An Open Letter to EyeWire

[dshaw]

Hey....

Have you guys read anything lately about"tech support"? It's seems to be getting tougher and tougher to get help these days. On anything. i-us has given me the best and most helpful advice on many CorelDraw and Photo Paint problems. I know there are others out there, but i-us was always my favorite and FIRST place to look for solutions.
I even look at the rest of the site and hop around on it occasionally. But this content area has become a MUST! DON'T DO IT - IN. KEEP IT, PLEASE.

A frustrated and unhappy
Dean, Corel user since ver.3.0 [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif[/img]

[robings]

It's pretty well all been said, but I feel so strongly about the benefit of keeping the i/us site and all its content.

My name definitely goes onto the list of those who will go elsewhere to get what we want if Getty don't give it.

i/us is an oasis of knowledge and support to graphics users and designers - it will go down in history as a tragedy if Getty getties this wrong!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FF0000">robings
</font>

[athena]

I've called Getty and Eyewire a pack of Lamebrains before. and if they are still considering dumping the forums they still are Lamebrains.

They could call themselves philanthropists and donate the funds to keep i-us intact. Why? Because I-US, in it's complete form, is a living library where a question is answered within days or hours. Or the invaluable advice sits there on these digital shelves for visitors to browse.

As a museum, Art is generously displayed.

As an institution of learning, Ideas are free flowing. The whole graphics community is enriched by the I-US presence. Take away the content and/or the forums and you take away it's spirit. And no one wants to visit a site that is vapid, empty, and lifeless . . . a desolate wasteland of slick clipart for sale.

I volunteered to moderate the painter forum because I love Painter and I remembered the good ol' days when the Painter forum thrived. I gleaned so much back then and the new Painter Forum has been teaching me many things daily. I tried to play Prometheus and bring some of the liveliness of the Xara forum (this liveliness was ignited by none other than Gary W. Priester himself) down the page to an equally worthy program.

I don't like the idea of the balkanization of the content and the forums. I prefer to visit one place for my info and that one place is i-us.

I just wanted to add my name to the list of people who fiercely want to preserve the i-us that they grew to love. I do love this site. But my affection is not transitive (it does not transfer up the food chain to eyewire, much less getty). If i-us is executed by getty and eyewire, I'm leaving. Let me second Robin Gilmor's sentiment. I buy lots of hardware and software and this forum would be a great place to capitalize on the buying power that the members represent (it's just that this particular public doesn't necessarily buy lots of expensive clipart -- they make their own or creatively modify the less expensive stuff --- as Allison Moore once said, the 60,000 clips for $60 dollars).

In case eyewire doesn't get it, let me spell this out. Hypothetically, if I charge $500 for an image do I want 300 of those dollars to go to buy an eyewire clipart collection which I would probably have to modify anyway --- and subsequently bill for? . . Ultimately it's cheaper to start with the cheapo cliparts and modify those, than to buy a collection for 1 little picture. I'd rather work and build my own image and keep the money I earned. Add to that, the fact that i don't have time to sift through online catalogs to buy 1 little image.

Eyewire, you can't force us to be the clipart buying customers you want us to be and if you bully us, we'll leave. Take the time to study what we do want, supply us with what we want. Then you may be able to lure us to buy a few clips but not every day, week, or month --- (maybe) once a year.

Fellow Corelians, Painters, and Xarans, I love you!


Athena

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[Not Ziggy]

Dear Osiris/Mithras/Yeshu/Getty:

Hey, I've got a GREAT idea! On the web, there is no shortage of graphics forums, but most of them are littered with the ravings of sarcastic, competitive geeks who use the forums as therapy sessions to unleash their pubescent angst or gray-haired bitterness. What if you could gather in one place a bunch of truly productive professionals (plus those who are destined to become productive professionals by virtue of their exemplary work ethic)? Wouldn't that be great?

You could sell them stuff, since they're not at all shy about spending money to make money (especially since graphics is fun). Indeed, you could influence their appraisal of anything associated with the site, since their highly-professional status in the graphics world will itself improve the status of everything at your site. (Graphics person #1: "I heard about it at (this hypothetical) site." Graphics person #2: "Oh, really? Then it must be worthy of my attention!")

Pretty cool idea, huh?

Oh. Wait a minute. I forgot. Such a site already exists. It's called i-us.

Oh well. Maybe you could buy it.

Of course, then you'd have to bite your tongue and admit that something wonderful was created without any input from you, and in accordance with your own best interests you'd be obliged to leave it alone.

Because otherwise those professionals would simply take their considerable influence to some new site EN-MASS.

Who is dependent on whom, after all?

[gmotto]

I/US is a resorce in it's entirety, that should be kept in tact.
As Mickie Mason stated "It is my nickel".It is my NICKEL and my TIME, if Eyewire / Getty pulls the plug on I/US I will spend them both elsewhere. I must also say that I will spend them both to do what ever I can whenever I can to ensure the sucess of thier competition.

[susiemm]

I've been away from this list for a while. Could someone bring me up to date on the deal with Eyewire. Yesterday (Halloween) was the first I heard of it, and I can't seem to find any details.

Susie

[athena]

Hi Susie!

A brief warning. i have some scathing comments about eyewire but it is a little bit that might get you up to speed.

Eyewire (owned by Getty graphics bought i-us if Feb.) Eyewire is proceeding to dismantle i-us. why did they buy it in the first place if they didn't like it?

my editorial on eyewire events


hope it clarifies some things.

Athena

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[susiemm]

Thanks, Athena. I appreciate your posting that. I guess this thing just came up out of the blue? I hope these forums can be preserved. I have enjoyed the ability to not only get together with others who have similar interests, but also to get valuable information. I, too, do not buy EyeWire stuff, and I'll sure start dropping their magazine in the trash when it arrives on my desk.

Susie