Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!yale!cmcl2!vx2!spector
From: spector@vx2.GBA.NYU.EDU (David HM Spector)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Fourth Dimension, is it any good? - Yes! (No!)
Message-ID: <650041@vx2.GBA.NYU.EDU>
Date: 31 Jul 88 03:52:00 GMT
References: <5725@dasys1.UUCP>
Organization: New York University
Lines: 47

Well, I can't go all the way in bashing 4D, but the level of ACIUS
worship that goes on on CompuServe, and elsewhere isn't warranted either.

Their Tech support is very responsive, and they seem to get quite a workout
from their customers (myself included), but this would suggest to me that there
are a number of shortcomings in a product that needs so much technical support,
and with which people have a hard time getting started with.  The 4D manuals 
are of very little use.  They are badly written and offer very little helpful
advise and almost no information about writing custom applications.

4D, if you have the time to spend, can be used to develope some _very_ 
impressive applications.  MiniFans is a good example.  But, unless you are Dave
Dell'Aquila,  time unfortunately is measured here in geologic scale..  

I have been working with 4D for quite a few months, and I am not overly fond of
it... but ACIUS has the advantage in that they are the only game in town right
now, no one else offers a database system with as many features or capabilities
as 4D... but the development time will kill you (see above) if you have dead-
lines.

I will agree about the ACIUS attitude though.  I regularly use CompuServe to
read things in the ACIUS forum, and I get really P.O.'d when I see
things marked "IMPORT ACIUS DEVELOPER NOTICE" in  files and messages that when
downloaded turn out to be forms to send in to ACIUS to register for the latest
ACIUS ski trip or cook out.  I would hate to think that all of the $695 I spent
on 4D is being spent on partying... instead of fixing the problems and 
shortcomings in 4D.   Then there's the ACIUS "Radio Controlled Car Fund"
which Guy Kawasaki _himself_ said in MacWeek was being used to buy radio 
controlled cars for the staff to play with...   
	...gee, I hope they're not doing that instead of answering the phones.

4th Dimension will (may be) be a better product one day.  As it stands now, its
very useful if you 1) are good using development environments with bad document
-ation 2) Don't have to work under time pressure or deadlines and/or 
3) can put up with an incomplete system.  


			DHMS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David HM Spector				New York University
Senior Systems Programmer			Graduate School of Business
Arpa: SPECTOR@GBA.NYU.EDU			Academic Computing Center
UUCP:...!{allegra,rocky,harvard}!cmcl2!spector	90 Trinity Place, Rm C-4
HamRadio: N2BCA      MCIMail: DSpector          New York, New York 10006
AppleLink: D1161     CompuServe: 71260,1410     (212) 285-6080
"What computer puts out work like this?"  "Hire us and we'll tell you."
XYZZYGLORP