Imho, vvvv is a software that lets you exploit extensively a computer resources, and, more or less, all that can be connected to it.
With extensively I mean many kinds of resources and in many different ways.
Yes, this is strictly bound to the listener’s idea of a computer, but from a simple use as web browsing, and for example social networks - see evvvvil twitter contribution -, to automation, video editing, for what I’ve seen audio editing, 3d rendering, etc., vvvv will help you enjoy, enhance and create “content”.
vvvv will help you learning other programming languages.
vvvv will help you completing easy, and not so easy too, everyday “PC tasks”.
vvvv will help you with your homeworks.
So, it’s effectively a tool, a multipurpose toolkit, to express your creativity with things running on electricity.
Its a quick prototyping environment that can also be used to make bespoke interactive, in every sense of the word, applications. It can interface to and from many types of hardware device and handles graphics with game engine style hardware acceleration.
Is usually how I put it, I usually make caveats about the audio, but know, I don’t need to do that either!
I usually explain that while code based applications can be faster and more portable once finished, vvvv will get something created faster which for one off or low counts of users / installations makes it much better choice.
I often back that up with a client who I made an application for, which took me 3 days, taking 3 months to re-write it in opengl admittedly for a linux sff pc, then again, vvvv was running on a sff pc as well.
vvvv is realtime programming in every sense, it’s not the just the output but the actual programming itself. it allows people to be artists, to mould and tweak algorithms and see the instant result(graphics, lights, motors etc.). you don’t need to fully understand everything to be surprised by the results. (well, in the spread world ;))
there are game engines doing better graphics, specialized light and video software being more convenient, c# , c++ giving you access the anything.
on the contrary vvvv is playful and speedy since its runtime programming, providing easy access to anything your computer has to offer.