One of the multitude of problems with alerting potential users to my apps is getting independent reviews, and when an app requires special hardware, as is the the case with my Signal GH app to monitor the signal quality of over the air digital TV streams, that problem is multiplied. So I eMailed Stuart Sweet, the author of the Solid Signal Blog, if he'd review my app if I were to ship him my own HDHomerun, and he kindly agreed. He was also agreed to ship it back, I paid for all this Fed-exing, which he promptly did; thankfully my wife gets a good deal on shipping. Luckily, between Christmas and New Years, there isn't much on broadcast TV, and my other single tuner HDHomerun was able to grab all but 2 shows I'd otherwise have watched.
And he gave it a positive review, saying "This app is a total must-have for the HD HomeRun user...". so the trouble was well worth it.
The near-irony here is that as a top-500 Amazon reviewer, I get requests nearly daily to review someone's gadget, iPhone case, or book and I nearly always refuse due to either time constraints, the fact that I don't review novels, or not feeling comfortable taking something that I might have to slam in my review. (I have no problems slamming products I get through Amazon's own Vine program, as I don't get those directly from the manufacturer.)
Anyway, thanks to Stuart for taking the trouble to review Signal GH in his fine blog.
