Their "business model" is to expect $60/year in donations (roughly the cost of Windows @ $100/1.5 years).
Currently there are 5600 members at an average of $75 apiece. They hope to increase this by a factor of 10, giving an anual revenue of $4.2 M. At present (based on Q4 2001 from their own letter) they're leaking $6.72 M anually, after conventional sales, service and support.
By their projection, they'll still be losing money, but not as bad as before. The problem is, the "donations" come directly from their user base which cuts into conventional sales. Here's a much easier solution (co-opted from the RIAA's lack of understanding) -- if you overcharge for a plastic disk with a little bit of tinfoil on top, people won't pay for it. But if you charge a reasonable price, and they like your product, they will.
Alot of people use cheap bytes or some other burner because they don't have their own bandwidth. But a lot of people don't -- because they'd rather get the original thing. If you could get an OFFICIAL Mandrake CD for $10 (plus shipping -- geniune sticker included), would you? For $5?
Say Mandrake has a million users. 1 in 10 of them is a poor unfortunate soul without broadband or just wants to support the distribution (that's roughly the percentage they hope to get with subsriptions.
At $10 a pop that's $1 M. Much more likely. Much more sustainable. A quarter of their charity wet dream, but more than double their current offering. If they want to make it a club they could include geniune certificates and maybe a decoder ring. At the least an encrypted monthly newletter. For $60 a year you get a coaster in the mail every month with the lastest snapshot (and exclusive membership stickers of course-- you could even have a sticker design competition by the members) -- That's a club I'd join. And I don't even use mandrake.
I bet there is less than half the mp3 trading since Napster went down. A large part of it is networks (esp. corporate) who now fear litigation themselves. But alot of people just haven't tried anything new.
People will upgrade because eventually they will have to buy a new computer so it can open new MS Word documents and properly display new web pages and play new CDs and corporate produced streaming audio and video.
If you can't listen to Metallica's new album, or watch porn, or do your homework because your old computer is obsolete, then you might consider buying a new one, and then you have to take whatever they give you.
Microsoft's goal is to just hit you with an IE or MSN Messenger upgrade, but they know they can't get everyone with everything that way.
Want new emoticons? How about a free codec with that?
I'm talking about the past, and about smaller, competetant ISPs. Even now, with the crap we're left with, from the tech support position it's still 99% PEBKACOIRW. Stuff like "I forgot my password", "No, my modem isn't plugged into the wall", "You site promised me Britney Spears' nipple but instead crashed my computer", or "Why is half my screen gray?"
If you don't know how to relate an analogy, hire a physicist.
IT IS NOT YOUR ISP'S JOB TO TEACH YOU HOW TO USE YOUR COMPUTER, TO CLEAN OFF VIRUSES, TO UPGRADE YOUR DRIVERS, TO FIX YOUR PRINTER, TO BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE OR TO REINSTALL WINDOWS FOR YOU.
The ISP most likely did not sell you your computer, they didn't force to to download the virus, blah blah. If you bought a car, you'd be going to the gas station and blame the attendant because you don't know how to drive a stick shift and expect him to fix a dent.
That's your fucking analogy. Quantum mechanics is extra.
The only Macintosh most people ever see is on TV (every day, on every show that they can think of a reason to put a computer) -- and then, usually only the backside of a laptop or iMAC with a close of of the logo.
Whereas everyday they're probably using Linux -- firewalls, webservers, shared directories.
It is a _literal_ impossibility to fit a full size keyboard on a 3 x 6 inch device.
The fact that it has any keyboard at all is a plus, excepting that it inconveniences someone who is not using the keyboard -- which it doesn't. You can compare it to the Blackberry keyboard, or maybe that of the Frankin (tm) hangman game. You can't compare it to your MS Natural keyboard with a gel wrist rest. And you can't compare it to an IPAQ or Palm keyboard because they don't have one.
"It's a gizmo to help you track your schedule, your contacts, and to burn time while waiting in airports."
<p>
Its the third task that most people use their Palms, etc., for. And it always has been. That's why more powerful PDA are becoming more popular. I've never seen anyone check their schedule on a Palm (after the first week -- when the novelty of it wears off)
If 1% of Linux users are potential buyers that gives a potential market of 100,000 customer.
At $500 apiece, that's market capital of $50,000,000.
You may not realize how much money that is.
You could pay a 100 people $100,000 to work on it for a year. That's $10,000,000.
And build them a place to design and build them for another $10,000,000.
And you can still spend $300 apiece building, shipping, and marketing them, and still break even. (Shipping and marketing costs per unit are negligible.)
Realistically, their first year sales are probably only a tenth of that. But realistically, so is development cost. And something like this isn't meant to turn a profit in less than a year.
maybe the Zaurus isn't meant to compete directly with the Palm -- if it did, it would lose. It is bigger, more expensive, and lacks the brand recognition.
Sharp may be trying out a *different* product that doesn't fit perfectly (pun restrained) in the Palm niche. There may just be a market segment willing to buy a larger, more flexible tool with a bigger screen and more horsepower. Or maybe not. Maybe Shart was stupid, or maybe they're just wrong.
IBM made a lot of money selling mainframes, why would anyone try to sell a PC?
Slashdot Mirror
for licensing the Unix name? As nice as OS X is, I don't think it could pass the compatability tests anyway.
Besides, I'm pretty sure the article is talking about servers. No link though.
Their "business model" is to expect $60/year in donations (roughly the cost of Windows @ $100/1.5 years).
Currently there are 5600 members at an average of $75 apiece. They hope to increase this by a factor of 10, giving an anual revenue of $4.2 M. At present (based on Q4 2001 from their own letter) they're leaking $6.72 M anually, after conventional sales, service and support.
By their projection, they'll still be losing money, but not as bad as before. The problem is, the "donations" come directly from their user base which cuts into conventional sales. Here's a much easier solution (co-opted from the RIAA's lack of understanding) -- if you overcharge for a plastic disk with a little bit of tinfoil on top, people won't pay for it. But if you charge a reasonable price, and they like your product, they will.
Alot of people use cheap bytes or some other burner because they don't have their own bandwidth. But a lot of people don't -- because they'd rather get the original thing. If you could get an OFFICIAL Mandrake CD for $10 (plus shipping -- geniune sticker included), would you? For $5?
Say Mandrake has a million users. 1 in 10 of them is a poor unfortunate soul without broadband or just wants to support the distribution (that's roughly the percentage they hope to get with subsriptions.
At $10 a pop that's $1 M. Much more likely. Much more sustainable. A quarter of their charity wet dream, but more than double their current offering. If they want to make it a club they could include geniune certificates and maybe a decoder ring. At the least an encrypted monthly newletter. For $60 a year you get a coaster in the mail every month with the lastest snapshot (and exclusive membership stickers of course-- you could even have a sticker design competition by the members) -- That's a club I'd join. And I don't even use mandrake.
when a company isn't able to take you're money when you offer it, you know they're doomed.
I bet there is less than half the mp3 trading since Napster went down. A large part of it is networks (esp. corporate) who now fear litigation themselves. But alot of people just haven't tried anything new.
People will upgrade because eventually they will have to buy a new computer so it can open new MS Word documents and properly display new web pages and play new CDs and corporate produced streaming audio and video.
If you can't listen to Metallica's new album, or watch porn, or do your homework because your old computer is obsolete, then you might consider buying a new one, and then you have to take whatever they give you.
Microsoft's goal is to just hit you with an IE or MSN Messenger upgrade, but they know they can't get everyone with everything that way.
Want new emoticons? How about a free codec with that?
porn isn't underground anymore.
good for you
I'm talking about the past, and about smaller, competetant ISPs. Even now, with the crap we're left with, from the tech support position it's still 99% PEBKACOIRW. Stuff like "I forgot my password", "No, my modem isn't plugged into the wall", "You site promised me Britney Spears' nipple but instead crashed my computer", or "Why is half my screen gray?"
Here in Seattle it's raining 51% of the time and its light out 51% of the time. There's no implicit contradiction. And yes, I was exaggerating.
If you don't know how to relate an analogy, hire a physicist.
IT IS NOT YOUR ISP'S JOB TO TEACH YOU HOW TO USE YOUR COMPUTER, TO CLEAN OFF VIRUSES, TO UPGRADE YOUR DRIVERS, TO FIX YOUR PRINTER, TO BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE OR TO REINSTALL WINDOWS FOR YOU.
The ISP most likely did not sell you your computer, they didn't force to to download the virus, blah blah. If you bought a car, you'd be going to the gas station and blame the attendant because you don't know how to drive a stick shift and expect him to fix a dent.
That's your fucking analogy. Quantum mechanics is extra.
You forgot to mention it has McGyver.
sci fi fans also tend to live in a fantasy world
The only Macintosh most people ever see is on TV (every day, on every show that they can think of a reason to put a computer) -- and then, usually only the backside of a laptop or iMAC with a close of of the logo.
Whereas everyday they're probably using Linux -- firewalls, webservers, shared directories.
I'm fairly sure Sharp does pay a per product licensing fee for Java and Qtopia and maybe other parts.
You're right that this review is a death sentence, but until then, there was a big buzz about how *shiny* and *bright* the new PDA from sharp was.
That's what attracts the type of people who buy these things.
You are right in that his job is to facilitate the parting of a fool and his money. The question is, to whom go the benefits of the separation?
I don't think it is any coincidence that he mentions his *new* forum (soliciting products to review) after a particularly bad review.
The moral of the article is that you have to *pay* for advertising.
It is a _literal_ impossibility to fit a full size keyboard on a 3 x 6 inch device.
The fact that it has any keyboard at all is a plus, excepting that it inconveniences someone who is not using the keyboard -- which it doesn't. You can compare it to the Blackberry keyboard, or maybe that of the Frankin (tm) hangman game. You can't compare it to your MS Natural keyboard with a gel wrist rest. And you can't compare it to an IPAQ or Palm keyboard because they don't have one.
what if you want a fourth "special" number -- its a trivial change.
"It's a gizmo to help you track your schedule, your contacts, and to burn time while waiting in airports."
<p>
Its the third task that most people use their Palms, etc., for. And it always has been. That's why more powerful PDA are becoming more popular. I've never seen anyone check their schedule on a Palm (after the first week -- when the novelty of it wears off)
How come can't they make money off techies?
Say they only target Linux users:
Given a Linux user base of 10 Millions.
If 1% of Linux users are potential buyers that gives a potential market of 100,000 customer.
At $500 apiece, that's market capital of $50,000,000.
You may not realize how much money that is.
You could pay a 100 people $100,000 to work on it for a year. That's $10,000,000.
And build them a place to design and build them for another $10,000,000.
And you can still spend $300 apiece building, shipping, and marketing them, and still break even. (Shipping and marketing costs per unit are negligible.)
Realistically, their first year sales are probably only a tenth of that. But realistically, so is development cost. And something like this isn't meant to turn a profit in less than a year.
maybe the Zaurus isn't meant to compete directly with the Palm -- if it did, it would lose. It is bigger, more expensive, and lacks the brand recognition.
Sharp may be trying out a *different* product that doesn't fit perfectly (pun restrained) in the Palm niche. There may just be a market segment willing to buy a larger, more flexible tool with a bigger screen and more horsepower. Or maybe not. Maybe Shart was stupid, or maybe they're just wrong.
IBM made a lot of money selling mainframes, why would anyone try to sell a PC?
Asks the question
(from dictionary.com) The rest of the definition:
this sounds more like a tool for emacs lovers
to the article. After he's done with a bad review, he sends out an advertisment proclaiming that he will now sell positive reviews.
If you don't know how to use a computer, take a class, don't call your ISP.