what we can do to make it as close to ideal as possible from comments in this dialogue and other social network input.

For instance learning just how vital the images are (we thought Artists would know all their own work – D’oh!) was an eye opener, so now we’ve provided attachments features to enable attaching photos (more than one OK) as well as other pertinent files such as artist commentary, history notes, frame details, condition….

Similarly the export of CSV is included throughout – every bit byte and nibble can be exported into CSV files for our database. This is particularly important if anyone wants to avoid being locked-in with a vendor. We think we – and any other vendor – should have to continually earn your loyalty, so portability is always supported. Of course the ability to drop a list for upload into email list managers is there as well…an obvious “must have”.

Finally I was heartened by the comments of Katherine T. who is aware that mini-vendors come and go and you can get stuck with a non-upgradeable obsolete database that is useless pretty easily. In addition, hard drives expected life is only about 3 years (our PVR drive just died so that’s a current estimate) and few people really back up effectively (I use 3 layers of backups). Couple that with Operating system changes and you are into buying, replacing and upgrading all the time just to stand still.

Enter Web 2.0. We are offering our solution on a SAAS model – Artist Business Software-as-a-service which is the first time anyone in the world has done this. The benefits are many…not least of which the software is always current, and everything is always backed up to commercial standards (and available anywhere). Upgrades and new features become available to everyone at the same time, all the time. And data is stored separately for each member in their own “folder” using a technique called multi-tenant software architecture (if anyone cares).

Members pay once a year for a subscription that is competitively priced.. introductory rate for indiviual artist: $ 6.97 a month…. pretty good value we think !