Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!autodesk!glang
From: glang@Autodesk.COM (Gary Lang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: WingZ
Message-ID: <1209@autodesk.COM>
Date: 9 Dec 90 21:55:03 GMT
References: <1990Nov26.134500.14895@ni.umd.edu> <699@mara.cognet.ucla.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Autodesk Inc., Sausalito CA, USA
Lines: 38
In-reply-to: iwelch@agsm.ucla.edu's message of 27 Nov 90 06:04:04 GMT

>After all, how can they compete with a free product?

By doing a different one. Powerstep and Wingz are full blown applications
development environments, Improv is not touted as such. This is fundamental
because it enables Wingz and Powerstep to be used as development platforms
by third parties, not just an analysis tool.

All really successful software packages turn out to have development
environments on top of which the highest percentage of use of these
packages are experienced. Examples:

1-2-3
dBASE
Hypercard
WP
Word (macros, style sheets and now WordBasic)
Excel

etc.

Informix and A-T can do very well with these products.

Frankly, Lotus has done more for NeXT over the past 2 years than 
either A-T or Informix have. They've consistently let Frank King
be photographed with a NeXT on his desk talking about it (largely
to divert attention from Windows one might suspect but still..),
manzi has constantly talked up the cube, etc. Ask yourself, who
is the AA-T equivalen to King? Hmm.. O.K. so he probably hasn't talked
about the cube much has he?

Lotus and NeXT have a nice symbiosis going that few hardware and
software vendors seem to have these days.

BTW, I have Wingz and have seen the other 2 (haven't received upgrade
yet) and can safely say that while it is a great product, it is the
least NeXT-like of the 3.

- g