My View of NetTalk Web

[Mike Grigsby]

First of all, I wanted to thank Bruce and so many of you who have helped me learn to use NetTalk Web. Bruce and his talent at Capesoft are just top-notch.

I've built two pretty robust applications in NTW (NetTalk Web) so far, and besides sending thanks and kudos to Bruce, I wanted to encourage new folks to stick with learning NTW, because it is entirely worth the exercise.

On one hand, I feel bad because I sent a personal note to Bruce last year, criticizing the complexity of NTW without fully taking the time to understand how it was to be implemented.

Besides running a few software companies, I also build technology and sell it to larger companies. My goal isn't so much to build a customer base as to find a problem, solve it with Clarion, and sell off the technology.

Last year I built a fairly unique product in Clarion for Windows. The buyer wanted an online version, so I was forced to spend about a half week going through NFW samples (for which Capesoft had built many good examples), and learned the product. To my surprise, it took only about 10 days to have a demo of the product, running online. The client loved it, and we're in negotiations for a fairly large licensing deal or sale.

The point is this: if you spend a reasonable amount of time getting under the hood, the NTW product is as good (capable and easy) as anything I've used--and I've tried a lot (Visual Studio, HKVASP, .NET, Clarion Internet Server and ASP).

I'm so enthusiastic about the speed with which products can be built using NFW that I'm in the process of setting up a new business based on my success in building a web based product for an industry not accustomed to such rapid development. It will be a huge marketing advantage over other competitors.

So hang in there, learn NFW, and stand by to profit from your diligence. Thanks again to Bruce and his team of experts for all their great Capesoft products. I am a HUGE fan of CapeSoft. To my non-technical business partners, Bruce and Capesoft  are referred to as my South African development team<g>. MikeG

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[random69]

Mike,

"I'm so enthusiastic about the speed with which products can be built using NFW that I'm in the process of setting up a new business based on my success in building a web based product for an industry not accustomed to such rapid development. It will be a huge marketing advantage over other competitors."

I completely agree and have been thinking about the same market opportunities.

Imagine clients/customers not have to install a LAMP stack or IIS and have a dedicated IT guru to manage. Perfect for SMB/personal users.

Kudos to CS....

Dave

[DonRidley]

Hello Mike,

I share your optimism.   During the last week or so I have really started diving into a NetTalk web app and it has really impressed me.   The possibilities are endless.  Need to access your data via an I Phone?  Blackberry?   Laptop?  It's all possible.   

Don

[Bruce]

Hi Don,

With regard to mobile devices, some caution is in order. Many mobile devices have a very watered down web browser. Specifically many mobile browsers lack JavaScript support. And JavaScript support is required or the NTWS site pretty much doesn't run.

Windows Mobile is particularly guilty here as the IE on Windows Mobile devices does not support JavaScript. However it's not alone, so be sure to test with a specific device before committing yourself. A good test site is pretty much any dynamic NetTlak based site, of which there are plenty around. If you're really stuck for a test site try logging in as a guest on www.biodiversity.co.za but be warned, that site is hosted in South Africa so is slow to overseas visitors.

On the up side the Opera Mobile browser is available for most things, and is a completely functional browser, so is well worth the small investment for those users wanting to browse the site from a mobile device. I haven't tested explicitly with the iPhone yet - perhaps someone who has one can, and post the results here.

Cheers
Bruce

[DonRidley]

Thanks Bruce.  I assumed and you know what they say about assumptions.. .

Checking into Opera now..

Don