jk3t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan King) (09/23/90)
jkc@apple.com (John Kevin Calhoun) writes: > Here's today's press release regarding HyperCard 2.0: > > APPLE ANNOUNCES TRANSFER OF HYPERCARD TO CLARIS > > CUPERTINO, California -- September 20, 1990 -- Apple Computer, Inc. today > announced that it has transferred responsibility for development, marketing, > distribution and support of its HyperCard software product to its wholly-owned > subsidiary Claris Corporation. (1) Does this then affect Hypercard's previous designation as system software? > Claris will label, distribute and support HyperCard in the U.S. beginning > in November 1990. (2) Is this a new official ship date? In June, the ship date was listed as July, which slipped. > HyperCard and its current and future users will benefit from Claris > customer support and more aggressive development and marketing. (3) What level of customer support will be available for people who don't buy the special developer's package? (4) Does "more agressive development and marketing" imply that Claris will begin distributing other peoples' stacks, or supporting HyperCard development on other platforms, or beefing up the size/importance of the Hypercard developers or what? > International > markets will be evaluated and, where appropriate, implemented > case-by-case. (5) Does this mean that tranlators may not be implemented for some languages for which localized system software is now available? > A complete HyperCard 2.0 authoring system, necessary for developing > stacks, will be sold by Claris. (6) According to the new Winkler/Kamins book, the script editor in HC 2.0 is implemented as an XCMD, as are the debugging tools such as the message watcher and the variable watcher. Does this imply these resources will not be available in the non-developer versions of Hypercard? In other words, could a version of Hypercard without the script editing/debugging stuff be considered the same version of Hypercard as the developer version, just missing the extra frills, so to speak? > Claris will offer low-cost upgrades to the installed base of HyperCard > customers in November. (7) Will this include upgrades from 1.2.x to the developer version, or just to the "universal" version? > [more stuff deleted] > "The transfer of HyperCard will be a positive move for all parties," said > Randy Battat, vice president of worldwide product marketing for Apple > Computer. "Customers will benefit from the new support available to them > through Claris, and the active development of new HyperCard stacks; > developers will appreciate the aggressive Claris marketing programs > resulting in expanded customer acceptance and ultimately many > exciting new HyperCard solutions." This still sounds really cryptic to me. What does "expanded customer acceptance" mean when describing a product that is distributed free with every Mac? > John Zeisler, Claris marketing vice president, said, "HyperCard is an > important first step in Claris's new focus on turning software into a > strategic advantage for Apple. We're excited about new ways to enrich > Apple's software development environment and promote the creation of > innovative Macintosh applications." Just a note: I always thought that software has *always* been a strategic advantage for Apple. Further, the strategic advantage for Hypercard as a development environment was that it was available to everybody, and useable by everybody. > HyperCard 2.0, announced in June, 1990, will provide users with easy > access to the power of Macintosh computer programming, and greater > flexibility to manage and create information, using virtually any type > of media. Among the easiest to use and learn programming tools for > personal computers, HyperCard 2.0 is expected to appeal to beginners who > can put it to work immediately, and to corporate and commercial developers, > for whom it is a more powerful development environment than ever. I don't quite understand this part either. If scripting is not going to be made readily available to all users, then beginners will not be able to program in HyperTalk "immediately". HyperTalk *is* easy to learn and use--why hide it from beginners in the first place? And frankly, I'm a bit worried at the partition of "corporate and commercial developers" from other potential stack developers, since it makes me think (maybe incorrectly) that Claris will be charging a corporate/commercial price for the development package, the contents of which are being left very open-ended for the moment. > [last stuff deleted] This announcement really does worry me a bit, mostly because it prompts more questions than it answers. I also worry because the transfer of HyperCard to Claris makes it seem that the program is some how less central to Apple's plans for future system development, and could possibly become less supported if Claris decides to use its development resources on other projects. On the other hand, the money Claris brings in on Hypercard might help improve the Hypercard development effort. And finally, I'm worried that Hypercard 2.0 seems to be slipping further behind schedule (slipping four months in the last three months) while the basic package might be thinner. Right now, I really don't see how this will work out better for most people. jking