Three Years of Rev (was RE: Check out Jerry's new videos)

Lynn Fredricks lfredricks at proactive-intl.com
Sun May 9 11:56:27 EDT 2010 

Hi Chipp,

> How would you suggest paying for all of this? Just wondering...
> Do you really think the current revenue stream can prop up 
> this luxurious road map?

Cost control is part of the secret sauce that is my...secret sauce. One way
of doing this is through my kind of cost control, but there are other ways.
This is what I would do ;-)

> I personally would rather see RunRev trim their efforts and 
> focus better on technologies which can provide best in class 
> cross platform solutions.

Cross platform and incorporating a popular handheld device sort of go hand
in hand. I agree that cross-platform is where the focus should be. I believe
supporting Android for example, would increase revenue.

> Even if this means cutting back on the number of initiatives. 
> I've never really thought the rev plugin was a good idea, and 
> now with Apple's gunsights focussed directly on Flash's 
> proprietary plugin, it's easy to see why. Of course if it's 
> just 'a compile away' then it's probably no big deal-- but 
> that has not seemed to be the case up to now.

I went through the Roadster nightmare with SuperCard years ago so I was a
bit reluctant at first. A lot of changes have happened since then;
programming for it is easier. I agree, as long as it's a "Player in a
Browser" then the risk is minimal.

> Linux? I suppose targeting a specific platform, or two-- but 
> does it really make any money? Can a small company like RR 
> afford to support and provide free product to a platform 
> which generates (my guess) single digit percentage figures of 
> total revenue?

It comes back to the cross platform message. The engine itself has to be
there in order to provide Mac/Windows to Linux. The additional investment is
on the IDE. A number of open source initiatives fund themselves through
providing premium support contracts. There is an element of risk here
though, I agree.


> I'd try and shore up the Apache Module, and sell it for a decent
> fee-- especially if there's a work flow aspect to it with 
> good documentation. That is where one could raise some money 
> quickly-- IMO.
> 
> But putting it together with a whole Web App framework, is 
> way too much for this crowd and this company. Leave that up 
> to the Rodeo's of the world-- it's a HUGE job. You need an 
> expert DOM expert, Javascript expert, HTML5 expert, CSS 
> expert, cross-browser expert, not to mention a great 
> architect and some serious time on your hands to develop a 
> complete framework.

I agree, but Id probably do this step by step, much as you suggest above.
Treat this as a 1.0 product, and build upward and outward, knowing the
direction you are going.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
President
Paradigma Software
http://www.paradigmasoft.com

Valentina SQL Server: The Ultra-fast, Royalty Free Database Server 






 
> On Sat, May 8, 2010 at 7:29 PM, Lynn Fredricks < 
> lfredricks at proactive-intl.com> wrote:
> 
> >
> > - Focus on mobile targets (Android, Netbooks, try to weasel a deal 
> > with MS for Windows Phone/XNA/Xbox, don't depend on Apple, but 
> > reciprocate any love
> > shown)
> > - Explore ways to take advantage of hardware acceleration 
> for graphics 
> > and have a 64 bit strategy
> > - Strongly support 1-2 major Linuxes and make Linux only 
> compilation 
> > free
> > - Rev/PHP like System with a Web Interface builder/translator; 
> > Application Server
> > - Improve back end code so that its easier to generate new platform 
> > sources with the least amount of trouble
> > - Come up with a way to more easily "package" various web 
> APIs and put 
> > that into the Enterprise product
> > - Really good version control for Enterprise
> > - Improve efficiency/performance of component/External usage
> > - Make it easier for third parties to put in various 
> wizards, etc into 
> > the Rev interface without messing it up
> >
> > The challenge with selling development tools is that you make a 
> > terribly complex product that is expensive to support and 
> has a small 
> > potential user base. So finding ways to lower support costs and 
> > increasing the potential user base suggests a few strategies.
> >
> > Runrev has to be profitable to keep developing, and the more "hot"
> > platforms
> > you have, the more dollar signs will appear in the eyes of 
> potential 
> > customers. Android/Tablets/Netbooks/Phones are begging for 
> a good way 
> > to get vertical applications on them.
> >
> > Back end coding has to go through iterative processes 
> though to make 
> > sure it becomes less and less problematic to add new 
> targets. I don't 
> > know what the situation is with the Rev code, but I know 
> its something 
> > we've done really successfully at Paradigma. Id expect Rev 
> to be much, 
> > much more complicated.
> >
> > As this gets better, code translation as you suggest may be 
> a lot less 
> > trouble than it probably is right now to implement, and therefore a 
> > strategy that doesn't require betting the company on to try (later).
> >
> > You get Linux to pay for itself through the cross 
> compilation system.
> >
> > A free Linux version that works well also is a great option for the 
> > educational market and academics and can be THE educational 
> initiative.
> > That's a long term investment but if done right can push a 
> bit of Java 
> > out of our education system. Learners become buyers, 
> > advocates/influencers, etc.
> > Team up with other companies that are focused on Linux in 
> education. 
> > Yes, Id give some love to Windows and Mac OS for academics 
> but that's 
> > not where I would set my mark. Id dedicate a person hired 
> > *specifically* for this.
> >
> > An Application Server system requires a lot of thought and 
> investment, 
> > both for planning development and its relationship to 
> "rev", and also 
> > on planning how to deal with market acceptance. This is a good way 
> > though for Rev to generate revenue on a per deployment basis.
> >
> > A lot of these may sound sort of familiar ;-)
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Lynn Fredricks
> > President
> > Paradigma Software
> > http://www.paradigmasoft.com
> >
> > Valentina SQL Server: The Ultra-fast, Royalty Free Database Server
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Lynn Fredricks <lfredricks at proactive-intl.com>
> > > Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 2:55 PM
> > > To: 'How to use Revolution' <use-revolution at lists.runrev.com>
> > > Subject: RE: Check out Jerry's new videos
> > >
> > > > resources.  It would not be trivial to get runrev to export
> > > C source.
> > > > But it would be invaluable to users and to the longevity
> > > and reach of
> > > > the runrev product and market.
> > >
> > > It would definitely have an effect, but it may not be the 
> best use 
> > > of Rev resources. AFAIK, there are multiple bits of Rev 
> in Rev and 
> > > also in C/C++ precompiled chunks that go into a stack. I think it 
> > > would be a nightmare sorting all that out on top of just a plain 
> > > code generator.
> > >
> > > I believe there was a REALbasic-to-C or C++ generator 
> produced by a 
> > > third party, but I believe it flopped as a product.
> > >
> > > If you are working in artificial intelligence, you'd probably 
> > > benefit from some of your project being compiled as an external.
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > >
> > > Lynn Fredricks
> > > President
> > > Paradigma Software
> > > http://www.paradigmasoft.com
> > >
> > > Valentina SQL Server: The Ultra-fast, Royalty Free Database Server
> > >
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