Does PTE need a name change

[Barry Beckham]

Someone in the computer industry expressed a view about PTE this week that was passed onto me by another PTE user.  The view was: Why would anyone in their right mind download a zipped exe file to their computer with all the security risks and fears associated with doing that? He even expressed concern why a product would be called PicturesToEXE.

Most of us here are pretty comfortable doing that, because we have built up faith and confidence in PTE and as far as we know, a virus has never been an issue with any PTE files. However, ransomware travels as a zipped file and you open it at your peril. I know, because we did get caught once in a moment when our guard was down

Could this be why only 14% of people who view SSC download a file.

Does the person expressing that view have a point, particularly with the name PicturesToEXE. Does it need a name change and is that a practical thing to even suggest

[Tomcatred55]

Personally I can't see any problems with the name PicturesToEXE but it is a shame that the EXE files have to be zipped and, especially, download to view them.

I don't know the ins and outs of it but sites like YouTube don't require you to download to view, in fact it is quite difficult to download from YouTube (for copyright reasons).

[jt49]

Without being able to present a good alternative right now, I would recommend to choose a name that avoids "EXE".

[nelson]

I was trying to explain the merits of the software to members of our photo club. The question they kept asking "what is that name again?"

Kieron

[Ronniebootwest]

I agree that the addition of 'EXE' in the program name might be a problem for some and may well be stopping them from downloading this excellent software. Maybe it would be a good idea if we could suggest some other names for Igor to consider?

 

[Tomcatred55]

PicturesToAV seems the obvious choice if a change is deemed necessary.

As in "ToAV" and to hold lol

[wideangle]

Changing the name of a product is not always a straightforward thing to do, but I do fully see the logic in wanting to do so.

Tomcatred55 - I think your suggestion is a strong contender, as it does suggest exactly what the product is all about
(Extra Brownie points for the to Av and to hold!)

Regards

wideangle

[goddi]

Greetings,

I can’t disagree with any of the above postings. But I feel a bit weird about this idea without Igor bringing it up. Sort of like telling a mother to change the name of her baby because it does not seem to fit. I used to only create exe’s but now find I prefer mp4’s. Since I now have a larger screen, the exe’s fill the entire screen and they just are too big. So I prefer to create mp4’s where I can control the size within the screen and easier to give to friends or post on Facebook or YouTube, etc.  

Using the ‘AV’ in the title makes more sense but it would be interesting to hear from Igor about this. Maybe we should tell Microsoft  to change ‘Windows’ to ‘Doors’….? (just kidding).

But, then there is a ‘.av’ format (which I didn’t even know) and that could cause confusion (?).

Gary

[Lin Evans]

Changing the name of a product which has a sterling reputation and a stellar track record is usually not a great marketing idea. Perhaps adding a product name for an alternative release might have some value, but the distribution of software from all major companies are still in exe format folks. Whether or not the public understands that is another issue. PTE has digitally signed output shows just like Microsoft, Adobe, etc., and the development team has already been considering making changes involving downloading a PTE "player" which I think has great merit.

Deciding to change the name of a very successful product is something that could backfire.

Best regards,

Lin   

[Igor]

Barry,

You raised a painful subject  

I'm thinking on this question several years. PTE crossed a long way from a simple idea converting of images to an EXE to an AV production software with powerful audio/video/animations features.

I'm also understand Lin's remark.

Anyway I'm open for any ideas, just send me emails.

By the way, this year PicturesToExe celebrates 20th anniversary.

[Lin Evans]

Perhaps, when releasing version 10 it would be helpful to name it PicturesToAV 10.  Just as Proshow renamed their new product to Proshow Gold then when introducing yet another major upgrade Proshow Producer. 

The important thing is to keep the "PicturesTo" as a preface for whatever name. Since the new version will be significantly different, it could be helpful at that time perhaps to call it PicturesToAV 64 and PicturesToAV-Mac 64 rather than PicturesToAV 10. That way you "kill two birds with one stone."  You let people know it's a 64 bit program and a totally new concept. It would also be very, very helpful if it could be released with a "player" so the download of an executable file would only have to be performed once to see shows and also it could preserve the interactivity I think.

Best regards,

Lin 

[michaelr108]

Hi There

I will start by saying I love PictureToExe and trust it and would miss this name . I have been using it from nearly the beginning if by changing the name would bring more people to buy it ok but as been mentioned it could loose people and it could also gain new ones but that would take time . What ever Igor and his team decide if they change the name please keep it as near to the original .PictureToE.x.e  PictureToWynsoft  as examples .

Michael

[jkb]

I don't think PicturesToAV is a good idea. We are continually trying to convince video makers to try PTE especially as V10 will be a lot more video  friendly. But a lot still want nothing to do with anything AV. Changing the name to contain AV would put them off even more!

Not sure what would be best, everyone knows it as PTE. So to keep the same letters how about PicturesToEntertainment

Jill

[jt49]

When people ask me: "What are you doing?", I have given up to say "AV" or "Audiovision".  People would not understand.

So, PicturesToAV is not what I would like to see. As Jill, I am thinking about an expression that would keep the acronym PTE.  It is not yet clear to me which word to choose for the letter "E".

[jkb]

Just had another thought PicturesToEx(cellence) 

We all know the high quality that PTE produces and this would maybe help to reinforce that.

Will have another think tomorrow to see if I can come up with anything else.

Jill

[orizaba]

Just thinking: PTE was invented in the "old times" of pictures (= slides = photos), when people presented slideshows (made exclusively with pictures = photos = slides). Now, our so-called "slideshows" include more and more video clips, and with future v10 64-bit PTE will turn into the best 4K video editor (for me, it is already the best video editor although 32-bit version is a big limitation). The best video editor with similar capacities to edit video, as well as slides/photos/pictures. I think that this new ability could be explored. In fact, good video editors like VEGAS or PREMIERE would have to fight against a very big competitor like PTE. Moovie maker amateurs, perhaps professionals as well,  don't even know that PTE exist, they look after VEGAS or PREMIERE to find their editing software.

About changing the name, I have no idea if it would be a good step, but I think something could be made to extend the idea to video editing (videoshows).

Jose

[jmG-06100]

20 hours ago, Tomcatred55 said:

PicturesToAV seems the obvious choice if a change is deemed necessary.

As in "ToAV" and to hold lol 

It took me a while to realise that this 20th birthday of PTE was not too different from a long lasting marriage (between the developers and the users, in this case), a time when there are promises "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part."  ;-))

[Barry Beckham]

Igor.

Yes, I can easily see the pros and cons and the dilemma it would cause.  How can you measure what affect a name change may have on sales.  Without stating the obvious, a name change may hit sales by 20% then the fact the exe part of name has gone it could increase by 40%, but no one can know or guess that. It could do the opposite. 

To be honest the exe issue and the name never crossed my mind till I heard the views of the person I mentioned and suddenly I found I couldn’t pass the idea off as a stupid one. I found myself thinking. Has he got a point here. The problem is that humans hate change. They all say they don’t, but they really do. If they didn’t like consistency McDonalds would never be around. People love to be on the other inside of the world and know exactly what they will get.

look at the bleating and whinging about Creative Cloud. Apparently it’s the most successful thing Adobe has done, but listening to the nay sayers, you wouldn’t think so. Perhaps the launch of PTE 10 especially for the Mac would be a good time to take the plunge, but i’m sorry to have opened such a painful subject. 

20 years is a long time in the digital world isn’t it. I’ve been in there with PicturesToEXE for most of that time, but not all. Congratulations on a great product and thank you for allowing me many hours of fun making slideshows and demos.

PicturesToVideo ?

Digital PowerShow?

 

 

[michaelr108]

Igor

I have picked up my Magazine and in it is a new version of a HDR program which you can download and use for a limited time and there is a money off offer on the latest version could this sort of thing work  for PTE ?

Michael

[jt49]

11 hours ago, jkb said:

Just had another thought PicturesToEx(cellence)

Perhaps a good suggestion. We have to keep in mind that (at least in Germany) "Ex" can mean "my former husband"

[jkb]

52 minutes ago, jt49 said:

Perhaps a good suggestion. We have to keep in mind that (at least in Germany) "Ex" can mean "my former husband" 

And in the UK! 

[Tomcatred55]

I always used to call it PicturesToEx with a silent second "e" but noticed a while back that most pronounce the last "e" 

[jmG-06100]

1 hour ago, jkb said:

And in the UK! 

And in France, as well.

[gogs]

Isn't this all a bit academic. Changing the name won't make a lot of difference if files are still in exe format. I have a Windows PC which is loaded with exe files. In fact I believe I couldn't run the majority of my programs, if indeed not all, without them being started with an executable file.

If it is a question  of concern being raised about downloading slideshows made in Pictures to Exe being in an executable format, perhaps a way to solve this is that any show made available for others to download should be made in mp4 format. But the creator can if they wish still run and present Exe files from their own computer.

From a name point of view I always refer to it, as do many others, as PTE. Why do we have to have a hang up about what the E stands for. So why not just PTE D Luxe and PTE Esssentials, software for making high quality Audio Visual and Video presentations.

Gogs

[JudyKay]

There is nothing spooky or risky about an EXE. Thinking, knowledgeable people download them safely every day with no harm. The PicturesToEXE name is fine and harmless just not comprehensive for the incredible range of capability that PTE has today.  But then what does Adobe tell you?  Or Microsoft?  Or Apple?   Photoshop is good. Lightroom is good.     

Wnsoft already has a good name although not widely known. Maybe develop that name with products beneath it.  Back in the old days there were some other good WNSoft products which have sort of been sidelined (photo editor, file commander).  Maybe a new product should come out and  PicturesToExe would sort of be a grand old product still available but not upgraded and fading away.  It would be superseded by, not PTE 10.0  but AVShop 1.0.