Development roadmap?

[Fenris]

Having read a fair few threads where there are many and various interjections regarding various new requested features (yes, I know I've been involved in mentioning them myself), I thought it would make sense if Airnav could produce a product roadmap showing what features (that are not regarded as sensitive in a commercial sense) will be set for release in each version.

So, there would be a list of minor fixes for a point release, a more comprehensive list including reworking of the interface and similar changes in a minor update and a major change everything and add new hardware support (ethernet, multi-monitors etc) for a major release.

That would provide us with a clear idea of where things are going, and perhaps defuse some of the continual drift of threads about particular subjects.

[Terry]

Hi Ferris,
             Thats the best request i`ve seen on the forum for ages,fair play to you as i`m really getting p***ed of with the whole RB thing,what with AN making statements about what will be in the next version,then paranoia over one thing or another,people getting aggitated waiting for all this to happen,then sniping etc,etc,.What an advertisement for a HOBBY!
I may add,this is my personal view,not intended to upset the natives.


             Best Regards Terry.

[tarbat]

Yes, I'd also like to see the Product Roadmap.

However, I bet Kinetic would also like to see this.  Not a good idea for a company to publish a product roadmap in a competitive market.

For example.  Kinetic mentioned at their open day that they were developing 3D map views for Basestation 2.   Guess what feature Airnav plan to include next!!

What could be published by Airnav is a list of features that users have asked for, so that we all know that the requests we've submitted are at least in a list of possible future developments.

[Allocator]

All a 'roadmap' is going to do is give some people another stick to beat AirNav with!  Just look at where we are now with some people complaining "Oh, we're on Beta V3.04 now when we were told that Beta V3.03 was about to be released"

In my view, a fixed list of possible developments can only stifle the 'free flow' of ideas and improvements.  There seems to be a perception of company 'ownership' by one or two RadarBox users, who seem to think that a one-time purchase (plus the network subscription if they have decided to pay that) gives them the right to decide on what AirNav does next.  We aren't really shareholders, we're just very enthusiastic users who want to see Radarbox developed further, but lets keep all this in perspective.

Climbing down off of my soapbox now to go and get a cup of tea and to cut the grass - blood pressure returning to normal......

[Fenris]

Actually Allocator I was thinking that it enables me to consider how to prioritise expenditure, so that I can go out and spend *more* money on a new product that does more than what I have now.

I can see that there is some risk with commercial sensitivity Tarbat, which is why I expressly mentioned not releasing that sort of thing. I'm also not convinced that Kinetic are that much of a threat any more.

If there's a threat (well, not really a threat, more like an alternative), it will come from a different direction I believe. Once someone creates an open hardware standard for a box that demods Mode-S and passes the whole shebang out in a documented format over ethernet then the open source community will add to libhomeradar and have a free equivalent. You'll find that in the open source world people nearly always publish their plans for the future, as much to draw in additional development effort as to tell users what to expect.

[Allocator]

I see your point Brian.  It's just that we are now some 3 years since the SBS-1 was launched and 2 years since RadarBox appeared to remove the monopoly the Kinetic had, but I don't see any other 'hobbyist' Mode S receivers on the horizon.  Any company that produces an open hardware standard that allows anybody to decode the data is surely going to be shooting themselves in the foot?  The cost of the hardware would be minimal, as it's the software that makes the money, so how would any company make a profit?  You would have to move one heck of a load of hardware to get back your tooling and design costs.

Definitely going to cut the grass now - see you all later :-)

[Fenris]

Sometimes these things take more time to happen than you would expect. It's possible it will happen, but I wouldn't like to say when.

Remember that the open source community is rarely interested in the conventional approach, it's often not run as a business in the same way as true businesses are.

There are other issues though, I'm sure you can all spot what they are fairly quickly.

[radarspotter10]

its Sunday the sun is shining, its a beautiful day, maybe all leave the beating sticks behind and go and enjoy it.
from pat in sunny Ireland.

[Fenris]

its Sunday the sun is shining, its a beautiful day, maybe all leave the beating sticks behind and go and enjoy it.
from pat in sunny Ireland.

I can understand that you don't want to miss the sun Pat, there's a reason that Ireland is green!

[AirNav Support]

There is a suggestion thread:

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=2885.0

Where you can read whats been already mentioned and add your own.

We won't officially say what is an future version because of the following reasons:

1.) Competitor advantage may be lost in disclosing that information
2.) Development priority may change in terms of features
3.) We can't always guarantee a specific feature to be actually possible

AirNav Systems Forum makes us a very open company. Customers can get very close to development of the product and also ask about business decisions we are making. Our continued presence on the forum brings customers into a sense of they can demand anything.

Putting up a next version feature list might lead to more annoyance and more demands if we miss a feature.

We feel there is being open with customer and then being too open whereby any changes however small are picked up on and magnified.

[radarspotter10]

its Sunday the sun is shining, its a beautiful day, maybe all leave the beating sticks behind and go and enjoy it.
from pat in sunny Ireland.

I can understand that you don't want to miss the sun Pat, there's a reason that Ireland is green!

hi watch it we are not that green.

[Jeremy]

well said airnav.
I am one who really appreciates, and am very surprised at, your regular contribution.
I run a newspaper website and in it is a forum. We took the opposite strategy and rarely intervene. The regular contibutors, and we have a 'core' number of people, who would just love to have my head on the chopping board!
J.