[OT-Rodeo] Still waiting for the aha moment

[Jerry Daniels]

Hugh,

You're not being thick. Rodeo is not for everyone on earth and not for everyone on the list. Obviously. However, it is very important to a HUGE number of us. You could easily be one of those people for whom it satisfies no need. The AHA is in the eye (or heart) of the beholder. Not everyone here or there are going to have it.

Addressing some specifics you mentioned:

- Webkit is an engine for many web browsers, especially the mobile ones. I think FireFox and IE will use webkit eventually. Maybe sooner than we think. In any case, it's simple to develop and app and tell your customers to get a webkit browser (Chrome or Safari on any platform are excellent).

- Many apps use webkit to render their screens...not just web browsers. That's what iTunes was and is. There are many more out there doing the same thing. Their value in the marketplace is much more than a web page in a browser.

- The above are technical and business reasons for choosing webkit as our prime target for Rodeo's deliverables.

- There are many, many people who will simply not download a web plugin. Ever. Steve Jobs (rightly or wrongly) has placed nails in the coffins of more plugins than just Flash.

- Sarah, MJ and i think the desktop wars are fading as an issue as more developers on all platforms simply use webkit in a browser or a shell app to do their bidding. This allows them to compete with cheaper labor markets. There is, however a steep learning curve for many to do this. Rodeo definitions are an antidote to this problem.

- We chose an Xcode Desktop Mac app as our shell app to house our editor and as a shell app to house other folks' web pages who develop in Rodeo because of its superior webviews. 

- The next step for Rodeo is to make a shell app for iOS devices (in Xcode) that does the same as our Mac desktop shell app. iPad is a magic word for getting work, good prices paid for work, and availability of work. LIke it or not, iPad sales are astounding. HUGE. And the app model, the web app model have captured the imagination of people who pay people like us developers.

There are some deep issues that the emergence of Rodeo touches. They certainly not purely technical or economic, or even totally logical. Many developers have had a visceral reaction to Rodeo because it gets to issues of lifestyle. 

For many of us, delivering web apps to webkit browsers will get us back in the game. Let us create product quickly that our customers can afford...that can't be outsourced to a cheaper labor pool. That once again captures the imagination of our clients and customers. 

For all of the above reasons, Rodeo (rightly or wrongly) represents HOPE. Who cares if the Rodeo editor runs on a Mac? We're talking about HOPE, lifestyle, family, passion all returning to where they belong in the breasts of struggling developers in their 50's and in debt.

The world many of us live in has changed profoundly in a very short period of time. Economic collapse, outsourced jobs, and apps. Not executables, apps. And app stores. And hybrid-designed mobile devices with 4 dollar apps.

Maybe that helps. Maybe not. Good starter dough, perhaps.

Best,

Jerry Daniels

Get Rodeo beta and save $100:
http://rodeoapps.com/limited-pre-release-offer

On Jul 21, 2010, at 12:50 PM, FlexibleLearning wrote:

> Okay... I'll put up my hand and admit. I just don't get it. And it's
> *really* annoying me!
> 
> 1. 'Rodeo uses WebKit'. This assumes I know what a 'webKit' is. Assuming
> it's a framework for Browsers (is it? Read the webkit page and it looks like
> it is), it immediately alientates any non-webkit Browser such as the
> ubiquitous Internet Explorer (whatever one may think about it).
> 
> 2. 'Rodeo creates web pages, not Revolution stacks' and 'tools built for use
> in stacks will not work in Rodeo'. Okay. So why not just write html for web
> pages and use the revPlugin to deliver stacks?
> 
> 3. Development with Rodeo requires a Mac with an Internet connection. My
> connection is on my Windows box.
> Bozo here, struggling for that 'Aha' moment. Not a big deal, but it leaves
> me out of the loop (assuming I ever understand what being in this loop
> actually means, of course).
> 
> Any help towards that satori moment would be most gratefully received. And
> if I am being REALLY thick, you can avoid embarassing me by writing
> off-list!
> 
> /H
> 
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