At 08:53 AM 15/4/95 -0400, Brian Duncombe wrote:
>that his point is well taken.  If all vendors in the HP3K community were
>rude enough to start shovelling their marketing hype at this list, then we
>would be overcome with the volume.  Since HP already has so many great ways
 
True, HP already have a New Products mail listing, but not all the other
vendors do.  A small plug is okay on this list, but if you happen to miss
it, it is gone.  I certainly don't file such information for long periods.
 
Mr. Sieler has previously gone to some lengths highlighting the short
comings of the Interex Sources publication.  As a vendor I would welcome a
more permanent place to describe my wares, but as a customer I would be even
more pleased to find an electronic source of information.  I certainly
discovered by word of mouth at IPROF some products I wasn't aware of
previously. Maybe these are new products.  Currently, there is a relatively
significant lead time for advertisements in journals like Interact.  Maybe
they just aren't advertised in the few publicatations available here in Oz.
A DEFINITIVE SOURCE would be extremely useful.  Hey, maybe it could even
carry HP products that my sales rep (?!) doesn't know about. :)
 
A Web Page would be elegant, but even a Gopher would be more than
satisfactory, given some type of searching mechanism.  While such a Server
may merely link to others' home pages (eg Robelle, 3K & Assoc, Quest, etc),
it doesn't provide the mechanism to do a valuable qualified search.  (Okay
there are web searchers but, as highlighted before, the results can be
anomalous).
 
I would like to propose there be a electronic forum where any vendor can
either advertise their products and/or provide pointers to their own
services. The forum could have categories such as hardware, software,
consulting, which could be subcategorized into more specific areas.  A
search engine would provide the means to qualify entries.  Such a forum
could provide a minimum listing (eg 100, 1000 words?) while perhaps charging
extra for massive storage associated with graphics or sound.
 
Who could operate this forum?  Well I guess most vendors are out, as it
would require them to carry their competitors products as well.  Perhaps
Interex, but there is the question of availability to non-Interex members,
non-advertising vendors and competition against their own source book.  That
leaves HP customer sites: commercial, government and academic.  Perhaps
there is some commercial attractiveness to making it a stand-alone venture,
but I hardly think so.
 
OTTOMH, I can also see problems with ensuring some voracity in claims (is
there false advertising on the 'Net?), managing the material
(classification), operations, cost recovery, and given the US propensity for
litagation ... copyright, liability, defamation and other legalities.
 
>PLEASE, leave marketing announcements in the magazines, periodicals and
>direct mailers where they belong.
 
I reckon its still all information, and has value, so why not have it on the
'Net?
 
****************** SNAP POLL ************************
 
Does anyone else think this would be worthwhile?
 
E-mail me your comments and I'll summarize and post the results.  If there
is enough interest, perhap there may be someone willing to advance this further.
 
******************************************************
----
Jim "seMPEr" Wowchuk           Internet:    [log in to unmask]
Vanguard Computer Services     Compu$erve:  100036,106
 _--_|\                        Post:        PO Box 18, North Ryde, NSW 2113
/      \                       Phone:       +61 (2) 888-9688
\.--.__/ <---Sydney NSW        Fax:         +61 (2) 888-3056
      v      Australia