----- Original Message -----
From: Phoebus Dokos <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [ql-users] QPC2v2 again
"Hehe, the reason was your really useful work software. (It is not useful to
me as my needs do not include english (and thesaurus or spell checking
algorithms are generally unusable for a language as mine ;-) - That's why I
haven't bought anything from you -Although I do feel kind of bad about it
:-)"
Why should you feel bad about it? Most other QL users haven't bought it
either so you are in good company! Seriously there is no obligation on
QL-users to buy everything that comes on the market. Just Words! is
specialist software and has a smaller market than other products. It still
is viable, which is one of the strengths of the QL. (Although last year I
made a loss mainly through heavier than usual advertising and show costs and
disappointing overseas QL-2-PC Transfer sales, but I am working on that
problem.)
>The point I wanted to make is that we are a "Broad Church" in the QL
>Community. That is, we embrace a wide range of people and opinions. To
>survive we have to have a high degree of tolerance. We need both QPC and
the
>Q40 as well as those people who buy neither new hardware or software.
"Indeed we are a Broad Church (and thank you for bringing back the old
meaning of Church) nevertheless, IMHO people that do not need new software
or hardware do not contribute at all in the evolution of our platform."
Don't denigrate people who don't buy new software and hardware. We can still
learn from them, if only to discover why they don't. With a bit of luck we
may learn what to produce to start them buying again. Last year a black
box/gold card QDOS user upgraded to the pointer environment so that he could
use QL-2-PC Transfer. It was the first QL product he had bought in years,
but he needed it so that he could send a book he had written to the
publishers.
I also know there are people who live on low incomes and use the QL because
it gives them a cheap way of computing. A subscription to QL Today, for
example, would be half of the income an unemployed or sick person is allowed
per week in state benefits in the UK after deduction of accommodation costs.
This is one of the reasons that I have made some Just Words! programs
freeware. Mind you it is not totally altruistic. It is also effective
advertising.
Geoff Wicks.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://members.tripod.co.uk/geoffwicks/justwords.htm
