On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 05:53:42PM -0300, Tomaz Canabrava wrote:
> 200 users.

2000 (you missed a 0) downloads. Plus another 500 or so people on Linux.
So 2500 users. Not terrible. Lots of room to grow.

> Let's put subsurface on a few dive magazines / dive conventions?
> There's such a thing as a dive convention?

There are a small number of (usually local) dive shows all over the world.
I'm not sure how we'd be able to reach people there. And also, most divers
(especially most recreational divers) don't appear to log their dives.
So it's unclear to me how we would make this relevant to the attendees.

If we really want to reach more people it would be search advertizing.
People who decide that they want to log their dives are likely to try the
vendor application. Then they throw up in their mouth. Then they search
the internet.

Some will like DivingLog (Windows). Many on a Mac will like MacDive. And
some will end up using Subsurface. I have no interest in trying to take
users away from Sven and Nick. I want to get more people to use the
software. So our best way to do this is to make it easy for people to find
us.

A completely different approach would be to work with the certification
agencies to have them introduce computer dive logging as an alternative to
the paper log book. As you learned in Brazil that's an interesting
challenge as many of them are very much into this whole "you sign your
logbook entry and your buddy or the dive guide / dive shop signs as well
to make it 'valid'". If we can come up with a way to do THAT with
Subsurface and have it be recognized by PADI or CMAS or SDI/TDI or GUE
or... now that would be a game changer.

It's not all THAT hard.
- work on making our git backend user friendly
- create a public key infrastructure were people can create a key and have
  the public key on a server
- allow people to share dives online and to sign someone else's dive

BUT - given how much harder this is compared to a paper logbook, given how
many of the desirable dive locations have no or almost no internet, given
how many divers are not exactly computer geniuses... I don't know how
realistic this is :-)

/D
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