Contrib to old topics - why isn't Rev more popular?

[Garrett Hylltun]

On Feb 13, 2006, at 6:10 AM, Ken Apthorpe wrote:

[snip]

> It's the Docs that are the problem for newbies, and it's the docs  
> that turn
> us away.  I tried Rev in about 2003, and decided it was just too  
> hard. I was
> hoping things had got a bit easier by now, but it dosn't look like  
> it to me.

[snip]

> That's why Rev isn't more popular.

I agree, and add that the price also adds to a potential new users  
dislike.  I'm sure the price alone has chased of a many potential  
users.  It did keep me at bey for quite some time.

> I agree with those that say Rev needs something in addition to the  
> tutorials
> for newbies.  I think they need sets of simple working examples with a
> variety of script examples.
>
> I'll finish with an analogy.  Back in the days when getting up a  
> web site
> was all the rage, the hand coders would sneer at WSIWYG web tools  
> like the
> early versions of Dreamweaver and Cyberstudio.  Now what are even the
> professionals using?  Dreamweaver and GoLive. There is a lesson in  
> there for
> Rev I think.

[RANT ON]
You have a hot import car and you're racing your buddy down a back  
road...  Does that make you a professional?  No, the pro still uses  
the proper equipment and races on pro tracks.

Likewise, pro web designers still do things the right way.  If the  
job requires the use of a WYSIWYG editor, then sure, they'll use it,  
but those editors are seriously limited and can't do what a real pro  
does with hand coding.  For me, I did use WYSIWYG editors for layout  
only, then I'd open the resulting html files up in a text editor and  
clean and fix the code, and then continue on with the rest of the  
html code needed.

Basically, a pro knows all the code and could if he/she wanted to  
create an entire site by hand without the use or need for a WYSIWYG  
editor.  Posers are the ones who call themselves professionals but  
don't know the code behind the work they did.
[RANT OFF]

Mmmm...  Ok, so you can tell I'm one of those hand coders from back  
in the day who sneered at WYSIWYG editors.  ;-)  (started designing  
sites back in 1994, closed shop in 2001)

One other thing.  The IDE in Rev kind of throws me off also, but I  
believe it's due to myself having Attention Deficit Disorder.  I can  
easily work in an IDE that is simply and editor with a few buttons  
and tools that I can open and close when needed, but with Rev, the  
many open windows and lack of a main editor window where I can access  
all the code of my project really throws me off.

In fact, it had thrown me so much that I just gave up on Rev last  
month.  But a few days I go I decided to give it one last try.  This  
time I'm getting along much better.  Maybe a break from it allowed me  
to let the IDE sink in or something.

Long story short, I agree, the docs browser sucks, some of the  
documentation in the docs browser is lacking for a newbie.  And I add  
that the price also can be a turn off.  And for someone with A.D.D.,  
the IDE is a turn off (probably not a whole lot of programmers out  
there with A.D.D., so I doubt this should be a concern).

-Garrett