I think that interview is pretty good, it answered a few of my questions in the way I was hoping to see them answered: marketing lingo, info on demographics and their target market-things that are relavent to me because I've learned them in college.

But the one thing I have a few opinions on is the last paragraph on the last page.

From the context of both the Interview and what :FX provides, I assume that when the words "traditional, old school application" refer to Flash. I don't see what else they could refer to because what's in question here is someone sitting at home using Flash to build a web site vs. what :FX can do. The words "static tool" are used as well to describe Flash. I'm not in any way trying to scrutinize Mr. Balthasar-I'm now much more impressed at the work he and the company put into developing this system, it sure was not an easy task.

But I hardly think that Flash is a "traditional, old school application" and I don't see how it's old school and Balthasar :FX is what I guess would be "cutting edge, new school." Yes, Balthasar :FX provides something in a new format. But it's not like we're here saying "Flash as an application is on the way out, Balthasar :FX is the only answer now. "

There are plenty of people who do want to learn Flash, who do want to take a course to learn it. The comparison is made between applications taking time to learn, and the :FX system being "an easier to use system...that gets you up and running quickly." Does that neccesarily mean that putting time into something when you have a desire to learn about it is bad? Does it mean that because something is much faster and easier to use that it's the best option?
No, not always.

Here's why. The person who wants to purchase and learn Flash and realizes that along with that comes hours of learning-they're going to have both motivation and desire to do so. They'll likely want to learn a range of things, and along with the course of learning comes a large amount of gained knowledge through practice, trial and error, critiques by others, tips from others, reading books, etc.
There is no doubt that along the way they are going to learn things that will shape them as a Flash user, no doubt making them better with it as time goes on. They'll learn a bit about graphics, they'll learn about cartooning, they'll learn about Actionscript. They could be terrible with all of it, or they could be extraordinary. The primary aspect here is that they're taking the time to learn, because they have interest in doing so.

The :FX system is described as, like I said, one that "get's you up and running quickly, that empowers you." However, when you're going into something with no understanding of anything (meaning the "weekend-warrior" target market of the system") what does this system allow you to do in comparison to the ones who take the time to learn Flash? Yes, I realize that someone using :FX can sit down and create a website with graphics, animations, etc., but isn't it a disadvantage that they're lacking all the knowledge gained through learning all the aspects I described above?

I just don't agree with Flash being termed as a "traditional, old school application." I think I'm making a safe assumption that Flash is what's being compared here-I don't think it could be html because you don't have to buy a $199 program to do html. And as far as static tools go-aren't all software programs static?

I know that the :FX system is going to prove to be worthwhile for many people, it already has. I'm sure that with future versions they'll continue to improve on what they have. I just take issue with the fact that in the last paragraph, it's being presented as the best option in relation to purchasing a progam and taking the time to learn it or using the :FX system to create something. When people want to learn, they're going to do what it takes to learn something. When they want to feel confident of what they're doing in terms of something being visually pleasing, effective, easy to understand, etc., they're going to want to do whatever it takes to get there. I do realize that some people are not going to have this desire. I do realize that people with no understanding of graphics, animation or websites will use this system and create something that they're satisfied with no matter what others who are more knowledgable in this area would think of it. I also realize that when people really want to create something that is effective and meets their needs, they're going to do whatever it takes to get there. They'll find their options, and they'll go with what they have the desire to go with.

Thanks for the great interview.

mg33