Let Rev's Light Shine...or Watch It Go Out

[Richard Gaskin]

Rob Cozens wrote:

> For those of us who would rather choose a non-confrontational stance,

...arguaby the only option likely to ultimately yield buy-in.  Confrontation
too often leads to a digging in of heels, rational or not.

Let our actions speak for us.

> there is still one thing you can do to fight the legacy of X-Talks
> prejudice:
> 
> DISPLAY THE MADE WITH RUN REV IMAGE ON EVERY APPLICATION YOU RELEASE!
> 
> If you run away from the issue and try to hide you applications'
> roots, your efforts can only work against the long-term success &
> acceptance of the platform you use to build that application.

I would agree wholeheatedly if tempered to read:

    Display the "Made with RunRev" notice in every About box

This has less to do "hiding" than simply message relevance:

99.99% of my customers and my clients' customers are not software developers
and never will be.  In a noisy world staying on message is critical, and the
About box is a part of the branding message for the developer delivering it.

Adding other graphic treatments confuses the message without providing much
real benefit to anyone (not to mention what it can do to one's color palette
choices).

The good folks at RunRev wisely recognize this, requiring only the text:

   Made with Runtime Revolution
   Portions (c) 2004 Runtime Revolution Ltd.

This is how professinoal development tools and libraries are credited, from
MacApp to THINK C to CodeWarrior.  The folks at RunRev have seen how much
contention was caused by Allegiant's logo requirement, and how many deals
were lost by Director's harsh About box requirements (don't get Chipp
started on that <g>).

The 0.01% of folks looking at my About box to see what I'm developing with
will find what they're looking for easily.

A third-party's About box is a poor substitute for effective marketing, and
just scares off potential customers.

If one really wants to support Rev effectively there's a much more visible
way to do it: consider adding a page at your site offering Rev info, tools,
or even just a description of how your clients benefit from your using Rev.
Your About box only goes as far as you can throw it, but Google is
everywhere....

-- 
 Richard Gaskin 
 Fourth World Media Corporation
 ___________________________________________________________
 Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com