On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 02:29 pm, many eyes noted that James Sparenberg wrote: <snip> > > Anyway, if we feel that the retail market would start to grow up again, > > we would certainly consider to address it again. We're also aware that > > being on shelves is good for mindshare. > > > > Regards, > > > > Ga�l. > > <unquote> > > > > I can see his point. > > > > wobo > > Wobo, > > It sounds good except for one thing. In the developed world the US has > less than half the broadband penetration of any other country. (Canada has > about a 50% penetration, Korea 80% the US only 20%) Did the sales fall off > because people downloaded, (Gael's contention.) or did it start falling off > because it took 3 months after release to get it in the stores.(my > observation) With 8.1 and 8.2 by the time I got my copy via retail (Both > came out of a bookstore where I could special order and pay by check.) I > had downloaded the first beta of the next release. 9.0 I managed to > recieve after it was ordered at full price just as MDK started to offer it > at a clearance price. (From MDK it took 9 weeks.) 9.1 I canceled after 3 > months. I don't want to use the download version. I want to use the > commercial CD's I've got them all the way back to 7.0 (lost my 6.2 and 6.1 > versions.) > > Are people downloading to save money, or, are they downloading just to get > the product. No I don't have all the data, Gael has more. But, the 20% > drop in sales is consistent with the drop other software vendors and > retailers are seeing across the board. My next question is. Why aren't > SuSE, Red Hat, Walnut Creek (FreeBSD) Wasabi (NetBSD) and others cutting > back on retail? They sell to the same demographic. Shouldn't they have > similar problems? > > James > > PS thanks for forwarding the thread to him... >
I see this point and unfortunately there is a complaint in a Mag here in Oz [Australia] that mentions a problem with getting the 9.1 box set. It is under a heading, Mandrache and is not good. I won't go into the gory detail, but it mentions a user who bought the boxed set from Mandrake because of the money shortage they were experiencing even though the exchange rate was bad, and he could have saved money by buying it from an OZ company. But after several attempts to get it, and we are talking weeks crawling into months and Mandrake saying it must have got lost in the mail. They are sending him a newer version. This after the mag contacted the Mandrake Linux press office in France. These things happen, but the damage they do when brought out like this is any body's guess and deserves no speculation because everyone could be right. But there is a good point to be made for the tyranny of distance. We are dealing in an almost instant environment, however getting a boxed set takes forever through snail mail. I have a friend who also waited an inordinate amount of time for his boxed set. I am talking over two months and it wasn't lost in the mail, but went through a distributor. Too long. We have a very popular car here in Oz and the reason it is popular is because parts are easily obtained. In every milk bar they say. I think this would apply to meaning in every corner shop which are open 24/7, for other countries. There is a way that this could be done, but it would mean that all who are more or less sold on the system have at least on boxed set sent to them immediately on release and a network world wide with people who have them be set up and placed on the Internet. So that if you want one quickly, it can be sent from the nearest point. Even delivered to the door in some cases. That would be as magic as the wizard itself. I'm up for it. There could be a place where the down loader can put in a zip code, or in Oz a postcode where they are, and a message tells them that if they don't want to download, a copy of a boxed set for X amount of dollars is just round the corner or half a mile down the road. Not practical of course, and because they said it couldn't be done, is all the more reason to try it. But I have been labeled as crazy in the past. Charlie. -- Though we've been dwelling together, I don't know his name: Going along accepting the flow, Just being thus, Even the eminent sages since antiquity Don't know him. How could the hasty ordinary type Presume to understand? - Shitou This email is guaranteed to be wholly Linux Mandrake 9.1, Kmail v1.5 and OpenOffice.org1Beta
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