There were many, many mockups products prior to Balsamiq. Peldi's main contribution is not sucking so much.
Not sucking so much means he richly deserves every dollar he makes, but isn't quite enough to say that every person before and after him in the field is ipso facto copying him. After all, there is the possibility that a few years from now we'll be using the new hotness and wonder how anyone could ever have tolerated Mockups.
(If the new hotness supports Japanese IMEs without closing the control to editing every time I confirm a kanji for a word I am so there. If the new hotness is the next version of Mockups so much the better!)
Hi patio11, please email me at [email protected]. I'd love to solve your IME issue but I'll need your help since I'm no IME expert. I'm sure we'll get the bug fixed in no time.
As if this wasn't amazing enough, let me compare Peldi to a certain Big Freaking Enterprise whose software we use, which also has a Japanese localization issue:
Cost of software:
Peldi: < $100 (was a free review copy, technically)
BFE: more money than I will make in the next 10 years
Not quite. Balsamiq has significantly more UI controls and buttons. Mockups aren't Twiddla's focus, so they will never fill the same need that Balsamiq fills (and vice-versa).
That's the thing, though, right? Someone else adds drag and drop UI elements and Balsamiq's advantage fades. I think Balsamiq is really cool. I'm inspired by a single developer making a living from a website, but the barriers to entry are scary low.
Hi tectonic, I am well aware that the barriers to cloning Mockups are really low (and I've known this from the start). Luckily, features are only part of the package, and in the long run, everyone has the same features more or less. That's why I pay so much attention to customer service in all of its incarnations, which include not only being responsive and respectful, but also having a good website, updating the build regularly, _really_ listening to feedback, treating my customers as I'd like to be treated, being environmentally and socially conscious, fostering a community around Mockups... Also, I plan on building other products in the future, I'm only getting started. :) We'll see how it goes, but so far, so good! :)
I actually think that having a single developer can be a huge advantage, since you can react so fast to what people ask for.
I added this snap-to-grid and UI mockup piece to Twiddla in a single day. I bet that Dabbleboard didn't spend much longer than that getting their chat interface up. And check out Peldi here taking feature requests from people writing comments. I wouldn't be surprised if there's not a new version up next week with those issues addressed.
That's a really cool trend in software development. There's no way that Adobe CollabroDreadnaught Enterprise or WebEx MeetingBehemoth can hang in an environment like that. I think the next few years will see a lot of big established players get nibbled away at the ankles from small shops like us.
I'm impressed that Jason mentions us himself in a comment.