Re: Intellasys Site Has Changed!

SEAforth Marketing wrote:

All,

Please allow me to jump in and confirm a couple of things said,
defuse some rumors and add some facts. First, my name is
Jurgen Krehnke and I am responsible for Marketing and Sales
at IntellaSys.

<snip>

You have the hardest job in the company. Forth is the best
way to program computers but only a few fanatical programmers
know this and they are unable to demonstrate its value. You
might produce a useful hardware product, but it is only a minor
improvement compared to the improvement Forth makes in programming.

#2. Yes, we are asking people to email us for datasheets,
software packages and thumb drives (now called FORTHdrives)
at this point and this has to do with our desire to better
understand what people are trying to accomplish so we can
improve and better support applications. This email step is
not a 'final' decision on my part but I will admit that
I don't think that it is wrong to ask for it when you want
something. The database has one simple purpose: to allow
us to inform people as soon as new software, hardware or
updates are available.

<snip>

A big concern is that our internal support resources are
very limited. If we get swamped with support request without
any revenue in sight it is a question of time until we will
have to throw the towel. <snip>
But how can I tell if people aren't even willing to give me
minimum information before they grab our documentation and
software?

You've got things completely backwards. Your product
literature must be read, read widely, and be worth reading.
Worry when your resources are strained by support requests --
afterwards. First worry that your services will be requested.
Just being involved with Forth will discourage most of your
potential big customers. They will want to know how good is your
C compiler. You will have to spend much effort to educate them
differently. The idea of asking for something before you will
send out your technical data is extrodinately bad. You must get
large numbers of technical people to look at your documentation.
Only a few of your potential clients will take the trouble to
alter their thinking and realize they should use your products.

<snip>

As stated by Elizabeth, the SEAforth technology is
sufficiently different and complex enough to require significant
investments into training first (and we are planning that).

<snip>

Planning that? PLANNING?? Training is FIRST. Its the FIRST
thing a company like yours needs to do. Getting the parts
working is the second. You are not doing the same old
programming thing. Chuck Moore says the software problem has
been solved. It is up to you, the Marketing and Sales director,
to show the whole computer industry what Chuck Moore is talking
about. Nobody has been able to do that for the past thirty or
fourty years. Make sure everybody in your company knows this and
that you are expecting their help in this matter.

#6. Documentation: Documentation is now available and - while
not perfect - pretty substantial and comprehensive. This is
not only done for larger customers, full packages go out to
essentially all parties requesting the information.
The reason it might still seem very 'light' is that we have
only recently found time to create and complete some important
documents.

<snip>

Jurgen

How can you be so wishy-washy about documentation? People
will want to learn to use your poduct because you have the best
documentation, not just because you have the best hardware.
Early in my career I was puzzled as to why companies like
Digital Equipment, Motorola and National Semiconductor would
give me all the data books I asked for, even more than I could
carry! Now I know it was because they wanted everybody in the
world who might be able to understand them to read them. The
fewer people who understand what they make, the fewer parts they
will sell. The Internet and world wide web eliminate the cost of
paper and printing. Take maximum advantage of that. Make
documentation number one, not number six.

--
Michael Coughlin m-coughlin@xxxxxxxxxxx Cambridge, MA
.

Loading