From: David Lubkin (extropy@unreasonable.com)
Date: Thu Mar 28 2002 - 16:29:21 MST
Those who know me may recall that I've been talking about coming out with
my own products for a *long* time. But nothing ever happened. I was
consulting by day, single-parenting, attempting to have a life, and writing
my software in whatever time was left. Of course nothing got finished.
Then the dotcom collapse and the recession. I was too expensive for the
company I was consulting at, and there were no jobs anywhere else. I
decided my best bet was to make an all-out push with my own stuff before my
money ran out. I've been making steady progress since then; as Samuel
Johnson said, "Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in
a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
So now I'm finally there, more or less. There are still 14,000 details
left but they're all getting done. Gradually. I have a few weeks left on
the product itself. I'm close enough that consensus seems to be that I
should announce now, and say that it will ship in April.
If you remember me talking about a product, it's probably something
different. This first one is just the first out the door. Then I'll make
a decision based on the degree of response I'm able to generate. If it's
fizzling, or taking time to build up, I'll shift gears and work on
finishing up one of the other ones. If it takes off rapidly, I'll
capitalize on the momentum, and do the other stuff later.
My web site has been updated. In a day or two, I will begin the media
blitz. Yay! I need to think of a good way to celebrate. (Lots of excuses
coming up -- the announcement, the first press coverage, actual ship, the
first sale, the first review....)
You're encouraged to take a look at the web site and give me feedback. I'm
taking the opportunity to switch servers at our provider, figuring that I'd
rather take any hit now, before there's much traffic. I just told them to
redirect unreasonable.com to the new server, but it will take a day or two
to propagate. If www.unreasonable.com doesn't have the Unreasonable
Software logo at the top, look at http://207.159.131.159/index.html instead.
Comments are especially welcome now, before we get much farther, but
they're welcome any time, if you're busy now. The press kit is off the
press link at the bottom of the page.
Beyond any desire to help me as a friend or a fellow extropian, you might
want my product to succeed as a matter of self-interest. I think it's
potentially useful to all of us because surviving the next few years is a
prerequisite to arriving at the future we'd rather live in.
Please take notes as you go along. I want the benefit of your first
impressions. Comment especially on how well the product is pitched. If
you were a journalist and you read the press release, would you want to
write a piece on the product? If you read a piece in the paper, would you
check out the web site? If you read the web pages, would you download or
buy the product? Who do you think it will appeal to, and why? Who do you
think won't be interested, and why? Does the site come off as one you'd
want to do business with? Why / why not? Is the general tone pleasing,
off-putting, or confusing? Etc.
Beyond that, I welcome comments on any aspect, from philosophical to
nit-picky. Whatever you feel qualified to talk about. Or even if you
don't. Pricing, business model, spelling, grammar, product features, press
kit, HTML style, international issues, security, visual aesthetics, legal
issues, the best way to do session tracking, etc. I particularly would like
to hear from the non-US crowd about stuff that might be wrong or confusing
in their country.
If you think your comments would be of interest to others, reply to the
list; otherwise, write to me privately.
Things not there yet. Some will be done soon, others eventually: Tune the
web server settings. Revise all pages so they are completely accessible to
the handicapped. Finish the legal page. Add a privacy policy. Add more
screen shots. Validate the participation form. Remove a few broken
links. Improve search engine positioning. Translate the site to other
languages. Add a product summary page.
Thanks....
-- David Lubkin.
lubkin@unreasonable.com
Unreasonable Software Inc.
www.unreasonable.com -- Protect Your Family From a Terrorist Nuke
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