Re: A couple of issues

[James Eibisch jeibisch@xxxxxxxx]

On Tue, 16 Apr 96 14:03 EDT, you wrote:

>A couple of thoughts.
>
>James Eibisch's comment that "I'm afraid I strongly doubt that any Windows
>program, whether from TTG or not, would make me change from Xy3.55" pretty well
>sums up the essence of one of the more important issues we face.

[snip]

Thanks for the reply, K.

I agree with your points. I'm also stunned that XyDos is as 'alive' as
it is (in terms of support and, from what I can see, some level of
continued development). This is surely the mark of a superior product.

On the subject of developing for current and future markets, there is
also an issue here. We are on the verge of an application migration from
the hardware/operating system platform combination to the Web platform.
While this may be derided as hype, which it certainly suffers from, it
is also an inevitable development (I am Internet analyst for an IT
research company and am looking at just this issue; please forgive,
therefore, my enthusiasm for the topic).

What struck me is TTG's statement about, if I remember correctly, the
new product being a workflow automation system as much as a text
editor/wp. I just finished a study into groupware and workflow and how
it, specifically Lotus Notes, is being affected by this migration. The
results rather validate a lot of this hype, to whit Notes spending
tailing off at the expense of Web-based groupware. (this isn't in any
way an advert - I'll stop now!).

I would suggest therefore that the situation can only get worse from now
on for any company introducing a new groupware/workflow product built on
a specific platform like Windows. What, therefore, are TTG's plans for
building in Internet technology to the new product? Further, what plans
are there to implement the new product in Java? Again, forgive my
bullishness, but this is where the future, if not current market lies.

My loyalty to XyDos isn't based on a Luddite mistrust or fear of change,
but simply love of the product - I fully realise TTG must move forward
to address new platforms, but also that the future platform is, in crude
terms, the network, not the operating system.

If anyone wants to discuss this general issue further it might be better
to do so privately or on a newsgroup rather than on this list - it would
rapidly get off-topic I suspect.


--
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James Eibisch  ('v')   N : E : T : A : D : E : L : I : C : A
Reading, U.K.  (,_,)    http://www.i-way.co.uk/~jeibisch/
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