Bellingham, WA Ð Under the theory that showing is more effective than telling, Otherwise is developing a screen-recorder application for creating instructional tapes and canned demos.
Tentatively called DoubleTake, the software makes a time-based recording of a NEXTSTEP session for later playback. It also permits the user to synch a voice recording to the changes in the display, according to Bill Tschumy, the founder and president of Otherwise. The software works by sampling the screen ten times a second and determining what bits have changed.
Tschumy, a former NeXT software engineer, said that DoubleTake evolved from a suggestion by Steve Jobs that session recordings might be more effective than written software documentation for teaching how to use a product. Otherwise is targeting the software for use at educational sites and corporate training departments.
DoubleTake was due for beta testing in September. Otherwise plans to ship it in November for about $100. It may also release a runtime version that would make it easy for third-party developers to include DoubleTake scripts as part of their user documentation.
Otherwise also ships ScreenCast, an application for displaying the screen from one NEXT-STEP computer to other computers across a network. Otherwise can be reached at 206/647-9436.