Call for Tutorial Topics

[Elizabeth Dalton]

I (and many others) have noted that there is really insufficient 
information on how to connect to a USB device. Since USB devices are so 
common now, that would be a very useful short tutorial topic.

Given the marketing on the Express web page, I'd recommend developing 
tutorials AND sample stacks, well-commented, for the following:

- Simple courseware on a k-12 topic, e.g. the life cycle of a frog, with 
a little demo or game of some kind (for "a teacher who wants to create 
your own courseware")

- A simple multiplayer online game, explored and explained (for "a power 
user who wants to make a custom Internet application"). Take a look at 
low-end Mud/MUSH code, e.g. PerlMud, for ideas, then add graphics.

- An example of a mathematical model (for "a researcher who wants to 
program a mathematical model")

- A stack which can be used to control Lego Robots through the USB port 
(for "a student who wants to control robot behavior", and this would 
also address the USB issue), or, if the Lego version isn't where you 
want to go, a little stack about building and controlling a very simple 
robot from scratch using parts from Radio Shack and RunRev

- A datebook that synchronizes with a desktop calendar, Palm, and a 
web-cgi-based calendar (for "anyone who wants to create personal 
applications," and this would also address the USB issue and be another 
good internet application, too.)

I could probably help write the first two, but I won't be able to get to 
it for a couple of months.

Essentially, if you claim newbies can do this stuff with Express, show 
them how. These should be bundled with the RR download and explored in 
tutorials similar to the "Independent Study" tutorial. It wouldn't hurt 
to look through these examples and note the most common features and 
pull them out as their own sequenced tutorial lessons, either (e.g. 
external file access). And it would *really* help to have a "table of 
contents" view of each tutorial, for people who need to browse through 
and find a particular part of a tutorial, either because they already 
know how to do part of it, or because they have done it once already and 
just need to look something up. This is where printed docs are still 
ahead of electronic docs. (See the PS note for a comment about the 
printed manuals.)

As an addendum to the conversation on the state of the documentation, 
I've been able to figure out how to do most of what I want to do in the 
three weeks that I've been playing with RR, but I used to develop in 
Hypercard on a semi-professional basis, and I depend heavily on that 
knowledge. (I learned Hypercard largely through Danny Goodman's 
excellent example-filled books, as others have mentioned here.) I'm also 
apparently better than average at tricking search engines into giving me 
useful results, so I've had good luck finding what I want in the bundled 
documentation and in this list's archives. (I can even get useful info 
from Microsoft Help as often as not.) I don't think it's safe to assume 
the average new user or potential user of RunRev will have extensive 
Hypercard programming experience or my luck (or persistence) with search 
engines. But a lot depends on where the Runtime Revolution company wants 
to go. As it stands, this is a niche market tool for at least somewhat 
experienced developers. (Very experienced developers are also likely to 
be confused by this tool, at least at first.) The "high plateau of a 
beginning" applies to the expected customer base as well as the state of 
the documentation.

Again, look at the marketing for Revolution Express: "Anyone can use 
Revolution Express to write software. It's as simple as pointing and 
clicking to make objects like dialog boxes, buttons, pictures, and text 
fields. Then you write straightforward, English-like instructions for 
each object to control what the object does." I don't know if there is a 
market anymore for "programming for the rest of us," but this product 
doesn't quite meet that need. I don't think a better search engine or 
index is the answer (though I would welcome both). I think better 
included examples that first-time users could take apart and play with, 
as described above, would help more. Yes, there are the stacks linked in 
the Contributions section of the RunRev website, but where to start? As 
some have suggested, the Hypercard Home Stack provided a launching place 
for new users. Perhaps there could be an optional Home Stack which could 
be turned off for more experienced developers by changing a Preferences 
setting. It might not be a repository of library scripts, but rather a 
launching and navigational tool. This optional Home Stack could help 
link new users to several useful tutorials built into stacks of their 
own (i.e. a stack per tutorial) which users could copy and modify. This 
would be a lot more approachable than the current "blank page" starting 
point. Some snazzy (but actually simple) demos, as Marion suggested, 
would also help. A Christmas card with an animated fireplace and a way 
to import family photos to the pictures on the wall, then a button to 
build the whole thing as a standalone, would be great.

I work for a major Unix vendor by day, and I am always amazed at the 
disdainful attitude my co-workers display toward new users or those 
unfamiliar with the geeky glory of computers. We all have to start 
somewhere, and while there is no "royal road to programming", I'm a big 
believer in well-organized educational support as opposed to the "sink 
or swim" method. (Then again, I work in technical education, so that may 
just be my professional bias showing.) On the other hand, I realize that 
it takes time to develop good educational materials, and time = money, 
right? I guess there needs to be a balance between the necessary 
investment in documentation and training materials and the expected 
revenue from anticipated user base growth due to same. If there are no 
potential RR users out there who want to start writing apps from little 
or no programming background, there's not much point in writing those 
tutorials. But if there are a bunch of folks just waiting to take off 
with RunRev, an investment in good online tutorials (really, a kind of 
mini online training) could offer a huge return. Lengthening the trial 
period and/or lowering the cost of Express down to something more 
comparable to the cost of a high-end video game, say $80-100, would also 
be a good idea. Put a 1-year trial expiration on this "ultra-express" 
version if you must, but get this thing out there in the hands of people 
who can get used to it, at a low cost and with really great tutorials, 
and I think you're likely to get the attention of the market. (If you're 
not sure the market is there, go to your local large chain bookstore and 
look at the pile of tomes purporting to teach people how to write 
multiplayer online games. Those books are there because people are 
asking for them. Then ask yourself if RunRev wouldn't be a more 
reasonable approach for most people.)

In my heart, I'm a usability purist, and I want computers to be as easy 
to use as they are on "Star Trek." We're not there yet, but I think 
tools like Runtime Revolution could be part of what gets us there, 
rather than another obstacle on the journey. But only if we agree that 
that's where we're trying to go.

Elizabeth Dalton
ps - the printed manuals seem quite expensive. Has RunRev considered 
CafePress.com? They might be able to lower the cost of distributing the 
printed manuals, as well as being able to add mousepads, tshirts and 
whatnot to the available products, at no cost to RunRev other than the 
time to set it up. Just a thought.