Nick
06-07-2007, 06:07 PM
No, folks. We're not giving away free Mark V 520s...yet. The bogus ad is the result of my own quirky sense of humor and the unfortunate fact that I missed that day in kindergarten when they explained the difference between work and play.
What you guys have stumbled upon is a semi-secret test of a live, interactive webcast technology that would allow Shopsmith to deliver demonstrations and educational programs and allow you to ask questions and make comments during the webcast. Drew Actermann (my co-instructor) and I wrote the initial code in HTML and JAVA. We cast this live to a small audience on May 18, then recast it as an "on demand" streaming video so others could review it and comment. Bob Folkerth was pleased with the initial result, and we are now refining the code and our webcasting skills for a public demonstration. We hope to announce an online "Sawdust Session" sometime in the very near future. If this demo comes off well and proves helpful to our users, it will be followed by other programs.
Obviously, I can't say a great deal at this time. It's not so much that our plans are confidential, it's that they are in constant flux. This technology has so much potential and so many possible applications, that it's difficult to sort out what we should do first. Also, we are limited as to how much we can do by manpower and money. I'm currently thinking through a reasonable schedule of experiments and expenditures that will result in an effective educational program and a profitable marketing channel without overstressing our small IT staff or our (even smaller) bank account.
Thank you for your kinds words and for pointing out the problems with the audio and browser compatibility. The intermitent audio was caused by my inexperience with the type of mike I was given. Notice that the sound cuts out every time I turn my head away from the pick-up. A high-quality lavelier microphone with fix this.
Browser incompatibility is a much thornier problem. For the "proof of concept" webcast, we were limited to using Windows Media Encoder (because it was free), and consequently our only output was a .wmv video file. We're currently looking at several different encoders as well as code that could sense your browser and send you either the right output to fit your platform or the plug-ins you need to view our output. Don't put too much stock in the FAQ; I wrote that early on in this experiment and included it only as an example of the sort of help we could provide to users. The code has already evolved past it and the FAQ will have to be totally rewritten before we go public.
Let me close be assuring you that Shopsmith is as excited about the "Shopsmith Channel" as you all seem to be. For over 50 years, Shopsmith's cornerstone has been demonstration and education. However, $3/gallon gasoline and $100/night motels have made it very difficult to bring these demos and educational programs to you as of late. Perhaps Hands Online! is not as warm and fuzzy as a live appearance by Rick or Spike, but it is nonetheless an effective and economical way for us to communicate.
In another thread, Alan Cooke wrote: "I think if SS put some SERIOUS effort into connecting it's users together it would profit exponentially from it's efforts." We hear you, Alan. And -- God willing and the crick don't rise -- that's what we're doing.
With all good wishes,
What you guys have stumbled upon is a semi-secret test of a live, interactive webcast technology that would allow Shopsmith to deliver demonstrations and educational programs and allow you to ask questions and make comments during the webcast. Drew Actermann (my co-instructor) and I wrote the initial code in HTML and JAVA. We cast this live to a small audience on May 18, then recast it as an "on demand" streaming video so others could review it and comment. Bob Folkerth was pleased with the initial result, and we are now refining the code and our webcasting skills for a public demonstration. We hope to announce an online "Sawdust Session" sometime in the very near future. If this demo comes off well and proves helpful to our users, it will be followed by other programs.
Obviously, I can't say a great deal at this time. It's not so much that our plans are confidential, it's that they are in constant flux. This technology has so much potential and so many possible applications, that it's difficult to sort out what we should do first. Also, we are limited as to how much we can do by manpower and money. I'm currently thinking through a reasonable schedule of experiments and expenditures that will result in an effective educational program and a profitable marketing channel without overstressing our small IT staff or our (even smaller) bank account.
Thank you for your kinds words and for pointing out the problems with the audio and browser compatibility. The intermitent audio was caused by my inexperience with the type of mike I was given. Notice that the sound cuts out every time I turn my head away from the pick-up. A high-quality lavelier microphone with fix this.
Browser incompatibility is a much thornier problem. For the "proof of concept" webcast, we were limited to using Windows Media Encoder (because it was free), and consequently our only output was a .wmv video file. We're currently looking at several different encoders as well as code that could sense your browser and send you either the right output to fit your platform or the plug-ins you need to view our output. Don't put too much stock in the FAQ; I wrote that early on in this experiment and included it only as an example of the sort of help we could provide to users. The code has already evolved past it and the FAQ will have to be totally rewritten before we go public.
Let me close be assuring you that Shopsmith is as excited about the "Shopsmith Channel" as you all seem to be. For over 50 years, Shopsmith's cornerstone has been demonstration and education. However, $3/gallon gasoline and $100/night motels have made it very difficult to bring these demos and educational programs to you as of late. Perhaps Hands Online! is not as warm and fuzzy as a live appearance by Rick or Spike, but it is nonetheless an effective and economical way for us to communicate.
In another thread, Alan Cooke wrote: "I think if SS put some SERIOUS effort into connecting it's users together it would profit exponentially from it's efforts." We hear you, Alan. And -- God willing and the crick don't rise -- that's what we're doing.
With all good wishes,