This has got to be
frustrating. In an attempt to avoid a repeat of the Watson/Sherlock debacle, the folks at
Karelia Software made an earlier-than-originally-planned public beta release of Sandvox available.
Sandvox is a super-simple, WYSIWYG web editor that makes web site construction easy and fun. Sound a little like iWeb?
I realize that no one has the exclusive rights to web editors, but the timing here is really unfortunate. From the Sandvox blog:"...some of the biggest limitations of iWeb (.mac only, not pluggable, no ability for HTML content) can become strengths for Sandvox. As we move forward past version 1.0, we will be able to further distinguish Sandvox from iWeb by focusing on features that our users demand that will never be a part of the iLife suite." Competition of this sort usually drives the production of better products. I, for one, am looking forward to what Karelia has in store.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-13-2006 @ 9:12AM
Jack Beckman said...
My understanding from Apple's web site is that iWeb is *not* .Mac only, except for the "one button" publish.
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1-13-2006 @ 9:37AM
gozer said...
and some major features like rss
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1-13-2006 @ 10:06AM
Kevin Steele said...
Let's also remember that just because Sandvox was created by Karelia, does not mean that Apple copied it off of them. Apple is known for quite a few original ideas. I think that this is just a bad timing circumstance. I definitely realize that there are some distinguishing features between both and that could sway opinion either way. lets wait and see before tossing around the title of "Copycat".
Just my thought.
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1-13-2006 @ 10:20AM
Apple-Discounts.com said...
"My understanding from Apple's web site is that iWeb is *not* .Mac only"
I can confirm that. iWeb has an "Export to Folder" command that will build your website for you and then save it on your desktop (or wherever you specify).
Following, you can simply upload the site to any web server. Nice!
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1-13-2006 @ 10:36AM
spk said...
Once you've exported, can you also clean up code? Does iWeb give you the opportunity to view HTML and CSS? How is CSS handled - as an externally linked file, or is it embedded in the page?
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1-13-2006 @ 10:37AM
Tony said...
Kevin,
Who said "copycat?"
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1-13-2006 @ 11:11AM
Nathan Adams said...
spk - from what I've read, all the css is inline.
so not the cleanest, if you want to go editing afterwards by hand, but they do validate as xhtml transitional.
As for Karelia - when did they originally announce Sandvox? Software certainly doesn't get developed overnight, iWeb would have been in development for quite some time.
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1-13-2006 @ 11:11AM
dalton said...
It seems like both of these products are remarkably similar to RapidWeaver, no?
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1-13-2006 @ 11:38AM
neal Williams said...
I agree with Dalton. It sounds like Karelia's whining this time. Sandvox, and iWeb for that matter, isn't exactly a revolutionary idea in software.
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1-13-2006 @ 11:40AM
Apple-Discounts.com said...
"Does iWeb give you the opportunity to view HTML and CSS?"
No, the software was intended for people without developer/programmer/coding experience.
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1-13-2006 @ 11:56AM
kc! said...
It is not like Sandvox was all that original to begin with... I mean the idea of a simple, easy-to-use, WYSIWYG web editor has been around for quite a while now, right?
However, I think that Apple should just hire the Karelia folks already! Aside from the obvious good will that it would generate, they are both thinking about the same innovations at the same time and imagine what Karelia brains would be able to produce with Apple resources and bandwidth!?
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1-13-2006 @ 9:40PM
Radu Dutzan said...
You know, Panic said something like that when iTunes came out. now you see where Audion is (in a retirement house)
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1-14-2006 @ 12:00AM
Nathan Adams said...
When Apple was looking to develop iTunes, they went to Panic first. Except they didn't show for their meeting, so Apple went with their second choice - Soundjam.
And Apple did offer to hire the Karelia mob after Watson, but they turned it down.
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1-14-2006 @ 5:08AM
Oliver said...
RapidWeaver (http://www.realmacsoftware) is still the weapon of choice. In the current 3.2.1 version it is pretty stable and doesn't have the "new product" blues like iWeb will have (not to mention the catastrophic Sandvox).
Cheers
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1-14-2006 @ 9:10AM
JT said...
Exporting your site to a folder then uploading it... this sounds awful, especially when rapidweaver integrates ftp. Sandvox templates are ugly, i don't understand what the fuss is all about. iWeb obviously ditches ftp support to promote .mac: that's what's going to kill the app.
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