WinCustomize speed!!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2001 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Since Deskmod went down, traffic to WinCustomize has increased dramatically. We were already pumping out several megabits per second before then and the recent increase in traffic has simply increased it.
The irony is, as Windows customization gets more popular, the harder it becomes to have websites to support it because of the bandwidth. Since banner ads and such no longer pay for these kinds of sites, other ways to fund the site have to be found.
Stardock provides WinCustomize with a block grant each month to pay for bandwidth, IT services, contracting, etc. But clearly the site will need more than that.
On Monday, WinCustomize is going to begin selling the WinCustomize CD for $19.95. It will include virtually all the skins on this site that we have permission to include plus 2 complete, never before seen skin suites created by Alexandrie and Treetog, two of the top skinners in the community. Revenue from the CD will go to pay for more bandwidth which will benefit us all.
So hopefully, enough people will purchase it so that we can afford to add in a few more megabits of bandwidth and bring the site back to its high speed performance. Another thing down the line will be to purchase a faster file server for the skins ASP generation and such which would make switching pages much faster.
The irony is, as Windows customization gets more popular, the harder it becomes to have websites to support it because of the bandwidth. Since banner ads and such no longer pay for these kinds of sites, other ways to fund the site have to be found.
Stardock provides WinCustomize with a block grant each month to pay for bandwidth, IT services, contracting, etc. But clearly the site will need more than that.
On Monday, WinCustomize is going to begin selling the WinCustomize CD for $19.95. It will include virtually all the skins on this site that we have permission to include plus 2 complete, never before seen skin suites created by Alexandrie and Treetog, two of the top skinners in the community. Revenue from the CD will go to pay for more bandwidth which will benefit us all.
So hopefully, enough people will purchase it so that we can afford to add in a few more megabits of bandwidth and bring the site back to its high speed performance. Another thing down the line will be to purchase a faster file server for the skins ASP generation and such which would make switching pages much faster.
Wynlyndd
Reply #2 Wednesday, June 13, 2001 10:54 PM
Reply #2 Wednesday, June 13, 2001 10:54 PM
I need an app that can skin human skin. I'd pay good money for that. I've always wanted to look like one of these skins. 
c242
Reply #4 Thursday, June 14, 2001 4:26 AM
Reply #4 Thursday, June 14, 2001 4:26 AM
Well, what about people overseas ? Do they have a chance for that CD, too ? Sure I would immedietly buy it...
paxx
Reply #5 Thursday, June 14, 2001 6:31 AM
Reply #5 Thursday, June 14, 2001 6:31 AM
c242 I'm sure there is no problem with buying it from oversee. It's just going to cost more.
Like me, if I lived in the US and really only had to pay 19.95, I'd probably buy it in a second. But I erally can't afford paying 30.00$ of my money, plus shipping, plus customs and taxes. In the end, it'll be easily over 40.00$, nearly 50.00$. That.s what's nice about buying for downloadable softeware: no shipping fees, no darn customs. I love this site, but I got my family to support. Anyway, I bought the Object Desktop subcription and it's sincerely the best I can do.
Like me, if I lived in the US and really only had to pay 19.95, I'd probably buy it in a second. But I erally can't afford paying 30.00$ of my money, plus shipping, plus customs and taxes. In the end, it'll be easily over 40.00$, nearly 50.00$. That.s what's nice about buying for downloadable softeware: no shipping fees, no darn customs. I love this site, but I got my family to support. Anyway, I bought the Object Desktop subcription and it's sincerely the best I can do.
swoon
Reply #6 Thursday, June 14, 2001 7:42 AM
Reply #6 Thursday, June 14, 2001 7:42 AM
How about getting some sort of download account for the exclusive skins by paying the $20?
I won't pay more than twice the price of the CD just for shipping, taxes, ...!
I won't pay more than twice the price of the CD just for shipping, taxes, ...!
Scriber
Reply #7 Thursday, June 14, 2001 9:50 AM
Reply #7 Thursday, June 14, 2001 9:50 AM
I'm in for the CD but I, like Citizen swoon, hate to pay extra for shipping and taxes since that isn't revenue to Wincustomize. Suggestion - how about skin rankings by category/subcategory? For example, the best OSX WB skin, BeOS icons, WB movie skin etc.
Frogboy
Reply #8 Thursday, June 14, 2001 11:28 AM
Reply #8 Thursday, June 14, 2001 11:28 AM
Some pretty good ideas here. Will have to give this some thought.
davad70
Reply #9 Thursday, June 14, 2001 11:54 AM
Reply #9 Thursday, June 14, 2001 11:54 AM
Perhaps this is just a conspiracy by Lord Frogboy to drive up the sales of the CD??????
J/K.....I'm in for &20.00 if it'll speed things up a bit, this is getting crazy.
J/K.....I'm in for &20.00 if it'll speed things up a bit, this is getting crazy.
JavaBrain
Reply #11 Thursday, June 14, 2001 1:55 PM
Reply #11 Thursday, June 14, 2001 1:55 PM
The CD will have $5.00 s/h US and $10.00 Outside. Customs value is declared at $19.95, so it depends on your country how much the taxes would be at customs. We ship US mail, which does not have the courier fees that UPS, DHL and the like do, and has a tendency to go through customs without taxes being added (of course, that is hit and miss). So, even the international should be fairly reasonable. So real cost (CD plus S/H) is: US: $24.95, International: $29.95 + local taxes.
Hopefully we'll get the shirt contest rolling soon. To start thinking about it, try coming up with shirt designs that are 6 colors or less. (Each color requires a screen, so anymore colors than that would be too expensive).
Hopefully we'll get the shirt contest rolling soon. To start thinking about it, try coming up with shirt designs that are 6 colors or less. (Each color requires a screen, so anymore colors than that would be too expensive).
paxx
Reply #12 Thursday, June 14, 2001 2:40 PM
Reply #12 Thursday, June 14, 2001 2:40 PM
Pretty much as I was saying...
In Canadian dollars, it's $45.57 plus tax, for a total of $52.66. A little steep.
In Canadian dollars, it's $45.57 plus tax, for a total of $52.66. A little steep.
paxx
Reply #13 Thursday, June 14, 2001 2:42 PM
Reply #13 Thursday, June 14, 2001 2:42 PM
I understand, $20.00 is cheap for you guys, I'm just saying for us with a low currency, there is quite a difference. If I was an american I'd pay the $24.95 with no hesitation.
T-Man
Reply #14 Thursday, June 14, 2001 3:59 PM
Reply #14 Thursday, June 14, 2001 3:59 PM
Henke, I don't think making the CD download is a good idea. The purpose of selling the CD is to decrease bandwidth, not increase it
craeonics
Reply #15 Thursday, June 14, 2001 5:18 PM
Reply #15 Thursday, June 14, 2001 5:18 PM
Hmm, let me do some math, $29,95 + 19% tax = $35,64 ~ f71,28... Zoiks!! I hope I got my tax rate wrong. How many skins for how many apps are on that cd anyway?
SENTiNEL
Reply #16 Thursday, June 14, 2001 7:06 PM
Reply #16 Thursday, June 14, 2001 7:06 PM
CD? Dunno (as we say around here... Good ol' UK )... Afterall, I've got a broadband connection - I can burn my own CD! But a T-Shirt, I'd pay $19.95 for a T-Shirt, well over the odds, but I'm well prepared to support a skinning site with the recent demise of Skinz (it's dead, deal with it) and DeskMod.
Or a mug, or a mouse mat...
Just my tuppence worth,
PAT
ps Still wear a Serif T-Shirt with pride (and why not, PagePlus is a GREAT progie)
Or a mug, or a mouse mat...
Just my tuppence worth,
PAT
ps Still wear a Serif T-Shirt with pride (and why not, PagePlus is a GREAT progie
T-Man
Reply #17 Friday, June 15, 2001 9:10 AM
Reply #17 Friday, June 15, 2001 9:10 AM
The CD will have skins for all the applications that are currently on WinCustomize.com. Though I do not have an exact count at this time of how many skins there are on the CD, but it appears that there will be over 2000 skins.
swoon
Reply #18 Sunday, June 17, 2001 8:34 AM
Reply #18 Sunday, June 17, 2001 8:34 AM
Some got this with the download wrong. NOT the WHOLE CD should be downloadable, but ONLY THE EXCLUSIVE SKINS. This would be much more flexible than the CD. WinCustomize could offer some sort of "Premium" Section, maybe just like Stardocks ODNT. Users could pay per skin suite or maybe like ODNT for some month. This way more exclusive skins could be made available, WinCustomize would get much more money, and some additional bandwith usage (some MB per Skin Suite and Downloader) is surely cheaper than mastering a CD! And poor Oversea customers like me wouldn't need to pay shipping and additional taxes.
And anyway - those $10 s/h are not AIRMAIL? If it isn't I'm sure I have to wait MONTH to get the CD. (I've ordered from oversea before - one delivery was OVER A YEAR on the way before I got it - that also was "no airmail"!!)
Much better would be something like "pay, download, enjoy".
Why don't you at WinCustomize create something like ODNT's Component Manager. Make something like "Wincustomize's Premium Skin Manager"!
I would be the first one to pay for that! How about $60 for one year of premium skin suites, 10 skin suites guaranteed?
And anyway - those $10 s/h are not AIRMAIL? If it isn't I'm sure I have to wait MONTH to get the CD. (I've ordered from oversea before - one delivery was OVER A YEAR on the way before I got it - that also was "no airmail"!!)
Much better would be something like "pay, download, enjoy".
Why don't you at WinCustomize create something like ODNT's Component Manager. Make something like "Wincustomize's Premium Skin Manager"!
I would be the first one to pay for that! How about $60 for one year of premium skin suites, 10 skin suites guaranteed?
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Reply #1 Wednesday, June 13, 2001 10:13 PM
$19.95 US, I'll pay for it,, and let us have a skinning contest for it too!!!
I promise not to submit any of my ugly stuff for the shirt!