First Look Review: SCOtutor For Lion by Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnLine
Above is my video review of the SCOtutor for Lion App and below is my written review.
For years I have followed Don McAllister, a charming Liverpoolian. I first became aware of Don because sometime in the last decade, he started a business of doing video screencasts tutorials of Macintosh apps and operating systems. I consider him to be the king of how to do a screencast tutorial. He has offered some of his tutorials for free, through iTunes and on his website, ScreenCastOnline.com, and he also has a paid subscription where you can get his full library of useful tutorials. Don is also a regular guest on various Apple related podcasts, such as Leo LaPorte’s MacBreakWeekly. So through watching his excellent screencasts and listening to his podcast appearances, I have become familiar with Don and how important he is in the Mac and Apple universe
Recently, Don has undertaken a new method to release and sell his video screencasts tutorial. Earlier this week, on October 21, 2011, Don released an application through the Mac App store. Don gave me a code so I could get a free version of this app for review purposes. The app is called SCOtutor For Lion and costs $3.99. This Mac App is essentailly a video screencast tutorial on Apple’s new Lion operating system for the Macintosh. It basically cover the key new features of Lion. As Lion is a major upgrade from the previous OSX for the Mac, there are some tricky new features. And the SCOtutor app is there to provide users with handholding in learning how to use the new featuers.
Here are key stats regarding the SCOtutor for Lion App: It has over two hours of video, which cover 12 major topics and has 60 chapters. These are the 12 topics:
* Introduction to Lion * Gestures in Lion * Full Screen Apps in Lion * Mastering Mission Control * Launchpad * Resume in Lion * Auto Save in Lion * Versions in Lion * Using Safari in Lion * Using Mail in Lion * Enhancements to PReview * Adress Book in Lion * iCal in Lion
The chapters within each topic can be very detailed. For example the “Using the Finder” topic has 10 chapers, each highlighting and explaining key new featuers in Lion’s Finder. Bottom line, Don has allot of content in this app.
One of the key strengths of Don’s screencasts tutorials, which is also present here, is that Don is highly professional, so the videos have no wasted space and everything is edited perfectly. Don doesn’t do anything annoying or flashy with call outs or special effects. Rather, Don judiciously uses call outs and highlights to effectly focus the viewer on the lesson. Also, Don’s sound editing is great. There are no hisses or pops, and his voice is easy to listen to and matter of fact. Don’s narration is strong, as he gets to the heart of the lesson and doesn’t use uncessary verbiage. In addition to learning key features in Lion and how to use them, you are essentially getting a great lesson on how to do a screencast tutorial.
So who should get SCOtutor for Lion?
First, any newbie Macintosh users or Macintosh users with limited skills should definitely get this $3.99 app. It will really help you get the most out of Lion. Lion is filled with cool new featuers and Don takes you through them. Many are not so obvious that you can just start using them. For example, in the “Finder” topic, Don has a chapter on using AirDrop. AirDrop is this really cool new featuer in Lion where you can transfer any file over a common wifi network to anyone else running Lion on a Macintosh. AirDrop is built into the finder and you can drag a file into the AirDrop window if you see that AirDrop recognizes another Macintosh on the wifi network you are on. You are can then send it to the other Macintosh, and the other Macintosh can choose to receive the file. I use this all the time to transfer my podcasts files from my MacBook Air to my iMac after I have finished recording my podcast. As Lion saturates Macintoshes, people will use AirDrop to transfer files to a friend when at a cafe with wifi or in a school dorm with wifi. Moreover, businesses with employees on a wifi network can easily transfer files among employees through this great feature. Don’s tutorial takes you through how to find and use this great feature. Sure, Apple explains these new Lion features on its website, but the SCOtutor for Lion app has as indepth great explanation. And sinces its all in the App, you don’t have to have an internet connection. So if you are travelling and stuck on a plane with no internet, you can spend two hours watching this tutorial. And because it has topic chapters and subchapters, it is easy to stop and try out something you learn in the tutorial.
Second, intermediate Macintosh users as well as experienced power Macinthosh users should also consider getting this app. While such users may be familiar with Lion and its new featuers, its very likely that they are missing out on all the great little features in Lion. I consider myself a power Macintosh user. I have been using a Macintosh at home since I got the first Macintosh that Apple came out with in the 1980s. I still find Don’s tutorial on Lion to be highly informative. For example I learned how to better use the keyboard short cuts in the Mail app in Lion. I also was reminded to use key new features, like the great annotation tools in Preview, which allows you to use a speech bubble in photos and documents. The point is, for a mere $4, the SCO Tutor for Lion app is a great way to really drill in your mind the great new featuers in Lion and get you to use them more. Sure, you can read about most of these features on Apple’s website, but you might not really get to know all the great little tools Apple gave you unless Don takes you calmly through the features. So for the cost of a cappacuino, its definetly worth getting this tutorial app.
One question I had as I was reviewing the SCO Tutor App was why did Don MacAllister release this Lion tutorial as a Mac App rather just as a screencast movie through his webiste or iTunes? He could have still charged $3.99 for the movie? So what features do you get in the app that you wouldn’t get if Don released it as a movie? Well, one feature is that while you would have chapters in the movies, you wouldn’t have subchapters. Having subchapters as well as chapters really makes it much easier to hone in on the lesson you want to study. Another feature not in the movie function of iTunes or Quicktime is the abilty in the SCOtutor app to jump backward or forward in 30 second increments and also have multiple playback speeds. Also, the SCOtutor app supports subtitles in multiple different languages (English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and French (coming soon)). I don’t think you can do that in iTunes. And of course there is a very comprehensive help menu selection which woudn’t be sometining you could get if it was just a movie tutorial in iTunes.
But I think going forward much more could be done by Don McAllistar or anyone else thinking of using a Mac App as a vehicle for doing a tutorial. In addition to a movie screenscast, each chapter or subchapter could have text pages with still picture illustrations. Even cooler, you could have a tutorial app that gives you a quiz or tests your knowledge at the end of each chapter. I guess if one is using an app as a vehicle it would be nice seeing more app like multimedia features. But lets face it, if Don McAllister added more features, he would probably have to raise the price beyond $3.99. At $3.99, the SCOtutor app is a great value.
Bottom Line: The SCO Tutor for Lion App is a great app if you want to learn the ins and out of Lion’s new features. The video tutorial is highly professional and polished. Don is a master at doing screencast tutorials on using software on a Macintosh. You will not be disappointed in getting this app. At a mere $3.99, intermediates and power Mac users, as well as beginners should get this app. Beginners in particular should buy this app. After learning Don’s lesson, you will probably become an intermediate Mac user. On a rating system of 5 stars, 5 being the best, I give the SCOtutor for Lion App 5 Stars.
Here is the link for the SCOtutor for Lion App on the Mac App store.