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Maja Dakić

Mobile App Development for

Businesses
Create a Product Roadmap and Digitize Your
Operations
Maja Dakić
Novi Sad, Serbia

ISBN 978-1-4842-9475-8 e-ISBN 978-1-4842-9476-5

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9476-5

© Maja Dakić 2023

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively
licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in
any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks,

service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the
absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the
relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general
use.

The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the
advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate
at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Apress imprint is published by the registered company APress

Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
The registered company address is: 1 New York Plaza, New York, NY
10004, U.S.A.
To my family—my husband Danijel and children Dorotea and
David Dakić
Thank you for your support, patience and laughter which mean
everything to me. You always believed in me and encouraged me to
follow my dreams.
To my husband Danijel - your support has made me reach these heights,
you are my ROCK!
To my beloved daughter Dorotea and son David who fill our life with
happiness and fun - I love you to the Moon and back… and again!
This book is dedicated to you with all my love - you are my entire
world!
To my Zesium company and CEO Darko Milić
Without your support, this book would not have been possible
You encouraged me to create our Zesium blog that inspired this book -
your support has been invaluable to me over the years. You have guided
me where there is no path and together, we have paved the way for our
future victories!
To my friend and colleague, Branislav Manojlović
My dear friend, thank you for being there when I needed assistance -
you were never too busy to extend a helping hand to me with your
insights and feedback. I am truly grateful for your wisdom and
friendship.
This book is for you!
Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the
author in this book is available to readers on the Github repository:
https://github.com/Apress/Mobile-App-Development-for-Businesses.
For more detailed information, please visit
http://www.apress.com/source-code.
Acknowledgments
I thank my family for their support, patience, and laughter, which mean
everything to me. You always believed in me and encouraged me to
follow my dreams.
To my husband, Danijel—your support has made me reach these
heights. You are my ROCK!
To my beloved daughter, Dorotea, and son, David, who fill our lives
with happiness and fun—I love you to the Moon and back… and again!
This book is dedicated to you with all my love—you are my entire
world!
Without the support of my company, Zesium, and CEO Darko Milić,
this book would not have been possible. You encouraged me to create
our Zesium blog that inspired this book—your support has been
invaluable to me over the years. You have guided me where there was
no path, and together, we have paved the way for our future victories!
My dear friend Branislav Manojlović, thank you for being there
when I needed assistance—you were never too busy to extend a
helping hand to me with your insights and feedback. I am truly grateful
for your wisdom and friendship.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1:​Why Does Your Business Need a Mobile App?​
1.​1.​Why Are Mobile Apps the Future of Business?​
What Is Mobile Commerce and Why Is It Crucial for Mobile
Adoption?​
1.​2.​Reasons to Develop a Mobile App for Your Business
Allows Offline Access
Increases Brand Visibility
Improves Customer Ratings
Improves Customer Retention
Provides Personalization
Serves On-Demand More Effectively
Improves Digital Marketing
Builds Customer Loyalty
Generates More Income
1.​3.​Key Benefits of Mobile for Your Business
Payment Convenience
Customer Loyalty
Direct Marketing
Recognized Brand
Interaction and Engagement
Improved Social Media Presence
Enabled Geo-targeting
Directed Customer Feedback
Crucial Characteristics Your Mobile App Should Have
Problem Solver
 Simple and User-Friendly
Top Performer
Available Offline and Personalized
Freemium
Updated Regularly
Built-In Metrics
1.​4.​BONUS:​The Best Apps for Small and Medium Businesses
Cloud-Based Apps
Inventory Management
Accounting/​Finance
POS/​Payments
Project Management/​Organization
Communication
Other
Key Takeaways
Chapter 2:​How to Choose the Platform for Your Mobile App?​
2.​1.​Pros and Cons of Different Types of Apps
Web Apps
Native Apps
Cross-Platform Apps
Hybrid Apps
2.​2.​Reasons to Consider When Deciding on a Mobile App
Platform
How a Custom-Built Mobile App Benefits Your Business
Follows YOUR Needs
Provides Better Personalization
 Improves Productivity
Increases Profit
Scalable
More Secure
Easier for CUSTOMers
Simple Access
Why Do Native Apps Outperform?​
Better Performance
Works Offline
Better Personalization
Better Customer Loyalty
More Interactive
2.​3.​How to Choose the Best Development Partner for Your
Mobile App
1.​Define Your Requirements
2.​Analyze Existing Developers
3.​Define Your Budget
4.​Use Your Social Media
5.​Visit Dedicated Websites
6.​Check for Support
7.​Check for an Innovative Approach
8.​Check for Cost-Effectiveness
9.​Check for a Technically Efficient Company
2.​4.​BONUS:​How Long Does It Take to Develop a Mobile App?​
Start with a V1.​0 MVP
Key Stages in App Development
 Idea!
Feature Set
Wireframing
App Development
Beta Testing
The Launch!
Maintenance
Key Takeaways
Chapter 3:​Create a Mobile App Product Roadmap
3.​1.​Turn Your Idea into Actionable Milestones
1.​Short Company Description
2.​Your App Idea
3.​Your Target Audience
4.​Preferred Technology Stack
5.​List of Features
6.​List of Admin Features
7.​Visual Design
8.​Timeline and Budget
9.​Acceptance Criteria
10.​Contact Persons
3.​2.​How to Write a Mobile App Product Roadmap
Define Your Strategy
Define Your Readers
Measure and Update
Use Roadmapping Tools
Analyze Feedback
 UnderSWOT
Roadmap Template Tools
3.​3.​Usability Issues to Avoid When Developing a Mobile App
Different Platforms and OSs
Landscape Mode Bypass
Too Many Steps
Never-Ending Scrolling
Poor Navigation
No Autofilled User Data
Incomplete Onboarding
Unclear Content
Unresponsive Gesturization
Lack of User Feedback
3.​4.​BONUS:​Beware of These App Development Mistakes
No Plan or Target Audience
No Defined Platform
Last-Minute Marketing
Feature Creep
Troubling UI and Performance
Insufficient Testing
Ignoring Negative Feedback
Annoying Ads
Instant Rating
Copycat
Key Takeaways
Chapter 4:​Balance of Features in Mobile Development
4.​1.​Learn to Outline MVP Must-Haves
Do Your Research
Prioritize Features
Choose an MVP Approach
Identify Success Criteria
Make a Story Map
B-M-L-I (Build-Measure-Learn-Iterate)
How to Prioritize Features for Your MVP
Top Techniques to Prioritize Features
4.​2.​The Most Important Design Features
Quick-Loading Elements
Include Onboarding
Ensure Minimal User Input
Intuitive Gesturization
Make Clean UI
Transparent Permission Policy
Clear CTA (Call-to-Action) Button
Personalized User Experience (UX)
Offer a Support Option
Tips on Successful Mobile Interaction Design
Popular Design Trends
4.​3.​What Functionalities to Include to Your Mobile App
Phase 1:​Plan
Phase 2:​Design and Develop
Phase 3:​Launch
App Monetization Models
 4.​4.​Why Is Early Testing the Best for Your Product Success
Bug Fixes
Security Patches/​Updates
Third-Party API Updates
Application Maintenance Scaling
Facilitating New Functionality
Monitoring
Why Are Software Defect Reports Important
Mobile App Security
Key Takeaways
Chapter 5:​Why Are Users Essential for Your App’s Life?​
5.​1.​How to Onboard Users to Your Mobile App
Types of Onboarding
The Best Practices for Onboarding Users to Your Mobile App
5.​2.​Methods to Collect User Feedback
Before Collecting the Feedback
While Collecting the Feedback, Respond to User Feedback in
Time!
Upon Collected User Feedback
5.​3.​How to Prioritize Feedback and Put It in Action
Collect and Consolidate Your Data
Categorize Feedback
Get a Quick Overview
Code the Feedback
Refine Your Coding
Analyze the Popularity of Each Code
 Summarize and Share
Take Action
Automate User Feedback Analysis with Third-Party
Software
Benefits of User Feedback for Your Mobile App
Key Takeaways
Chapter 6:​How to Promote Your Mobile App in the Market
6.​1.​The Most Important Steps for Mobile App Launch
Pre-launch Stage
Launch Stage
Post-launch Stage
6.​2.​The Best Practices on How to Promote Your Mobile App
and Brand Strategy Examples
The Best Practices to Promote Your Mobile App Successfully
Brand Positioning Strategies for the App Stores
6.​3.​The Best Tools to Help You Track User Satisfaction
Tools to Track User Satisfaction
Tools to Track Your App Uninstalls
Tools to Track User Behavior in a Mobile App
BONUS:​Methods to Increase Your Mobile App Downloads
Key Takeaways
Chapter 7:​Outsourcing to a Technical Partner
7.​1.​Should You Outsource Your Mobile App Development
No Required Expertise
No Tech Sector
No License for Development
No Time
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Special Delivery
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Special Delivery

Author: George O. Smith

Illustrator: Frank Kramer

Release date: May 6, 2022 [eBook #68007]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Street & Smith Publications,

Incorporated, 1945

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPECIAL

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Special Delivery
 By GEORGE O. SMITH

Illustrated by Kramer

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1945.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Don Channing grinned at his wife knowingly. Arden caught his glance
and then laughed. Walt Franks leaned back and looked highly
superior. "Go ahead and laugh, darn you. I tell you it can be done."
"Walt, ever since you tried that stunt of aerating soap with hydrogen
to make a floating soap for shower baths, I've been wondering about
your kind of genius."
"Oh no," objected Arden.
"Well, he wondered about it after nearly breaking his neck one
morning."
"That I did," grinned Walt. "It's still a good idea."
"But the idea of transmitting matter is fantastic."
"Agreed," admitted Walt. "But so is the idea of transmitting power."
"It would come in handy if possible," remarked Don. "At slightly under
2-G, it takes only four hours to make Luna from Terra. On the other
hand, shipping stuff from Melbourne, Australia, to New York City, or to
the Mojave Spaceport takes considerably longer. With spacecraft as
super stratosphere carriers it isn't too good, because you've got to
run in a circle. In space you run at constant acceleration to mid-point
and then decelerate the rest of the way. Fine for mile-eating, but not
too hot for cutting circles."
"Well, having established the need of a matter transmitter, now
what?"
"Go on, Walt. You're telling us."
"Well," said Walt, penciling some notes on the tablecloth, "it's like this.
The Carroll-Baler power-transmission tube will carry energy.
According to their initial experiments, they had some trouble."
"They had one large amount, if I recall."
"Specifically, I recall the incident of the hammer. Remember?"
"Barney Carroll got mad and swung a hammer at the tube, didn't he?"
"It was one of them, I don't recall which."
"No matter of importance," said Don. "I think I know what you mean.
He hit the intake end—or tried to. The hammer was cut neatly and
precisely off, and the energy of the blow was transmitted, somehow,
to the wall."
"Through the wall," corrected Walt. "It cracked the plaster, but it went
through so fast that it merely cracked it. The main blow succeeded in
breaking the marble facade of the city hall."
"Um. Now bring us up to date. What have you in mind?"
"A tube which scans matter atom by atom, line by line, and plane by
plane. The matter is removed, atom by atom, and transmitted to a
sort of matter bank in the instrument."
"A what?"
"Matter bank," said Walt. "We can't transmit the stuff itself. That's out.
We can't dissipate the atomic energy or whatever effect we might get.
We can establish a balance locally by using the energy release to
drive the restorer. According to some initial experiments, it can be
done. We take something fairly complex and break it down. We use
the energy of destruction to re-create the matter in a bank, or solid
block of local stuff. Let it be a mass of stuff if it wants to, at any rate,
the signal impulses from the breakdown will be transmitted, scanned,
if you will, and transmitted to a receiver which reverses the process. It
scans, and the matter bank is broken down and the object is rebuilt.
"I hope we can get free and unrestricted transmutation," offered Don.
"You can't send a steel spring out and get one back made of copper."
"I get your point."
"The space lines will hate you," said Arden.
"Too bad. I wonder if it'll carry people."
"Darling," drawled Arden, "don't you think you'd better catch your
rabbit first?"
"Not too bad a thought," agreed Don. "Walt, have you got any rabbit
traps out?"
"A couple. I've been tinkering a bit. I know we can disintegrate matter
through a power tube of slight modification, and reintegrate it with
another. At the present state of the art, it is a mess."
"A nice mess," laughed Don. "Go ahead, though. We'll pitch in when
the going gets hard."
"That's where I stand now. The going is tough."
"What's the trouble?"
"Getting a perfect focus. I want it good enough so that we can scan a
polished sheet of steel—and it'll come out as slick as the original."
"Naturally. We'd better get Wes Farrell on the job."
"I wonder what by-product we'll get this time."
"Look, Walt. Quit hoping. If you get this thing running right, it'll put
your name in history."
"After all," grinned Walt, "I've got to do something good enough to
make up for that Channing Layer."
"Kingman is still fuming over the Channing Layer. Sometimes I feel
sorry that I did it to him like that."
"Wasn't your fault, Don. You didn't hand him the thing knowing that
the Channing Layer would inhibit the transmission of energy. It
happened. We get power out of Sol—why shouldn't they? They
would, except for the Channing Layer."
"Wonder what your idea will do."
"About the Channing Layer? Maybe your space-line competition is
not as good as it sounds."
"Well, they use the power-transmission tubes all over the face of the
Solar System. I can't see any reason why they couldn't ship stuff from
Sidney to Mojave and then space it out from there."
"What an itinerary! By Franks' matter transmitter to Mojave.
Spacecraft to Luna. More matter transmission from Luna to Phobos.
Then transshipped down to Lincoln Head, and by matter transmitter
to Canalopsis. Whoosh!"

"Do we have time to go into the old yarn about the guy who listened
in and got replicas?" asked Arden.
"That's a woman's mind for you," grinned Channing. "Always making
things complicated. Arden, my lovely but devious-minded woman,
let's wait until we have the spry beastie by the ears before we start to
make rabbit pie."
"It's not as simple as it sounds," warned Walt. "But it's there to worry
about."
"But later. I doubt that we can reason that angle out."
"I can," said Arden. "Can we tap the power beams?"
"Wonderful is the mind of woman!" praised Don. "Positively
wonderful! Arden, you have earned your next fur coat. Here I've been
thinking of radio transmission all the time. No, Arden, when you're set
up for sheer energy transmission, it's strictly no dice. The crimped-up
jobs we use for communications can be tapped—but not the power-
transmission beams. If you can keep the gadget working on that line,
Walt, we're in and solid."
"I predict there'll be a battle. Are we shipping energy or
communications?"
"Let Kingman try and find a precedent for that. Brother Blackstone
himself would be stumped to make a ruling. We'll have to go to work
with the evidence as soon as we get a glimmer of the possibilities.
But I think we have a good chance. We can diddle up the focus, I'm
certain."
Arden glowered. "Go ahead—have your fun. I see another couple of
weeks of being a gadgeteer's widow." She looked at Walt Franks. "I
could stand it if the big lug only didn't call every tool, every part, and
every effect either she or baby!"
Walt grinned. "I'd try to keep you from being lonely, but I'm in this too,
and besides, you're my friend's best wife."
"Shall we drag that around a bit? I think we could kill a couple of
hours with it sometime."
"Let it lie there and rot," snorted Channing cheerfully. "We'll pick it up
later. Come on, Walt. We've got work to do."
Mark Kingman glowered at the 'gram and swore under his breath. He
wondered whether he might be developing a persecution complex; it
seemed as though every time he turned around, Venus Equilateral
was in his hair, asking for something or other. And he was not in any
position to quibble about it. Kingman was smart enough to carry his
tray very level. Knowing that they were waiting for a chance to prove
that he had been connected with the late Hellion Murdoch made him
very cautious. There was no doubt in any mind that Murdoch was
written off the books. But whether Murdoch had made a sufficiently
large impression on the books of Terran Electric to have the
connection become evident—that worried Kingman.
So he swore at each telegram that came in, and then sent the desired
object out with the next ship. Compared to his former attitude toward
Venus Equilateral, Mark Kingman was behaving like an honor student
in a Sunday school.
Furthermore, behaving himself did not make him feel good.
He punched the buzzer, told his secretary to call in the shop foreman,
and then sat back and wondered about the 'gram.
He was still wondering when the man entered. Kingman looked up
and fixed his superintendent with a fish glance. "Horman, can you
guess why the Venus Equilateral crowd would want two dozen gauge
blocks?"
"Sure. We use Johannson Blocks all the time."
"Channing wants twenty-four blocks. All three inches on a side—
cubes. Square to within thirty seconds of angle, and each of the six
faces optically flat to one quarter wave length of Cadmium light."
"Whoosh!" said Horman. "I presume the three-inch dimension must
be within a half wave length?"
"They're quite lenient," said Kingman bitterly. "A full wave length!"
"White of them," grunted Horman. "I suppose the same thing
applies?"
"We're running over thin ice," said Kingman reflectively. "I can't afford
to play rough. We'll make up their blocks."
"I wonder what they want 'em for."
"Something tricky, I'll bet."
"But what could you use two dozen gauge blocks for? All the same
size."
"Inspection standards?" asked Kingman.
"Not unless they're just being difficult. You don't put primary gauges
on any production line. You make secondary gauges for production
line use and keep a couple of primaries in the check room to try the
secondaries on. In fact, you usually have a whole set of gauge blocks
to build up to any desired dimension so that you don't have to stock a
half-million of different sizes."
"It's possible that they may be doing something extremely delicate?"
"Possible," said Horman slowly. "But not too probable. On the other
hand, I may be one hundred percent wrong. I don't know all the
different stuff a man can make, by far. My own experience indicates
that nothing like that would be needed. But that's just one man's
experience."

"Channing and that gang of roughneck scientists have been known to

make some fancy gadgets," said Kingman grudgingly.
"If you'll pardon my mentioning the subject," said Horman in a
scathing tone, "you'd have been far better off to tag along with 'em
instead of fighting 'em."
"I'll get 'em yet!"
"What's it got you so far?"
"I'm not too bad off. I've come up from the assistant chief legal
counsel of Terran Electric to controlling the company."
"And Terran Electric has slid down from the topmost outfit in the
system to a seventh rater."
"We'll climb back. At any rate, I'm better off personally. You're better
off personally. In fact, everybody that had enough guts to stay with us
is better off."
"Yeah—I know. It sounds good on paper. But make a bum move
again, Kingman, and we'll all be in jail. You'd better forget that hatred
against Venus Equilateral and come down to earth."
"Well, I've been a good boy for them once. After all, I did point out the
error in their patent on the solar beam."
"That isn't all. Don't forget that Terran Electric's patent was at error
too."
"Frankly it was a minor error. It's one of those things that is easy to
get caught on. You know how it came about?"
"Nope. I accepted it just like everybody else. It took some outsider to
laugh at me and tell me why."
Kingman smiled. "It's easy to get into easy thinking. They took power
from Sirius—believe it or not—and then made some there-and-back
time measurements and came up with a figure that was about the
square of one hundred eighty-six thousand miles per second. But you
know that you can't square a velocity and come up with anything that
looks sensible. The square of a velocity must be some concept like
an expanding area."
"Or would it be two spots diverging along the sides of a right angle?"
queried Horman idly. "What was their final answer?"
"The velocity of light is a concept. It is based on the flexibility of space
—its physical constants, so to speak. Channing claims that the sub-
etheric radiation bands of what we have learned to call the driver
radiation propagates along some other medium than space itself. I
think they were trying to establish some mathematical relation—which
might be all right, but you can't establish that kind of relation and
hope to hold it. The square of C in meters comes out differently than
the square of C in miles, inches, or a little-used standard, the light-
second, in which the velocity of light is unity, or One. Follow? Anyway,
they made modulation equipment of some sort and measured the
velocity and came up with a finite figure which is slightly less than the
square of one hundred eighty-six thousand miles per second. Their
original idea was wrong. It was just coincidence that the two figures
came out that way. Anyway," smiled Kingman, "I pointed it out to them
and they quick changed their patent letters. So, you see, I've been of
some help."
"Nice going. Well, I'm going to make those gauges. It'll take us one
long time, too. Johannson Blocks aren't the easiest thing in the world
to make."
"What would you make secondary standards out of?"
"We use glass gauges, mostly. They don't dinge or bend when
dropped—they go to pieces or not at all. We can't have a bent gauge
rejecting production parts, you know, and steel gauges can be bent.
Besides, you can grind glass to a half wave length of light with ease,
but polishing steel is another item entirely."
"I'm going to call Channing and ask him about glass blocks. It may be
that he might use them. Plus the fact that I may get an inkling of the
ultimate use. They have no production lines running on Venus
Equilateral, have they?"
"Nope. Not at all. They're not a manufacturing company."
"Well, I'm going to call."

Kingman's voice raced across Terra to Hawaii, went on the

communications beams of the sky-pointing reflectors, and rammed
through the Heaviside Layer to Luna. At the Lunar Station, his voice
was mingled in multiplex with a thousand others and placed on the
sub-ether beams to Venus Equilateral.

Don Channing answered the 'phone. "Yes?"

"Kingman, Dr. Channing."
Don grunted. He did not care to be addressed by title when someone
who disliked him did it. His friends did not, and Kingman's use of the
title made it an insult.
"Look," said Kingman, "what do you want to use those blocks for?"
"We've got a job of checking dimensions."
"Nothing more? Do you need the metal for electrical reasons?"
"No," said Don. "What have you in mind?"
"Our toolshop is nicely equipped to grind glass gauges. We can do
that better than making Jo-blocks. Can you use glass ones?"
"Hang on a minute." Channing turned to Walt. "Kingman says his
outfit uses glass gauges. Any reason why we can't?"
"See no reason why not. I've heard of using glass gauges, and
they've got some good reasons, too. Tell him to go ahead."
"Kingman? How soon can we get glass ones?"
"Horman, how soon on the glass blocks?"
"Two dozen? About a week."
"We'll have your blocks on the way within four days, Channing. Four
days minimum, plus whatever wait is necessary to get 'em aboard a
spacer."
"We'll check from this end on schedules. We need the blocks, and if
the wait is too long, we'll send the Relay Girl in for 'em."
Don hung up and then said: "Glass ones might be a good idea. We
can check the transmission characteristics optically. I think we can
check more, quickly, than by running analysis on steel."
"Plus the fact that you can get the blocks back after test," grinned
Walt. "Once you tear into a steel block to check its insides, you've lost
your sample. I don't know any other way to check the homogeneity
than by optical tests."
"O.K. Well, four days for glass will do better than a couple of months
on steel blocks."
"Right. Now let's look up Wes and see what he's come up with."
They found Farrell in one of the blister laboratories, working on a
small edition of the power-transmission tubes. He was not dressed in
spacesuit, and so they entered the blister and watched him work.

"Have a little trouble getting the focus to stay sharp through the
trace," complained Wes. "I can get focus of atomic proportions—the
circle of confusion is about the size of the atom nucleus, I mean—at
the axis of the tube. But the deflection of the cone of energy produces
aberration, which causes coma at the edges. The corners of an area
look fierce."
"I wonder if mechanical scanning wouldn't work better."
"Undoubtedly. You don't hope to send life, do you?"
"It would be nice—but no more fantastic than this thing is now. What's
your opinion?"
Wes loosened a set screw on the main tube anode and set the anode
forward a barely perceptible distance. He checked it with a vernier
rule and tightened the screw. He made other adjustments on the
works of the tube itself, and then motioned outside. They left the
blister, Wes closed the airtight, and cracked the valve that let the air
out of the blister. He snapped the switch on the outside panel and
then leaned back in his chair while the cathode heated.
"With electrical scanning, you'll have curvature of field with this
gadget. That isn't too bad, I suppose, because the restorer will have
the same curvature. But you're going to scan three ways, which
means correction for the linear distance from the tube as well as the
other side deflections and their aberrations. Now if we could scan the
gadget mechanically, we'd have absolute flatness of field, perfect
focus, and so forth."
Walt grinned. "Thinking of television again? Look, bright fellows, how
do you move an assembly of mechanical parts in quanta of one
atomic diameter? They've been looking for that kind of gadget for
centuries. Dr. Rowland and his gratings would turn over in their
graves with a contrivance that could rule lines one atom apart."
"On what?" asked Don.
"If it would rule one atom lines, brother, you could put a million lines
per inch on anything rulable with perfection, ease, eclat, and savoir
faire. You follow my argument? Or would you rather take up this slip
of my tongue and make something out of it?"
"O.K., fella. I see your point. How about that one, Wes?"
Wes Farrell grinned. "Looks like I'll be getting perfect focus with the
electrical system here. I hadn't considered the other angle at all, but it
looks a lot tougher than I thought."
He squinted through a wall-mounted telescope at the set-up on the
inside of the blister. "She's hot," he remarked quietly, and then set to
checking the experiment. Fifteen minutes of checking, and making
notes, and he turned to the others with a smile. "Not too bad that
way," he said.
"What are you doing?"
"I've established a rather complex field. In order to correct the
aberrations, I've got nonlinear focusing fields in the places where they
tend to correct for the off-axis aberration. To correct for the height-
effect, I'm putting a variable corrector to control the whole cone of
energy, stretching it or shortening it according to the needs. I think if I
use a longer focal length I'll be able to get the thing running right.
"That'll lessen the need for correction, too," he added, cracking the
blister-intake valve and letting the air hiss into the blister. He opened
the door and went inside, and began to adjust the electrodes. "You
know," he added over his shoulder, "we've got something here that
might bring in a few dollars on the side. This matter-bank affair
produces clean, clear, and practically pure metal. You might be able
to sell some metal that was rated 'pure' and mean it."
"You mean absolutely, positively, guaranteed, uncontaminated,
unadulterated, perfectly chemically pure?" grinned Don.
"Compared to what 'Chemically Pure' really means, your selection of
adjectives is a masterpiece of understatement," laughed Walt.
"I'm about to make one more try," announced Wes. "Then I'm going to
drop this for the time being. I've got to get up to the machine shop
and see what they're doing with the rest of the thing."
"We'll take over that if you wish," said Don.
"Will you? I'll appreciate it. I sort of hate to let this thing go when I feel
that I'm near an answer."
"We'll do it," said Walt. "Definitely."
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