Rev Media and the product line gap

Lynn Fredricks lynn at paradigmasoft.com
Sun Mar 26 15:23:47 EST 2006


> I think these concepts--Rev Express, Dreamcard, Rev 
> Media--are fairly creative, neat, fun, etc. I'm sure they 
> have lots of good points. The junior product keeps changing 
> frequently, but I guess that's okay. I haven't tried these in 
> depth, so this is just my opinion about basic stated features 
> and limitations.

I accept full responsibility for this recent change.

> But I think there are a few drawbacks in the model. One is 
> not being able to create a standalone. At the old Dreamcard 
> price (I think it was about $100--I'm going to round off the 
> prices to be easier on the eye), that could be a bit of a 
> downer. RealBasic Standard at about $100, for example, does 
> create standalones. The new price of about $49 for Rev Media 
> is one approach of helping with that issue. And I think it's 
> probably a good approach.

REALbasic Standard also only compiles to a single platform. To get
multi-platform compilation/deployment, you have to spend $399.95 to get RB
Pro. $49 RevMedia with its player had multi-platform.


> (However, why make the backdrop an issue? If it doesn't 
> create standalones then there's already a big incentive to 
> upgrade. I suppose it would tend to limit what is distributed 
> with it--you don't usually see utilities with mandatory 
> backdrops, for example. Then again, you don't usually see 
> utilities that require a player to run, either!)

This is an additional form of differentiation which won't limit the
usefulness of the product for its intended audience.

> The other major drawback is how far up you have to go in 
> order to get a Rev product that does make standalones. 
> Minimum is $300 for Studio, which is developing on one 
> platform, although deploying on all.

That is true, unless you are an academic - then you also have licensing
restrictions on commercializing the result.

> Between $50 for a product that requires a player, and $300 
> for one that builds standalones, that's a considerable empty 
> space. And suddenly with the first product that builds 
> standalones, you already have one that deploys on all 
> platforms. There's nothing gradual. What if someone just 
> wants to develop on one platform and doesn't need the rest? 
> Or wants to get into Rev gradually, and work on his or her 
> preferred platform first before expanding, but wants 
> standalones? Or the person that wants more than one platform 
> but would prefer to debug and compile from each platform and 
> doesn't need the cross-build feature and some other advanced 
> features such as database access?

These are very good questions. Ive sold a huge number of different types of
products -- from fairly vertical market 3D applications to clip art to
database servers to games - the ones that do well are those that have a
target customer, give that target customer what they need, then create
upsell opportunties based on some manner of growth (customer's company,
deployment, extended pleasure, etc).

A common, dumb mistake is to open up "Bob's All You Can Eat Technology
Buffet" and then dump technology into different heaping plate sizes and say
"come and get it". I have found that only really works in selling the big
box o' clip art and not much else.


> So, right now it seems to me that there's a large unfilled 
> gap in the product line--something similar to the RealBasic 
> Standard I mentioned, a product that would run on one 
> platform per license, but would make standalones for that platform.
>
> (To differentiate from Studio, some advanced features could 
> also be limited. Currently, judging from the Tools Overview 
> page, that would include the learning pack and SQL database 
> access. Some additional adjustments might be needed--the 
> "intermediate" Rev product should not be too crippled, and 
> should be sufficient for most normal uses, so these should be 
> considered carefully, advanced or new features that create 
> considerable incentive for Studio and Enterprise rather than 
> cut too much from the intermediate product. There's a good 
> balance to be found.)

Who do you see as the target customer for this product?

Also -- how about telling us a little about how you are using Revolution?

Best regards,


Lynn Fredricks
Worldwide Business Operations
Runtime Revolution, Ltd





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