An Open Letter to EyeWire

[sgiff]

Only I/US knows whether the sales of Xara have made it a profitable program to report but if you look at the amount of people that visit the forums, it would seem to me that the advertising potential alone with banners ads as they already do not make it a worthwhile venture. I notice the Banner ads they have running now are only related to I/US products or merchandise. Why not allow other companies to advertise which should easily pay for the cost of keeeping up the forums. Not that I want a dozen banner adds floating at the top of my screen but what they have now doesn't bother me.

s.g. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[jamesc]

There's nothing wrong with the profit motive. That is why we all work for money not for charity.
So what will Getty loose if they dump I/US? Well a huge number of eyeballs - the main currency of the web.
I've been building websites for 6 years and it amazes me that we are still only concerned with page impressions and haven't fathomed a way to get money out of pockets. But that is the way it is. The subsctription model just doesn't apply here. So for fear of repeating what everyone said - it may well be that the cost of maintaining the forum in hardware and employees is greater than its income from banner ads and sales but you have the holy grail of website owners - A big passionate devoted audience who will part with their hard-earned if offered the right products.
If I were product manager for Getty I wouldn't like to tell my boss I'd chucked that away.



<font face="dom casual, verdana>James</font>

[Delizar]

One of the main strengths of I-us is its content. Adding glitz and eye candy to a site is simple in today’s world. The hardest thing for most companies to come up with is meaningful content that is kept fresh and up-to-date. With these forums I-us has created a way for the customers to provide the majority of the content for them. Content that is fresh, new and targeted exactly where the customer wants it. Hey, you could even create a buzz word/phrase like “Content on demand�. I was talking to fellow this weekend that has had several successful startup “dot coms�. And something that he said stuck in my mind, “The difference between a success and a failure is providing all the things that the other guy thought was unnecessary.�

Mark Hanson

[joroho]

For what it's worth, I've not yet made the jump from Corel to Xara, but have been lurking in the Xara forum over the last few months reading the issues, tips, tutorials, etc. You remove this type of content, and you'll remove any chance of me buying anything from this site.

Joel Horn
Houston, TX

[Mickie]

...and it won't be yours Getty, Inc. if i/us and/or its content disappears...maybe not very eloquent, but I think it important that all of us who care about i/us respond here.

I can't decide if the powers that be think these forums and content areas are unimportant because most don't revolve around Adobe products (could they still believe 'real' artists only use macs and illustrator?), or that customer support and service isn't important.

I find it interesting that there have been no comments from anyone at EyeWire/Getty. Will we just try to logon to the forums one day and they will have disappeared? That will be a very sad day!

Mickie

[houseofman]

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img] Who is Eyewire anywho? (other than they have a hold on i/us) I am present here mainly for these forums and the content that Gary has been very good at supplying through the XaraXone. Where they go ... I go.

This seems to me to be a perfect opportunity for the folks at Xara to bring Gary and many other folks home where they belong. These forums seem to have been a worthwhile place for beta feedback. I would think they would be a great asset to the company from many other aspects, too.

FWIW,
Phil

[randyrives]

There is not much I can say that has not already been said, except to add my name in the collective pile.

The only reason I visit the i/us site is for this forum and Gary's tutorials. I do read the graphics newsletter by David Huss, and I do check out what i/us is selling. (even bought a thing or too).

I believe that the Zone will live on, somewhere, somehow. This group is to talented not to come up with a soultion, too bad Eyewire does not want to be a part of it.

---Randy Rives [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

[Larry Elliott]

Keep up the good work! Lots of people use these forums to stay up to date on their fav programs and get tech help that seems non existent from the manufacturers.

Larry Elliott.....

[pkgibson]

As a user/reader/former moderator since CorelNet, I have to say want a wonderful resource this site is for me and for my students. I recommend it to all those I teach. Not only are my favorite programs CorelDRAW and CorelPhotoPaint discussed but most of the programs available today for graphics. As has been said before, stickiness is the goal on the Web and it is here! Look at the number of people who have been checking in for years.

Some corporattions seem to shoot them selves in the foot in the PR area while listening to the Internet ignorant bean counters. Don't make that mistake eyewire!
Pat Gibson
Certified CorelDRAW Instructor

PKGibson, Trainer
Certified CorelDRAW Instructor
www.nucentrix.net/~pkgibson

[panfer]

I visit i/us mainly for Xara.
I have been checking if Eyewire has anything to say.
[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]