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Message-ID: <3A53A3AC.3060307{([at]})nowhere.xy
From: "Douglas G. Danforth" <danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
Organization: QuikCAT.com
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Subject: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
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TO: Oberon/Component Pascal users
FROM: Greenwood Farm Technologies,Ltd.
SUBJECT: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
Greenwood Farm Technologies, Ltd (GFT) is embarking on a
feasibility study for increasing the distribution
and support of Oberon MicroSystems' BlackBox/Component Pascal.
GFT was formed in December 1998 by Doug Danforth and Anne Stevens who is a
practicing lawyer in the states of Massachusetts and Ohio. Our intent is to
remain a small company with low overhead and yet have a large effect on
people who need problems solved. This can be acomplished through distributed
problem solving by networks of people for pay. The business
model is a mix of open source development (Linux) and E-Bay auctions.
Currently comp.lang.oberon offers free advice and discussion between users of
all Oberon software. This is adequate for casual interactions but there are
times when business and individuals need more depth. In those cases, difficult
question frequently remain unanswered since the time and effort by the
casual comp.lang.oberon reader is too great.
To satisfy the user/business who truly does need answers in a timely fashion
and who needs high quality answers, GFT proposes to offer compensation to
'solvers' (from the user community) based on money offered by 'posers' of
problems. The amount of money offered will be based on
'Whatever the market will bear'.
To guarentee high quality, GFT offers 'peer review' of solutions
(if the poser so desires).
Hence:
SUPPORT
(1) Solver: Would you be willing, at times of your choosing and on problems
that you select, to act as a problem solver for detailed questions and be
compensated for your time and effort?
(2) Reviewer: Would you be willing to act as a reviewer of solutions
presented by others?
(3) Editor: Would you be willing to be an editor of reviews and solutions
which provides a form of uniformity to the 'product' (solution) the poser
receives?
BLACKBOX
(1) Computer Store: Would you buy BlackBox from a computer store if the 'box'
contained OMI's software plus documentation plus GFT software that
coordinates support for any questions you may have: from new user questions
to rigorous business contracts?
(2) Campus Book Store: If you are a student, would you like access to such a
package in your local book store?
(3) Concerns: What are (would be) your concerns in buying such an off the
shelf product? Are these concerns enough to stop you from doing so? What
general concerns/words of encouragement/suggestions do you have concerning
widespread distribution of Black Box and this whole proposed enterprise?
MARKETING
(1) C++: Is marketing Component Pascal as an alternative to C++ a strong
selling point? If not why not?
(2) RAD: Is marketing BlackBox as a rapid development tool a selling point?
If not why not?
(3) Components: Is marketing Component Pascal for the development of
'components' a major selling point?
(4) Support: Is guarenteed support an important selling point for you?
(5) Documentation: How important is documentation?
(a) Introductions and overviews.
(b) Case examples specific to your area of development.
(c) Highly technical nitty gritty documentation.
(d) On-line instruction
(e) Hand held book(s).
EDUCATION
(1) If we offered on-line web-base courses in BlackBox/Component Pascal
would you be interested. Do you know of others who might be interested?
THOUGHTS
Who do you know uses Black Box/Pascal? How do they use it? One of our
target groups, at least initially, may be to College and University computer
science departments. Do you think this is a good initial target group? Do
you know of any such groups already using the product (besides Stan Warford,
University of Pepperdine)? Do you have contact with people who might
be "ripe" for BlackBox/Component Pascal programming?
Do you think this CAN be a profitable enterprize?
Do you have any other thoughts that could support
the distribution of BlackBox/Component Pascal?
We truly appreciate your ideas and thoughts.
Email responses to:
danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
or
danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
- Greenwood Farm Technologies, Ltd.
**Putting a little magic into programming**
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From: "Andrzej Lewandowski" <lewando{([at]})nowhere.xy
Newsgroups: comp.lang.oberon
References: <3A53A3AC.3060307{([at]})nowhere.xy
Subject: Re: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
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"Douglas G. Danforth" <danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
news:3A53A3AC.3060307{([at]})nowhere.xy
> TO: Oberon/Component Pascal users
> FROM: Greenwood Farm Technologies,Ltd.
> SUBJECT: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
>
> Greenwood Farm Technologies, Ltd (GFT) is embarking on a
> feasibility study for increasing the distribution
> and support of Oberon MicroSystems' BlackBox/Component Pascal.
>
Great! But what about pricing? The current prices (especially COM compiler)
when compared to MS, Borland and other tools look like a bad joke...
A.L.
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From: "Douglas G. Danforth" <Danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
Newsgroups: comp.lang.oberon
References: <3A53A3AC.3060307{([at]})nowhere.xy
Subject: Re: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
Organization: QuikCAT.com
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Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2001 16:45:24 GMT
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Andrezej,
The cost for products directly sold by Oberon Microsystems Inc will
remain as they price them (such as DirectToCom). GFT is in
the process of negotiating with OMI on the distribution process.
This survey is one component that GFT will use to justify expansion
of BlackBox to OMI. With volume distribution the cost of products will
come down (that is our intent). The price we offer will be competitive
with MS, Borland, etc.
-Doug
"Andrzej Lewandowski" <lewando{([at]})nowhere.xy
news:jQ%46.1324$xo3.349813{([at]})nowhere.xy
>
> "Douglas G. Danforth" <danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy> news:3A53A3AC.3060307{([at]})nowhere.xy> > TO: Oberon/Component Pascal users
> > FROM: Greenwood Farm Technologies,Ltd.
> > SUBJECT: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
> >
> > Greenwood Farm Technologies, Ltd (GFT) is embarking on a
> > feasibility study for increasing the distribution
> > and support of Oberon MicroSystems' BlackBox/Component Pascal.
> >
>
>
> Great! But what about pricing? The current prices (especially COM
compiler)
> when compared to MS, Borland and other tools look like a bad joke...
>
> A.L.
>
>
>
>
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From: jmdrake{([at]})nowhere.xy
Newsgroups: comp.lang.oberon
Subject: Re: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2001 18:49:31 GMT
Organization: Deja.com
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In article <ESm56.723$ws2.53197{([at]})nowhere.xy
"Douglas G. Danforth" <Danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
> Andrezej,
>
> The cost for products directly sold by Oberon Microsystems Inc will
> remain as they price them (such as DirectToCom). GFT is in
> the process of negotiating with OMI on the distribution process.
> This survey is one component that GFT will use to justify expansion
> of BlackBox to OMI. With volume distribution the cost of products
will
> come down (that is our intent). The price we offer will be
competitive
> with MS, Borland, etc.
>
> -Doug
Sounds great! As I put elsewhere in this thread I believe that OMI
needs to look at .NET also, perhaps with help from QUT. If they do
that, perhaps they will be able to afford to radically drop the price
of DTC.
--
Guns don't kill people...bullets do.
(pistol whipping exception already noted)
Sent via Deja.com
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From: jmdrake{([at]})nowhere.xy
Newsgroups: comp.lang.oberon
Subject: Re: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2001 18:40:23 GMT
Organization: Deja.com
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In article <3A53A3AC.3060307{([at]})nowhere.xy
"Douglas G. Danforth" <danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
> TO: Oberon/Component Pascal users
> FROM: Greenwood Farm Technologies,Ltd.
> SUBJECT: Distribution of BlackBox in the USA
>
> Greenwood Farm Technologies, Ltd (GFT) is embarking on a
> feasibility study for increasing the distribution
> and support of Oberon MicroSystems' BlackBox/Component Pascal.
>
> GFT was formed in December 1998 by Doug Danforth and Anne Stevens who
is a
> practicing lawyer in the states of Massachusetts and Ohio. Our
intent is to
> remain a small company with low overhead and yet have a large effect
on
> people who need problems solved. This can be acomplished through
distributed
> problem solving by networks of people for pay. The business
> model is a mix of open source development (Linux) and E-Bay auctions.
Sounds like a cool idea! Sort of like "Keen.com".
> Currently comp.lang.oberon offers free advice and discussion between
users of
> all Oberon software. This is adequate for casual interactions but
there are
> times when business and individuals need more depth. In those cases,
difficult
> question frequently remain unanswered since the time and effort by the
> casual comp.lang.oberon reader is too great.
>
> To satisfy the user/business who truly does need answers in a timely
fashion
> and who needs high quality answers, GFT proposes to offer
compensation to
> 'solvers' (from the user community) based on money offered
by 'posers' of
> problems. The amount of money offered will be based on
> 'Whatever the market will bear'.
>
> To guarentee high quality, GFT offers 'peer review' of solutions
> (if the poser so desires).
>
> Hence:
>
> SUPPORT
>
> (1) Solver: Would you be willing, at times of your choosing and on
problems
> that you select, to act as a problem solver for detailed questions
and be
> compensated for your time and effort?
Yes. Though most of what I could answer would fall into the "easy to
moderately difficult" category.
> (2) Reviewer: Would you be willing to act as a reviewer of solutions
> presented by others?
Uh...maybe. I wouldn't mind testing someone else's solution to see if
I could get it to work.
> (3) Editor: Would you be willing to be an editor of reviews and
solutions
> which provides a form of uniformity to the 'product' (solution) the
poser
> receives?
>
> BLACKBOX
>
> (1) Computer Store: Would you buy BlackBox from a computer store if
the 'box'
> contained OMI's software plus documentation plus GFT software that
> coordinates support for any questions you may have: from new user
questions
> to rigorous business contracts?
While buying BBCP from a store might not make a difference to me from
buying it online, that might help it get more exposure.
> (2) Campus Book Store: If you are a student, would you like access to
such a
> package in your local book store?
I've long felt a "student priced" version of BBCP would be a boon.
> (3) Concerns: What are (would be) your concerns in buying such an off
the
> shelf product? Are these concerns enough to stop you from doing so?
What
> general concerns/words of encouragement/suggestions do you have
concerning
> widespread distribution of Black Box and this whole proposed
enterprise?
>
> MARKETING
>
> (1) C++: Is marketing Component Pascal as an alternative to C++ a
strong
> selling point? If not why not?
No. Because C++ runs on just about every platform and Component Pascal
is limited to PC and Mac.
> (2) RAD: Is marketing BlackBox as a rapid development tool a selling
point?
> If not why not?
Yes.
> (3) Components: Is marketing Component Pascal for the development of
> 'components' a major selling point?
Maybe. But only if two things happen:
1) The price for the DTC comes WAY down.
2) OMI strikes a deal with the Gardens Point people to release a
commercially supported version of their .NET CP.
Back when the DTC first came out it was cool and adward winning. Now
it's old news. In a few years few people will even care about building
COM components. For the MicroSoft platform .NET will be essential.
> (4) Support: Is guarenteed support an important selling point for you?
>
> (5) Documentation: How important is documentation?
> (a) Introductions and overviews.
> (b) Case examples specific to your area of development.
> (c) Highly technical nitty gritty documentation.
> (d) On-line instruction
> (e) Hand held book(s).
All of the above. The more the better. Book publishing might be a
problem because of the cost involved. But there is a small (read that
tiny) window of opportunity here for both Lighting Oberon and the .NET
version Component Pascal. Any book on .NET programming will be a hot
seller in 2001 and possibly even into 2002. Someone could publish a
book on .NET programming that included one (or both) of those compilers
and a lot of good examples.
> EDUCATION
>
> (1) If we offered on-line web-base courses in BlackBox/Component
Pascal
> would you be interested. Do you know of others who might be
interested?
>
> THOUGHTS
>
> Who do you know uses Black Box/Pascal? How do they use it? One of
our
> target groups, at least initially, may be to College and University
computer
> science departments. Do you think this is a good initial target
group? Do
> you know of any such groups already using the product (besides Stan
Warford,
> University of Pepperdine)? Do you have contact with people who might
> be "ripe" for BlackBox/Component Pascal programming?
>
> Do you think this CAN be a profitable enterprize?
Maybe. Your business model is sound. (very low overhead). I look
forward to seeing what happens.
> Do you have any other thoughts that could support
> the distribution of BlackBox/Component Pascal?
>
> We truly appreciate your ideas and thoughts.
>
> Email responses to:
>
> danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy> or
> danforth{([at]})nowhere.xy
>
> - Greenwood Farm Technologies, Ltd.
> **Putting a little magic into programming**
>
>
--
Guns don't kill people...bullets do.
(pistol whipping exception already noted)
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Received on Mon Jan 29 2001 - 12:42:06 UTC