šŸ“Š [POLL] Book vs Video

Iā€™m not sure when Hype 4 will launch, but I am considering relaunching A Book About Hype for when it does. Hereā€™s what will be differentā€¦

  • Likely available (exclusively) at FastSpring
  • Not an upgrade
  • Highly likely to include Hype Templates (I like iBooks Author, but I donā€™t like this problem.)

I consider the current book a success. Most people seem to like it. There are some issues with the current edition though, which Iā€™m planning to fix with the new book. But Iā€™ve been wondering about the focus of the book ā€“ should it be like it is now, or should there be videos too?


Advantages ā€“ WITHOUT videos

  • Probably a cheaper book ā€“ Iā€™m thinking $19.98 no videos vs $29.95 with videos. (The plan is to include the templates with the book download, which is why the Hype 4 guide is more expensive.)

  • Smaller file size ā€“ If youā€™re reading the book on-the-go, the ePub will be much MUCH smaller without videos.

Advantages ā€“ WITH videos

  • Probably easier to understand and learn with videos

Obviously, I donā€™t like doing double the work, so I donā€™t really want to make videos. Although, I know that a lot of people hate reading and watching a video can be easier. Thatā€™s the point of this poll. Are templates and text/images enoughā€¦ or do you want videos?

Click the heart icon on one of the two following threads to show which book format you like best.

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NO VIDEOS ā€“ Just text, images and templates ā€“ The preference is a less expensive book that doesnā€™t eat up a lot of storage.

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VIDEOS ā€“ Text, images, templates AND VIDEOS ā€“ The preference is the best learning experience possible, even if that makes the book more expensive and larger in size.

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looking forward to it!

Wow, the preference for videos is unanimous. This makes me wonder if I should even bother making a new book. Maybe just videos would be better. :thinking:

It looks like Hype 4 is close though...

Saturday, October 14

8:35 AM - 9:05 AM:
Introducing Hype 4.0! (Jonathan Deutsch)

Are you ready for Hype 4.0? Then you'll want to be at the Hype Conference, where the software's big new update will be discussed, new features will be shown, and beta access will be available for attendees.

That's about a month away. So, if I am going to make a new Hype book, it looks like I'll have to get busy soon.

I would pay the higher price. BTWā€¦ the first book was really good and closed a lot of gaps for me. I personally like videos but like how in your book, you were able to play with the sample widgets. There isnā€™t a lot of good Hype video content out there and that may be why the poll is leaning that way. I think some basic scripting tuts would be good and expand on the iBooks integration/customization (of iBooks if you know anything about that). Iā€™m on my 2nd childrenā€™s interactive book and could use all the help I can get. Also, if you have any advice on making projects more compact/simplified and run faster. Tips and tricks as well. Sorry if Iā€™m asking a lot. Thanks for doing this! Frank

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I am probably alone here, no problem with that. I donā€™t like videos and donā€™t learn well from them, prefer to work off of things that I can print and make notes on.

But thats just me, do what you think is right.

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Well, ImageOptim... ImageOptim ā€” better Save for Web ...is what I recommend to compress images (without losing quality, or not much loss of quality if you're using lossy mode).

The Hype videos have such low numbers. When I was about to give up on App Development... ABORT! 10-Year Plan Cancelled ā€“ Photics.com ...I was considering other projects. Making videos was one of the ideas. Yet, even the most popular of Hype tutorial videos have very low views. There are 4,800 accounts on this forum... About - Tumult Forums ...so if that translated to a 1:1 ratio of accounts to views, that's about $5 in revenue in YouTube land.

I'm not sure what's the right answer. Lately, I think I spend too much time in front of the computer. Maybe I should be a farmer. HA HA.

Also, if there were videos in the book, which would you prefer...

  • SCREEN RECORDINGS ā€“ I don't need to see you man, just the facts
  • ANIMATIONS ā€“ I like colorful videos with nice graphics
  • VIDEO STAR ā€“ I want to see your face man, can't trust you otherwise
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me too, I spend far too much time in front of the computer, and my comprehension of new material is better when I can close everything down and just concentrate on reading material. I can take my time, look back a couple of sentences to digest something, make notes in the margin etc.

I also teach in two classroom environments, one in a high school in other teachers classrooms for particular presentations. After 15 years of that, I donā€™t use ANY video. I observe the use use of video by other teachers and am not at all impressed by what happens there. But thats me. My other teaching environment is TaeKwonDo, for 22 years, purposely no written curriculum, it needs to be in your head other wise nothing is learned, its done by rote memorization, which I believe is really the best way to learn anything. Get the basics drilled into your head, then your mind is free to adapt to whatever the real situation is. We have a two time Olympian to prove it. We could teach the multiplication tables to 5 year olds in two hours and they would remember it 60 years later. Believe me. I am considered a renegade by the educational system, but they hire me on contract to work in highly unusual situations that no one else will do, so there you go.

I totally realize 90% will disagree with me and I have no problem with that.

Sorry for hijacking the thread. I will happily work with video if that whats there.

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I think a larger question is at this point in time - will You be doing a Hype v4 guide or not? July 2017, when You originally posted this poll, is some time ago.

I don't sense any level of commitment - whatever the format. I would have thought that by now You would have had a draft of your "book" in place.

From a Sept 2017 post:

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It's true. I am considering not doing it... or perhaps delaying it until a different version of Hype.

Right now, I'm not sure what the story is with Hype 4. Since I don't know when it's launching, or how the new features will turn out, I'm working on other projects first. I probably should have just worked on the book instead, but I did learn a lot of new things that could be useful for an update to the book.

The reality is this... I felt the exact same way about writing "A Book About Hype" just before I started writing it. Once I started writing, I didn't stop working on the book until it was done.

Your ā€œBook About Hypeā€ was a strong influence in my jumping from Adobeā€™s ā€œEdge Animateā€ (granted a sinking ship at the time) to Hype. It was a most valuable resource for me in learning Hype quickly (I had just signed a $10,000 contract to reproduce a faithful rendition of a large complicated Flash Documentary into HTML5 just as Adobe pulled the rug out from under ā€œEdge Animateā€). Iā€™ve always recommended it to others on this Forum who asked about learning resources.

I hope, whatever the timeline is for Hype 4 & complete info is available, that You will create another book for others new to Hype. The official documentation, while mostly thorough, is not the same as a good intro~overview guidebook.

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