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- From: olson@anchor.esd.sgi.com (Dave Olson)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
- Subject: Re: Need Example of Multi-media Software
- Message-ID: <sggc7is@zuni.esd.sgi.com>
- Date: 18 Nov 92 03:46:23 GMT
- References: <1992Nov13.220345.12357@ringer.cs.utsa.edu> <1e9qknINN4k6@werple.apana.org.au> <1992Nov17.220419.9704@ringer.cs.utsa.edu>
- Sender: news@zuni.esd.sgi.com (Net News)
- Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mountain View, CA
- Lines: 60
-
- In <1992Nov17.220419.9704@ringer.cs.utsa.edu> senseman@lonestar.utsa.edu (David M. Senseman) writes:
- | I looked at SpaceTour when we got IRIX 4.0.5F and I looked again when
- | it was suggested as a good example of interactive multi-media. OK,
- | it is interactive and it is multi-media, but in my professional opinion
- | (I have taught college-level biology to about 9,500 students to date)
- | SpaceTour is NOT a _good_ example of an interactive tutorial.
-
- It was never intended to be a tutorial. I doubt (I hope!) nobody
- ever suggested that it was such a thing. I can say this with great
- authority ;), since I worked with the person who did pretty much the
- whole tour; I helped package it up and clean up some of the scripts.
- She was definitely not trying to create a tutorial.
-
- | Like the HotMix demo, SpaceTour is too "cutesie". Basically the fancy
- | artwork detracts, rather than adds to the information content of the
- | tutorial. Often the background pictures even make the small text hard to read.
- | There are a lot of pedagogical problems but I won't waste anymore bandwidth
- | here (besides I get paid big bucks for similar reviews for text book
- | publishers, so why give it away free?).
-
- The 'information content' was supposed to be that showcase is quite
- flexible, and can do a lot of things; also that we had a lot of
- multimedia stuff available for free. Also that the system could be
- 'fun' to use.
-
- | It seems to me that it would be in SGI's corporate interest to develop
- | either in-house or out-house ;-) a ShowCase-based interactive tutorial
- | that really could be used in a college-level course. Such a tutorial
- | could be used by sales droids to illustrate the multi-media capabilities
- | of the Indigo and as-yet-unnounced products. It could also be used as
- | a "style-guide" for faculty interested in developing their own ShowCase
- | based offerings.
-
- Again, it was never intended as a tutorial. Hence the name 'tour'!
- Whether it is worth doing a tutorial such as you propose, I'll bow
- out on, since I always seem to disagree with others about the usefulness
- of such tutorials...
-
- | Finally, there is some urgency here. I suspect that SGI's window of
- | opportunity in this field will begin to close in 2-3 years, if not
- | sooner, as Apple brings on-line products with the PowerPC chip-set
- | and Microsoft/Intel move beyond 486's and the EISA bus. While I
- | trust SGI will maintain its technological edge, Apple and Microsoft
- | need only offer _adequate_ performance to maintain their momemtum
- | and ever-growing software base.
-
- If current Indigo level stuff is all SGI is counting on having 2-3
- years from now, we would be sadly lacking in our planning and
- imagination. Whether the things we are working on are good enough to
- make people want to use (and buy!) our systems, only time will tell.
- Obviously I hope so. I *personally* think we would be crazy to try
- to compete at the low end of the market, based on experience with
- companies in the past that have tried to do so (and are mostly out
- of business). There isn't enough margin for a *systems* company to
- fund interesting new products (h/w or s/w) when you try to compete
- at the low end.
- --
- Let no one tell me that silence gives consent, | Dave Olson
- because whoever is silent dissents. | Silicon Graphics, Inc.
- Maria Isabel Barreno | olson@sgi.com
-