Received: from opus.hpl.hp.com (opus-fddi.hpl.hp.com) by jr.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.24/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA299923727; Fri, 1 May 1998 10:28:47 -0700 Return-Path: <kirk@hpmsd3.sj.hp.com-DeleteThis> Received: from hpmsd3.sj.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.24/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA122043717; Fri, 1 May 1998 10:28:37 -0700 Received: from hpoclrf.sj.hp.com by hpmsd3.sj.hp.com with SMTP (1.38.193.4/15.5+IOS 3.22) id AA10319; Fri, 1 May 1998 10:28:37 -0700 Sender: kirk@hpmsd3.sj.hp.com-DeleteThis Message-Id: <354A0645.3B11@hpmsd3.sj.hp.com-DeleteThis> Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 10:28:37 -0700 From: Kirk Lindstrom <kirk@hpmsd3.sj.hp.com-DeleteThis> Organization: Sending from inside Hewlett Packard X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (X11; I; HP-UX A.09.07 9000/735) To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: Re: COTW References: <3.0.32.19980430221729.00c34090@205.147.4.1-DeleteThis> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I think you need patience to make money on the net. MANY are doing it
at a loss or for general interest or whatever. I might pay the $25 to
support, but I don't find the pager valuable enough to bother and have
solved the "not quite enough wind" problem by having 4 boards so I can
sail 12 to 50 knots.
I've been doing a site for over a year to teach others how to invest and
I have no motive other than it helps me to invest better myself. See my
site , http://www.suite101.com/discussions/page.cfm/270 or
http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/270 (If it is up and not
crashing!) I think you just have to keep plugging away or consider it
public service and personal education as Ken does with Windtalk and I do
with my Suite101.com stuff.
"The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men,
but that men will begin to think like computers." - Sidney J. Harris
regards
Kirk out
ASD epoxy: 8'8" & 9' RKT & 9'6" no-nose CS, F2 Xantos285
Wt 230#, Ht. 6'0", Usually sail on SF Bay, Cailf.
http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/270
http://www.suite101.com/discussions/page.cfm/270
David St. John wrote:
>
> Hi Francois,http://www.suite101.com/discussions/page.cfm/270
>
> >Too bad we can not get more frequent informations, otherwise we
> >could have the same as cotw for free.
>
> The problem is that good wind information is NOT free. It takes a lot of
> work. You must know this from the outstanding job you've done with your
> own website. Ken Poulton's report is another example of great work. But
> don't forget that a lot of Ken's data comes from windcall.com. Jim Martin
> (Call of the Wind's president and only full-time employee) has spent 5
> years building a system of wind sensors while living in a garage - literally.
>
> When I proposed putting his data on the web three years ago, I told him I'd
> only do it if we kept the site free. He was worried that giving it away
> would eat into his pager business. At the time, when not many people were
> on the web, I argued successfully with him that it was one thing to get
> wind reports on your desk, and quite another to get them in you pocket. So
> the pager had value over and above the website. I still believe that. But
> now, as more and more people have fast access to the web from home and
> work, I think he might be right. Why buy a pager when you can get the
> information for free on the web?
>
> I had hoped that as the web matured we'd eventually render that point moot,
> and be able to support the site and the business with advertising revenue
> alone. Following that hope, I've built and maintained the website at an
> average of 10 hours a week, for two and a half years, virtually for no
> monetary compensation (okay, Jim gives me free pager service), while I
> worked more than full-time at a regular job. I'm not complaining, I love
> it! I've pulled many an all-nighter writing and programming for windcall.com.
>
> And I've pounded the pavement trying to drum up sponsorship for the site,
> with very marginal success. It's becoming clear that a TV-like, pure
> advertising model does not work for most websites (unless you're Yahoo!),
> and many are going to a more magazine-like/cable-TV model: charge a little
> for subscriptions. That's the route we're taking as well.
>
> Your BWR website has some great information and great graphics! More power
> to you if you can provide it for free.
>
> >Do you now how delayed they plan to be ?
>
> The free reports will probably be delayed 3 hours, although we're still
> discussing that.
>
> We are truly trying to make the real-time wind reports as accessible as
> possible and have tried to set the rates as reasonably as we can. We're
> charging $9 a month, or $49 for six months (about the length of the Bay
> Area season). $79 for the whole year. As Nick Rayner pointed out, the $25
> for he rest of this year is a "charter member", "never-to-be-repeated"
> deal. We don't expect to get rich this way - just provide a service and be
> reasonably compensated for that service. If I could have food in my
> fridge, my bills paid, and my kids sent to college, I'd run the site for
> nothing in a heartbeat!
>
> Whew, that was a lot of words. There are more, actually, in the form of an
> open letter from Jim Martin and myself to windcall.com users, at
> http://www.windcall.com/ragepage/get/letters/open.html (if anyone else has
> some thoughts on this stuff, you can add them to that page)
>
> Regards,
>
> David
>
> v /| --- David St. John
> v / | --- Call of the Wind
> /o_/ --- david@windcall.com-DeleteThis
> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ _/_X_ ^~^~^~^~^
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