Hello Chip,
Thank you so much for writing so quickly, and so appropriate has been your
response to what's been going on inside
me for the past year. Briefly, when I got a new PC running Windows 7 and had
to give up my batch-file loaded XP
environment, which I had programmed to speak calendar events and control Winamp
from the command line, my life
seemed to be on the brink of despair. With the help of your tutorials and
those tutorials GW Micro did, I learned
to use vbScript and to get my head around object-oriented programming. What a
laugh, but would you believe that
the first object I studied on the Microsoft Developer's website was the Windows
Scripting shell, which I put into a
subroutine to call whenever I need a command-line utility to run:
Sub RunShellCommand()
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
oShell.run ClCommandLine, 0, True
Set oShell = Nothing
End Sub 'RunShellCommand()
I did this so that I could use my little batch file utilities (and I'm still
using them), as I eased myself into
programming with the Window-Eyes object. It still makes me chuckle, but,
whatever works, eh? Not only that, I
tried to avoid learning programming so intensely that I even investigated a
program called "Automate," a program
which allows the creation of programming tasks without writing code. Of
course, I soon learned that it had a lousy
user interface, so I abandoned that idea. However, from looking at that
software, I came away with the idea that,
if we blind people could get a bunch of specialists together, each gifted in
his or her own way, we could design
solutions for all kinds of computer tasks in a fraction of the time each of us
could do it individually.
As for the Wikinomics book, its main tenet is that collaboration, sharing, and
openness are the means by which all
work will be, and is already being done, in society. No more secretive
hoarding of technical insights, media
content, etc. What really surprises me is how little work has been done in
terms of app creation since Window-Eyes
7.0 embedded its scripting facility. There should be much more production than
we presently have, and yet you know
how brilliantly-powerful Window-Eyes is now because anyone who knows any
programming language can write scripts to
make any program speak the way we blind people need them to.
So what's stopping us? I think the problem is individualism taken too far. I
know you can program in your sleep,
Chip (well, I exaggerate a bit!), and I have become pretty confident myself in
seeing how I can use the Window-Eyes
object. But, here's my problem: like you had said, I also do not have tons of
time to do the grunt work of coding
apps. While I can do coding, it gets to me if I do too much of it, especially
when, in the back of my mind is a
feeling of resentment that a lot of the grunt work could be alleviated with a
collaborative effort of three or four
people. And, of corse, coding is only a fraction of the work required to make
decent apps. Here, off the top of
my head, is my vision of a GW Micro scripting collaboration:
- one person might love programming the nuts and bolts of dialogs and INI files
- another has a skill in designing systems, including dialogs, but having a
good sense of how to perform tasks
quickly and efficiently
- another might have a good sense of how beginner program users could be eased
into using apps, without being
overwhelmed by too many advanced options, although those options are available
when they are needed; this person
would have a gift for compassion on the non-technical user
- still another could be an excellent documentation technical writer
- and, finally, although the list goes on to infinity, maybe another person
just loves criticizing apps, to see how
they can make them crash, and is always making suggestions to make them better
You see, all of these tasks are part of writing apps, and we need to start
creating teams to accomplish each of
these tasks, and then each sends a delegate to an overall app planning team.
This is not a grandiose unrealistic
vision. I think we're wasting resources if we don't make it happen, Chip.
So, Chip, let's talk a bit more about how we want to proceed, and, if you like,
we could use the app you're
currently working on as a pilot project for the new collaborative endeavour
I've been speaking about. I would be
honoured to be on such a team with you.
Collaboratively,
Rod Hutton
From: Chip Orange
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 9:51 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: The whole GW Micro community must read this!
Hi Rod,
Well, I haven’t read the book yet, but your offer of a collaborative team to
“design” software has meshed with something I am thinking about.
I have an app, partially designed and working right now, and I wasn’t sure in
my mind of the final “look and feel” of the thing. It’s a large complex app,
and it does many things, but I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to present
the app, and select its final set of capabilities; because so far, I’ve just
been exploring features and capabilities which seemed interesting to program
with.
Well, I’m wondering if I want to try giving the app in its half-finished state,
to those who are interested in the kinds of things it does at the moment, not
for a programming collaboration but to have them comment on what they’d like it
to do; what seems really great to them, and what seems awkward or hard to use,
etc. I think if I understood your offer it was along similar lines? You were
offering to help design software, not necessarily helping to program it?
The only reason I’ve held back is frankly I don’t have too much time to work on
this, and I didn’t want anyone to get frustrated if the pace was too slow (and
you never know what someone else thinks is too slow).
Anyway, is this your idea? That you (and others) might help in designing the
features, capabilities, and look and feel of an app for WE? Or were you more
offering to help program? Or do I need to read the book first before getting
your point?
Thanks.
Chip
From: Rod Hutton [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 2:35 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: The whole GW Micro community must read this!
Hello,
In my ongoing support of the tremendous work being done within the GW Micro
community, I strongly urge the whole community to read this book which I came
across this week. Here’s the book URL:
http://www.wikinomics.com/book/
I would like to be on a collaborative team which designs software solutions for
anyone in need.
Let’s get us all moving.
Energetically,
Rod Hutton
