Hey fellow Tex fans. I am in dire need of your help. Don't worry. It's not money, or work or even a commitment that I need from you. Mostly, it's your broad perspective and some good, well-thought out advice.
Let me give you some background (much of which you are already familiar with.) Sorry for the long read, but I'm going to try to put it all together so that you can understand that this is a serious plea for help.
Most of you know that the "Dr" in DrPaul is for Physics. I've been a physicist for a long time. But about 5 years ago I got an idea. It was an idea that I thought would revolutionize the way people use their computers. Basically, the idea was to create a real-time 3D environment (much like a Tex Murphy game world) which would serve as a way to manage, access and explore the files, programs, web sites or anything your computer can do.
(For the benefit of you who are unfamiliar with my program, check out my web site at http://myknexus.com )
Anyway, the concept seemed like it had a lot of potential, so I quite doing physics in order to follow my dream and develop this idea. After about two years of no income and living off of savings, I finally produced a working beta version. At that point, I made the beta version freely available to anyone here on the Unofficial Tex Murphy message board. I did that for three reasons: (1) I like you guys. (2) I needed beta testers. (3) I had absolutely no money for advertising, so I hoped that you guys would use my program, love it and tell all your friends about it.
Although I got some badly needed beta testing out of the deal but, I'm not sure that any of you guys actually used my program. (It's not really useful until you use it regularly for a month or two.) Plus, there were enough bugs in the program that it really ready for prime-time yet.
So, time marches on. Years go by. I'm dumping thousands of dollars into it for patents, trademarks, equipment, etc., while still living off of my quickly dwindling life-savings. Meanwhile, over the same period I've only sold about twenty copies, bringing in about eight hundred dollars over two years! So, I haven't exactly set the world on fire with this. I could make more money collecting bottles from dumpsters.
As you can see, part of my problem is that I know absolutely nothing about how to sell things compounded by the fact that I can't afford advertising. Clearly, this is not going to be a commercial success without some kind of exposure.
So that's the big problem. How to get wide exposure without costing a lot of money? That's when I got the idea of making a special web-based, run in a browser version of the program.
The idea was this: It is often difficult to find what you're looking for on large-content web sites. Other web pages within a large site tend to branch off in all directions creating a maze of links and sub-level pages. If you're lucky enough to find what you're looking for, you can't find it again the next day if you have to go back. Sites like that could greatly benefit from my 3D library representation so that you could browse all the content as easily as browsing a small library or bookstore without getting lost. Plus, large content sites tend to have high-traffic so that could be a way to finally get noticed!
So I went to work and developed a web-based browser version of the library and posted a couple of demo libraries online. Unfortunately, my primary demo was a representation of the Zork Library web site. Unfortunately, due to unrelated events, the Zork Library went off-line almost exactly when I got the demo ready. Talk about bad timing.
So I've got no practical demo at the moment. What I do have is posted here:
http://www.myknexus.com/WebWorld.html.
---------------
Ok. So enough background. Here's the problem:
Clearly, I don't know how to sell or market. But one thing I know (I think) about selling is that if you show someone something that you have already custom-built just for them. Something they can see, hold in their hands and play with, they are likely to want to buy it.
My plan is to create a 3D library version of an existing web site. Not too big, but something big enough to benefit from a library structure. Something that can be logically divided into, say, twenty or thirty library sections. Altogether, something that can be covered with around 500 books.
I will build a library version of this site and then offer it to the original web site holder for free. It is a no-risk proposition for the site holder because the original site stays *exactly* as it was. Nothing is changed except that one new button is added to the entry page that says "Try our new 3D web site".
So here's what I want from you: To think about this and suggest to me some web sites you know of that you think would be good candidates for a 3D library interface. That's all I'm asking. But think about things like, the kind of traffic to the site, the fact that people will have to install Java 3D to view the site the 1st time, the likelyhood that the site owners will sanction the 3D site (add a link on their entry page.)
If I can get a few busy web sites to add my 3D interface to their site, I could then get the exposure I need and my 3D interface concept will grow. I will also offer my 3D framework to other web developers so that they can add it to their tool-kit as something to offer to their customers. Maybe, in this way my program will finally fly because I can't hold out much longer. (That's why I took that teaching job.)
So thanks for listening. I hope you guys can give me some good suggestions.
DrPaul
Let me give you some background (much of which you are already familiar with.) Sorry for the long read, but I'm going to try to put it all together so that you can understand that this is a serious plea for help.
Most of you know that the "Dr" in DrPaul is for Physics. I've been a physicist for a long time. But about 5 years ago I got an idea. It was an idea that I thought would revolutionize the way people use their computers. Basically, the idea was to create a real-time 3D environment (much like a Tex Murphy game world) which would serve as a way to manage, access and explore the files, programs, web sites or anything your computer can do.
(For the benefit of you who are unfamiliar with my program, check out my web site at http://myknexus.com )
Anyway, the concept seemed like it had a lot of potential, so I quite doing physics in order to follow my dream and develop this idea. After about two years of no income and living off of savings, I finally produced a working beta version. At that point, I made the beta version freely available to anyone here on the Unofficial Tex Murphy message board. I did that for three reasons: (1) I like you guys. (2) I needed beta testers. (3) I had absolutely no money for advertising, so I hoped that you guys would use my program, love it and tell all your friends about it.
Although I got some badly needed beta testing out of the deal but, I'm not sure that any of you guys actually used my program. (It's not really useful until you use it regularly for a month or two.) Plus, there were enough bugs in the program that it really ready for prime-time yet.
So, time marches on. Years go by. I'm dumping thousands of dollars into it for patents, trademarks, equipment, etc., while still living off of my quickly dwindling life-savings. Meanwhile, over the same period I've only sold about twenty copies, bringing in about eight hundred dollars over two years! So, I haven't exactly set the world on fire with this. I could make more money collecting bottles from dumpsters.
As you can see, part of my problem is that I know absolutely nothing about how to sell things compounded by the fact that I can't afford advertising. Clearly, this is not going to be a commercial success without some kind of exposure.
So that's the big problem. How to get wide exposure without costing a lot of money? That's when I got the idea of making a special web-based, run in a browser version of the program.
The idea was this: It is often difficult to find what you're looking for on large-content web sites. Other web pages within a large site tend to branch off in all directions creating a maze of links and sub-level pages. If you're lucky enough to find what you're looking for, you can't find it again the next day if you have to go back. Sites like that could greatly benefit from my 3D library representation so that you could browse all the content as easily as browsing a small library or bookstore without getting lost. Plus, large content sites tend to have high-traffic so that could be a way to finally get noticed!
So I went to work and developed a web-based browser version of the library and posted a couple of demo libraries online. Unfortunately, my primary demo was a representation of the Zork Library web site. Unfortunately, due to unrelated events, the Zork Library went off-line almost exactly when I got the demo ready. Talk about bad timing.
So I've got no practical demo at the moment. What I do have is posted here:
http://www.myknexus.com/WebWorld.html.
---------------
Ok. So enough background. Here's the problem:
Clearly, I don't know how to sell or market. But one thing I know (I think) about selling is that if you show someone something that you have already custom-built just for them. Something they can see, hold in their hands and play with, they are likely to want to buy it.
My plan is to create a 3D library version of an existing web site. Not too big, but something big enough to benefit from a library structure. Something that can be logically divided into, say, twenty or thirty library sections. Altogether, something that can be covered with around 500 books.
I will build a library version of this site and then offer it to the original web site holder for free. It is a no-risk proposition for the site holder because the original site stays *exactly* as it was. Nothing is changed except that one new button is added to the entry page that says "Try our new 3D web site".
So here's what I want from you: To think about this and suggest to me some web sites you know of that you think would be good candidates for a 3D library interface. That's all I'm asking. But think about things like, the kind of traffic to the site, the fact that people will have to install Java 3D to view the site the 1st time, the likelyhood that the site owners will sanction the 3D site (add a link on their entry page.)
If I can get a few busy web sites to add my 3D interface to their site, I could then get the exposure I need and my 3D interface concept will grow. I will also offer my 3D framework to other web developers so that they can add it to their tool-kit as something to offer to their customers. Maybe, in this way my program will finally fly because I can't hold out much longer. (That's why I took that teaching job.)
So thanks for listening. I hope you guys can give me some good suggestions.
DrPaul
Wow, I had no idea you were sinking everything into this project... I'm sorry it has been such a drain on you...
I've shown a few people your program, but they said that they didn't feel it would benefit their systems or needs...
What happen to teaching, I thought you were teaching now???
Any way, to get onto your advice... Lots of sits use Java and I don't think most people have a problem downloading the latest versions whenever they need to...
What about Large Gaming sites, you could have a Library room with all the different categories in different books??? And then maybe another Library room that has the Message Board {if the gaming site has a message board}, with all the different Forums being books??? {could your program be integrated into a Message Board system?}
And then a maybe another Library room with all the other odds and ends, like website contact info, tech support, FAQ, gaming tips/help, etc...
That idea gives you 3 Library Rooms, I don't know about the number of books though... Not sure it would be up around 500...
What about Large Law Firms??? You could break down the Library Rooms to be different types of cases {ex. Family Law, Misdemeanor, Felonies, Capital Cases, etc} and then inside those rooms the books could have their Clients in Alphabetic order or Numerical order which ever way they choose to do it...
How interactive is your system??? I mean can it be linked to other programs and such... Like maybe your program could benefit actual Libraries... Have it linked to their computers so that when a book is checked out it is taken out of your program as well... Public Libraries could have your program on their site, all your Library Rooms would break down the different Topics such as, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Biographies, Reference Material, etc, and then inside those rooms are the actual books in the Library...
People would get on a Library website, use your program to see if a book they want is in stock, if it's not, then they can browser around through your program and find another book that interests them... Inside your books in your program would be a description of the like you would find on the back of the cover or something, along with Author information and whatnot...
Not sure how many free sites would be willing to pay for a program like that though...
As for advertising, I don't know too much about that, but you could try pitching your idea to a business such as Microsoft or something...
Your biggest problem is that you are trying to sell something during a massive down period in the economy... Everyone is cutting back and laying off and they aren't interested in an expense, even if it would make their system more manageable...
It's not going to be easy getting it sold...
How about sites that sell things like Movies or Music or E-Books that you download??? Your Library Rooms could be broken down into Genres and then have the Authors or Artists listed in the ways of books...
I hope my suggestions give you something to think about and possibly peak some ideas for you...
Again, I'm really sorry to hear it's been draining you so bad for so long... I wish there was more I could do to help...
I've shown a few people your program, but they said that they didn't feel it would benefit their systems or needs...
What happen to teaching, I thought you were teaching now???
Any way, to get onto your advice... Lots of sits use Java and I don't think most people have a problem downloading the latest versions whenever they need to...
What about Large Gaming sites, you could have a Library room with all the different categories in different books??? And then maybe another Library room that has the Message Board {if the gaming site has a message board}, with all the different Forums being books??? {could your program be integrated into a Message Board system?}
And then a maybe another Library room with all the other odds and ends, like website contact info, tech support, FAQ, gaming tips/help, etc...
That idea gives you 3 Library Rooms, I don't know about the number of books though... Not sure it would be up around 500...
What about Large Law Firms??? You could break down the Library Rooms to be different types of cases {ex. Family Law, Misdemeanor, Felonies, Capital Cases, etc} and then inside those rooms the books could have their Clients in Alphabetic order or Numerical order which ever way they choose to do it...
How interactive is your system??? I mean can it be linked to other programs and such... Like maybe your program could benefit actual Libraries... Have it linked to their computers so that when a book is checked out it is taken out of your program as well... Public Libraries could have your program on their site, all your Library Rooms would break down the different Topics such as, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Biographies, Reference Material, etc, and then inside those rooms are the actual books in the Library...
People would get on a Library website, use your program to see if a book they want is in stock, if it's not, then they can browser around through your program and find another book that interests them... Inside your books in your program would be a description of the like you would find on the back of the cover or something, along with Author information and whatnot...
Not sure how many free sites would be willing to pay for a program like that though...
As for advertising, I don't know too much about that, but you could try pitching your idea to a business such as Microsoft or something...
Your biggest problem is that you are trying to sell something during a massive down period in the economy... Everyone is cutting back and laying off and they aren't interested in an expense, even if it would make their system more manageable...
It's not going to be easy getting it sold...
How about sites that sell things like Movies or Music or E-Books that you download??? Your Library Rooms could be broken down into Genres and then have the Authors or Artists listed in the ways of books...
I hope my suggestions give you something to think about and possibly peak some ideas for you...
Again, I'm really sorry to hear it's been draining you so bad for so long... I wish there was more I could do to help...
The Paved Straight Road, Won't Always Get You Farther Than The Winding Dirt Road...
Can You Run Your Game??? Click Here And Find Out...
*Note, Not All Games Have Been Tested & Therefore May Not Be Listed...
Can You Run Your Game??? Click Here And Find Out...
*Note, Not All Games Have Been Tested & Therefore May Not Be Listed...
This may or may not be long and eventually drag out a little, so bear with me.
Last time you showed us the browser idea all sorts of lights illuminated in my head, the first one being "why haven't I thought of this", immediately followed by "wait, how come it doesn't exist yet?".
After some research I've found out there's been a lot of "3d internet" ideas and development over the last few years, but so far nothing practical came out of it. Google is currently working on some stupid 3d glasses for 3d internet, I've seen a guy who built some sort of screen that wraps around you, and all sorts of ridiculous hardware, but no big name seems to be actively working on 3d software. I saw one developed program, but it's pathetic. You see some sort of avatar, in 3d, and you walk around the website, clicking on pictures and other crap. In short, nothing that remotely functions the way it could/should.
So I went to my brother, who's a Network Architect, and we talked about it for a while. He also discretely checked with his people and his clients, without telling them exactly what this was about. After a while we came up with a few suggestions. I meant to discuss them with you, but then you never really mentioned this again so I sort of forgot about it and drifted on to something else, as usual.
The first application: My brother's firm's major client is a big chain of book stores who has built over the years a website comparable to Amazon, but strictly for books, movies and cd's, all in French. After browsing his site it immediately occurred to me that a 3d interface would greatly benefit the experience. I have two major annoyances when it comes to online purchases. One, every time you make a search, you move on to another page and lose track of whatever you found in a previous search, so I end up with dozens of new windows to avoid this problem. Two, the basket being on a separate page is terribly annoying, and eventually ends up bugging. The library is also strangely sorted, and each time you change categories you get swallowed into another search, with other "suggestions of the month" and all sorts of crap.
What I had in mind, after seeing this 3d browser of yours, was 3d interactive menus, sort of like rolodexes, a bit like the 3d portion of Vista nobody uses because they bought the home version, or the latest Mac OS. It's hard to explain, especially by writing and in another language, but imagine a sort of depth that allows you to browse through the choices instead of a flat page that simply shows the results, categories, etc. Imagine also a 3d menu that sort of pops up in the page, a menu you can rotate to explore the results, without ever leaving your position within the page. The same could be done with your Basket. Instead of moving on to another page, you could either "move on" to your basket, or better yet, just have a 3d icon menu with your items, and a way to check out, should you wish, without loading new pages each time. Those menus would also greatly benefit the portion of the sites dedicated to the monthly suggestions, or the "looking through your history, we recommend those products", because no one ever really looks at those on a flat page. Having a rolodex menu of suggestions appearing, without losing your place in the page, would attract more attention and incite you to look.
In short, it would entirely change the interaction we have within shopping sites. You could either have some windows within the window (or transparent page within the page), or a 3d icon that can be moved or revolved to explore various choices without having to change the page. You might fear cache memory to be an issue, but loading such rolodex within your page wouldn't be any different than loading a new page. In fact, it could mean less data to load each time.
Second suggestion: This already has a truckload of potential, but it has one major issue, and that is you need to convince some company or website to completely redesign their purchasing site and give it a try. I figured the easiest way to revolutionise internet browsing would be to make up a site people would explore on their own free will, without asking anything of them. I've already told you my idea when you first posted about this. Networking websites attract a lot of people willing to try them and expose their lives in various ways. We all know who the big players currently are, but like everything else on the internet, their sites can be easily replaced, should someone with a better product come around. Facebook or Myspace will vanish just as quickly as they rose, should a better alternative be presented. I still laugh when I think of the big company who purchased ICQ for a few million dollars, and how it was replaced weeks later by Yahoo and MSN messenger.
Anyway, back to the actual site. The trouble with MySpace is the inane amount of content within a flat page. The music, the videos, the decals and skins, the text, the journal, the interests, bla bla and bla bla, all loaded on a single page, it's terrible. Again, all it lacks is depth. With depth you can explore their content within a single page, without being bombarded by it. With depth you can walk around "Their Space" and learn all about them, in a simple fashion and a fun experience. With depth you could pop up their music jukebox in the shape of a 3d rolodex or other interface, with depth you could pop up a transparent window within the window to show a video they host, and with depth you can go through their journal entries without having to scroll down the endless chapters of text. Make it fully customable with skins and other options, and you'll have the teenagers on the net giving it a try. Put some advertising on this and expose your "single viewing" stats for anyone to see. Before long you'll have an offer on the table for your site, and all the hype you needed to move on to prospective clients.
Your goal, in the end, is to make a website-building interface that allows anyone to make and customise their own business sites in 3d. A 3d browser would be good too, but you won't make any money out of a browser, so you might as well work out on the site building. Either get a cut each time a site is built with it, or sell the software for a certain price. Either way, you should have an easy enough time selling some copies. Should you decide to have your own website solution company, you'd have an edge on everyone else, being the guy who actually designed the product in the first place.
Anyway, this is long enough for a first post, me thinks. If there's anything unclear (I'm sure there are many), or if you wish me to go on further, just ask away and I'll clarify or expose more. I'm sure you get the gist of it by now though.
Last time you showed us the browser idea all sorts of lights illuminated in my head, the first one being "why haven't I thought of this", immediately followed by "wait, how come it doesn't exist yet?".
After some research I've found out there's been a lot of "3d internet" ideas and development over the last few years, but so far nothing practical came out of it. Google is currently working on some stupid 3d glasses for 3d internet, I've seen a guy who built some sort of screen that wraps around you, and all sorts of ridiculous hardware, but no big name seems to be actively working on 3d software. I saw one developed program, but it's pathetic. You see some sort of avatar, in 3d, and you walk around the website, clicking on pictures and other crap. In short, nothing that remotely functions the way it could/should.
So I went to my brother, who's a Network Architect, and we talked about it for a while. He also discretely checked with his people and his clients, without telling them exactly what this was about. After a while we came up with a few suggestions. I meant to discuss them with you, but then you never really mentioned this again so I sort of forgot about it and drifted on to something else, as usual.
The first application: My brother's firm's major client is a big chain of book stores who has built over the years a website comparable to Amazon, but strictly for books, movies and cd's, all in French. After browsing his site it immediately occurred to me that a 3d interface would greatly benefit the experience. I have two major annoyances when it comes to online purchases. One, every time you make a search, you move on to another page and lose track of whatever you found in a previous search, so I end up with dozens of new windows to avoid this problem. Two, the basket being on a separate page is terribly annoying, and eventually ends up bugging. The library is also strangely sorted, and each time you change categories you get swallowed into another search, with other "suggestions of the month" and all sorts of crap.
What I had in mind, after seeing this 3d browser of yours, was 3d interactive menus, sort of like rolodexes, a bit like the 3d portion of Vista nobody uses because they bought the home version, or the latest Mac OS. It's hard to explain, especially by writing and in another language, but imagine a sort of depth that allows you to browse through the choices instead of a flat page that simply shows the results, categories, etc. Imagine also a 3d menu that sort of pops up in the page, a menu you can rotate to explore the results, without ever leaving your position within the page. The same could be done with your Basket. Instead of moving on to another page, you could either "move on" to your basket, or better yet, just have a 3d icon menu with your items, and a way to check out, should you wish, without loading new pages each time. Those menus would also greatly benefit the portion of the sites dedicated to the monthly suggestions, or the "looking through your history, we recommend those products", because no one ever really looks at those on a flat page. Having a rolodex menu of suggestions appearing, without losing your place in the page, would attract more attention and incite you to look.
In short, it would entirely change the interaction we have within shopping sites. You could either have some windows within the window (or transparent page within the page), or a 3d icon that can be moved or revolved to explore various choices without having to change the page. You might fear cache memory to be an issue, but loading such rolodex within your page wouldn't be any different than loading a new page. In fact, it could mean less data to load each time.
Second suggestion: This already has a truckload of potential, but it has one major issue, and that is you need to convince some company or website to completely redesign their purchasing site and give it a try. I figured the easiest way to revolutionise internet browsing would be to make up a site people would explore on their own free will, without asking anything of them. I've already told you my idea when you first posted about this. Networking websites attract a lot of people willing to try them and expose their lives in various ways. We all know who the big players currently are, but like everything else on the internet, their sites can be easily replaced, should someone with a better product come around. Facebook or Myspace will vanish just as quickly as they rose, should a better alternative be presented. I still laugh when I think of the big company who purchased ICQ for a few million dollars, and how it was replaced weeks later by Yahoo and MSN messenger.
Anyway, back to the actual site. The trouble with MySpace is the inane amount of content within a flat page. The music, the videos, the decals and skins, the text, the journal, the interests, bla bla and bla bla, all loaded on a single page, it's terrible. Again, all it lacks is depth. With depth you can explore their content within a single page, without being bombarded by it. With depth you can walk around "Their Space" and learn all about them, in a simple fashion and a fun experience. With depth you could pop up their music jukebox in the shape of a 3d rolodex or other interface, with depth you could pop up a transparent window within the window to show a video they host, and with depth you can go through their journal entries without having to scroll down the endless chapters of text. Make it fully customable with skins and other options, and you'll have the teenagers on the net giving it a try. Put some advertising on this and expose your "single viewing" stats for anyone to see. Before long you'll have an offer on the table for your site, and all the hype you needed to move on to prospective clients.
Your goal, in the end, is to make a website-building interface that allows anyone to make and customise their own business sites in 3d. A 3d browser would be good too, but you won't make any money out of a browser, so you might as well work out on the site building. Either get a cut each time a site is built with it, or sell the software for a certain price. Either way, you should have an easy enough time selling some copies. Should you decide to have your own website solution company, you'd have an edge on everyone else, being the guy who actually designed the product in the first place.
Anyway, this is long enough for a first post, me thinks. If there's anything unclear (I'm sure there are many), or if you wish me to go on further, just ask away and I'll clarify or expose more. I'm sure you get the gist of it by now though.
Part-Time Nomad
As one that purchased Knexus, I played around with it, and realized that it was going to take more time to invest in getting it running than I wanted to spend on it. I did think though it would be great for certain industries.
Like a magazine or publishing house, or even a gaming company. A place where there are a LOT of shared users on a project, but want to keep everything together in a easy to access and central GUI location.
Take Magic the Gathering (Fred knows of what I speak) Each card set had all sorts of things going on, Art department with the art (duh), Flavor text from the writers, editors, play testers etc.
I could see a shelf of the library set up. The shelf would be the project, and different books for either a certain color, or for certain aspects of the projects from sketch to final drafts. Another shelf below it could be the next expansion.
Or a literary magazine or small press publisher.
I agree though, you will have to put all the work together to make a solid presentation, and offer your services to get their site up and running.
Word of mouth could really get you going if you picked up and seriously invested your time with the first few clients.
(and you'd have real world stuff to show off.)
Best of luck.
Jen
Like a magazine or publishing house, or even a gaming company. A place where there are a LOT of shared users on a project, but want to keep everything together in a easy to access and central GUI location.
Take Magic the Gathering (Fred knows of what I speak) Each card set had all sorts of things going on, Art department with the art (duh), Flavor text from the writers, editors, play testers etc.
I could see a shelf of the library set up. The shelf would be the project, and different books for either a certain color, or for certain aspects of the projects from sketch to final drafts. Another shelf below it could be the next expansion.
Or a literary magazine or small press publisher.
I agree though, you will have to put all the work together to make a solid presentation, and offer your services to get their site up and running.
Word of mouth could really get you going if you picked up and seriously invested your time with the first few clients.
(and you'd have real world stuff to show off.)
Best of luck.
Jen
Bafitis:
Yeah. I'm teaching Astronomy and Physics part time. Gotta pay the bills. But I only want to teach part time so that I have time to improve and market my software.What happened to teaching, I thought you were teaching now???
Are you talking about a site that hosts many different games on one huge site or a site that is devoted to one particular game? Any sites in particular I should consider? Also, I probably want to avoid multiple libraries on a single site because the idea is to be able to access everything from one nexus.What about Large Gaming sites, you could have a Library room with all the different categories in different books??? And then maybe another Library room that has the Message Board {if the gaming site has a message board}, with all the different Forums being books??? {could your program be integrated into a Message Board system?}
And then a maybe another Library room with all the other odds and ends, like website contact info, tech support, FAQ, gaming tips/help, etc...
That's a great application for the primary software, but what I'm looking for right now is a good candidate for a publically accessable web page.What about Large Law Firms??? You could break down the Library Rooms to be different types of cases {ex. Family Law, Misdemeanor, Felonies, Capital Cases, etc} and then inside those rooms the books could have their Clients in Alphabetic order or Numerical order which ever way they choose to do it...
All of your suggestions for a *real* library application are easily done with the application program. But that's not the sort of thing I can throw together as a web demo in just a few days since it would involve cataloging many thousands of books. Right now, I'm looking for something that would be a good web demo and involve only a few hundred books.How interactive is your system??? I mean can it be linked to other programs and such... Like maybe your program could benefit actual Libraries...
People would get on a Library website, use your program to see if a book they want is in stock, if it's not, then they can browser around through your program and find another book that interests them... Inside your books in your program would be a description of the like you would find on the back of the cover or something, along with Author information and whatnot...
The software is cheap. Only thirty bucks.Not sure how many free sites would be willing to pay for a program like that though...
This is probably a really good idea. But places like that probably have too many products to be practical to put in one library. Like you say, it would need to be broken down into genre libraries. I suppose I could pick one genre that has a managable number of choices on which to base the demo. If the site owner likes it, they could maybe contract me to build a complete inventory. Any particular sites you can suggest?How about sites that sell things like Movies or Music or E-Books that you download??? Your Library Rooms could be broken down into Genres and then have the Authors or Artists listed in the ways of books...
Frank
Because of the large number of books that would have to be cataloged, this would probably be too big of a project for me to do as a demo. I'm looking for something that will require only a few hundred links.
The other things you talked about regarding 3D menus is do-able, but would involve additional development work which I'm not prepared to do that right now.
With regard to your 3D MySpace ideas. That is a wonderful idea, and I'm sure I could construct it on my basic 3D framework. However, I'm not prepared to do the extra development work at this time. First, I need to find a nice demo application for my existing web-based library framework. I can buid such a demo in a short time. Get it online, and then I can start other developments. But if I try to start new development now, it will set me back several months.
My program, just as it is would be a nicer experience. The library would remain in one window. Clicking on a book would open it in the foreground and present a short description. Clicking again would open a new page with more details about the selected book, but the library view would remain as it was so you can continue to browse the library right where you left off.The first application: My brother's firm's major client is a big chain of book stores who has built over the years a website comparable to Amazon, but strictly for books, movies and cd's, all in French. After browsing his site it immediately occurred to me that a 3d interface would greatly benefit the experience. I have two major annoyances when it comes to online purchases. One, every time you make a search, you move on to another page and lose track of whatever you found in a previous search, so I end up with dozens of new windows to avoid this problem. Two, the basket being on a separate page is terribly annoying, and eventually ends up bugging. The library is also strangely sorted, and each time you change categories you get swallowed into another search, with other "suggestions of the month" and all sorts of crap.
Because of the large number of books that would have to be cataloged, this would probably be too big of a project for me to do as a demo. I'm looking for something that will require only a few hundred links.
The other things you talked about regarding 3D menus is do-able, but would involve additional development work which I'm not prepared to do that right now.
Unless I misunderstand you, this isn't correct. A company can keep their website *exactly* as it is. No changes whatsoever. The 3D library would operate in parallel to the original site but wouldn't affect the design of function of the original. It would simply offer a different means to access all of the original content. This, I think, is an important concept and selling point. Adding the library interface is completely risk-free.Second suggestion: This already has a truckload of potential, but it has one major issue, and that is you need to convince some company or website to completely redesign their purchasing site and give it a try.
With regard to your 3D MySpace ideas. That is a wonderful idea, and I'm sure I could construct it on my basic 3D framework. However, I'm not prepared to do the extra development work at this time. First, I need to find a nice demo application for my existing web-based library framework. I can buid such a demo in a short time. Get it online, and then I can start other developments. But if I try to start new development now, it will set me back several months.
I have already accomplished this. My standard Knexus program will allow anyone to build a 3D desktop library. I have also developed a tool which enables you to turn a desktop library into a web library with just one click. I have not packaged this as a web designer tool yet. Once I get a good WebWorld demo out there, I'll start pushing that aspect of it. I'll probably still just sell the standard version, and offer the web converter as a free download. So far, I am not having an easy time selling copies of it. I think that few people understand what it is, and nobody's really looking for it because it doesn't even exist in most people's minds. That's why I'm trying to find a good web site on which to demo it.Your goal, in the end, is to make a website-building interface that allows anyone to make and customise their own business sites in 3d. A 3d browser would be good too, but you won't make any money out of a browser, so you might as well work out on the site building. Either get a cut each time a site is built with it, or sell the software for a certain price. Either way, you should have an easy enough time selling some copies. Should you decide to have your own website solution company, you'd have an edge on everyone else, being the guy who actually designed the product in the first place.
Jen
So what I'm looking for right now is a public web site that would benefit from a library version of itself.
As a Knexus purchaser, you are one of a very exclusive club. I am very sorry to hear you're having difficulty getting it running. It should install and run in less than a minute. Since my customer-base is so small, I can give you very dedicated customer support.As one that purchased Knexus, I played around with it, and realized that it was going to take more time to invest in getting it running than I wanted to spend on it.
You're right. That is a perfect scenario for the desktop application and I will try to pursue applications like that. However, that is not the sort of thing I create as a public access web demo. Instead, it would have to be embedded in a company's private network.I did think though it would be great for certain industries.
Like a magazine or publishing house, or even a gaming company. A place where there are a LOT of shared users on a project, but want to keep everything together in a easy to access and central GUI location.
So what I'm looking for right now is a public web site that would benefit from a library version of itself.
Yes. If they have an existing website that I or anyone else can access, I can do the whole thing and have it up and running before they even know I'm working on it. But if I want to build a library that links shared users on a project, They're going to have to know about it and agree to let me in to put it together. That's gonna be a harder sell unless I have a nice demo to show them first. That's why I'm trying to find a good publicly available website to start with.I agree though, you will have to put all the work together to make a solid presentation, and offer your services to get their site up and running.
Here is a site that has Lots of Games and different Types as well...
http://www.bigfishgames.com/
I use to play online at a place called The Zone, it was hosted by MSN, the games were live, they had several board and card games, along with some solo arcade games... It was a big site back in the day when I played on there, I use to play in chess and backgammon and spades tournaments a lot...
I don't do a lot of gaming online so I don't know too many sites... Sorry about my confusion with the application... I was just trying to cover a wide range of variety that sounded like they would benefit from something like that...
http://www.bigfishgames.com/
I use to play online at a place called The Zone, it was hosted by MSN, the games were live, they had several board and card games, along with some solo arcade games... It was a big site back in the day when I played on there, I use to play in chess and backgammon and spades tournaments a lot...
I don't do a lot of gaming online so I don't know too many sites... Sorry about my confusion with the application... I was just trying to cover a wide range of variety that sounded like they would benefit from something like that...
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Hi,
I haven't time to read everything here (sorry!) but noticed the talk about game sites. Right now I make and distribute flash games so I know my way around that market (where to go for sponsorship, in-game advertising, distribution/game sites etc.). I don't know if this is a game or a piece of software but feel free to chat with me if its a game that you want to spread across the net, I could throw you a few popular links. If its software then I don't know much about the online software world other than obviously using software directory sites like download.com
I haven't time to read everything here (sorry!) but noticed the talk about game sites. Right now I make and distribute flash games so I know my way around that market (where to go for sponsorship, in-game advertising, distribution/game sites etc.). I don't know if this is a game or a piece of software but feel free to chat with me if its a game that you want to spread across the net, I could throw you a few popular links. If its software then I don't know much about the online software world other than obviously using software directory sites like download.com
(Ruri_Ayanami from the old Tex Murphy ezboard).
"I don't believe in intuition, don't know why... just a feeling." - Tex Murphy
"I don't believe in intuition, don't know why... just a feeling." - Tex Murphy
Doc,
With website becoming more advanced in the interactivity and interface anyway, the need for your Nexus environment on the web is slowly dying. One of the things people love to hate is the internet (and it is becoming more and more the case these days). why would someone want to sift through a library of information, when with a little careful thought on the developers side the information could be accessible via a few clicks? Maybe even less.
however, that said, Frank made a good point about publications websites. Especially bookstores. Imagine being able to browse for book titles and content much in the same was you did in an actual bookstore. I'm sure that if you went up to a bunch of avid book readers and asked them how to find a book in the store they will know how, but ask them how to find one on a website and they will freeze. However, with nexus, they can find the book they want, and maybe even take a peek inside.
In terms of websites in general though, to be brutally honest, if a website is sop badly designed that you system is almost required to make sense of the content, then the website should not exist in the first place. People are striving to make website that don't need any form of assistance what so ever. Being a web designer myself, but of course not professional by all means, if I was approached by you and told "have this software for nothing that should make your website easier to access" I would ask myself "what is wrong with my design to require such an innovation to make it more accessible"... and most likely figure out my own way of solving the problem.
I love you idea Doc, it's really good... but you have to focus on exactly what your market is first. General websites are not going to work, you need to find a particular type of website or genre and stick with it... so much that when people visit that type of website they almost expect to see your system in place. There is one thing that we have learnt from the internet over the past decade and that is: there is no such thing as a one size fits all solution to the way people view information. But, there are niche markets, and the big success stories come from innovations that cater specifically towards those markets. Publications websites mate, that's you best bet in my opinion... as it provides real world practicality, as is not just a gimmick.
-Cub. =o)
With website becoming more advanced in the interactivity and interface anyway, the need for your Nexus environment on the web is slowly dying. One of the things people love to hate is the internet (and it is becoming more and more the case these days). why would someone want to sift through a library of information, when with a little careful thought on the developers side the information could be accessible via a few clicks? Maybe even less.
however, that said, Frank made a good point about publications websites. Especially bookstores. Imagine being able to browse for book titles and content much in the same was you did in an actual bookstore. I'm sure that if you went up to a bunch of avid book readers and asked them how to find a book in the store they will know how, but ask them how to find one on a website and they will freeze. However, with nexus, they can find the book they want, and maybe even take a peek inside.
In terms of websites in general though, to be brutally honest, if a website is sop badly designed that you system is almost required to make sense of the content, then the website should not exist in the first place. People are striving to make website that don't need any form of assistance what so ever. Being a web designer myself, but of course not professional by all means, if I was approached by you and told "have this software for nothing that should make your website easier to access" I would ask myself "what is wrong with my design to require such an innovation to make it more accessible"... and most likely figure out my own way of solving the problem.
I love you idea Doc, it's really good... but you have to focus on exactly what your market is first. General websites are not going to work, you need to find a particular type of website or genre and stick with it... so much that when people visit that type of website they almost expect to see your system in place. There is one thing that we have learnt from the internet over the past decade and that is: there is no such thing as a one size fits all solution to the way people view information. But, there are niche markets, and the big success stories come from innovations that cater specifically towards those markets. Publications websites mate, that's you best bet in my opinion... as it provides real world practicality, as is not just a gimmick.
-Cub. =o)
Sai
Thanks for your interest. My software is not a game, it is software. However, I'm not looking for a software distribution site.
What my software does is create an interactive, real-time 3D environment (like a Tex Murphy world.) Ojjects in the 3D world can be links to virtually anything. My software will run in a web browser, so it is possible to to use the software to create a real-time web page.
The problem I have is that concept of my software is too unique or too new or something like that. There is nothing else like it, so no one is saying "I have to get me one of those whatever-it-is things." No one is even aware that the whatever-it-is thing exists. So I'm looking for suggestions for a relatively high-traffic, high-information content website which can showcase the benefits of this new 3D interface.
The mention of game sites came about for two different reasons:
(1) Some game-sites host many games and as a result have a great deal of content. A 3D interface could provide a more efficient and game-like interface to all that content.
(2) The web site for an individual game could be created as an interactive 3D representation of the game-world. Visitors to the site could explore the content in a real-time 3D game world environment that looks just like the game world.
However, my software has nothing to do with games itself. It is simply a portable, customizable, real-time 3D interface.
What I'm looking for are suggestions for high-information content websites whose navigation could be simplified via a real-time 3D interface. Then I will create and post a 3D version of the site for the purpose of being able to present the concept to the web community so that people will know what it is.
Thanks for your interest. My software is not a game, it is software. However, I'm not looking for a software distribution site.
What my software does is create an interactive, real-time 3D environment (like a Tex Murphy world.) Ojjects in the 3D world can be links to virtually anything. My software will run in a web browser, so it is possible to to use the software to create a real-time web page.
The problem I have is that concept of my software is too unique or too new or something like that. There is nothing else like it, so no one is saying "I have to get me one of those whatever-it-is things." No one is even aware that the whatever-it-is thing exists. So I'm looking for suggestions for a relatively high-traffic, high-information content website which can showcase the benefits of this new 3D interface.
The mention of game sites came about for two different reasons:
(1) Some game-sites host many games and as a result have a great deal of content. A 3D interface could provide a more efficient and game-like interface to all that content.
(2) The web site for an individual game could be created as an interactive 3D representation of the game-world. Visitors to the site could explore the content in a real-time 3D game world environment that looks just like the game world.
However, my software has nothing to do with games itself. It is simply a portable, customizable, real-time 3D interface.
What I'm looking for are suggestions for high-information content websites whose navigation could be simplified via a real-time 3D interface. Then I will create and post a 3D version of the site for the purpose of being able to present the concept to the web community so that people will know what it is.
Hi Cub,
Thanks for your comments.
I agree with everything in your last paragraph:
That being said, some of your other comments suggest to me that I did not explain my inquiry well. For instatnce, you say,
However, there are many web sites out there (government, universities, organizations) which have far too much content to be able to access from a couple of clicks (using existing technology.) They typically have tabs across the top, a navigation bar along the side, and links and buttons within the main body. Any of those links take you to yet another page which often looks much the same and presents you with dozens of new options. After navigating through perhaps several layers of branching pages you finally find what you want.
These sites are a nightmare! They are the ones I want to clean-up. It's not so much that they are poorly designed. Their problem is that they simply have so much information that they literally require hundreds of pages in which to present it and are often organized in a tree-structure of layers and easy to get lost.
These sorts of web sites can greatly benefit from my 3D interface because all of these hundreds of pages of content can, quite literally, be accessed with one click from within the library and the user is never in danger of getting lost in the hierarchy.
Isn't that exactly what we want?
Thanks for your comments.
I agree with everything in your last paragraph:
I know that there is no one-size-fits all solution. That is why I'm asking for advice for websites that 'fit'. It is why I've be agonizing over what sort of website to create as a demo because I know it is not appropriate for everything.I love you idea Doc, it's really good... but you have to focus on exactly what your market is first. General websites are not going to work, you need to find a particular type of website or genre and stick with it... so much that when people visit that type of website they almost expect to see your system in place. There is one thing that we have learnt from the internet over the past decade and that is: there is no such thing as a one size fits all solution to the way people view information. But, there are niche markets, and the big success stories come from innovations that cater specifically towards those markets. Publications websites mate, that's you best bet in my opinion... as it provides real world practicality, as is not just a gimmick.
That being said, some of your other comments suggest to me that I did not explain my inquiry well. For instatnce, you say,
On the one hand, Yes! That is exactly the point. I agree that other existing methods work fine for sites with a relatively small amount of content.why would someone want to sift through a library of information, when with a little careful thought on the developers side the information could be accessible via a few clicks? Maybe even less.
However, there are many web sites out there (government, universities, organizations) which have far too much content to be able to access from a couple of clicks (using existing technology.) They typically have tabs across the top, a navigation bar along the side, and links and buttons within the main body. Any of those links take you to yet another page which often looks much the same and presents you with dozens of new options. After navigating through perhaps several layers of branching pages you finally find what you want.
These sites are a nightmare! They are the ones I want to clean-up. It's not so much that they are poorly designed. Their problem is that they simply have so much information that they literally require hundreds of pages in which to present it and are often organized in a tree-structure of layers and easy to get lost.
These sorts of web sites can greatly benefit from my 3D interface because all of these hundreds of pages of content can, quite literally, be accessed with one click from within the library and the user is never in danger of getting lost in the hierarchy.
Isn't that exactly what we want?
Cub,
Some of your other comments were a little hard for me to understand. I say this because they seem to harbor hostility to my software, yet I know none is intended. Allow me to explain, please. You said,
Then you go on to say that if a web site could benefit from my interface then that web site probably shouldn't even exist. Would you hold that same sentiment for a web site that could benefit from some other design innovation or is it just my design innovation that a site is better off dead?
You support the strives for making web sites easier to navigate. However, if my interface can make a site easier to navigate, your reaction is either to say the site shouldn't exist or you would try to figure out your own way of solving the problem. Am I reading you right? Anything even killing the web site is preferable to adapting Knexus.
I don't get it. Your comments sound an awful lot like a "not invented here" mindset. As if my software is the enemy. Is that the problem? If Flash offered this, would you be more open to it?
I'm sorry if my questions here sound defensive. I was hoping and looking-forward to some suggestions from you, but I really don't understand how to interpret what you've written.
Some of your other comments were a little hard for me to understand. I say this because they seem to harbor hostility to my software, yet I know none is intended. Allow me to explain, please. You said,
On the one hand you apparently welcome new advances in interactivity and interface and you credit them with improving web site design. Yet, you draw the line and say the need for my innovation is dying. Do you mean, with so many innovations, the need for any new innovation is dying or it it just the need for my innovation that you see no room for? This is a weird notion because there isn't any other innovation out there that can do what my software does.With websites becoming more advanced in their interactivity and interface anyway, the need for your Nexus environment on the web is slowly dying....
In terms of websites in general though, to be brutally honest, if a website is so badly designed that your system is almost required to make sense of the content, then the website should not exist in the first place. People are striving to make websites that don't need any form of assistance what so ever. Being a web designer myself, but of course not professional by all means, if I was approached by you and told "have this software for nothing that should make your website easier to access" I would ask myself "what is wrong with my design to require such an innovation to make it more accessible"... and most likely figure out my own way of solving the problem.
Then you go on to say that if a web site could benefit from my interface then that web site probably shouldn't even exist. Would you hold that same sentiment for a web site that could benefit from some other design innovation or is it just my design innovation that a site is better off dead?
You support the strives for making web sites easier to navigate. However, if my interface can make a site easier to navigate, your reaction is either to say the site shouldn't exist or you would try to figure out your own way of solving the problem. Am I reading you right? Anything even killing the web site is preferable to adapting Knexus.
I don't get it. Your comments sound an awful lot like a "not invented here" mindset. As if my software is the enemy. Is that the problem? If Flash offered this, would you be more open to it?
I'm sorry if my questions here sound defensive. I was hoping and looking-forward to some suggestions from you, but I really don't understand how to interpret what you've written.
Don’t worry doc, I was not bashing the innovation, by all means. I am just saying there is a risk involved with approaching web developers and content hosts with your software...DrPaul wrote:Cub,
Some of your other comments were a little hard for me to understand. I say this because they seem to harbor hostility to my software, yet I know none is intended. Allow me to explain, please. You said,
On the one hand you apparently welcome new advances in interactivity and interface and you credit them with improving web site design. Yet, you draw the line and say the need for my innovation is dying. Do you mean, with so many innovations, the need for any new innovation is dying or it it just the need for my innovation that you see no room for? This is a weird notion because there isn't any other innovation out there that can do what my software does.With websites becoming more advanced in their interactivity and interface anyway, the need for your Knexus environment on the web is slowly dying....
In terms of websites in general though, to be brutally honest, if a website is so badly designed that your system is almost required to make sense of the content, then the website should not exist in the first place. People are striving to make websites that don't need any form of assistance what so ever. Being a web designer myself, but of course not professional by all means, if I was approached by you and told "have this software for nothing that should make your website easier to access" I would ask myself "what is wrong with my design to require such an innovation to make it more accessible"... and most likely figure out my own way of solving the problem.
Then you go on to say that if a web site could benefit from my interface then that web site probably shouldn't even exist. Would you hold that same sentiment for a web site that could benefit from some other design innovation or is it just my design innovation that a site is better off dead?
You support the strives for making web sites easier to navigate. However, if my interface can make a site easier to navigate, your reaction is either to say the site shouldn't exist or you would try to figure out your own way of solving the problem. Am I reading you right? Anything even killing the web site is preferable to adapting Knexus.
I don't get it. Your comments sound an awful lot like a "not invented here" mindset. As if my software is the enemy. Is that the problem? If Flash offered this, would you be more open to it?
I'm sorry if my questions here sound defensive. I was hoping and looking-forward to some suggestions from you, but I really don't understand how to interpret what you've written.
Lets do a real world parallel of the situation. Lets say I am a father, and I have 5 kids. All these kids are nice, but a bit out of control... they run all over the place and poop on the grass. But being the father, they are my responsibility and in my opinion I am doing a great job as it is. Other parents come to me to say they are bullies and causing trouble, and I just tell them to go away because they are kids, they are supposed to be like that! Then I have someone from child services come and say "we can help you take better control of you kids for the benefit of everybody". I can almost guarantee that being the proud father who thinks he is doing just fine as he is, I would probably take huge offense to this offer and refuse to adopt any changes to the way in which I manage the kids.
See, the biggest fault in your logic is; you assume most web developers are going to be open minded enough to admit there is a problem with their own design or content, enough to want to have someone come in and give them a better way of displaying such content. Now, if they were open minded enough to identify a problem like this, or at least to allow you to identify it, they would have fixed it long ago (because I can guarantee the same complaints would've been made by the visitors if the case was that bad). But obviously in most cases the content is layed out poorly and stays that way because the developer seems to think it is perfectly fine as it is, or that the general consensus (however poor it may be) should be ignored. So, what we have is a scenario which is probably evident in the highest percentage of cases where your software would be applicable.
Now, going back to the parallel for providing an explanation about my point: "then the website should not exist in the first place", if the father cannot look after his kids, and refuses to take constructive advice from others in order to manage them better for the benefit of everybody, he should not have kids.
It's a harsh way of putting it, and it is not my way of putting it, but just what happens for real.
Anyway, going back to your innovation: despite saying all this it does not make Knexus any less brilliant than it is. However, using it to make existing websites easier to access is probably not to best approach because you are going to run into this issue time and time again, and are likely to have your idea pinched. But if the innovation were to be used from the very beginning then I can almost grantee the developer would welcome the alternative to viewing the content.
Speaking from personal experience (or at least, as much as I can to adopt it to this situation), creative people (web designers included) are most open minded during the initial stages of shaping an idea, and the MOST closed minded after the project is completed. This is because developers love the idea of absorbing as much innovative flair as possible during production to ensure the end product encompasses everything they had imagined. But when completed, it is a work of art to these people, and are very, and often too proud of their work.
But, this also depends on the size of the company involved in making the website to begin with. I recently posted my new website here seeking constructive criticism, because I am just one guy, and I don't have a boss to answer to if the people hate my design, so I can take whatever people dish out. But lets say I work for a company big enough to make a website so big that we have the problem to which you refer. If I said to my boss, or the company which governs the content that this Knexus idea would help streamline the content they would probably tell me something along the lines of "Why didn't you think of that in the first place!" or "why don't we do something like this if it is so good!"... thus meaning that in many cases I would expect developers to either be a) too proud or scared to want to admit to their superiors, or their clients that there is a better way to displaying their content for which they are not capable of implementing themselves, or b) they would be made to take your concern seriously and look to adopt their own way of making their content more accessible.
So, based on this explanation, I hope you can understand that I still think your idea is great. But I also think that with the general mindset of your current target, you are going to face problems when trying to convince people to adopt your innovation. so when I imply that website would be better of not existing rather than reach a point where they need to use Knexus, it is not because I think Knexus would be the end of the website. I say it because no such developers exist (or at least very few do) who are willing to allow someone to come in and prove to the world that they needed a 3rd party to make their information more accessible.
But... that's one market. But it's not your niche market. I personally think your niche market are websites where the innovation is an extension on existing information. For example: "Please visit our library of facilitating documents to further research your case", or as I said earlier, providing a parallel to how people access library information in the real world, such as book stores.
-Cub. =o)
All valid points, Cub, and we of all people know how stubborn and closed minded industry can be to outsiders. There is no industry quite as stubborn and foolish as the movie and game business.
That is why you never contact your concerned party directly. You want to get in touch with an elected member of government, you contact Party Officials. You want to speak to a minister, never mind his press relation office, go through the director of his county's office. You want the attention of a director, get customer service to pass along whatever you have to say, instead of sending it to him directly.
In this case, don't think about getting near the developers, you will lose, ten times out of ten. Personally, I'd make them come to me, by creating a site that generates traffic enough to gather anyone's attention. If you MUST get in touch with anyone, contact their clients, not the devs. The guy in charge of his bookstore company won't give a damn about the creative work of his web developers, if he sees a better idea out there. You won't make friends in the industry, but it's your only shot at getting someone to change his ways. Whatever you do, make sure his developers don't get a hold of your communications, not in the early phase anyway. Keep in mind, tech and web administrators, most often than not, are also company VP's, so it makes this a little difficult.
In either case, you risk to have someone develop his own Knexus or 3d web interface instead of simply adopting yours. But you risk this no matter how you proceed, when you tackle an open industry. Any piece of software you come up with, if it generates enough attention someone will try to outdo you. Once you have anybody's attention, it's your job to make them understand adopting your solution would be the quickest and cheapest way to get up to speed and distinguish themselves from their rivals.
That is why you never contact your concerned party directly. You want to get in touch with an elected member of government, you contact Party Officials. You want to speak to a minister, never mind his press relation office, go through the director of his county's office. You want the attention of a director, get customer service to pass along whatever you have to say, instead of sending it to him directly.
In this case, don't think about getting near the developers, you will lose, ten times out of ten. Personally, I'd make them come to me, by creating a site that generates traffic enough to gather anyone's attention. If you MUST get in touch with anyone, contact their clients, not the devs. The guy in charge of his bookstore company won't give a damn about the creative work of his web developers, if he sees a better idea out there. You won't make friends in the industry, but it's your only shot at getting someone to change his ways. Whatever you do, make sure his developers don't get a hold of your communications, not in the early phase anyway. Keep in mind, tech and web administrators, most often than not, are also company VP's, so it makes this a little difficult.
In either case, you risk to have someone develop his own Knexus or 3d web interface instead of simply adopting yours. But you risk this no matter how you proceed, when you tackle an open industry. Any piece of software you come up with, if it generates enough attention someone will try to outdo you. Once you have anybody's attention, it's your job to make them understand adopting your solution would be the quickest and cheapest way to get up to speed and distinguish themselves from their rivals.
Part-Time Nomad