I think the best way you could get them up and running would be introducing them to Autohotkey http://autohotkey.com/. You can literally teach them how to make keyboard presses do new things in 5 minutes.
Example:
!a::
SendInput I pressed alt+a
return
You are going to have to first deeply understand what each of you wants to get out of life and how this businesses helps each of you do those things. If you can survive and want to stay under your own control, then do so, but manage your cash (and by extension, your growth) carefully. "Cash is king" for a reason. It's because profits don't pay the bills; cash literally does.
Read "The E-Myth Revisited," "Small Giants," and "No Man's Land." They will give you great insight into how you need to view the management of your business, where you want it to go, and the sort of challenges you'll face based on the course of action you choose.
Good luck, and I hope that your choice is the right one.
I too am a webmaster and agree entirely with this perspective. What's going on here is the evolution of a marketplace. The old business model, in which obtrusive ads went unopposed, is quickly coming to an end. The crossroads facing webmasters is simple: adapt or die. Those who do business on the Internet, better than anyone, should know that the world of business changes rapidly, leaving those who refuse to change with it behind. It's not a matter of if, but when, ads will no longer be delivered in such a way. It's inevitable.
I can't say that from an executive position I would find this setup appropriate, at least in a one size fits all formula. The fact that file sharing already allows for such a high amount of information greatly reduces the ability to discriminate price based on locality. Further, a single price for unlimited portable songs is unviable with the availability of smart, broadband-connected users that would pay for one month, download nonstop for the next 30 days, and cancel. In that time, a clever user could have thousands of songs at a great disadvantage to the company.
Better, I think, would be a realtime updated price for a single song, to allow for precise pricing, offered free of DRM, complemented by a flexibly DRMed subscription service that allowed for unlimited downloads at a fixed monthly rate. The scenario described in your post requires a radical change in the business culture of the RIAA and a highly increased level of competition above what exists in the industry today.
While one might say that IE 'deserved' to win, that really takes a larger perspective on things. Now, whether it should have one, then yes, it should have, because it was omnipresent on the majority of machines and Netscape's strategy was a failure.
Now, however, with the simplicity of Firefox, not to mention that it is also free, it plays on a much closer to level playing ground than Netscape did. Firefox is a superior product now, and with few roadblocks to hold it back, I believe that Firefox will overtake IE in a final, decisive battle. Firefox's rate of expansion and its vast grass-roots marketing are sure to leave a dent, if not win. That is how I believe that Microsoft will lose this time, in a final, decisive battle.
Finally, the next browser war, the one in which IE will finally be soundly and forever defeated.
The only question remains:
What will the IE team do after they've lost? Open up a t-shirt stand, or maybe go on vacation for a few months?
Suprnova isn't gone. At least, not forever. I see it like this: Suprnova saw what was happening around to other Torrent hosting sites and thought it would be a good idea to drop under the radar. In this way, thay are safe. This much is known. But what I see happening is a sort of reqrouping, buying time to make sure that eXeem is just right, especially now. eXeem is like a sort of lifepod from a dying planet of torrent sites. It's the savior of massively indexed torrents and with the hostile environment, getting it right the first time is essential to keeping the movement's spirit from being broken.
Like the phoenix, form Suprnova's ashes will arise eXeem, unstoppable in the face of **AA.
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I think the best way you could get them up and running would be introducing them to Autohotkey http://autohotkey.com/. You can literally teach them how to make keyboard presses do new things in 5 minutes. Example: !a:: SendInput I pressed alt+a return
You are going to have to first deeply understand what each of you wants to get out of life and how this businesses helps each of you do those things. If you can survive and want to stay under your own control, then do so, but manage your cash (and by extension, your growth) carefully. "Cash is king" for a reason. It's because profits don't pay the bills; cash literally does. Read "The E-Myth Revisited," "Small Giants," and "No Man's Land." They will give you great insight into how you need to view the management of your business, where you want it to go, and the sort of challenges you'll face based on the course of action you choose. Good luck, and I hope that your choice is the right one.
I too am a webmaster and agree entirely with this perspective. What's going on here is the evolution of a marketplace. The old business model, in which obtrusive ads went unopposed, is quickly coming to an end. The crossroads facing webmasters is simple: adapt or die. Those who do business on the Internet, better than anyone, should know that the world of business changes rapidly, leaving those who refuse to change with it behind. It's not a matter of if, but when, ads will no longer be delivered in such a way. It's inevitable.
I can't say that from an executive position I would find this setup appropriate, at least in a one size fits all formula. The fact that file sharing already allows for such a high amount of information greatly reduces the ability to discriminate price based on locality. Further, a single price for unlimited portable songs is unviable with the availability of smart, broadband-connected users that would pay for one month, download nonstop for the next 30 days, and cancel. In that time, a clever user could have thousands of songs at a great disadvantage to the company. Better, I think, would be a realtime updated price for a single song, to allow for precise pricing, offered free of DRM, complemented by a flexibly DRMed subscription service that allowed for unlimited downloads at a fixed monthly rate. The scenario described in your post requires a radical change in the business culture of the RIAA and a highly increased level of competition above what exists in the industry today.
My microsatellites are potatoes, launched from a highly effective PVC pipe, powered by environmentally friendly hair spray. :)
While one might say that IE 'deserved' to win, that really takes a larger perspective on things. Now, whether it should have one, then yes, it should have, because it was omnipresent on the majority of machines and Netscape's strategy was a failure. Now, however, with the simplicity of Firefox, not to mention that it is also free, it plays on a much closer to level playing ground than Netscape did. Firefox is a superior product now, and with few roadblocks to hold it back, I believe that Firefox will overtake IE in a final, decisive battle. Firefox's rate of expansion and its vast grass-roots marketing are sure to leave a dent, if not win. That is how I believe that Microsoft will lose this time, in a final, decisive battle.
Finally, the next browser war, the one in which IE will finally be soundly and forever defeated. The only question remains: What will the IE team do after they've lost? Open up a t-shirt stand, or maybe go on vacation for a few months?
Suprnova isn't gone. At least, not forever. I see it like this: Suprnova saw what was happening around to other Torrent hosting sites and thought it would be a good idea to drop under the radar. In this way, thay are safe. This much is known. But what I see happening is a sort of reqrouping, buying time to make sure that eXeem is just right, especially now. eXeem is like a sort of lifepod from a dying planet of torrent sites. It's the savior of massively indexed torrents and with the hostile environment, getting it right the first time is essential to keeping the movement's spirit from being broken.
Like the phoenix, form Suprnova's ashes will arise eXeem, unstoppable in the face of **AA.