Markus Winter wrote:
Considering how few IntelMacs are out there I find it hard to believe that
it's a big problem to wait for a few months. Apple surprised pretty much
everyone, and one cannot expect REALsoftware to throw out their plans and
the work done so far in a frantic scrabble just to please the less than
0.0001% of Mac using customers who own an IntelMac, of which less than 0.01%
are potential customers of anyone on this list (and that isn't even
considering that the Mac share is around 4% of the total market).
Well, like at least two other developers here (not counting one with
whom I work), I am working on inventory control and point-of-sale
applications -- apart from things I do in my specific research field at
the university. At the university, my specialty is "usability" of
software for the disabled and other groups. RB can be an interesting
tool to test ideas and theories -- but already some of the niche players
in my field have UB tools.
Within the last two weeks, three very nice POS systems for the Mac were
released as UB. One of them is a direct competitor with what we do,
bringing the total of UB retail apps that I know of (and I can't have a
complete list) to six.
Simply Elegant (http://www.zarrastudios.com/) is coded in Objective-C
and offers a pretty decent package. I think what we have is better, as
I'm sure Dax must also believe about his system.
Now, because we use iMacs and Minis as registers, there is a definite
need to have UB applications sooner rather than later. Anyone testing
applications can quickly spot the difference of a listbox / datagrid
being filled in Simply Elegant versus an RB application on the same
hardware. That's a reasonable question from a client with a lot of
inventory in a single department.
I think RB is pretty good. I've never made it a secret that I think it
lacks some of the database-related features I care about: better
reporting on the Mac, better data grids (more spreadsheet-like), are
just two examples. Now, watching a half-dozen POS / inventory systems
ship UB updates in a relatively short time does worry me.
I spent nearly six months trying to get AGP cash drawers working. I have
counted *six* developers on this list seeking HID support on the Mac,
but more importantly we need OPOS support to handle POS-specific devices
and their version of HID. Sure enough, somehow two of the UB
applications can drive the AGP drawers -- so it must be possible! Just
not with RB.
So, being in a niche does put me at the mercy of Real Software. I can
either switch tools or maintain the use of RB and let customers know we
are waiting until the dust settles and all our tools support UB. At this
moment, I admit that I'm not actively doing much of anything (my thesis
is due this week), but I will be trying to develop and sell applications
in the coming months.
Just wanted to explain why UB can and does matter to some RB developers.
- Scott
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