On 09/06/2010 21:42, SMSQ - Jochen Merz wrote:
One last point, no-one makes money from the QL any more do they? It's a
hobby now, that's all.
I would think so too. I enjoy doing the magazine and hope to add my
share to keep the QL scene alive... as you will be able to see when the
new issue will arrive (all posted, so you should have it sooner or
later ... except from the visitors of the Vienna show who got it
personally delivered), I have not raised the price, and added extra
pages as well.
Fewer subscribers mean, the costs per issue increase - the amount of
time I have to spend remains the same.
And yes, it's a hobby for me too. I still think QL Today is a kind of
"glue" which keeps us QLers together.
I am sorry I cannot pay for the articles, and I am sorry I don't earn
money from the QL anymore (when I did many, many years ago, it was a
rather more enjoyable time than it is now in some cases, but money has
to come in somehow...)
... and the advertisers merely pay and paid in the past years for the
copying costs of their advertising page (nothing to earn there too).
And, as Marcel wrote to Rich's mail - I also feel when I put things
about my own products into Wikis, it could be regarded as
self-advertising.
Cheers Jochen
Believe it or not, there is still a burgeoning market out there for
retro computers - I rely on them for my main source of income at the
moment (since I was made redundant in December) and have successfully
brought several new products to market (or made old ones available
again), and all this helps.
People do want new products, but they also want to be able to keep using
their existing products, and that is why the software preservation side
of the QL Wiki is equally important - many users find that as microdrive
cartridges degrade, or they move onto an emulator, they no longer have
access to their favourite programs, some of which are copy protected.
We even have a version of QL Pawn which will run under an emulator
(although you cannot save on q-emulator, but can on ql2k for some reason).
Over the past few years, we have sourced and brought to market:
- Replacement QL case tops and PSUs which had been lurking in one of
Tony's sheds for many years
- The Molex keyboard connectors for QLs, ZX81s and Spectrums (normally
ruined when someone has used a keyboard replacement which plugs in in
place of the old keyboard membranes (such as the Schoen keyboard)
- A Compact Flash card interface for the ZX Spectrum (DivIDE Plus)
- A Mouse and PC Keyboard Interface for the ZX Spectrum
- Keyboard membranes for the ZX81, ZX Spectrum and QL
- Keyboard faceplates for the ZX Spectrum
- QWord
It is continued activity and investment in these type of projects which
is needed. The QL Wiki (and Norman's Wiki on the internal workings of
the QL) all help to disseminate information and make the QL more
attractive to new (and returning users). Prior to the QL Wiki, I had
seen plenty of posts on discussion forums about what QL software had
been produced and bemoaning the lack of any quality games (many people
still believed it was just a business machine).
As for Marcel's and Jochen's comments about posting information on wikis
being regarded as self-advertising - well, there are some views on this:
1. Surely the software / hardware designers are best positioned to
provide the background of the hardware and software?
2. The internet may be aimed at providing information, but 99% of sites
(including wikis) are used for promotion of business - after all, not
many people can afford to set up and maintain a website longterm without
it providing some source of revenue. If someone is interested in
reading about QPC2 for example, why leave it open ended as to where they
can now obtain a copy from ? That is like telling someone about a
wonderful product which will change their lives immensely, but if they
want to get hold of it, sorry - just look on google and see if anyone
else has listed it for sale...
3. What is wrong with self-promotion? Surely anyone who writes a CV out
and puts it online on a job site is doing just that thing and nobody
would argue against doing that.
Rich
--
Rich Mellor
RWAP Services
http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk
http://www.rwapservices.co.uk
-- Try out our new site: http://sellmyretro.com
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