Re: Metacard replacing Toolbook and Director
>Hi! > >It is no enough to just ask how to make as much money with MetaCard as >possible. As MetaCard is a very small company, the personality of a >single person is prevailing and AFAIK Scott Raney is a technology geek; >he is into making a great product, not great marketing, which I think is >a marvelous advantage to us all! It would be beneficient if MetaCard was >well known and generally accepted as a tool with a large user base, but >I personally prefer a tool that is technically on the right path over a >tool that sports a fancy feature list and none of them work good enough >to use without workarounds. Scott is very much aware of the money he >could make by reducing prices and boosting marketing, but he also >definetely knows the risks involved. This is a point of view I share. > >Regards > Rüdiger > >-- > GINIT Technology GmbH[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Ruediger zu Dohna >phone:+49-721-96681-0 > Technologieparkfax:+49-721-96681-11 > Emmy-Noether-Str. 9 > D-76131 Karlsruhe www.ginit-technology.de > >Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ >Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm >Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list. > > Regards, Andu Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list.
Re: Metacard replacing Toolbook and Director
Hi! It is no enough to just ask how to make as much money with MetaCard as possible. As MetaCard is a very small company, the personality of a single person is prevailing and AFAIK Scott Raney is a technology geek; he is into making a great product, not great marketing, which I think is a marvelous advantage to us all! It would be beneficient if MetaCard was well known and generally accepted as a tool with a large user base, but I personally prefer a tool that is technically on the right path over a tool that sports a fancy feature list and none of them work good enough to use without workarounds. Scott is very much aware of the money he could make by reducing prices and boosting marketing, but he also definetely knows the risks involved. Regards Rüdiger -- GINIT Technology GmbH[EMAIL PROTECTED] Ruediger zu Dohna phone:+49-721-96681-0 Technologieparkfax:+49-721-96681-11 Emmy-Noether-Str. 9 D-76131 Karlsruhe www.ginit-technology.de Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list.
Re: Metacard replacing Toolbook and Director
on 5/27/2000 7:11 PM, Richard Gaskin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Yes! > > As I understand it, those people will need help. Asymetrix seems to be at > least putting ToolBook on the back shelf: it's been two years and all > they've come up with is a minor upgrade from 7.0 to 7.1. > > MetaCard is the closest thing they've got. Oh, and what a discovery it > would be for them: > > - Great interpreter > - All three operating systems families > - Radically lower prices > > Two ToolBook programmers and three production staff cost a ToolBook shop: > TB Instructor: $2495 x 2 = $4,990 > TB Librarian:$995 x 3 = $2,985 > __ > Total Authoring Hit $7,975 > > Compare with a similarly-staffed MetaCard shop: > MetaCard License: $995 x 2 = $1,990 > MC Starter Kit: $0 x 2 = $0 > __ > Total Authoring Hit $1,990 > > > "Save more than 75% -- go MetaCard!" > > :) > AMEN, preach it! But there are some other issues. ToolBook is slow and clumsy. Every image imported is stored as a bitmap in a resources file, immensely inflating stack size. Its widgets are hard to manage. While ToolBook does have the advantage of being able to create HTML from its pages, the processes are still rather clumsy, and the output could be a lot better! I'm sure that this export process will make it into one of the future versions of MC. > > The version issue raises a question: Mr. Raney, I know we all deplore > companies who jump major version numbers for mere bug fixes (we needn't > mention names of course), but tell us: Why are you so conservative with > MetaCard's version numbers? > > 2.3 could well have been called at least 2.5. With it's QT support, new > tokens, and much better Mac support, it's anything but a _minor_ upgrade. > > We appreciate the modesty, but from a marketing perspective have you > considered the perceptual value of upping your version numbers to better > communicate the strength of what you're delivering? > > -- > Richard Gaskin > Fourth World > Multimedia Design and Development for Mac, Windows, UNIX, and the Web Richard says it well. Scott, you have been giving us a great product. And while others have said something about you retiring early, I sincerely hope you make a ton of money, but stick with MC for a long time. With such support as you have given your product, you are a very rare person in the application world today. Raymond Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list.
Re: Metacard replacing Toolbook and Director
Yes! As I understand it, those people will need help. Asymetrix seems to be at least putting ToolBook on the back shelf: it's been two years and all they've come up with is a minor upgrade from 7.0 to 7.1. MetaCard is the closest thing they've got. Oh, and what a discovery it would be for them: - Great interpreter - All three operating systems families - Radically lower prices Two ToolBook programmers and three production staff cost a ToolBook shop: TB Instructor: $2495 x 2 = $4,990 TB Librarian:$995 x 3 = $2,985 __ Total Authoring Hit $7,975 Compare with a similarly-staffed MetaCard shop: MetaCard License: $995 x 2 = $1,990 MC Starter Kit: $0 x 2 = $0 __ Total Authoring Hit $1,990 "Save more than 75% -- go MetaCard!" :) The version issue raises a question: Mr. Raney, I know we all deplore companies who jump major version numbers for mere bug fixes (we needn't mention names of course), but tell us: Why are you so conservative with MetaCard's version numbers? 2.3 could well have been called at least 2.5. With it's QT support, new tokens, and much better Mac support, it's anything but a _minor_ upgrade. We appreciate the modesty, but from a marketing perspective have you considered the perceptual value of upping your version numbers to better communicate the strength of what you're delivering? -- Richard Gaskin Fourth World Multimedia Design and Development for Mac, Windows, UNIX, and the Web _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.FourthWorld.com Tel: 323-225-3717 ICQ#60248349Fax: 323-225-0716 Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list.
Metacard replacing Toolbook and Director
>Perhaps *current* MC users don't want, for example, multimedia-related >features, but what about the droves of Flash/Director/Toolbook/etc users who >have come to expect these features and others? Does MC have any chance of >enticing more users of the above products when it caters mostly to the >"card" market (which is currently pretty slim)? > >Folks can argue the semantics of "what is MC really used for?" until we're >all dead and buried. But I don't think I'm out of line when I claim that >tools like Flash/Director/Toolbook/etc are *related* and are therefore >worthy of being considered competitive products. Doesn't it make sense to >keep an eye on how competitive products are evolving, with the hope of >gaining new users who might otherwise look elsewhere for the features they >need? Richard Gaskin hinted earlier that the Toolbook market might soon become available, which makes sense since it has the same 'card' metaphor (even if it is called 'page'). A Toolbook to MC converter would probably find a lot of customers. I know a bunch of Toolbook users who would move over if they had this. But of course the converter needs funding. >One of my personal goals is to see Scott Raney retire early and well. From software or just Metacard? >What can be done with MetaCard's future to make that happen? Well, we will see, and it isn't impossible, but it will take a lot to even penetrate Director's market. Director users I work with won't even look at anything else. And it comes from a different stable - the old Videoworks. [Anyone else here still have Cosmicosmo which used a combination of Hypercard and Director's precursor Videoworks? I think it was seminal at the time. I just unearthed an old copy out of curiosity but it freezes my Mac G3, especially when opened in Metacard.] Mike Yates Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.best.com/ Info: http://www.xworlds.com/metacard/mailinglist.htm Please send bug reports to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not this list.
