Editorial.....
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 by Jafo | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Posted on Skinbase....but reposted here to provide food for thought for those who may not go there all that often...
hobnobber...yes, basically all that is correct, though a more accurate estimate of those who contribute via skins, purchases, community input/interaction vs. those who only 'leech' for freebies is very much more than the ratio of 25 to 1....perhaps more in the realm of 2500 to 1....and that's the rub.
When skinning was in its infancy, say 5 years ago, it was all new and thrilling to everyone....now it has grown, not so much with newer apps coming on the scene on a daily basis...that was the 'norm' back in skinz.org [mk.1] days, but now the growth is in general interest/popularity, thanks to Microsoft's added awareness of the concept, with its visual styles, etc.
What you get now is many more 'users' but not a heck of a lot new blood in skinning as skinners as such....certainly not a comparable ratio to the popularity growth.
When once the skinners and their 'community' sites could foot the bill for all, as the majority were like-minded skinners themselves, now it's more a case of 'us and them'...the providers of product vs. the users of the product.
The dynamics have changed. With this change comes commercial pressures on everyone involved.
New specifics require new handling.....people need to cater for the changes with methodology that makes the situation survivable or else viability suffers and the reality of the system falls apart.
Change can be horrid and unpalatable but may just be absolutely necessary and unavoidable.
Anyone involved in the game for long enough can see the writing on the wall....even since the dot-com failings of the likes of eFront that killed the first REAL skinning community we have been striving for sustainability.
Anyone with genuine heart-felt feelings for the skinning community as a whole will realise the necessity to not put heads in the sand and blindly hope life will magically go on as normal, but make a conscious effort to find a sustainable model.
Sure, many will arrive at alternate theories of a working model, but until tried no-one will be sure what actually will succeed or not.
All that can be done is to try our collective best, hence many soul-searching threads on the subject of 'the future of skinning' in one form or another on many/most sites.
Poor old Devart has a massive user-base and being a graphics site demands high bandwidth/server load as does any skinning site at their relative levels.
I remember what the world was like before skinning....[my first foray was with Dos GUI shells - pre Windows...then Win 3x and beyond] and would hate to see the whole skinning world fall apart due to ennui or apathy, hence the hands-on involvement.
Let's all look forward to skinning/GUI modification still being not just 'fun', but sustainable in another 5 years, or 50...
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Reply #82 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:06 PM
| Apocalypse_67 - Feline. I'll make sure you are not looking when I print my Timby on his behind |
if you promise not to tell where you got it, i will lend you my spare spanking paddle feline *innocent expression number 28*
i don't need it just at the moment, and a bit of thread cross fertilisation can be refreshing
Reply #83 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:06 PM
What gets me is he attacked a member that is a well respected and to some degree a cornnerstone of WC.
He should he picked on KG. Would have been exiled by now.
Jafo - we still love ya!
Reply #84 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:11 PM
| essencay♣ - It is too bad that Mr. Grant ruined a pretty insightful post from Jafo. I think it time that Mr. Grant find somewhere else to utter his immature nonsense. |
in a way this is a perfect illistration of Jafo's point about the 'us and them'. i remember when (i am starting to say that a lot *slightly concerned expression*) this site was new. the message boards seemed so much more mature back then.
things grow and change over time, and this is one sign of that.
Reply #85 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:11 PM
| Why do I get the feeling this dingbat is some schmuck from TGTsoft that just popped in to *try* to attack the admins? |
Everything is possible. I still think we should keep him as a pet.
We can train him to get the newspaper, roll over and play dead
Reply #86 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:20 PM
Reply #87 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:57 PM
I don't view myself as hostile...more like...William Wallace!
Fight the oppression!
[Message Edited]
Reply #88 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:58 PM
And please do not EVER compare yourself to William Wallace.
He wasn't a troll. >
Reply #89 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:59 PM
| At least I can think for myself and won't kiss up to anyone for the right to post some regurgitated pap on some insignificant little board lost in the middle of the cyber monstrocity. |
Wincustomize is a very popular site in the world my friend...
I would STFU while I was ahead...
Reply #90 Saturday, December 27, 2003 8:04 PM
| Pinthar - I'm not entertaining this Thread any longer |
promise?
Reply #91 Saturday, December 27, 2003 8:05 PM
Reply #93 Saturday, December 27, 2003 9:28 PM
| To get respect you have to give it. |
need i say more
Reply #94 Saturday, December 27, 2003 11:57 PM
| You all follow blindly like mindless servants |
Yes master. Command me master
| without a clue to what's going on in the real world |
Actually I DO live in the real world. I just come here to amuse my self with people like you. TV shows are so boring now a days.
| the right to post some regurgitated pap on some insignificant little board lost in the middle of the cyber monstrocity. |
I always wanted to know where 'cyber monstrocity' was. I guess is here at WC
| do you really think any of this will matter in say three weeks |
Just like your name, it wont matter in less time than that.
| Fight the oppression! |
Is like that 70's stuff all over again
| I'm not entertaining this Thread any longer |
I guess this will mark the end of all that crap generated by his brain and manifested by his keyboard.
Now that the enmity has retreat we can reel back to topics at hand.
Reply #95 Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:04 AM
goodmorphing would like to see Jafo's post transplanted to a new thread for another go. It was a good topic and a shame it derailed.I really should not post when I get that mad. He was, after all, going out of his way to insult a friend in multiple threads.....
goodmorphing promises to count to a hundred next time.
signed
goofmorphing
Reply #96 Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:05 AM
I'm a good example. About 3 weeks ago I saw a PC that was all dressed up like a Mac. I'd never seen anything like that and I wanted my PC to look like a Mac, too.
So I went on a skin search and ended up here. During my search, I found lots of skins that almost did what I wanted, but none that did it all. So I bought Object Desktop and then I put bits and pieces of this one and that one together. But I didn't pay for any of 'em. That doesn't seem right, especially since I plan on having my computer decorated like this for a while. I've got an email out to the author of one particularly good theme offering a donation. IMHO, unless more people are willing to pay for really good themes/skins, there won't be an incentive for the best skinners to keep at it.Jeff
Reply #97 Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:11 AM
Reply #98 Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:18 AM
A new skinner will come into the skinning community eager to share his work for 'free' and with lots of enthusiasm as he/she is learning the skinning process. After a while that skinner will sit back and think about how much time effort and money he/she is spending just to see a bunch of people download with out making any real contribution to the skinning community.
That skinner will find him/her self making less skins to share and at the same time figuring out a way to profit from his work and effort.
So relatively, those that want everything for free without giving anything back will pave the road to a more commercial way of distributing skins.
Reply #99 Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:21 AM
I don't believe that pay-for skins will ever enjoy a widespread user base. Certainly suite packs will be something of an exception, but the majority of users will be content to purchase a site subscription and leave it at that. I also think that most users won't protest at being charged for the privelege of having access to a library of skins. Some will, but they'll prove to be nothing more than a very vocal minority. Personally, I think that the download limit for non-subscribers is set way too high as it is. Instead of having a size limit, I think that a quantity limit would be better. Say 3 free downloads out of each category...after that, you have to subscribe. That will automatically weed out the ones who aren't likely to come back anyway, and will force the ones who want to return regularly to ante up for the privelege.
Reply #100 Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:37 AM
People that really appreciate the work that goes into making these skins would not mind a pay subscription for the privilege to get premium skins. Those that voice for free stuff will be left out and in do times will see their way into the loop.
Let’s face it; you can only give out so many things for free before you eventually find the need to charge.
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Reply #81 Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:04 PM