Reporter: Today I am lucky to have the opportunity to interview Pierre Bernard, founder of Houdah Software, publisher of HoudahGeo and HoudahSpot. Pierre is just recently back from exhibiting at Macworld. Pierre, how did Houdah Software get started?
记者：今天我有幸能够采访到皮埃尔?伯 纳德，Houdah软件的创始人，HoudahGeo 和HoudahSpot软件的发行者。皮埃尔刚 从《苹果电脑世界》展会回来。皮埃尔， Houdah软件是如何创办的？
Bernard: Houdah Software had a pretty slow start. At one point—while I still had my day job at the Central Bank in Luxembourg—I had this idea for a revolutionary web browser. I started working on it with the idea of submitting it to the Apple Developer Awards Competition. That was before the release of Mac OS X Tiger. The competition allowed for pre-release products to be submitted, provided they made intensive use of Tiger-only technologies. My web browser never made it past the alpha version that I submitted to the jury. So I was looking for a good name for a web browser. I wanted the name to say: better than Safari. I figured that a ride on the back of an elephant must be better than a plain safari. Hence houdah: a canopied seat placed on the back of an elephant. I liked the name so much that I named the browser HoudahWeb and kept the Houdah name for future use as a company name.
伯纳德：Houdah软件起步很慢。有一点 值得提一下，当我还在卢森堡的中央银行 工作时，我曾想过要创造一个革命性的网 络浏览器。于是我开始动手，想着最后能 用它参加苹果开发者大奖赛。那时苹果机 OS X Tiger即将推出，竞赛要求所有提交 的作品起码应该已经是预览版，并需要大 量使用Tiger特有技术。而我的浏览器即使在最后提交时仍未能 达到内部测试阶段。所 以我想着给浏览器起一 个好听的名字。这个名 字听起来感觉应该是： 比Saferi更好。显然骑 着大象旅行要比普通的 旅行者要厉害不少，因 此我选择了 Houdah， 意即大象背上的轿子。因为非常喜欢，我 不仅将浏览器命名为Houdah网络，而且 将后来的公司也命名为Houdah。
Reporter: I had always assumed that to geo-code my photos I needed a GPS enabled camera. But HoudahGeo enables users to carry a separate GPS unit while they take pictures and it will synchronize the picture time stamps with the GPS log. How did you come up with the idea for HoudahGeo?
记者：我一直以为必须要有全球定位 系统（GPS）功能的照相机才能使照 片具有位置信息（geo-code )。但是 HoudahGeo让用户在拍照时只需额外携 带单独的GPS设备，将照片的时间与 GPS日志的时间相互匹配，从而实现这 一功能。你是怎么想到这个点子的？
Bernard: The basic idea behind HoudahGeo is pretty old. I was not even the first one to have it. When I got the idea it seemed so obvious that I figured such a geocoding application must already exist. Searching for it，I only found Windows-based solutions. Thus for some time I used those. Then Mac solutions started showing up. Yet none actually took care of the whole process: you had to run a series of programs to first connect to your GPS device, then figure out where the pictures were taken and then yet another program to export to Google Earth. That’s where I saw the opportunity to come up with an easy-to use one-stop solution. I took great care to wrap a series of complex operations into a very Mac-like 3-step process. Actually the HoudahGeo interface combines the advantages of a flexible document-based application with the ease of an assistant
伯纳德：其实背后的想法挺老的，我也 不是第一个想到的人。我冒出这个点子 的时候觉得这样的位置编码应用一定早 就有了。不过搜索的结果告诉我目前只 有Windows平台的解决方案。于是我就 自己使用了一阵，后来苹果机的方案也 出现了。但他们都没有考虑这一整个完 整的过程：也就是你要运行一系列的程 序，即首先要连接GPS设备，然后确定 照片拍摄的地点，再用另一个程序导出 到谷歌地球。于是我觉得有机会去实现 一个简单易用的一键式方案。我花了很 多精力将复杂的操作包装最终缩减为具 有典型苹果机风格的三步骤程序。最终 HoudahGeo的界面融合了文档基础应用 程序的灵活与向导程序般的便捷的优势。
Reporter: You are an active member of the MacSB (Mac Small Business) mailing list. Recently you coordinated an effort to let independent Mac software developers exchange licenses for their products. What was your thinking behind that exchange and what was the result?
记者：你是MacSB (苹果机小企业）邮 件列表的活跃成员。最近你正努力协调 独立苹果机软件开发者之间相互交换产 品和授权。你对相互交换的看法如何， 那样能带来什么结果？
Bernard: The community of Mac developers is a great environment to work in. People are very open and like to help each other. There are mailing lists and web sites where one can get help with code issues. Many developers like to share small bits of useful code. If you look at the credits for HoudahGeo, you will find many such bits have made their way into my code. I still consider myself to be somewhat of a beginner. So far there rarely was any bit of Cocoa code of mine which I deemed worthy of sharing. As a WebObjects developer I have open-source quite some code. I actually started a major open source project: Houdah WebObjects Frameworks. Recently I have published my first bit of Cocoa code to my web site () and I have more marked for future publication. The MacSB mailing list is a great element of this community. Here small business owners get together to discuss the nontechnical aspects of publishing Mac software. This group has helped me a lot and I try to give back as much as I can. Exchanging licenses is actually a very natural and easy thing to do. There is no inherit cost involved in creating a license code. Thus you are giving away something that doesn’t cost you anything. In return you get software you may find valuable. But that is far from being the only benefit you get. For example，you may discover synergies between your products and somebody else’s. You can then work together on having both products interact. Last but not least, each member of the community has his audience. If somebody likes your product, he/she may opt to let this audience know about your product.
伯纳德：苹果机开发者社区是一个很好 的工作环境。人们都很坦率并乐于互相 帮助。有邮件列表和网站帮助人们解决 各种代码问题，许多开发者都乐于共 享实用的简短代码。如 果你看一下 HoudahGeo 的 感谢名单，会 发现其中融入 了许多其他人 的代码。我始 终认为自己还是个初学者， 目前为止我都没有什么可以与他人分享 的并且我认为值得分享的Cocoa代码。 作为WebObjects的开发者，我开源了 相当一些代码。我有一个较大的开源项 目：Houdah网络项目框架。最近我刚 把自己的一些Cocoa代码放到我的网站上(), 以后可能会发布更多。MacSB邮件列表 是整个社区中重要的一部分。在这里小 企业一起讨论关于发布苹果机软件的一 些非技术性问题。这个团队帮了我很多 忙，我也试图尽可能有所回报。交换许 可证是一个简单易行的措施。复制授权 代码并不会产生附加成本，因此你提供 一份授权也并不会让你损失什么。而作 为回报，你可以得到其他人的软件，对你很有价值。而你所得到的可能还远不 止这些。比如，你会发现你的产品可以 和其他人的协同工作，你们可以更进_ 步让两个软件更加紧密整合，最后，社 区的每个成员都有他们自己的受众，如 果有人喜欢你的产品，他/她有可能让 其他受众了解你的产品。
Reporter: HoudahSpot was the first product you released. What lessons (good and bad) did you take that experience when you decided to create HoudahGeo?
记者：HoudahSpot是你发布的第一个产 品。对后来HoudahGeo有何经验教训？
Bernard: HoudahSpot seemed like a very obvious idea. Igot it at WWDC, the second when Apple presented Spotlight. This technology really has potential. Yet the default user interface not only is very lacking, it fails to expose the power that lies beneath. HoudahSpot also appeared to be a very good idea to start a company. With hard drives getting larger and larger, I can imagine no one who is still able to manage the masses of file using traditional folder hierarchies. You inevitably end up with folders holding way too many files. Dark corners where you don’t even dare to go to do some housekeeping. So I figured, each and every Mac user is in need for a powerful file search tool. I was looking at a very large market. Yet sales on HoudahSpot I were pretty slow. I would attribute this to low mindshare: people fail to realize that there might be a solution to managing the file mess. Thus they don’t go looking for a product like HoudahSpot. It thus turned out that my target audience was not who I thought. I tried making a program targeted at the average user. Yet only advanced user came to realize the need for the product. With HoudahSpot 2，I addressed these issues by both making HoudahSpot easier to use and yet adding power-user features. E.g. HoudahSpot 2 shows the query criteria next to the results. Indeed many users failed to understand that in HoudahSpot 1 the criteria were hidden while the query was running. This change also opened the door for power-user features. You may now update a query while it is live. You may also drag files from the current results to the criteria pane in order to narrow down a running query. HoudahSpot 2 has recently been reviewed by Macworld. I expect this to drive many a casual user to HoudahSpot. A recent mention on Mac OS X Hints is more likely to spark interest in power-users. HoudahGeo is a very different product. I wrote it initially to cover my own needs. I did not want to have to drop back to Windows to geocode my photos. I expected the potential audience for the product to be much smaller. Yet HoudahGeo sells much better than HoudahSpot. I guess its ability to work without a GPS device which brings lots of users onboard.
伯纳德：HoudahSpot的点子其实很普 ;通。我是在苹果全球开发人员大会上看 '到苹果的Spotlight演示的瞬间得到的 灵感。那个技术的确很有潜力，但是默 认的用户界面则不仅仅是糟糕，而且埋 没了其强大的能力。HoudahSpot是一 个很适合新公司的产品。随着硬盘空间 越来越大，可以想见没人能继续用传统 的文件夹方式来管理大量的文件。文件 夹中有大量杂乱无章的文件是不可避免 的结果。就像家里总有些肮脏角落是你 打扫房间时不敢面对的。所以我认为每个苹果机用户都会需要一个强大的文件搜索工具，我所面对的将是一个庞大的 市场。然而HoudahSpot 1的销售情况 则进展缓慢。我将此归咎于概念传播的不足：人们还没意识到可能存在一种方 案来解决文件的杂乱无章。因此他们就 不会寻找类似HoudahSpot这样的产品。 最后事实证明真正的用户并不是我所预 计的那些。我原本试图为一般普通用户 编写这个程序，但其实只有高级用户才 会认识到这个产品的用途。意识到这 个问题后，我在HoudahSpot 2上同时开 发了易于使用的功能和专门针对高级用户的特性。例如，HoudahSpot 2会在查询结果边上显示查询条件，因为在第一 代产品中查询条件会被隐藏，这是很多 人无法认同的。这一改变使得更多高级 用户开始接受这个产品。现在你可以随 时更新你的查询内容，还可以将结果拖 拽到条件框中缩小搜索范围。 HoudahSpot 2最近得到了《苹 果电脑世界》的评论，我希望 这能带来更多的普通用户，而 最近在苹果机OS X Hints上 的一段短文则可能激发一些高 级用户的兴趣。HoudahGeo是 一款不同的产品，一开始我只 是为了自己的需要才写的，因 为不想仅仅为了将照片位置编 码而回到Windows系统。我意识到这个 产品用户不会很多，不过其销量还是大 大超过HoudahSpot。估计是无需专门的 GPS设备这个特点吸引了那么多的用户。
Reporter: This year you took Houdah Software to Macworld. How did you decide that your MicroISV was ready for its own booth? What was the experience like selling on the Macworld floor? Any regrets? Any tips for other MicroISV’s considering exhibiting?
记者：今年你带Houdah软件参加了 《苹果电脑世界》展会。你作为微型开 发商怎么会决定参展的？在《苹果电 脑世界》展会上销售，你的体会是怎样 的？关于展会，有什么遗憾或者建议可 以带给其他微型软件开发商？
Bernard: I had actually toyed with the idea last year. Then I decided to get a booth only once I have at least 2products to sell. By that standard the time was ripe this year. Actually this may not have been my best idea. Many people were confused by the fact that I had 2 so very different products to show. My advice: less flyers more business cards. I handed out only 1,000 of my 4,000 flyers. But I ran out of business cards. I think I will try selling on the show floor next year. This year I had a 20% coupon code on my flyers. Yet I can traceonly very little sales back to that coupon code.
伯纳德：去年开始我就在为这个想法准 备了，当时决定一旦我有至少两个产品 可以销售就参展。没想到今年时间成熟 了。或许这并不是最好的主意，因为很 多人看到我有两个差别如此之大的产品 都觉得很困惑。我的建议是：少用传单， 多发名片。我准备了 4000份宣传单，但 只送出了 1000份，不过名片可是统统发 光了。我想明年我会在展示层做些销售。 今年的宣传单上我放了8折优惠券，但是仅仅极少数最终转化为购买。
Reporter: Pricing is always a tricky problem for indie developers, yet you wrote that some people at Macworld thought your prices were too cheap! How did you arrive at your pricing strategy?
记者：定价问题对独立开发者而言始终 是个难题，你提到有些人认为你在《苹 果电脑世界》展会上的定价太低！你是 如何制定价格策略的？
Bernard: I must admit to having no idea on how to price my products right. I have members of the community advising me to lower my price while other encourage me to up it. So far, on the rare occasions where I got user feedback on pricing, they wanted it to be cheaper or even free. Then on the Macworld show floor the situation was all different. I had countless people remark that my pricing was low or even too low. I guess the cheapskates are faster to fire off email.
伯纳德：我得承认对于制定产品价格我 毫无概念。社会上有人建议我压低价 格，也有人说应该提高。 目前为止，少数涉及价格 的用户反馈都是希望能便 宜些，甚至免费。但是在 《苹果电脑世界》展示层 上所显示的情形则完全相 反。无数人说我的产品价 格偏低或者太低。或许吝 啬鬼们都比较擅长删除电 子邮件吧。
Reporter: What would you say is the single most critical factor necessary to become a full-time indie Mac developer?
记者：你觉得成为全职独 立苹果机开发者的唯一必要的条件是什么？
Bernard: If only I knew. Actually I don’t think there is one single factor. There is the product; there is quality... and luck. I believe that courteous customer support is a big factor in this equation. I get most emails answered within minutes. 24 hours at the very latest.
伯纳德：我也不知道。事实上我认为有不 止一项条件，除了产品，还有质量……包 括运气。我相信忠诚客户支持在这个等式 里是很重要的。大部分电子邮件我都是立 刻回复的，最迟不超过24小时。
Reporter: Thank you so much for sharing your insights!
记者：感谢你能和我们分享你的观点。
Bernard: Thank you for having me.
伯纳德：感谢你采访我。