[Laughs] This Article Should Elicit Strong Opinions

https://medium.com/design-ux/b56e5decf113

Todd
http://xiiro.com


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Indeed. (one eyebrow raised in Spock-like fashion)

In some ways, this brings to mind my own affront at Photoshop for making
things like bevels and drop-shadows a simple interface choice instead of
the arcane and semi-impossible Channel Calculations I had mastered. It was
a while before I could bring myself to forgive the Knoll brothers for that.

Actually, I love Photoshop and I appreciate when tools are improved and
easier to access. But I do appreciate how making something so easy a fetus
could master it threatens my inventory of special skills. Every plugin,
action, module, whatever, erodes and eats away at what I can do and what
makes me desirable in my craft. I used to compete with the best of the
best, and now the infant relations of the secretarial pool are my
competition.

Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration – but there is also a lot of
truth there. And honestly, I don’t begrudge the talent and endeavor of
young people (or foreign workers) today – but it’s not lost on me how tech
and opportunity have flattened the effort for them. What I mean is, I
understand that some of this article is grumbling.

But also, I understand the value of the grumbling – apps like Macaw or
Freeway Pro for that matter, are imo best used with an understanding and
appreciation for what they are producing and how they are producing it –
and not just in the time and effort saved. I can exert an acceptable (to
me, anyway) level of control over FWP and what it will produce. How is that
any different than using a preprocessor like SASS?

So, sometimes I’m lazy and sometimes I grumble. And someday – hopefully
after I’m looong gone – people will look back at me like I look back at
the Neanderthal. Hopefully, with awe and respect at what we accomplished
despite our primitive technology.


Ernie Simpson

Todd stopped laughing long enough to write:

https://medium.com/design-ux/b56e5decf113


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

All of these tools are just that - tools.

The fact that you can code with your eyes closed, your hands tied behind your back is no guarantee that your site will look spectacular or attract and engage with the audience. The same goes for designers, if you suck as a designer there is no hope in hell that Photoshop or Illustrator make you a better. Autocad does not make you a better architect either.

Therefore every project whether it is a logo design or website should start with a strategic reason for it’s existence. Strategy and content will drive the process, it will help the designers, programmers, seo specialists, copywriters and everybody else involved to do their best work.

I’m so tired of the " I only hand code" bollocks. The site visitor doesn’t give a rats ass about your code. All they want is a site that works, give them the content that they are looking for; can they buy stuff, make an appointment, find directions etc. If everybody involved on the project is striving for excellence then hopefully it will be a successful project - just make sure that your hand code is just as beautiful as the copywriting and the site design.

Using tools like FW has piqued my interest to learn hand code. I’m no where near doing it with my hands tied behind my back but I learn something new everyday and I do enjoy it. I can’t wait to get my hands on Macaw as it will speed up the process - just another tool.

Use the right tool for the task.
Cheers
Marcel


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

I’ve pledged.

Walter

On Oct 2, 2013, at 12:48 PM, atelier wrote:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Exciting. I’m very curious to find out if it’ll live up to the hype.

Todd

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

I doubt very much that they built the demo in After Effects or something like that (I’m pretty sure it exists and works), but I will be fascinated to see how the interface works with my style of design. I thought it was worth $99 to egg them on and get a copy.

Walter

On Oct 2, 2013, at 1:28 PM, Todd wrote:

Exciting. I’m very curious to find out if it’ll live up to the hype.

Todd
http://xiiro.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Oh, I wasn’t implying anything like that, I have no doubt it exists and works fine. My point was that, like you, I’m curious if it will fit into my way of working. Can’t wait.

Todd

I doubt very much that they built the demo in After Effects or something like that (I’m pretty sure it exists and works), but I will be fascinated to see how the interface works with my style of design. I thought it was worth $99 to egg them on and get a copy.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

I thought it was worth $99 to egg them on and get a copy.

My thoughts exactly!

The kids have no shoes and we eat beans on toast but WTH

D


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Early this morning when I added my pledge it was sitting just over $4,000 and currently it’s at $51,587… cant wait to give it spin.

Marcel


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

cant wait to give it spin

Unfortunately a rapid attainment of the Kickstarter goal is unlikely to mean we are going to see anything before the Jan '14 expected delivery date.

Unless - of course they get so much more that they are prepared to throw loads of extra resources at it. Time will tell.

D


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Unless - of course they get so much more that they are prepared to throw
loads of extra resources at it. Time will tell.

I’d rather wait and get a quality product than have them rush and cut
corners. And then wait years for the next major upgrade, only to be
disappointed when it’s scarcely improved on.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

That’s not how Kickstarter works, sadly. If you get all the way to the top of the meter, you still don’t get any of it until the campaign ends (on whatever date you set for that). And you really don’t get it until a while after that – has to transfer or something. There are other croudfunding sites that have different terms, but that’s what I know about KS.

Walter

On Oct 2, 2013, at 4:27 PM, DeltaDave wrote:

cant wait to give it spin

Unfortunately a rapid attainment of the Kickstarter goal is unlikely to mean we are going to see anything before the Jan '14 expected delivery date.

Unless - of course they get so much more that they are prepared to throw loads of extra resources at it. Time will tell.

D


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

I think the KS campaign is just to test the market and use it as leverage to raise investment money.

So far they have roughly raised $50k from around 500 backers. So lets speculate that their software is really as good as they say it is and it will sell in $120-$150 range - multiply that by thousands of web designers all over the world and it probably can become a pretty decent investment.

Marcel


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

On 2 Oct 2013, 7:54 pm, DeltaDave wrote:

The kids have no shoes and we eat beans on toast but WTH

D

Well…oh boy what can I say…it’s just plain toast here…:wink:
But I pledged anyway, looking forward to test it out.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Wow, these guys are on fire! They surpassed their goal in one day. It must be a great feeling to have such interest (not to mention people willing to pay) in what you’re doing. Good for them.

Todd

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

I hope this inspires a certain group of egg-headed Oxford types to further efforts in this space. They were there first, and they need to keep skating madly toward where they said the puck would be.

Walter

On Oct 3, 2013, at 1:37 PM, Todd wrote:

Wow, these guys are on fire! They surpassed their goal in one day. It must be a great feeling to have such interest (not to mention people willing to pay) in what you’re doing. Good for them.

Todd
http://xiiro.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

Unfortunately being first doesn’t offer much security when the competition is innovating and you’re not.

Whether Macaw lives up to the hype or not it has already raised the bar for the competition and that’s quite an accomplishment for a product that has yet to hit the streets. Macaw might not leave every competitor in the dust but I bet it’s going to cull the herd and that, I would think, would give SP pause. I don’t envy being in their shoes right now.

Todd

I hope this inspires a certain group of egg-headed Oxford types to further efforts in this space. They were there first, and they need to keep skating madly toward where they said the puck would be.

Walter

On Oct 3, 2013, at 1:37 PM, Todd wrote:

Wow, these guys are on fire! They surpassed their goal in one day. It must be a great feeling to have such interest (not to mention people willing to pay) in what you’re doing. Good for them.

Todd
http://xiiro.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-savvy-web-design-tool

It seems to be almost showtime.


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options


offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options