Colleagues...
A good friend has asked me to recant my remarks below relative to
whether or not Kevin and/or Mark should read this list. Since this
person asked me to do this is a good friend, I will say a few words
here to clarify my thinking and what prompted my remark. Maybe my
words and their meaning will be more apparent after reading this.
The real problem with online communication is people can be anyone
they like in ascii. Often we say and do things online we'd never do
in person. This has been going on for a while and there's nothing
strange about it anymore. Since teletype, probably.
The tone on the list has at times made me uncomfortable. I look at
the list like the weather. "It's raining outside. I think I'll stay
inside until is subsides a bit." The list gets like that sometimes
for me. If it was my product under attack or my business practices
being scrutinized, I could spend only so much time trying to spin the
list or changing my strategy...and then after awhile I would convert
my energies into product development and improvement.
I am not saying that I think Kevin and Mark should not be given or
listen to feedback. I just said that if I were them I wouldn't read
the list. That's just my opinion. I would get some distance from the
list barrage and get creative and productive with the product. Maybe
change some more fundamental things about my product or company.
I'm not saying anyone is bad or doing something bad, but it's raining
outside. I think I'll stay inside a bit, if it doesn't let up. I can
watch it rain without being out in it all the time.
I've written a blog that covers some of my feelings about this
stuff...maybe that's a better forum than a list that's for helping
each other use Revolution.
The blog: http://daniels-mara.com/galaxy_blog/?p=6#comments
Jerry
Voice: 512.879.6286
Skype: jerry.daniels
INSIDE EVERY OLDER PERSON IS A YOUNGER PERSON WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED.
On Apr 15, 2006, at 9:39 AM, Jerry Daniels wrote:
Judy,
I have begun to believe the dilemma that Revolution (and many other
great products) face is the "cult software" phenomenon. I am
starting to think software becomes "cultish" and loses its appeal
to people who are not part of the "cult" because of a corruption of
the creative process whereby:
1. the developers of the software lose their "faith" and "vision"
and start believing in "features"
2. as a result, the software becomes something less appealing to
new users (non-cult members)
Many feedback sessions, however well-intentioned, end up being ego
battles whereby the technical types with less assertive social
skill lose faith in their product, their company and themselves. In
short, they start urinating in the punch bowl during breaks. (NOTE:
this has actually happened.)
If I were Kevin and Mark, I would avoid reading this list at every
opportunity. I believe the over-all effect of this list tends to be
debilitating for them and might even neuter them creatively
speaking. It would be like watching the Catholic channel right
before having sex. Oops...I actually like that. Well, you know what
I'm trying to say.
Jerry
Buy Constellation from Runtime Revolution!
http://revstudio.runrev.com/section/revselect/constellation/
On Apr 12, 2006, at 12:05 PM, Judy Perry wrote:
It almost sounds like RevConWest...
Almost.
Just to play Devil's Advocate, how do you know that your
participating
end-users are not hand-picked to ensure a certain outcome?
Not that I'm accusing you of doing that, but I participated in an
external
evaluator session for our first online master's degree. The fur was
positively flying (and most improbably, not on my particular
account), but
when I later voiced some of my concerns to the program head, she
seemed
most blissful in her ignorance. Later, when the program made its
self-assessment to a national conference, what I had witnessed had
been
entirely sugar-coated.
I love the process you describe. I guess it all depends upon the
willingness of the company to actually listen to what is being
said as
opposed to hearing what they would like to hear. Your customers
are most
fortunate that your company is of the former rather than the latter.
Rev clearly has the opportunity to be of the former as well.
Judy
On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I fully agree with this approach. It makes for a win/win
situation for
both the company as well as the established customer base. As a
matter of
fact, our company utilizes a certain high-end system that is
internationally respected in the industry. Each year, a group of
end-users
and management attends an event which allows us direct access to the
developers of our chosen system. The users sit down and voice their
concerns, problems, bugs, feature requests, etc. to the entire
group of
developers and leaders of this company. We even vote on what is most
important, and user opinion actually carries more weight than
anything
else. After all, the customer is always right. It's like
bugzilla, but
without the clunky interface, and you leave the event knowing
that your
votes and input have made a real difference in the direction of the
product.
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