The Game is Afoot
We’re close, folks. Close to 1.0.
If you haven’t been following along on the mailing list, here’s what’s going down:
There’s a new plan regarding QLab Pro. Namely, there won’t be a QLab Pro.
What?
Right.
Ha.
No, seriously. No QLab Pro. Instead, there will just be… The One App.
One App to rule the cues,
One App to find them,
One App to load them all,
and in the darkness-of-the-tech-booth fire them.
Why?
I’ve been talking to Users Like You recently, asking what might be a fair price for QLab Pro. While some users wish to have every last bell and whistle, and have encouraged me to price the software accordingly, others are worried that a fully loaded professional version of the program will be priced out of their range, even though they’d like to have some (but not all) of the features it will include.
My desire to support continued development of QLab was competing with my desire to make the program as accessible as possible. After all, this whole thing began as a project to make a top notch tool available to people with a not-so-top notch budget. But doing development right takes some resources.
What to do?
So you just ditch the Pro version?
Well, no, not exactly.
What happens to all those features then?
Good question. The answer, dear reader, is “Plugin Packs“.
Jigga Whaaa?
This great idea came, as great ideas often do, from a user. He put it this way:
“You made this thing crazy configurable. What the heck are you doing not taking advantage of that?”
(Paraphrased)
And I thought to myself,
“You’re right! This thing is crazy configurable. What the heck am I doing not taking advantage of that?”
(Paraphrased)
So…Plugin Packs?
Yes! After all, every cue is already a plugin! Instead of forcing you to buy all of them together, why not let you choose exactly what you want?
Actually, that could be pretty cool…
Thanks! I think so too.
Someone with a modest budget who only wants to bump their capabilities a little bit doesn’t have to break the bank (and doesn’t have to pay for stuff they won’t use) while the higher-end professionals can deck themselves out with everything at a price that is still reasonable, but also reflects the value and power of what they’re getting.
Do you think they’re buying this?
Shhh….you’ll break the illusion. Pretend you’re them again.
Okay
Thanks. Anyway, the basic idea is that there will be only one QLab, and it will always be free. The features that are already free will still be free. If you need something more, shall we say, Pro, you’ll be able to build just the right system for your needs.
Enough talk! When does all this go public?
Soon. Believe me, as soon as possible. I have to wait on a few annoying business matters, and finish up the documentation, and make sure there is a system in place to store licenses, and all those last nagging details that pile up here at the end.
But soon. Watch this space for updates.