Re: USB input devices-- Second Sight ... and the new IIgs market

[CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

On Thu, 18 Feb 1999 15:15:41 -0600, Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>
wrote:

>     Perhaps. However, the above seems to say that everything pretty
>much came down to money. I tend to doubt this.

Umm, that is exactly what ended GS+.  Diz said this in the Writer's
Block section of the last issue.  He didn't even have any cash to pay
back outstanding subscriptions and wanted people to take the remaining
value of their subscription as credit towards buying other things that
EGO Systems sold.

In the last year of the magazine I think he dropped to under 1000
subscribers which isn't really a big enough monetary base to afford
full-time office space as well as paying employees.

>     Publications like GS+ depend heavily upon investments of time and
>energy by a small number of workers. These workers draw upon the
>enthusiasm of readers and other users.

Some of work done at GS+ was done for free by employees or their
significant others.  But not all work can be done that way.  To ensure
that the people you have writing programs, articles, and reviews,
taking ads, handling orders, doing shipping, managing the finances and
a plethora of other tasks, you need to make sure they will be
available to handle these things in the time allotted.  To do this,
you have to pay them so that their "real" job doesn't get in the way.

>     A rise in expenses due to moving into an office would not normally
>sink a small magazine. It is not that difficult to move the operation
>back to a garage or basement. Often, too, some staffers will continue to
>help with the publication at reduced or zero pay.

Except that office space is usually leased by the year at a minimum.
If you realize six months into your lease that you can't afford to
keep working out of the office space, you've got a real problem to
deal with.  Yes, you can sometimes get out of these types of leases
but this would make moving back to the basement a little more
difficult.

>     In fact, a GS+ or any other small A2 mag can overcome many
>difficulties, so long as the editor-owner maintains the energy and
>desire which drives the publication. Unfortunately, the early-mid 1990's
>was not a time to inspire enthusiasm for II computing. My guess is that
>GS+ ended chiefly because publishing it had ceased to be fun.

I suppose this may have been a factor as well but I'm sure that the
financial difficulties were probably the biggest contributing factor
to making publishing GS+ not as much fun to publish.

Whatever the reasons for them shutting down, I still miss EGO Systems
and all their products.  Now, if only the guy who bought the rights to
EGO Systems stuff would stop sitting on them and start doing something
with them.

=== To ensure I see a reply please also e-mail me but remember to:
    CUT the obvious from my e-mail address to e-mail me
    Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the Apple II University on Delphi
*** HyperCard IIgs course now in session in the A2Pro forum on Delphi