Rant Re Rev Documentation

Richard Gaskin ambassador at fourthworld.com
Mon Jul 25 17:23:24 EDT 2005


Hello Todd -

Well said , copied in its entirely below as I feel it's worth a second read.

In addition to all of the good points you mention, a focus on pros makes 
both tools more desirable.  But the reverse is not true, and often 
results in the opposite effect of having each less desirable to both camps.

This is not to suggest that RunRev abandon the "inventive user" at all, 
but rather to simply have some follow-through on the product line 
differentiation started with renaming Revolution Express as DreamCard.

Today the hobbyist tool and the pro tool are essentially the same, the 
differences not being readily apparent until you dig deeper under the 
hood; simply booting them makes them appear identical.

For the hobbyists there is the lack of guidance that HyperCard provided 
with its Home stack and wealth of prefab parts.

For the pro there is the risk of confusing the two and not knowing why 
the tool is so limited.  Indeed one reviewer has already made that 
mistake, and I can't put the blame wholly on the reviewer for 
downloading the wrong version of two identical products.

Hobbyists may respond more to ease of use, but everyone wants 
professional results.

The first-run experience should reflect this, so that booting DreamCard 
leaves you with a feeling of "friendly", and booting Rev leaves you with 
a feeling of "studly" (or "powerful", or "professional" or whatever less 
sexist terms appeals). :)

By making DreamCard more well suited for its intended audience, 
splitting the web site into two more distinct branches to reinforce this 
difference, and putting a lot more discussion of professional results in 
the Revolution pages, the company can position the Pro product for what 
it is, allowing it to sell itself and sell DreamCard more effectively.

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


Todd Geist wrote:
> It was me who made this statement at RevCon so let me elaborate and chime in
> On 7/25/05 12:30 AM, "Chipp Walters" <chipp at chipp.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>>I believe someone at the RevCon West conference stood up and said what
>>was really needed was a sort of 'application framework guide.' A
>>book/website/wiki/whatever which explained step-by-step how to go about
>>building basic programs. I agree. on what others have said...
> 
> 
> Like many others here have pointed out there are two potential markets for
> Rev to grow into.  The inventive user and the professional developer.  Very
> Very Very different markets. I make my living as a FileMaker developer so I
> understand this schism well and I for one would rather see more "pros"
> climbing on board.  They add more skill to to the community and they don't
> drive down prices and they don't give the tool a bad name in IT departments.
> 
> I know that may offend some people out there.  I am sorry, but realize that
> this actually occurs. A lot of IT guys blame the tool not the guy who used
> it incorrectly.  I for one have lost work because of it.
> 
> Anyway I was pushing for more help for the pro who is looking at Rev.  The
> pro knows that completing a successful project is as much about deployment,
> support, version control and upgrades as it is about whatever task the tool
> is being built for.  A pro also knows that almost every application must do
> a few things like deal with user preferences and data storage etc.
> 
> Too me this "application architecture" or  "application framework" is as
> important to me as the little technical bits that are covered in the docs,
> maybe more so.  Because once I get this I can set about building whatever it
> is I need to build, learning all the little pieces as I go.When I am done
> hopefully I will have something resembling an application that can be
> maintained extended and supported.  NOT a cobbled together plate of
> spaghetti code that is close to imploding under it's own in efficiencies.
> 
> This Application Architecture is what I had a hard time digging up when I
> started looking at Rev. It was clearly a powerful tool but I didn't the
> first thing about producing something of value with it.  I had to go RevCon
> to begin to figure this out.  It was well worth it but I don't live that far
> a way so I could drive.
> 
> I think a half dozen examples representing the most common Commercial
> Applications Models (apps that are bringing in the most money for the most
> people) would go along way towards bring in new professional talent into the
> Revolution.
> 
> Then I could say, "OK I need to build a multi-user database app So let me
> start with the "multi-user database example and go from there". Or "my
> client needs an internet app with a rich interface, so let me start with the
> internet app example"
> 
> You want to see any product take off, teach people how they can make, ACTUAL
> REAL CASH using it!
> 
> Goodnight all. Thanks for listening!
> 
> Todd



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