Interesting blog post - comments anyone?

[Randall Lee Reetz]

Why the threatened continence?  Why the need to frame this  
conversation as having anything to do with a question of the  
viability of RunRev?

This thread started with a call to debate a journalist who asked some  
questions about the veracity of some rather strident marketing  
statements made by Revolution about its product.  This call came from  
the runrev customer service manager, which I find slimy. However,  
both the comments made by the journalist/blogger and the marketing  
claims he referenced, surrounded the much more general merit of macro  
languages and user-programming environments that seek to automate  
much of the busywork code-minutia necessary in "professional"  
languages.  This is not a rev specific issue as it is shared equally  
by all xtalk languages.  So much of what Revolution claims as unique  
are in fact inherited (for free!) from hypercard and smalltalk, apple  
and xerox PARC.

The fact so many on this list continue to treat runrev as some sickly  
child that needs to be protected is really ill-advised as public  
relations.  Nor is this attitude based in reality.  RunRev is in good  
standing.  Has a decent customer base.  Actions based in paranoia do  
more harm than good.  The product is fine.  The category is fine.   
Acting like hyenas just makes the product look like it is about to  
fall down and die.  The very notion that a criticism of hyper- 
protective and overdrive spin mastering is akin to critism of the  
product is a great example of the paranoia of which I speak.  It is  
ugly and it results in ugly public relations acts.

The notion that runrev will somehow suffer if it acknowledges its  
stellar ancestry... even more absurd.  Both Alan Kay and Bill  
Aktinson are canonized and deservingly so.  They were visionaries far  
ahead of their peers.  Want more, who also influenced the emergence  
of hypercard and hypertalk?  How about Douglas Engelbart and Theodore  
(Ted) Nelson.

RunRev's own separate lineage began with MetaCard and is  
distinguished by its insistence on multi-platform development and  
deployment.  With the advent of a web player, runrev has done what  
only one other xtalk environment has done.  And all of this deployed  
by the largest and most stable of the xtalk commercialization  
groups... these are the attributes runrev alone can claim.  The rest  
of its history is merged with all other xtalk histories and should be  
acknowledged as such.

We in the U.S. tend to envy the British for their innate tendency  
towards a particularly handsome form of understated but strong form  
of humility.  The complex and influential heritage of both Britain  
and RunRev product are certainly deserving of the deep confidence  
from which I always assumed this humility arose.

Randall Reetz

On Nov 25, 2009, at 9:51 AM, Heather Nagey wrote:

> I just came across this:
>
> http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/ 
> 0,1000000567,10014516o-2000458459b,00.htm
>
> Thought it would interest you guys! If you feel the urge to post a  
> comment, the blogger is inviting debate - just keep it positive...  
> it's probably best not to wade in guns blazing if you disagree with  
> his view. I think there is an interesting debate to be had here.
>
> Nice to see Rev starting to attract widespread media interest :)
>
> Regards,
>
> Heather
>
> Heather Nagey
> Customer Services Manager
> http://www.runrev.com/
> RunRev - Software construction for everyone
> follow me on twitter
> http://www.twitter.com/lainopik
>
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