smethers@psu-cs.UUCP (Paul Smethers) (01/24/88)
The people in the Publishing department have asked me to post their press release for Prototyper on the net, which is now shipping. Instead, as we had such a great success at our MacWorld rollout (we sold our entire inventory at the show), I thought I'd just mention the key points about the product and let those on the net who had purchased it give a more unbiased opinion. First off, as you may know, a year ago we announced Prototyper, but withdrew our announcements and advertisements as quickly as they came. This happened because we got an overwhelming response asking for Prototyper to include source code and resource generation. Well, our current implementation was incapable of growing to fit this need, and we knew that the only way to every supply this would be to redesign from the beginning. What we ended up doing, however, is linking our resources with a third party who had a product that did code generation, and together we produced a superior product that not only does code generation, but is so easy to use that we are now positioning the product as a tool for "non-programmers". Of course, if you are a programmer, then the code and resource generation (it also will read resources from other applications), effectively makes Prototyper one of the best resource editors available. Its easy, Macdraw-like user interface makes the creation of your windows, dialogs, and menus much easier than if you used any other of the available tools. It also supplies a linking mechanism that makes it possible to simulate some of the interactive functions of a normal Macintosh application. We are dedicated to listening and responding to our users at SmethersBarnes (as we have already demonstrated), and I personally will try to support us on the Net (we have other employees handling other BBS). So, please give me your opinions or questions, and I'll forward them to the publishing department. I personally am only partially involved with Prototyper, but as a Macintosh hacker and user of Prototyper, I am sure I can help. SmethersBarnes can be reached by phone through 1-800-237-3611, or you can write: SmethersBarnes Dept. 400, PO Box 639 Portland, Or. 97207 Oh, I almost forgot (this is the most important part to the publishing dept.). The price is $125, and we have a introductory price if purchased directly through SmethersBarnes of $99. Prototyper will hit the regular distribution channels over the next few months. Paul Smethers SmethersBarnes