DreamCard Review-PCPLUS

[Richard Gaskin]

webmail at xasamail.com wrote:
> Let the flames begin!!

I've been rather surprised by the reaction to the review excerpts posted 
here.  While "webmailman" had been anonymous (and likely to remain so 
after the flaming), a simple search in the use-rev archives shows at 
least one prior post from that addrerss on a scripting issue.  So it 
seems safe to say Mr. webmailman is a Rev scripter, not a troll.

As for PC Plus, I can assure you it's a real magazine.  They ran an 
article on WebMerge there last year, and kindly included my demo on 
their CD.  It's one of a good many magazines published by Future 
Publications, and my associations with them have all been top-notch.

I'm surprised PC Plus has been posting articles at their site at all. 
Many of Future Pub's mags don't have a content site (just subscription 
info), as the company is very much print-oriented.  I'm glad to see this 
foray into web publishing, and I suspect that since they seem to be in 
transition getting confortable with the web model it may well be the 
case that they only post articles there once the shelf life of an issue 
has expired (usually 30 to 60 days from publication).  MacTech magazine 
once had a similar model.

The article wasn't really all that bad when step back and look at the 
big picture. The biggest problem was that he was reviewing the wrong 
product: a comparison with VB should be against Revolution, RunRev's 
professional tool, not their more consumer-oriented DreamCard.  But 
given that the word "professional" appears in descriptions for both 
products it's not surprising that he picked the wrong one.

So perhaps it was a good thing:  if a professional writer can't figure 
out which product he should be working with, what does that say for 
less experienced prospects?

This is a great opportunity for RunRev to better hone each product's 
message to help customers distinguish them.

If they can also restore the "Getting Started" info that had been in the 
docs in all versions prior to v2.5 I suspect their next review will be 
as good as most of the others they get.

Note to Mr. webmailman:  please try to not take the response in this 
venue too seriously.  Heck, when MacWorld gave Rev a 4-out-of-5 review 
people here complained about that too.  :)  It's just what happens when 
you're in love with a market underdog.

Fortunately RunRev management seems to recognize the opportunity this 
latest review represents for more effective management of the product's 
message, so I suspect down the road we'll see both the product, and 
subsequent reviews of it, improved.  After all, that's what reviewers 
are for.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  __________________________________________________
  Rev tools and more: http://www.fourthworld.com/rev