Tuesday, July 20, 2010

So... What is the Plan from the Clueless Guy!

Wow!

There was a time when it appeared the eCraft might NEVER see the light of Day.  But, now Kim Bush, from whom I ordered my machine, assures me that one will be here either this week or next.   Uh Oh!  It's time to get with the program and come up with a plan that will help prove that even a clueless guy can be useful.

So, I thought I'd let you in on how I plan to test my eCraft while letting you look over my shoulder.

All of us by now are up to speed on my liabilities when it comes to intelligently testing the eCraft.  The first being, of course, the fact that I have absolutely NO real experience with ANY digital cutter.  Yep.  That has got to be seen as a bit of a liability in the REAL world.  But, we are in a VIRTUAL world.  And, we all know that in a virtual world it's easy for clueless people to excel.  (Political Blogs, anyone?)

And, my plan is to excel at beating up on my new eCraft so you don't have to.  My plan is to ignore the hype and get down to the nuts and bolts of learning and using that thing.  My plan is to be honest when I'm confused and deliriously happy when I find that I can figure something out easily.

And, my plan is to ignore the fact that I'm clueless about digital cutting machines and bring to the table those experiences and skills where I am NOT clueless.  So, what are some of these.

First, I'll bring my 15 years of video production experience to try to make interesting and informative videos that pack a lot of information in 90 seconds for less.  I expect some things to demand longer.  But, the discipline of aiming to come in under 90 seconds will remind me that your time is precious and you don't need a boring monologue.  You need concise and useful information in as short a time as possible.

Next, I'll bring my photography skills to the table.  I don't mind if you wander on over to my Flickr sight and browse through the 8,500+ photos.  You'll find bad shots and good shots and you will see that I do NOT try to hide my mistakes if the subject is useful.  So, one of the first things I am going to try to do is to get USEFUL images that explore every aspect of the eCraft that might be truly helpful for you to see.

And, then I'll put my software interface design experience to work to seriously ferret out areas in eCraftShop Pro that still need improvement and identiy those areas that are so brilliant that even I can figure them out easily.  That design experience includes videos games (early eighties), consumer application design (Time-Life Software & Reston Publishing  mid-80's) , Hasbro NEMO Project (1985), Nolan Bushnell's Axlon toy company (1985),  the first professional desktop video application sold by a major video company (JVC Video Titler, 1984) based on the Mindset PC compatible computer, perhaps the first real-time lip sync computer animation (1985) and countless medical research and industrial data applications.

If you can help me in those areas where I am clueless, by feeding me things you like to see or see tested, then together we won't be clueless any more.  We'll virtually be EXPERTS by the time we're done!

2 comments:

Lysa said...

MeeksMan, I fear I am as clueless as you. I'll take you back to 2006 when the blue wishblade came to my home. I loved it from the beginning. The first thing I cut was a heart with a shadow. It was, my friend love at first cut. Now I sit in the craftspace looking at 2 wishblades, a KNK, and the almighty Cricut. I own it all, funtime,KNK studio,Xyron create n cut, all the craftrobo and wishblade software packages,MTC and SCAL and most importantly the true only opensource software INKSCAPE! I feel I am somewhat proficient at everyone of these software packages. I can offer you this my cohort in cluelessness, If you wish to try any cutting file conversion from any of the above listed file formats I can certainly provide you a file. Please when you get a moment won't you comment on the new Printer/cutter that Provocraft is rumored to be releasing at CHA next week. This is why I can never let go of my wishblade, I do a lot of print and cut projects. I see from the boards that it is called the Cricut Imagine. Many thanks for your kind word in regard to my blog. I will link my blog to you as well. Have a great day Meeks!
Lysa

Tom Meeks said...

This is why I am VERY happy to have you around!

I KNEW you were the type of person with whom I love to hang out from your first comment and this one just confirms it. And, that is pretty august company. You'd fit right in.

And what do you do? You put me on the spot by asking me about the Cricut Imagine of which I am even MORE clueless than the eCraft.

Yep! Just like my associates. LOL!

I only know what you know about the Cricut. So, we'll have to wait until after CHA. But, I CAN comment on innovations like the Cricut Imagine. So, look for a new entry in a few minutes.

Thanks for the prod and keep on keeping my feet to the fire!