I got a well-meaning email from a well-known Sloper who was intrigued at my creation of 
SlopeCharts. Since web-based charting has been around for many years, and quite a few companies (with lots of money and lots of employees) have already done it……..why bother doing it again? Why re-invent the wheel?
My initial motivation, as I’ve explained in earlier posts, was to give myself a charting platform that I liked. I never intended to re-create charting. As the saying goes, “been there, done that”, and it’s a lot of work. However, I tried – – I really, really tried – – to find something out there that I liked, and I hated all the offerings. Some were better than others, but I didn’t really like any of them. So I set about on my task.
Besides just providing myself a platform I love, however, there are some other important reasons, which are as follows:
+ Ease of Use – I know everyone says their product is easy to use, but God almighty, it isn’t the case. I’ve got four decades of computer experience under my belt, and I am stunned at how awkward and clumsy some of these products are. I really want SlopeCharts to be the simplest, easiest-to-learn platform out there.
+ A Product for Anal Retentives – I’m an order freak, particularly when it comes to watch lists. SlopeCharts does this far, far better than anything else out there. There are products that are miles ahead of me on stuff like technical studies, but even multi-decade old products have lame watch list management compared to mine.
+ Sloper Sharing – Slope of Hope is a deliberately social site. Our comments system is the glue that holds the place together, and both SocialTrade and SlopeCharts are designed to be components of the site for sharing thoughts and ideas.
+ Personal Sanity – I am a creative person, and I need a creative outlet. I’ve finished my screenplay, and I’m not going to do another. I have written twenty-five books, and I don’t want to write any more. So my creative outlet is Slope of Hope, with a specific focus on SlopeCharts. Bluntly stated, I would lose my mind (what’s left of it), if I didn’t have something to create, improve, and show off.
I hope that sheds some light on why I’m re-inventing the wheel. It’s going to be a really good wheel.
