New on this list but not a newbie

[Richard Gaskin]

Hey Alain - 

Good to see you here.

...
> I have been doing this web stuff for about 7 years
> now, and I've tried countless pure-Web solutions, and
> still none of the Web stuff compares to the
> interactivity and performance that can be achieved
> with *real* software. Particularly software like
> MetaCard which is as multi-platform as any existing
> web-browser; for playback (like the Web) as well as
> authoring (unlike the Web); client-side as well as
> server-side (just like Java but incomparably simpler).
> Web pages, even with JavaScript in them, are severely
> limited in terms of client-side interactivity. You
> cannot easily allow the users to move things around,
> do drag-and-drop stuff, and so on.
...
> The point of all of this is that I am trying to
> convince the lab I work for to opt for an xCard
> approach (breakthru) instead of the web-only approach
> (conformity & mediocrity) that so many are resorting
> to now. My presentations on this issue have had a
> definite impact on my colleagues, but they are still
> hesitating a bit because not-conforming to what
> everyone is doing is perceived as risky.

Everything worth doing has some element of risk, but any experienced
business person shoud appreciate the relationship between risk and reward.
With MetaCard you're almost cheating:  you can build things so quickly that
the cost-benefit analysis is nearly always favorable over alternatives, and
that's before you consider the usability benefits of doing anything but
browsing outside of the browser's limitations.

Here's some fuel for the fire -

  Beyond the Browser:
  Rediscovering the Role of the Desktop in a Net-centric World

  <http://www.fourthworld.com/embassy/articles/netapps.html>


-- 
 Richard Gaskin 
 Fourth World Media Corporation
 Developer of WebMerge 2.0: Publish any database on any site
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