Lee Valley App

[Lloyd Robins]

Lloyd, take my Apple comments with a pinch of salt. If you're an Apple fan I'll wind you up, if you're a soccer fan I'll wind you up, if you're vegetarian I'll wind you up but it's all in good fun. Same goes for BMW, Indie singers and anyone who supports the Aussie rugby team.

Hilton, I hope that I didn't seem upset. My son the androidian gives a much harder time. I don't mind people taking a shot at Apple. I agree about the Aussie rugby team.
(What is rugby?) Is it played in South Africa? Sorry, couldn't resist. My alma mater won the US college title this year, or at least one of the titles. Figuring out where sports are going can be more difficult than fettling a plane.

[Hilton Ralphs]

I'm thinking of converting my sun roof into a giant tablet. Solar powered on the outside, massive screen on the inside. If I need to get directions on the GPS app, I just look up instead of frantically searching for the dash mounted GPS.

[Sam Stephens]

FWIW, LV catalogs are in the front of my bathroom magazine rack for a reason -the plane centerfold!

Glad to hear the app will be moving to other platforms.

[Tony Wilkins]

FWIW, LV catalogs are in the front of my bathroom magazine rack for a reason -the plane centerfold!

Too much info

Sent from my iPad

[glenn bradley]

Thankfully I don't own any devices from the "we will tell you what you need" company and I refuse to install that virus which masquerades as a music app.

The truth hurts . I do use the LV App on my company-supplied iPhone however. Works well like many Apple products . . . . as long as you only want to do what they do .

[Rob Lee]

Does that 8-digit item include shipping on product, or just postage on printed material? (?!)

Matt

There's no shipping of parcels included....

Rob

[David Weaver]

I recall someone telling me a catalog (less large than LV's, more like the kind of stuff that we get from JWW) was 2 bucks a head. I would like instead, as a customer, to get 2 bucks of "retailer dollars" in the mail instead of a catalog. I think it would incent sales more. I realize there would be a cost associated with that, too, but it would be more fun - like getting something for nothing, instead of getting something to throw in the trash for nothing.

[Rob Lee]

I recall someone telling me a catalog (less large than LV's, more like the kind of stuff that we get from JWW) was 2 bucks a head. I would like instead, as a customer, to get 2 bucks of "retailer dollars" in the mail instead of a catalog. I think it would incent sales more. I realize there would be a cost associated with that, too, but it would be more fun - like getting something for nothing, instead of getting something to throw in the trash for nothing.

Our main catalog (wood) runs $3.10-$3.50 printing and postage at bulk mail rates in the US (much high for requestors). Rates in Canada are even higher.

Glad to pay it - if customers want and use it, but also recognise that it's very costly. We're actively working on other options and programs to ensure that people who want and use catalogs get them, and that other who don't, won't.

Cheers -

Rob

[David Weaver]

Ahh...so there is no way at this point to opt out of it..? (not that I'm offended by getting it - but it's just wasted money).

I didn't find any opt out on the web page.

[Rob Lee]

Working on it... it much more complex to record and administer that one would think. Binary mail yes/no isn't acceptable to all....

We'll rely on you to find a good home for it this year, shoul dwe send it... I'll promise you'll be able to do what you want next year... hopefully a LOT sooner....

Cheers -

Rob

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I almost wish I hadn't seen this. Actually, MY WIFE wishes I hadn't seen it!!! I actually check the LV site daily for deals or new stuff. I guess you can say I am addicted. In the LV vs LN race, LV is winning in my shop!

Rob, can I become a "field tester"? You send me stuff to test, I tell you how much I like it. I think that new shooting plane needs a good testing.

[Derek Cohen]

Lloyd and all,

I was tempted to post about this app about a week ago, but I am an enabler enough.

I will comment on this, however (while not meaning to sidetrack the thread) ..

I do wish that we could add a extra memory card, but then we wouldn't have to pay as much for the extra memory.

Go to the Seagate website and find their portable hard drives. They have a 1Tb wireless version. This is amazing! It is no doubt more than an extra card, but up to about 5 or 7 can access it simultaneously, and it holds a silly amount of data. I connect my iPad to it, and store movies and magazines there for both home use and travel.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ryan Mooney]

Well certainly looking forward to the other publications as well, should be very interesting to see what comes out. It would be nice if those were available in a non-proprietary format (pdf perhaps) as well as they would be easy to store on a kindle or other reader but beggars can't be choosers most of the time.

I do religiously read the paper catalog (such pretty pictures ) and the cover art is always well.. art! However, I must admit I haven't really been motivated personally to buy much from it and knowing that its expensive I would happily opt out - with no expectation that it would lower my spend rate. I have been tempted on occasion into opening the wallet from the periodic emails (and the "woodworking newsletters" are always worth reading imho).

[Mark Roderick]

Count me as a LV customer who is glad to learn of the app and is about to download it.

Rob, could you please call Tom Lie-Neilsen and ask him to create an app also?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

That's a curious statement. While our first foray into a library/reader app was within the Apple world, we have no plans to ignore platforms running Android. It's just a more complex environment, and will require more resources and time to execute.

The easiest road to an Android application is Java. If you intend to write an application that can easily be run on multiple systems, consider a framework that will run on multiple systems; for example, QT. I won't bore you with the history of QT, but, it supports Android and IOS.

It is at least worth a quick look, especially if you have not yet dedicated any effort in that direction.

Disclaimer:
I have only written one Android application, and I started with a C++ application that I ran on Windows and Linux and I pulled out a portion of it and then compiled and ran it on Android. I have not done this on an iPhone.

Opinions:
Although the process for conversion to Android was painless and quick using QT, Android and IOS support in Android and iPhone is new so I cannot comment on its robustness on these platforms. I had no problems, but I did not stress the application like I have with the Linux / Windows based stuff that I have written using the tools.