Video Tutorials from Alfred

[casadetrevino]

It would be nice if the Alfred team would produce several video tutorials.  I have been using Alfred with the Power Pack for years and every so often I go to the preferences and see new features and have no idea how to implement them or what the might be good for.

 

It looks like Alfred has a great help section but this is the day of video tutorials!  Not everyone has time or wants to read through a particular tutorial and look at the pictures.  

 

I would be especially nice if videos tutorials would be produced every time a handy new feature is added.

 

I really like using Alfred - Thanks for the great App!

[vitor]

Hello and welcome to the forums, @casadetrevino.

 

I’m not sure you realise this, but Alfred’s entire team is officially two people. The last thing any of us want is them wasting time producing video tutorials, especially since it’s common for old features to introduce new options. In addition, since features work in conjunction with each other and not in a vacuum, videos can be pretty useless since they’ll just be showing the same you can read by looking at the feature itself.

 

Also, I believe you overestimate the desire for video tutorials. Just as you think they are loved, they are equally hated. It’s common for power users (who Alfred targets) to loathe video tutorials.

[casadetrevino]

On 2/5/2017 at 10:04 AM, vitor said:

I’m not sure you realise this, but Alfred’s entire team is officially two people.

 

As I read this my my mind goes to the many times the Starship Enterprise was in grave danger.  Capt. Kirk gives Bones a difficult task.  Bones, incredulous, scowls at the Captain and says, "Da***t, Jim, I'm just a Doctor!"  But good ol' bones got the job done.  Brings tears to my eyes...

 

Just two people...just two people.  Just two people, da***t, casadetrevino, they are just two people.  How can they waste time on little tutorial videos for the ungeeked like you?  For the little video loving hordes (ever hear of Youtube?) who are too rotten lazy to read the documentation?  They are just two people, but I believe that just like Bones, they'll come through in the end.  And your name, sir, will be Vitor the Villainous - and maybe later, He who cannot be named!

 

On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, and Vixen...We have impossibilities to conquer today.  Excuses be condemned to Satan's lair!

[vitor]

You call yourself “ungeeked” and like Star Trek? Your definition of “geek” is clearly off — I think you meant “literate”^†. And Star Trek wasn’t a documentary, as you know.

 

Bad story and bad analogy aside, Alfred’s team won’t “come through in the end” because there’s no adversity to conquer. Alfred is still a business run by a small team, and resources need to be accommodated in a smart way. Spending time on videos means less time making Alfred and the community better.

 

You’re also ignoring the fact that “since features work in conjunction with each other and not in a vacuum, videos can be pretty useless since they’ll just be showing the same you can read by looking at the feature itself”. Wishing for videos doesn’t automatically make them good. Not everything is better (or shorter!) as a video.

 

Finally, I’ve frequented these forums every day for the past few years and don’t remember anyone else having requested video tutorials from the main team. However you try to spin it, it looks like a bad business decision from every angle. There are a ton of Youtubers that dedicate themselves to video tutorials (including Alfred). You might want to ask them.

 

Note I don’t speak for the core team, I’m just explaining why it’s unlikely your request will be fulfilled. Though from your last comment I somewhat doubt coherent arguments will make an actual difference^†.

 

---

 

^† To be clear, I’m not insulting your intelligence. I don’t think you’re not smart, I just doubt you care.

[levelbest]

On 2/9/2017 at 11:13 AM, vitor said:

Finally, I’ve frequented these forums every day for the past few years and don’t remember anyone else having requested video tutorials from the main team.

 

Wow, nobody else wants what you want - therefore your opinion is not valid? Seriously? I thought the response the OP made was light, enjoyable and respectful. It was clearly not received by someone with a sense of humor.  I am nervously wading in here to unfamiliar waters but I can't see being told that your question never has been asked here before and therefore it is a pointless question. If I don't ask, I don't learn.

 

I don't have it all figured out in life and I am not afraid of asking questions when I either don't understand a thing (as was indicated by my recent post on workflows), or asking for what I want that might be a good idea for an improvement to an app that I am also using. No need to make it personal.

 

Some products have legions of “how to” videos and I observe that some of the things which Alfred can do are rather obscure - unless you already “get it” and of course, what would be the point of someone who already gets it wanting to see a video? Someone who already gets it would want the development team to spend more time developing the advanced solutions that he wants, and not wanting them wasting time on what he does not need. But please bare in mind that there are other levels of user experience here, beginners as well as expert.

 

My observation is that Alfred is much more powerful than what you see at first blush. The more easily understood it is, how to access that power, the more version of Alfred Powerpack the team will sell. The more they sell the more money they will make. I want them to succeed. I want the power of the app to be more easily understood.

 

Then they can hire out a video production group to make even more videos, etc.  The more I learn, the more I like Alfred.

 

That is what I an doing here on the forums, hopefully not getting accused of asking a stupid question but trying my best to learn.

 

Luminar is a photo editing app I just purchased a license for. It has many videos on the web that explain exactly how to use it. Alfred does not. MailMate is an email app I recently purchased. It has many videos that explains exactly how to use it. Alfred, does not.

 

I have stayed in the shallow end of the pool with Alfred since version 1 using it primarily for finding files and showing them in Finder. I do much better when things are explained to me in a right brained - usually visual, manner.

 

I was searching on YouTube before posting on not understanding workflows. I was searching high and low for a video that  could explain how to get started with a workflow. Lots of people showed how cool their workflows were and how great Alfred is. And I learned a good deal from that too. But nowhere have I found a clear video or even written example on getting started in a workflow. You can visit my recent post on trying to understand workflows if you are interested.

[vitor]

53 minutes ago, levelbest said:

Wow, nobody else wants what you want - therefore your opinion is not valid? Seriously?

 

Quite frankly, I’ve stopped reading there. If by now you still can’t understand I’m simply explaining why the request is unlikely to be fulfilled, and not arguing for it not be fulfilled, then it’s unlikely you ever will.

 

I’m sorry I couldn’t (apparently) make my argument clear enough for you, but I also don’t wish to spend more time on this.

 

A sincere wish of a good day to you both (?). I assure you I’m being genuine and saying this without malice, but this is where we part ways.

Edited February 21, 2017 by vitor

[levelbest]

12 minutes ago, vitor said:

Quite frankly, I’ve stopped reading there. If by now you still can’t understand I’m simply explaining why the request is unlikely to be fulfilled, and not arguing for it not be fulfilled, then it’s unlikely you ever will.

 

Ibid.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2017 by levelbest

[deanishe]

1 hour ago, levelbest said:

Wow, nobody else wants what you want - therefore your opinion is not valid? Seriously?

 

Dude, Vítor quite clearly said he doesn't recall anyone else asking for video tutorials in the years he's been on the forum (and I'm pretty sure he sees literally every thread). I suppose there are multiple ways you could read that, but I'm certain that what Vítor means is that there doesn't appear to be much demand for video tutorials. 

 

A few video tutorials would be awesome, or more docs/tutorials in general. But video takes a lot of time and/or money to produce, and the Alfred team has limited resources.

 

1 hour ago, levelbest said:

MailMate is an email app I recently purchased. It has many videos that explains exactly how to use it. Alfred, does not.

 

I don't think Benny made them himself, though. They're community-made.

[furness]

i would like videos also.  ok if they come from development team or anyone else.

[Shadowfax007]

I thought that I'd chime in as I'm thinking of purchasing the power pack.  Like someone else said, I get the feeling that there is a lot more to Alfred, if not just from the user base.  I was just now searching for video tutorials on Alfred.  Sometimes in the evening I'm too tired to read and like to watch tutorials :-)

 

Being an independant developer, I love to see small teams with a great product!  As for who does the videos, user content is my preference anyways...

 

Okay, off to find videos to see if Alfred can do what I want, whatever that is :-)

[Vero]

I thought I'd chime in here, though Dean and Vitor have essentially answered the question  

 

We're a small team (Andrew and I, plus the cats - though I'm still not sure what their job is!) and we've focused our time and effort on developing the best software possible, as well as taking care of our community here, on Twitter, by email, etc. 

 

As such, while we are keen to create videos, maintaining written documentation (of which there is plenty on our help site!) is much easier to update when a feature changes subtly or completely, it's more searchable and far quicker to create than video.

 

I love video production, so hopefully the opportunity will arise, but in the meantime, if your area of interest is Alfred's workflows, ScreenCasts Online have recently produced an Alfred 3 & Workflows video, which you can find here: https://screencastsonline.com/mac/show/0643/

 

Cheers,

Vero

 

[deanishe]

3 hours ago, Vero said:

I'm still not sure what their job is!

 

They're in charge.