I've been playing with Scratch - it is excellent - a work of genius.
But, and this is a very big BUT - unless creations can be exported as Flash, Standalone executables or, at worst Movies the project will quickly lose its appeal to young people. The Scratch website gallery is simply not enough - kids will want to put integrate their creations into MySpace, or their own websites. The moment I discovered this drawback - my enthusiasm dropped significantly.
Great as an introduction to programming, potentially huge - if the users can show off their creativity in the big wide world. Otherwise another great idea un-used, and un-installed the next time you tidy up the kid's PC.
Am I alone in thinking along these lines?
Mike Hawkins
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Hi.
Thanks for the suggestions.There are ways to post Scratch projects on other websites, including MySpace, just as you can post YouTube videos on other sites. Also, you can use screen-grabbing software such as Camtasia or SnapZPro to turn your Scratch project into a movie--but it won't be interactive, of course.
We will consider your suggestions for a future release.
-- John
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John,
Thanks for the response. I've since played with Scratch some more - and I reiterate that I think it is fantastic. I completely understand you are not trying to create yet another web animation package and that the focus is more on the educational - so I really welcome the fact that you are happy to at least think about my comments.
Much appreciated, and keep up the VERY good work.
Mike
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