An Open Letter To Xara

[stratocast]

An open letter to Xara.

Aaah! XaraX - x!

Like a beautiful woman glimpsed from afar, desirable, but tantalisingly unreachable, unknowable and yet somehow familiar. The ethereal future incarnation of the flagship of a dynasty. That flagship, having foundered on the rocks of commercial greed, is now back home, safe, but cocooned in dry dock silently awaiting the tendings of her builders.

But wait, these same artisans have turned their attention to more modern, flashier craft. Build 'em quick and sell 'em cheap seems to be the new battle cry and if you can't sell 'em, rent 'em. Has the low drudgery of avarice dulled their senses or are they not inclined to waste their time on a rusting hulk? Who knows?

We, the proletariat (known affectionately in the airline industry as 'self-loading cargo'), beseech these men of good graces and tireless labour, to put aside their aspirations of great wealth and opportunity. To turn briefly away from their dreams of Eldorado and donate a small part of their time and energy to a worthwhile cause. The resurrection of the good ship XaraX.

A little caulking above and below the waterline, a larger hold for export goods, a strengthening of some of the timbers and a lick of paint is all that is needed. (The old set of sails can be re-used, as she always was a speedy craft.) Then, re-launched to great fanfare and merriment, with significant discounts for previous passengers, she will be free to embrace the future as a thoroughly modern vessel and claim her rightful place as the best in her class.

So, I ask, will the good ship XaraX rise again to embrace a new dawn? The shroud of secrecy is tight and impenetrable. Not even the aforementioned artisans are inclined to speak. A reliable source tells me that the mere utterance of the X word at Xara HQ has the same effect as mentioning the word Macbeth in a theatre or discount in a whorehouse.

This may or may not be true, the dream, however, endures. Even my Granny says so, and she's got a wooden leg.


Yours Faithfully,
Captain Ahab

http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[stratocast]

An open letter to Xara.

Aaah! XaraX - x!

Like a beautiful woman glimpsed from afar, desirable, but tantalisingly unreachable, unknowable and yet somehow familiar. The ethereal future incarnation of the flagship of a dynasty. That flagship, having foundered on the rocks of commercial greed, is now back home, safe, but cocooned in dry dock silently awaiting the tendings of her builders.

But wait, these same artisans have turned their attention to more modern, flashier craft. Build 'em quick and sell 'em cheap seems to be the new battle cry and if you can't sell 'em, rent 'em. Has the low drudgery of avarice dulled their senses or are they not inclined to waste their time on a rusting hulk? Who knows?

We, the proletariat (known affectionately in the airline industry as 'self-loading cargo'), beseech these men of good graces and tireless labour, to put aside their aspirations of great wealth and opportunity. To turn briefly away from their dreams of Eldorado and donate a small part of their time and energy to a worthwhile cause. The resurrection of the good ship XaraX.

A little caulking above and below the waterline, a larger hold for export goods, a strengthening of some of the timbers and a lick of paint is all that is needed. (The old set of sails can be re-used, as she always was a speedy craft.) Then, re-launched to great fanfare and merriment, with significant discounts for previous passengers, she will be free to embrace the future as a thoroughly modern vessel and claim her rightful place as the best in her class.

So, I ask, will the good ship XaraX rise again to embrace a new dawn? The shroud of secrecy is tight and impenetrable. Not even the aforementioned artisans are inclined to speak. A reliable source tells me that the mere utterance of the X word at Xara HQ has the same effect as mentioning the word Macbeth in a theatre or discount in a whorehouse.

This may or may not be true, the dream, however, endures. Even my Granny says so, and she's got a wooden leg.


Yours Faithfully,
Captain Ahab

http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[gwpriester]

Block that metaphor! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

But of course your point is well taken and you join the other members of the conference who have voiced the same sentiments (sans metaphors).

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person


<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


<a href="http://www.xaraxone.com">
The Xara Xone </a>

[stratocast]

An open letter to Gary Priester.

Aaah! The Metaphor!

Like a beautiful woman....... - Whoa! Let's not start that again! (How did that similie get in there, anyway?)

Thanks for the welcome. I know that the same sentiments have been expressed many times on this forum. I could, of course, have just come straight out and asked the question "Where's Xarax-x, you *?@**< !!#". But, it wouldn't have been polite or as much fun [for me that is, if not for anyone else).

On the subject of software development, you may be interested in a reply I received from a developer, whose software is also IMHO one of the best at what it does. I asked him why he was no longer developing his product...

"I spent a lot of time working out the best user interface for optimising images. Instead of being easy to start, I focused on making it really fast once you've learnt it (although I don't think it's that hard to learn). I'm glad you're another entry in my list of success stories.
You're right, I'm not really developing it anymore. I spent many thousands of hours working on it, and haven't really had anything like a sensible return on my time (I should have got a proper job), and it just doesn't seem worth it. I was just out-marketed and out-budgeted by the big software companies. And besides, the baseline formats supported by web browsers haven't really moved on, so it is still a useful tool."

This makes sense to me and perhaps we are dealing with the same situation at Xara.

Xara are an innovative company that produce truly original, quality software (my start menu has a whole list of X's on it). However, it is a pity that the one true world-beater in their portfolio has been neglected for so long. The posts on this excellent forum are testament to the enduring support for XaraX, despite the lack of feedback from Xara.

It's debatable whether the Xara boys and girls ever visit here and of course, I don't expect a reply. However, may I suggest, in the grammatical spirit of things, a pun -

"Cheese with your whine, sir?"


--stratocast
"The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an eye for resemblance" -Aristotle, De Poetica, 322 B.C.

(However, he doesn't say what using bad, overblown metaphors makes you!) http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/redface.gif

[jon spain]

Stratocast

Out of curiosity, what is that other software, which is no longer being available? Thanx

Jon

[stratocast]

Jon

It's Ignite 2

http://www.ignite-it.co.uk/

I use it directly from Photoshop as a replacement for Image Ready to quickly optimise jpegs for the web (it's a stand-alone application and an export plugin). It has user template functionality which I find very handy.

It is still available btw - almost free!

--stratocast

[This message was edited by stratocast on June 23, 2003 at 06:55.]

[pinkbat]

I second that vote for Ignite

Regards,
Britta

[RAMWolff44]

Another individual on the side of seeing XaraX returned to it's former glory. I'm with ya!! Great metaphoric context you used and appropriate and stirring.

Thanks for sharing with us!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

---Wolff On The Prowl---

http://www.ramwolffsworld.com/

[pauland]

I'd also like to see Xara X move ahead rather than quietly wither in the shadow of rivals. I used to think that Corel styfled the product and we'd really see it advance as XaraX, but the development of the product has been... negligible. It looks to me as though XaraX has been pushed aside in favour of rather less usefull siblings in the Xara stable. A very dissappointing situation indeed. I remember when Studio was launched and that was exciting. Nobody at Xara have any marketing nous?

It's still fabulous software, whose practitioners do amazing things, and a great user community and mentor (thank you Gary). It seems to me that XaraX survives almost despite Xara ltd. rather than because of it.

Paul