[3568] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
MISC: Project Magic: A new browser for OS/2 - Update
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (helmar@argo-navis.com)
Mon Nov 17 22:27:52 1997
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 17 Nov 1997 21:05:00 -0400
From: helmar@argo-navis.com
Reply-To: helmar@argo-navis.com
Reply-to: helmar@argo-navis.com
[Followups directed to comp.os.os2.networking.www]
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From the virtual desk of...
---------------------------
Helmar Rudolph
Opera Software AS
helmar@operasoftware.com
+27-21-794-3414
http://www.operasoftware.com/alt_os.html
Friday, 14 November, 1997
====================================================
UPDATE: 'PROJECT MAGIC' FEEDBACK FROM OPERA SOFTWARE
====================================================
Dear OS/2 friends,
It was exactly five weeks ago that Opera Software AS started 'Project Magic',
a fresh and rather daring approach to market research, and to establishing
the feasibility of developing Opera, our marvelous web browser, for operating
systems other than MS Windows. The response to date has been absolutely
fantastic.
Never did I, who conceived the project, realize that my sentiment was so
spot-on, that the timing was right, and that there are so many like-minded
souls out there. The often elaborate responses from you people, longing for
decent software, and willing to pay for it - even in advance! -, plus
pledging more than we originally asked for, overwhelmed even me. And all this
at a time when an unnamed competitor is dead set to destroy the market by
giving their product away for free -- something that costs them millions in
advertising and development $$$. Your response to Project Magic is nothing
but a slap in the face of that 'strategy' and 'conduct', and I salute you for
showing your dissent by supporting PM.
You've read the feedback page on our website (
http://www.operasoftware.com/pm_feed.html ), haven't you? If not, you better
do! This is feedback I gathered in the first days - and I have hundreds more
now - all saying the same thing:
* Thanks for listening to us
* Thanks for considering our platform
* This is a refreshing approach
* We really like what we've seen so far of Opera
* We are willing to help you finance the development
* We will support you by spreading the name!
The figures speak for themselves. Mac mails crossed 1000, OS/2 is on 960, and
Linux on 350. BeOS, which came on board only later, is on 202. These are
emails, not orders. Some emails ask for two or three orders, some for six,
others for 50 to 60, even 100! - unseen!
I mentioned 3000 orders per platform. This figure is not cast in concrete; it
was just that I said to the guys in Norway: "if we get 3000 people paying $30
each, we will have about $100.000, enough to start and finish development."
Norway then said to me hours before I got started, they wanted 1000 orders
each until the end of November, so you see we're already there with Mac and
OS/2 - only Linux and BeOS lagging behind. BeOS is a special case, because
it's not really 'official', but personally I think it holds great promise,
and there's a lot a cooperation between Be, Inc. and Opera Software AS can do
to the market and you, the user.
But is it a reason to be happy and 'cozy'? No, far from it! I would like you
to join me in the last three weeks to push up the figures by telling you
friends about this initiative. I would like them to come to our site and see
what it's all about -- and support us with their pledge.
The biggest problem we are having is not the product, but that not enough
people know about it. A lot has changed in the past month, and I know that
via PM I have brought it to the attention of many Windows users who didn't
know about it. Still, the better we work together, the better our chances of
success, so please assist me in spreading the name and the news as much as
you can.
What you should do in concrete terms:
* Tell online and printed magazine editors/writers about it
* Tell your friends
* Encourage users on newsgroups to visit the site
* Spread the word in user groups
* Add a button to your home page if you have one
* Tell the decision makers in your company about it (moral support
also helps!)
* ...and don't forget to download the latest eval.
version for Windows if you can run it to see what it's all about.
I firmly believe that user-company interaction such as seen via PM should
become the norm for future software development --not necessarily to ask for
up front payment, though. ;-) But you have given us so much information about
features and platforms, about what you'd like to see and what you'd rather
not have, that I am convinced the final product will suit your needs, and
make you an (85% perfectly) happy surfer using Opera.
Please keep up the support for Project Magic for the remaining three weeks.
It is most likely that we will be carrying it on by accepting pre-release
orders while we are actually 'at it' on the main projects, so that late
supporters also have a chance to add their vote and funds.
Once again, thank you very much for all you did for Opera Software - and you
know it's more than sending an email and pledging money. I think it's the
beginning of a growing trend of user resistance against the big developers
who defy your needs and try to be everything to everybody.
But nobody said it better than Nathan Anderson:
"Please note that things like this have also been a concern to us OS/2
users for a very long time. Even in its older days, the idea of OS/2 was
always that of the component-based methodology...in other words, we don't
like programs which try to stuff the kitchen sink into one big monolithic
executable, but rather we like to use programs with one purpose and one
ultimate goal, and we use those which accomplish that goal well (like
separate e-mail and web-browser programs). We also don't appreciate
"direct ports" any more than the Mac fans do."
On that note, I'd like to close. Until later!
Helmar
-> Support 'Project Magic' - See Opera for OS/2, Mac, BeOS and X11 <-
-> http://www.operasoftware.com/alt_os.html
- Opera Software A/S - our browser is too fast for you!
- South African branch
- Address: 8 Airlie Place, Constantia 7800, South Africa
- Tel./Fax: +27.21.794.3414
- Email: support@operasoftware.com
- WWW: http://www.operasoftware.com
- Deutsch: http://www.operasoftware.com/de
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