Scott Thompson, lead MindManager developer on CocoaRadio

If you are a mind-mapping addict or business switcher, you're going to enjoy this interview with Scott. He is a former developer on Macromedia FreeHand with a great story to share about a company doing things right on the Mac. Mindjet didn't just port their Windows app (thank you!) as Scott explains, but intentionally set out to create a solid Cocoa app and true Mac experience. Simple logic other software companies should adopt!

Now that it's out I expect to see it become even more powerful via Applescript and their API - a wake up call for all of you power users and GTD hacks out there! So grab a demo and tune in.

Previous post about MindManager beta is here.

Knowing that many non-iTunes PC users don't care for AAC files, I've encoded this show as mp3. I'm just too busy or lazy to add pictures in Garageband too.

Direct download: mp3  or subscribe already via iTunes

Technorati Tags: apple, creativity, dallas, mac, macdeveloper, mindjet, mindmapping, obj-c, osx, scott thompson

Comments

[Matt]

Great interview! I really enjoyed hearing Scott describe the approach they used to create the Mac version of MindManager.

Although I know many MM users (myself included, at least initially) are somewhat disappointed that there is not a feature-for-feature parity between the PC and first Mac version, I am actually impressed that MindJet wants to make this a uniquely Mac app, rather than a simple port of a Windows app.

Thanks for the discussion Blake and Scott!

[David Young]

Yeah, great interview. Scott's story is particularly interesting when he talks about the process of building a great Mac application within an organization whose strength lies on Windows; this is a problem that Cocoa developers are going to run into again and again.

One thing I'd be interested to learn -- how did the Mindjet management team come to realize that they wanted to build a great Mac app instead of a Windows port? Understanding that secret sauce would be invaluable. :)

[Daniel Jalkut]

I think this was the best episode of Cocoa Radio yet. The content and sound quality all came together for a thoroughly enjoyable program. Nice work!

[Todd Dombrowski]

Rumor has it that Scott didn't plug his own excellent (and just published) book "Quartz 2D Graphics for Mac OS X Developers" - so I'll have to do the dirty work for him :-)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321336631/

Excellent read by the way.

[Scott Thompson]

Matt wrote - One thing I'd be interested to learn -- how did the Mindjet management team come to realize that they wanted to build a great Mac app instead of a Windows port? Understanding that secret sauce would be invaluable. :)

Boy, I wish I had the secret sauce to give you (try "Dave's Insanity Sauce"... if it doesn't work, it will at least get you noticed).

The fact is that the folks at Mindjet are willing to admit when they don't know something. Once they had decided to do a Macintosh application, they got in touch with Apple's developer relations group. Those folks specialize in helping people get started and doing a Macintosh application right is key to the success of any application on the platform.

Scott

P.S. As for feature parity... It is an unfortunate fact of MindManager 6 Mac that there is not feature parity between the platforms. We knew that would be the case from the outset. If nothing else, the shipping schedule would not allow it.

Having said that, it is also the case that we don't know how Macintosh people want to use the software. The folks that use a Macintosh and enjoy it tend to be very different from the folks that (are usually forced to) use a Windows PC. We'd love your user feedback about what's important... what should be done next. It could be something you see on Windows, or it could be something new and exciting.

Visit the MindManager forums at http://www.mindjet.com/us/forum/ and we can discuss your ideas.

[Derek]

I just got around to listening to this podcast. Dang, this one is really good. Nice job, Blake!

[Shem]

Enjoyed the interview (and Cocoa Radio in general). Does anyone know if Scott would take a question by email? Does he have a blog page or a public email address I can reach him on?