Scapple Beta - New Users Please Read

[reepicheep]

Is it too early to ask about a Windows/Linux version?

Too early to ask for an iPad version? Some reviewers have already made the comment that the iPad might be thought the more natural environment for this sort of app.

[KB]

Some reviewers (by which I assume you mean one reviewer) seem to think that nobody should be writing apps for the Mac any more. And seeing as Scapple isn't even on sale yet, yes, I'd say it was too early. It's rather depressing that you can't put a Mac app out there for Mac users without the chorus if demands for it on another platform these days, but I choose to interpret as a compliment, as enthusiasm for the product.

But the Mac is what I use; I still cannot stand the iPad for writing, and first and foremost I write software I want to use myself.

[reepicheep]

Some reviewers (by which I assume you mean one reviewer) seem to think that nobody should be writing apps for the Mac any more.

I'd disagree with them on that. Mac apps will always be needed.

And seeing as Scapple isn't even on sale yet, yes, I'd say it was too early.

Really I would have thought that this was the very time for market research. Put the prototype out there (as a beta) and garner the users feedback on what they want and where they want it.

It's rather depressing that you can't put a Mac app out there for Mac users without the chorus if demands for it on another platform these days, but I choose to interpret as a compliment, as enthusiasm for the product.

Enthusiasm? Too right it is. But we're no longer writing in a mono-culture --- if we were then all we'd be given is Microsoft Word.

But the Mac is what I use; I still cannot stand the iPad for writing, and first and foremost I write software I want to use myself.

I've tried writing on my iPad but it's really only useful for fragments and notes. Whether the equivalent of index cards or small additions to the text. Scrivener (on Mac) is the most useful writers' tool I have. Index Card on my iPad is useful but imposes the same sequentialism as Scrivener.

Whereas, Scapple looks as if it will free up the brain-storming process. Removing the sequential nature of Scrivener's documents and projects even with Collections. It reminds me of the now defunct HeadCase mindmapping application for Windows. That was the only thing I would use a WIndows machine for. Scapple hopefully will fill that void.

Scapple on an iPad would be the modern author's notebook; the (current) app icon being a metaphor for that very thing as a pseudo Moleskine and pen. Always available; much lighter than even an Apple laptop.

But don't get me wrong. The sooner you can release a tool like this the better. And once it's on sale I'll put my order in. But I want it on both Macs and iPad. Best of both worlds; use at my desk, use on the move. Can't use a Mac Pro on the London Underground after all but one can, and I do, use an iPad down in the deepest of their tunnels.

Just expect a pile of beta-test comments in the near future. (You will have received an exception report email already today.)

[KB]

Thanks for sending the exception report - I've got a few, and I'll look through them on Monday. They all seem to have the same cause, and I'm keen to track that one down.

Really I would have thought that this was the very time for. Put the prototype out there (as a beta) and garner the users feedback on what they want and where they want it.

I think you might have got the wrong idea about how we operate, there. We don't do "market research" - the very term sends a shiver up my spine. Neither do I decide where to focus our resources based on what users say they want. We're very open about that, and always have been. I'm very much of the Henry Ford school in that regard. Scrivener was the tool I wanted for my own writing, so I created it. Likewise, Scapple was another tool I wanted, so I created it. If other people find them useful enough to buy them, fantastic. But I'll never be interested in writing software based only on what other people are excited about; I have to write software that I'm excited about. While that may sound like business suicide, actually, I strongly believe that this is how good software is made. (It is, in fact, how Apple operates, come to think of it.)

That's not to say that user feedback is ignored - many Scrivener users have seen their good ideas incorporated into later versions. But we do not write software by demand, we do not operate on a voting basis.

If users tell us they want an iPad version, that's great. But there's not much we can do about that right now. Scapple has yet to earn a penny of profit, and we have no one to write an iOS version. I'm certainly not writing one - I barely ever use my iPad and have no interest in writing iOS apps, and it would be fatal for our Mac apps if I started focussing on a different platform. If Scapple earns its keep and someone wants to write a version for iOS for us on a profit-share basis, great! But that's off in the future. This beta is a Mac product.

Enthusiasm? Too right it is. But we're no longer writing in a mono-culture --- if we were then all we'd be given is Microsoft Word.

Has there ever been a mono-culture? But Mac users never used to demand we made a Windows or Linux version. What iPad users tend to forget is that there are many, many more Windows users than iPad users. It would make more sense to create a Windows version before an iOS version.

Anyway, glad you're liking it!

Thanks and all the best,
Keith

[bashosfrog]

Very late to the Scapple party. I considered falling to my knees, sobbing with joy, when I saw what this was about. Tried mindmapping, detested it, but have long wanted a digital napkin that I could throw things at and then roughly formalise if necessary. And then make practical use of it. And here 'tis. Thanks.

[KB]

Thanks for the kind words - glad you like it!

[p_lindsay]

Hello - sorry, I can't see how to create a link to a file

"Clicking on file links now opens the file rather than showing it in the Finder."

[p_lindsay]

OK - sorry, just seen how to do it.

[Jana]

I love it!

I think you should shoot for a 12/21 release date and charge $12.21 for it.

[rmm]

A big thanks to you Keith and your team for creating Scapple. I'm delighted someone finally came up with software that will translate these random ideas coursing through my head into a useable format. I'll be first in "line" to buy it around December.

As for an icon suggestion, I think it should be a yellow pencil,

with the word "Scapple" scribbled under the point, but reoriented like so:



-rmm

[Seongkyun Kim]

I'm very happy to find exactly what app I've been finding!!

1. I hope I could add a note onto the connection lines like below.
Mac----------"apps"-----------Scrivener

2. And hope there's a MENU BAR at the top.

Thanks. waiting for the official launch....

[wlloydw]

But the Mac is what I use; I still cannot stand the iPad for writing, and first and foremost I write software I want to use myself.

Keith you have done it again, another game changing writing tool for those of us who believe the Mac is still the best writing tool. Elegance, simplicity, and A free form collector of thoughts and ideas.

THANK YOU...

[MuadDib2012]

Hi folks,
It is really an awesome app with great potential! I'm using it right now to plan the general theme of the next chapter of my dissertation. It would be really great if there was a way to draw a circle around a cluster of ideas!

[andegerd]

Gruff and quirky or not Kevin (not Keith): you’re a genius (some times, e.g., with Scapple), and when you have fully integrated Scrivener with Endnote or Papers for formatting, I will suggest you for Nobel’s peace prize !

[edjamesauthor]

I am really loving it and will definitely be buying the full version. I'm a recent convert to Scrivener and, as good as it is, I think its weakest area is in the idea-creation part - if you mangled it to be better you'd lose what is so good about it. Scapple looks like filling that gap really well.

I've got some alpha reader feedback from my latest story back and I'm having to tear it apart. I'm using Scapple as a trial for it and I've blogged about it here -
http://edjamesauthor.com/2012/11/11/whisky-in-the-jar-back-to-square-one/

I still think there's a use for Mindmap programs - I recently used MindNode Pro to create the outline for my novel and imported using the OPML link. While Scapple is freeform, Mindnode is rigid - both have very strong use cases.

One thing I'd say is that I'm a keyboard only fiend - I hate using mice as they slow me down - and Scapple could learn a lot from the Mindnode flexibility. Actually, having consistency across all three would be good for me (and I know you only produce two of them), but things like ESC to edit, ENTER to create, etc, would be good.

Keep up the great work - I'll definitely be buying it.

-- Ed