I have stopped selling VisiBone paper products today to free up resources for another project. That project is called qiki. I think it could be a big deal. It will take some time before I have anything to show that will earn your strong aha. If you'd like to know when I do, then please follow this blog. And watch qiki.info
VisiBone was a gas. The final tally was 62,060 products to 97 countries. The fan mail was enormously encouraging. I treasure the conversations and the connections. But it always took a lot of time and expense to keep up. I'm simplifying so I can make something better.
Qiki was envisioned as an ultra-slim wikipedia. Brief answers to direct questions. It was going to be the online version of the VisiBone quick reference cheatsheets. But that wasn't enough so it ballooned. Crowdsourced answers to crowdsourced questions. Now Stack Exchange has done a breathtaking job at that kind of thing haven't they? But something is missing before it can go to the next level. It's too siloed and it's too indirect making a living at it. So it ballooned again. I have a guess as to what's next, and I'd like to try it out.
It would be nice to start the Information Age. I see two obstacles. We never really figured out how to pay for information. I believe one day it will be both the joke and the punchline that we called the stuff intellectual property. This isn't anything like turnips or turbofans, information is deeply different.
Second, the challenges at hand require greater energy, wisdom, and integrity than any group can provide today. The biggest corporations and the biggest governments are already suspect, and our disappointment in them is rising. They are not up to tasks that are up front. I don't know how to make it all work, but I have an idea how to find out. That's what qiki will try to do. In very very small beginnings.
Hope you stay tuned.
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10 years ago
27 comments:
Sorry to hear VisiBone is gone, but printed material is going away in general. I have 4 of your products I purchased many years ago and had mounted on poster board. Very useful for my career (web developer)! So, I just wanted to say "THANKS!" you made my life better with your products.
Good luck on your new endeavor!
I am also sad (but excited for your new adventure). I purchased the big book and it goes with me everywhere. I teach web design and development to college students and in professional development courses and refer to the colorlab in every class. Please don't take these resources offline - the content is timelessly relevant.
The investment in the paper-based tools was worth it and appreciated.
Looking forward to qiki.
Before you completely go off the air , can I get a couple of wall charts please.
hj0086@aol.com
Miss you, love you, and wish you extraordinary happiness and success in all your endeavors ahead. Keep enjoying the journey.
Bob, thank you very much for VisiBone through the years. I got some early and some later, and was coming back hoping for an updated version for new HTML and hit this.... ouch. Best of luck in your new endeavor, and for anyone that ever saw my wall charts - even the non techies were impressed!
Bob, will you consider making Visibone pages available for download to allow us to print them ourselves?
I pulled out the book today because I needed some exact color codes for an Excel map. I also develop web sites, so the book is invaluable. Sorry to see you go, and I know there is a good money model out there. Probably subscription based. I'll join! Best wishes for a great new success!! George
Very sad to hear that Visibone is no longer with us. The Everything Book has been an absolutely invaluable resource and become the de facto core text for the Foundation Degree in Web Development and Internet Technology I have delivered over many years. A classic combination of great design and content.
All the very best for your future endeavours!
I’m totally bummed to catch up with your news, Bob. I LOVED visibone. Heck, I just told someone about you last night - why I’m here today. I’ve been a fan for many many years—you helped me in college and life.
I’ll wait to see what’s next because everything you’ve ever given me has improved my life, and I have no reason to think you’d anything less going forward.
Any chance of any leftover stock? I KNEW I should have upgraded my stuff.
Can’t wsit to see the next big adventure.
Leah Eaton
Tech doc manager, innovative Interfaces inc
Been quite a help. Thank you very much!
Bob would you consider selling this as a PDF for download and self printing? Would allow for a second income with little to no
Maintance. It would be sad to see something so great to just disapear!
Your Everything Book is the Bible for any web programmer. I can't even begin to fathom how you made it happen. It's like listening to good jazz - you always discover something new. Incredible work! Thank you!
Bob
Well? Where is it? My visibone things all burned. So where's the qiki? :-D
Your work with reference tools is outstanding. Take your time designing and hurry into production. Looking forward to your next idea!
Merv
I second whomever said make it a PDF - OR outsource the stuff to a POD company, then there is NO interaction at all, just cash coming in :).
I hope the colourwheel stays on line - I've used it off and on for websites colour codes since 2005! I'd happily drop a tip in a tip jar to pay for hosting if there were one.
I'm another vote for making them PDF downloads. I'd pay for that!
I would like an Everything Book as well. Is there a resource to somehow stilk get these?
Another vote here
And another vote here, too! Pretty please? =)
Though I sure understand time demands. When something new and better comes along, it's hard to pull back to go that new direction, and we who still want the old to be available, well, we're a pain, aren't we? Yup! I'm ecstatic that your color charts are still on the website, thank you thank you thank you for that!
How do i read it online
Very sad to hear that Visibone is gone. I have so many of your products. They've been so useful. In fact, I went back to your website to see if you had anything on Dart and Flutter.
All the best for your coming endeavours.
great this sucks... i really wanted to purchase these spiral bond web dev charts...
Please let us know if you would consider selling hi-res digital copies of your older products - I would still love to have the old materials, even though they’re outdated… I learned to script HTML from my own cobbled together “everything book” - mine got stolen a long time ago, and I would love to buy them again — even if I need to print & laminate them myself!
It would be nice if you published everything in PDF format in high resolution and with a free license, even many of these documents can be useful to people.
I saw your books but I was unlucky to get it. I agree with the above comment. PDFs still could be sold. Great work still!
Thanks for the guidance
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