Richard Gaskin wrote:
> >>>>Would printing from the online docs suffice for what you need?
Yes and no. Assuming it is possible to print the whole thing (if
desired) in one fell swoop, that would be a big improvement. Having
to print it _one screen at a time_ (or copy and paste into Word to
print) is a real pain.
However, having a PDF file for dox would work MUCH BETTER, IMHO,
because it would allow incorporation of screen shots (see my earlier
post)--which I think would make the dox a whole lot more readable,
useable. Please consider screen shots at some time in the future.
Maybe not right away but sometime!
And I reiterate, some sort of index and TOC would REALLY help.
RE: pricing: I agree completely. I would rather the time and money
be spent on the product and NOT on printed dox--so long as I can
print the dox myself.
And I certainly agree that for the Starter Kit online dox are fine.
Someday, however, I HOPE there will be a market for a full-blown book
about Rev--like Danny Goodman's or like the Visual QuickStart books
from PeachPit. I know I would be glad to pay, say, $50 to get a book
like that. I'd even be willing to help put one together...
At $2500 Asymetrix has zero likelihood of having a user base like
that of HyperCard (or, I suspect, HyperStudio) or AppleSoft BASIC
once had. Rev, on the other hand, has that potential... or at least
I think it does!
Look at all the cool things (one that sticks out in my mind is a cute
little stack called "Inigo Gets Out") that came out for HyperCard
when it first was issued... cool things that were put together by
people with little to no programming experience. Rev can do that,
too. AND on more than one platform. What a GREAT product!
Now, we just need to get people playing with it... See my point?
The dox have to help capture the interest of the neophyte, as well as
meet the needs of the experience HyperTalker.
Marian
::: stepping off evangelical soapbox now:::: ;-)
>Marian Petrides wrote:
>
>> 1) First of all, for a product costing $350 there should be SOME printed
>> documentation OR at least the ability to easily print a PDF document, a Word
>> file something like that.
>
>The ability to print from the Transcript Dictionary is essential, I agree.
>I hope that's on the list for 1.1 or soon thereafter.
>
>But personally I'd rather not see the Rev folks spend the kind of money
>needed for good printed docs on anything other than features and better docs
>content. As long as I can print as needed I'm happy, and supplying printed
>documentation as comprehensive as Rev's was a major contributing factor to
>the downfall of at least one IDE vendor.
>
>Asymetrix costs $2,495, and the only printed doc is an introduction to the
>product; even at that price they've had to cut costs by putting all the
>meaty stuff in online docs.
>
>We users would be trading a great many features for a bound manual, and with
>the rapid growth of the feature set any printed docs would be obsolete
>within months.
>
>Would printing from the online docs suffice for what you need?
>
>
>This issue of online-vs.-printed docs also raises a more philophical
>question for all of us as designers of multimedia:
>
> What criteria determine when a body of work is optimal
> as printed matter or as hypermedia?
>
>
>--
> Richard Gaskin
> Fourth World Media Corporation
> Multimedia Design and Development for Mac, Windows, UNIX, and the Web
> _____________________________________________________________________
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.FourthWorld.com
> Tel: 323-225-3717 ICQ#60248349 Fax: 323-225-0716
