Dolphin 7 - Observations and Options

jtadeo posted 1st of February 2009 in Community Voice. 18 comments.

I wanted to post this earlier last week but got sidetracked. Anyway, here it is...

Dolphin 7 - Waiting for a Miracle?

I am waiting like everyone else and yes we are all very excited. I know the subhead may sound a bit dramatic but with all the drama surrounding Dolphin 7 it seemed appropriate.

I think it's natural, that as community members, we may sometimes feel like BoonEx owes it to us to give answers about their products. The reality is -- they don't. They are a privately held company and it is their prerogative to maintain confidentiality in order to keep a competitive edge in their industry.

The fact that BoonEx let us in on Dolphin 7 is a big plus. For everyone, including their competitors. By making the announcement, they have given their competitors prep time to brace themselves for another "hit" to their own products. From what I am hearing, BoonEx's competitors will find it very difficult to neutralize this next release.

So, what is the deal with Dolphin 7?

But Andrew Said, "Two Weeks" and That was Last Year! Grrrr...

I have to admit, it was quite a preamble to make an announcement like that. While it is true that Andrew did say two weeks, unfortunately the nature of programming and Life dictates that even under the best of circumstances something as simple as an ampersand will throw off an entire page of code. I program professionally and can tell you my stomach drops whenever I get that dreaded error message. A tinge of nervousness hits me, then I get over it and I then start planning a way to solve the problem or stomp that bug. I hazard to guess such is the case with Dolphin 7. They have hit a few snags here and there (or more). They are delayed. They have overshot the announced and anticipated time of release. It's bad, but really, is it as bad as this? Welcome to the programmer's world...*sigh*.

With the pressure of delivery breathing down their necks, I anticipate the guys and gals at BoonEx are not getting much sleep. And let's be straight with this, if you just can't wait then maybe you can go use the other social net apps out there. No one is stopping you and maybe it would be a good thing? You might even like it or you may find (as I have in the past) you always come back to the one you love. I've used many of them and will also need to work with one in a few months and to be sure I will probably end up comparing it to Dolphin. In my opinion, when you've had steak for dinner, that burnt burger will sometimes not cut it.

Bugs = A Programmer's Worst Nightmare (Well at least one of them)

The reality is sometimes code fixes will take anywhere from 1 minute to 1 hour to 1 week or more. It is very hard to guesstimate because if there are support files and other assets related to a file it has to be tracked down. Even when you do track it down, you have to create a solution that harmonizes with your existing code. Just consider the companies like Microsoft, Apple, EA and and so forth who have all missed critical deadline where millions of dollars were at stake and millions of people have been waiting. Remember Vista? This is not a new thing.

It is work and it is hard work. Now and again I chat with other developers and we tell tales of victories we had in combating a fierce program bug that had us not sleeping for many nights. When a programmer quashes bug, it is for the moment a great victory and you feel like standing on top of your kitchen fridge and pounding your chest acting like you are invincible. Then reality sets in and it's back to work.

What Are the Options?

One option that BoonEx could exercise is to release the product in order to please the masses. However guess what can happen? Bugs. Things not working properly. This would bring us back to when the first release of Dolphin 6 came out. Some of the veteran members will remember that time. It was utter chaos with members complaining "Why didn't you guys take your time and test this?" Truth be told however that a lot of the problems centered around some members not doing the proper installation.

Can you see the confliction here? What was that old saying again? "Damn if you do, damn if you don't!". I think that's what's happening at the moment at BoonEx central. So, take a breather and work it out in your heads using some conditional reasoning as it relates to the predicament BoonEx is in and see what you would do. I trust most likely the same.

Dolphin 6.1.4 Is the Current Option at This Time

For now, I have few more projects left with Dolphin 6.1.4 and will continue with it for a while yet in addition to Dolphin 7. I know it very well and have built several sites with 6.1.4. I know its limitations and I know where it shines. I think there will still be some longevity with it and I see it as Dolphin 7's little brother at this time.

Besides, even if Dolphin 7 were released today, I believe people will need a few weeks to dig into it more and to see what it's capable of doing. Ideally it will have substantially less bugs than the original Dolphin 6 release and that alone will have made the wait worth it in my viewpoint.

For now, let BoonEx do what they need to do. Simmer down a bit gang and all will be good.

...sip...