------------------------------ WarpCast ------------------------------
Source: Helmar Rudolph (helmar@argo-navis.com)
Moderator: Trevor Smith (editor@os2ezine.com)
----------------------------------------------

(** Moderator's note: Project Magic is a campaign started by Opera
Software AS to guage the demand for non-Windows versions of its
product, Opera, which is a WWW browser. **)

                                        Wednesday, 12 November, 1997

====================================================
UPDATE: 'PROJECT MAGIC' FEEDBACK FROM OPERA SOFTWARE 
====================================================

Dear friends and supporters,

it was about one month ago when Opera Software AS started 'Project
Magic', a fresh and rather daring approach to market research, and to
establishing the feasibility of developing Opera, our marvellous web
browser, for operating systems other than MS Windows. The response to
date has been absolutely fantastic.

Never did I, who conceived the project, realise 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 approach 1000, OS/2 is on
900, and Linux is on 330. BeOS, which came onboard only later, is on
160. These are emails, not orders. Some emails ask for two or three
orders, some for six, others for 50 to 60. 

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 your 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 haven't heard about it before. Still, the more 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 upfront 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

P.S. I don't know  if it surprises you, but IBM's response has been
anything but encouraging. Maybe _you_ want to tell _them_ what you
think of that; it would surely help. The contact at IBM is: Waiman
Yeung  at IBM Corporate Development. Have fun! ;-)


-> Support 'Project Magic' - See Opera for OS/2, Mac, BeOS and X11 <-

- 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


----------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or for more information on
WarpCast, visit: http://www.os2ezine.com/warpcast/
----------------------------------------------------------------------