Current Status
Synthesystem is currently in development and is not yet publicly available. Right now, it is a work-in-progress towards the first public version (version 1.0), which has two modules: photo editing and item browsing (files, folders and objects embedded within other files are all called 'items' in Synthesystem). Version 1.0 will work on Macintosh and Windows laptop and desktop computers (with Linux computers to follow). Version 1.0 will not be available on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, but that is a goal for the future.
Although version 1.0 has a much smaller scope of functionality than our long-term vision, many of the fundamental parts of the design are already in place. This - and the fact that I am leveraging lots of great work already done in the open-source community - will allow Synthesystem to grow much more rapidly than most applications, whilst remaining reliable and trustworthy.
Although version 1.0 has a much smaller scope of functionality than our long-term vision, many of the fundamental parts of the design are already in place. This - and the fact that I am leveraging lots of great work already done in the open-source community - will allow Synthesystem to grow much more rapidly than most applications, whilst remaining reliable and trustworthy.
Future Plans
After version 1.0 is released, I will collaborate on integrating other open-source applications into Synthesystem to add modules for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, music and video editing, playback and management, time and task management, and communications (including social networking), followed by many other things. The open source software world is full of great applications, but there is little unity amongst them today. will synthesise them into something far greater than the sum of its parts!
Funding Model
Synthesystem will come with a significant amount of functionality in each specialty area (e.g. photo editing), giving most people everything they need in that area, free of charge. In addition, it will be possible to purchase additional individual features at a very low cost and have them download and install immediately. In most cases, you will not even have to restart Synthesystem (let alone restart your computer) to start using the new feature, unlike some other applications! An example of an individual feature that will be for sale is the ability to combine any size batch of your photos into miniature '2-up' or '4-up' prints. In this feature, Synthesystem creates new photo files containing miniature versions of the photos you selected, with two or four photos per print, ready to be printed at photo printing services at common sizes such as 6" x 4". Easily generate hundreds or even thousands of miniature photos at a time without having to manually combine them one by one! Also, since we value flexibility highly, there will be another feature available to buy which lets you choose how many photos per print to generate instead of just 2-up or 4-up. This will let you generate, for example, 3 x 3, 2 x 4 or 4 x 4 miniature prints.
John Gillanders
Director
Technaturally Ltd
Dunedin, New Zealand
Director
Technaturally Ltd
Dunedin, New Zealand