Why dont you do what Encyclopedia Brittanica has done

[fufu_88_99]

Dear cecil,
Why don't you do what encyclopedia Britannica has done. They have made available all 30 volumes free of cost to the user on internet and said that they will absorb the cost(each copy cost between $20 - $30) by using advertisement on the their site. Why cant you do the same instead of passing the cost to the user since user are also contributing their time and energy to expand this forum. Thanks.

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Anon,
Thanks for your suggestion.
My comments are as follows:-
1. We will always provide free advise in this forum.
2. As the reports are optional, it would depend on the bandwidth usage.
3. Look at Britannica.com, the website crashed on the first day of launch as it is unable to cope.
4. The days of getting advertisers to sponor a site is `flawed'. Look at Yahoo.com or other popular sites with advertising support. They have never been able to earn enough revenues for their expenditure.
If you calculate properly, they are now drawing on share holder's reserves. Even Amazon.com has not yet made enough to cover their expenses.
These sites are not based on sound economic principles. Can some of these site which `look' good on the surface survive long term e.g. 5, 10 years from now.
We have to be realistic and all sites must be based on sound or "self-financing".
This is the assurance that a well managed site can survive. It is in my opinion that we must always plan ahead not just for tommorrow but for the next 5 to 10 years of existence on the internet. Those who do not have the proper vision and using other people's (shareholder's) fund to live for today and not tommorrow will not be there in the next few years.
I always believe in providing sound policies that work. Even for relatively simple things like a `Flame' free forum and other areas within this forum.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Warmest Regards,
Cecil
P.S. For general interest, I tried to login to the Britannica.com site again today... and this is what I get...


TO OUR VISITORS


The recent launch of the free Britannica.com site, designed to be the most trusted source of information, learning and knowledge on the Internet, has created such an enormous volume of traffic that the company?s servers have experienced a temporary slowdown.


We apologize to everyone who has been unable to access Britannica.com. The tremendous response to Britannica.com has created a tidal wave of activity on our site, and we are working hard to make the site available as quickly as possible.
In many ways, we have truly been victims of our own success. We knew that the site would attract a significant number of users in its first day of operation, but we had no idea that this volume of traffic would be achieved so quickly. In spite of the problems that we are experiencing, we are encouraged by the high demand for Britannica.com, and believe that you will soon find the site to be the best source for information on the Internet.
Once again, I am truly sorry that we have not been able to provide access to our site for all of our visitors. We will have the technical problems resolved shortly, and look forward to welcoming you back to your new home on the Internet at Britannica.com.
Sincerely,


Don Yannias
CEO
Britannica.com Inc.

Quote

On 10/25/99 12:56:41 AM, Anonymous wrote:
Dear cecil,
Why don't you do what
encyclopedia Britannica has
done. They have made available
all 30 volumes free of cost to
the user on internet and said
that they will absorb the
cost(each copy cost between
$20 - $30) by using
advertisement on the their
site. Why cant you do the same
instead of passing the cost to
the user since user are also
contributing their time and
energy to expand this forum.
Thanks.

[glyn]

Encyclopedia Britannica give you 30 days free trial of their site. Thereafter it costs $5 per month.
Given your costs Cecil,and the excellent information you provide, perhaps you could charge all users a monthly fee.
Cheers
Glyn

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Glyn,
Thanks for pointing out the Britannica.com does not only depend on advertiser support. Advertiser support is a `flawed' model as in my opinion, does not work anymore in today's internet.


Studies have shown that only revenue goes to the top 8 or 9 sites. But again, these sites looks good on the surface but are not `healthy'. Fortunately, some of these companies are heavy weights with lots of money to "throw away" or I consider `misusing their shareholder's funds' akin to "borrowing time" akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul through almalgamations etc.. None of the heavy weights have yet to cover their expenses.
We will always try to provide the forum free. What I believe is that the reports are optional, no one is `forced' to get them if they do not want to.
Currently, the members for the geomancy-online is ever growing, we will always consider what is viable to be given free and what is not.
Thanks very much for your support and understanding.
As one accountant to another, we all live in a realistic world:)
Warmest Regards,
Cecil
P.S. Like yourself, I am also an accountant by training and using my available funds to support the websites. At the same time, Robert also utilizes his available and even his company's resources into the many wonderful programs on this site.

Quote

On 10/25/99 1:24:38 PM, Anonymous wrote:
Encyclopedia Britannica give
you 30 days free trial of
their site. Thereafter it
costs $5 per month.
Given your costs Cecil,and the
excellent information you
provide, perhaps you could
charge all users a monthly
fee.
Cheers
Glyn