New web site - SIO2PC Hardware and more

[atari8warez]

I haven't used IE in years. I only use Netscape. Some sites don't work, but I figure their not worth going to anyway if they don't work with my browser.

 

That's of course a choice you can make. I simply wouldn't tie the worthiness of whatever they are doing simply on their choice of browser support, but that's me anyway.

 

Just an interesting note. On tomshardware, a survey was taken on which browser people use. Firefox come out just ahead by .1% or some small figure like that.

 

 

James

 

Hi James, I am not surprised with that at all. When I think about the readership profile of TH, the word that comes to my mind is "techie". If you asked my girlfriend about "Tom's Hardware", she may simply start grinning from ear to ear .

 

My past experience with "techies" tells me (I had the opportunity to lead them for years) that they usually look at things with a very critical eye, especially when it comes to technology topics (because we know those things better, we are only satisfied with the cutting edge technology - sometimes not satisfied at all -, we are better and smarter programmers than the spaghetti coders of Microsoft, we know what end-users want better than the users themselves etc etc...).

 

But If they asked the same question to the regular Joes and Joneses on the street, I have a feeling that they would have ended up with a totally different result. Unfortunately "techies" are only a small group of browser users.

[atari8warez]

No good deed goes unpunished, warez. I'm not in the market for your product, but I can see value in it for people who do not want to shell out $100 for SIO2PC+APE. I wouldn't hang around debating browsers -- there's no market for your product on these forums. People here roll their own or shop Atarimax.

 

What you want to do is set up a search on ebay that notifies you every time Steve puts a USB SIO2PC up for auction. Put one of yours on to close about an hour later. Use carefully chosen key words to describe your product so that it shows up in every imaginable query.

 

Your web page is poor, though, and you should fix the html. I think you should simplify your product selection too.

 

Your top page needs to communicate what your product will do -- connect an atari to a pc, connect a 1050 to a pc. Then you want to tell people why they want to do this -- especially people who stumble across your auction without really knowing what sio2pc is. Then you can let them select a product and configure it.

 

I applaud your effort. I think it's great that anyone is supporting the A8. I bought Steve Tucker's products and think they are fine, but I think a 'value' option should be welcomed -- not scorned.

 

Best of luck...len!

 

Thank you for your advises and kind words Len, but I should make clear that I am not here to compete with anyone including Steve, so I don't think I will set-up a search to spy on him. In fact I will not sell on eBay much anymore, closed the eBay store and don't have any listings there now. I have enough work to keep me busy. What makes me go is the pleasure I take from building this stuff and knowing people use it and enjoy it and that's what matters to me. Tonight I just finished testing my second 10502PC interface and it's going to be shipped to Germany tomorrow, I already started working on another SIO2PC. So you see I don't even really have time to debate here, but I am just depriving myself from sleep to do it.

 

Couple of notes on your other comments:

 

About the HTML code: When I go looking to a web site, I look for content not for the HTML code that lies beneath. I couldn't care less if it's spaghetti or ravioli behind the scenes. People come to my website for SIO2PC or 10502PC not to "Right Click/View Source"... That thing is reserved for nerds/geeks only...

 

About the top page: This is exactly what the top page is doing, describing the two hardware. I update the pages frequently, so perhaps you haven't seen it lately.

 

Simplifying product selection: Well I only have two products to select as you know SIO2PC and 10502PC. If you mean simplifying the options, I would ask you why you think so. The person who ordered that 10502PC that I am shipping tomorrow chose all the options, including the flat ribbon cable. He wants to be able to connect it internally too if he so desires. So what's wrong with giving people the chance to choose what they want.

 

No market here for me: Why do you think so, some people can roll their own if they want to do so, or buy from somewhere else, I am not trying to convince people to buy anything from me. They will do it if they see value in it as you mentioned. I am not sure how many people are registered here or will register in the future but I can't think of any place better than an ATARI forum to trade in ATARI stuff.

 

Anyway, I am not easily intimidated, I'll take lessons from constructive critisizm if I am convinced but will not just cease and desease when destructive critisizm or nonsense prevails.

[atari8warez]

How is it hijacked? I was on your side, bro.. Chris said he wouldnt buy your interface. All I did was reference a previosu post which I had already made on how easy it is to go do it yourself. Maybe I shouldve added a few words in support of your work. I thought it was kinda obvious, considering the conversation in the thread. Not everyone can use a soldering iron effectively. And those who can are not potential customers of yours.. So I am not trying to hijack anything. If anything, it should serve to give people insight as to what's actually entailed in the SIO2PC.

 

Dunno man, the subject seemed to be browsers, my awfull web site, my ignorance about web design, my spaghetti code, interesting site statistics, etc etc.. SIO2PC seemed to have little importance even though the thread was actually started to let people know about the additions I made to it

Anyway, don't take it seriously, I don't.

[WizWor]

About the HTML code: When I go looking to a web site, I look for content not for the HTML code that lies beneath. I couldn't care less if it's spaghetti or ravioli behind the scenes. People come to my website for SIO2PC or 10502PC not to "Right Click/View Source"... That thing is reserved for nerds/geeks only...

That's fine, but an unattractive or dysfunctional page reflects on the merchant and the product. You don't have to know html to create compliant code. In fact, I recommend you consider a free MicrosoftLive account. You can easily create compliant pages using their editor plus the account and domain are free.

About the top page: This is exactly what the top page is doing, describing the two hardware. I update the pages frequently, so perhaps you haven't seen it lately.

I'm looking at it now. I think it's too busy...

 

Connect your Atari to a PC for $29.99

- play hundreds of free games on a real atari

- no assembly required

 

that's all you need. Tabs for forums and products that do not exist clutter the page. Unexpected audio is rarely welcome and no one wants to install plugins

Simplifying product selection: Well I only have two products to select as you know SIO2PC and 10502PC. If you mean simplifying the options, I would ask you why you think so. The person who ordered that 10502PC that I am shipping tomorrow chose all the options, including the flat ribbon cable. He wants to be able to connect it internally too if he so desires. So what's wrong with giving people the chance to choose what they want.

Well, you only have one product, really. 10502PC is coming soon. And you have a list of software on the left. How many SIO2PCs have you sold that are not externally connected with a male SIO on end and a female db9 on the other? That's your product. You can put a customize button on the page to give people what they want.

 

I'd settle on one free software package and support it well. Should be a free product, not a trial, and you should make it clear that you are supporting not selling the software.

No market here for me: Why do you think so, some people can roll their own if they want to do so, or buy from somewhere else, I am not trying to convince people to buy anything from me. They will do it if they see value in it as you mentioned. I am not sure how many people are registered here or will register in the future but I can't think of any place better than an ATARI forum to trade in ATARI stuff.

This forum is not for selling things. AtariAge actually has a Marketplace forum. That would be a better place to market your product. You could also search forums for requests for inexpensive SIO alternatives and respond politely (if rules allow) that you have a product. You could also put your web in your sig and quietly participate in the forums. For the people who post here, you'd probably see more demand for a bag'o'parts for cheap than an assembled kit -- these people make laptops out of A8s!

Anyway, I am not easily intimidated, I'll take lessons from constructive critisizm if I am convinced but will not just cease and desease when destructive critisizm or nonsense prevails.

Unless you are doing this as a hobby, your objective is to sell parts at as high a markup as the market will bear. Best way to do this is to get in front of the people who are most likely to purchase your products and position your product favorably against the competition (in this case, AtariMax). All the rest is just unproductive.

 

Good luck!

[nathanallan]

I've been watching this thread, and I really don't see what the big fuss is about. If the page fulfills the purpose, then cool, it works. I don't know much about cooking, but it didn't look like pasta over there. I have win2k and Firefox, and it worked okay. I didn't try to debug the page, either.

 

I can totally understand a hobbyist sharing his hobby and hooking up hardware for fellow hobbyists. And if it can be done cheap then good. Even if it can be done not cheap, good too.

 

The sio2pc looks cool, and I can't wait to get one, myself. From atari8warez. I'll get other stuff from Atarimax, for sure, but I don't really see these two as competitors. Whatever.

 

Party on atari8warez! Party on atarimax!

 

Nathan

[atari8warez]

That's fine, but an unattractive or dysfunctional page reflects on the merchant and the product.

 

"Unattractive" is a personal opinion, may not be attractive to you but you can't comment for others so I don't agree with you on this statement. Besides I am not a web design artist, I only do it to sell and support the products.

 

"Dysfunctional", I also tend to disagree. Pages work fine, ordering process works fine. People already purchased stuff using those pages. So I would say they are functional.

 

"I'm looking at it now. I think it's too busy..."

I agree it's busy but part of the reason is to give people information about the hardware, not everybody knows what SIO2PC/10502PC is, even in these forums I've seen questions asked for those pieces of hardware.

 

"Tabs for forums and products that do not exist clutter the page. Unexpected audio is rarely welcome and no one wants to install plugins "

Tabs are there because those pages will be filled very soon. Audio takes only 2 seconds to play and it's does not loop so I don't think it's bothersome. True, non IE users will need to install a plug-in

 

"Well, you only have one product, really. 10502PC is coming soon. And you have a list of software on the left. How many SIO2PCs have you sold that are not externally connected with a male SIO on end and a female db9 on the other? That's your product. You can put a customize button on the page to give people what they want."

 

Resfresh your browser page, I have two separate pages, one for SIO2PC the Other one is for 10502PC, and I already mentioned 2 people already bought 10502PC using that page. All the SIO2PC's that I've sold so far had a MALE DB9 on one end and a FEMALE SIO plug on the other (but I didn't have the options then), I offer a FEMALE DB9 option for people who may want to use a male ended serial cable. One 10502PC purchaser for example selected the FEMALE option. I went to great lengths of inconvenience to do that. I had to re-design the board to support FEMALE DB9 option as you know all that well the FEMALE DB9 has it's board side pins reversed.

 

"I'd settle on one free software package and support it well. Should be a free product, not a trial, and you should make it clear that you are supporting not selling the software."

 

There are two free software products people can use with SIO2PC, one is the older DOS based SIO2PC by Nick Kennedy, and the other one is the Windows based ATARI810 by Dan Vernon. Dan's product is not complete and lacks some of the features APE for Windows provides for a fee. But it's an excellent choice for people who don't need those extras. And it works faster under Windows than the trial version of APE. It also works with a Serial-USB type adaptor on computers with USB port only (only up to 2 x SIO speed). That's what I will be supporting in the future. Right now though I simply put the links for people to DOWNLOAD whichever software they choose whether free or trial. DOWNLOAD means I DO NOT SELL THE SOFTWARE, I guess this should be clear enough but if it's not then I'll add some explanation in my Support Page.

 

 

"This forum is not for selling things. AtariAge actually has a Marketplace forum. That would be a better place to market your product. You could also search forums for requests for inexpensive SIO alternatives and respond politely (if rules allow) that you have a product. You could also put your web in your sig and quietly participate in the forums. For the people who post here, you'd probably see more demand for a bag'o'parts for cheap than an assembled kit -- these people make laptops out of A8s!"

 

Yes nice laptops, I really liked what Beetle did with his. I know that this is not the forum to sell things. However if you look at the original message at the beginning of the thread, it was really a web site announcement. And since this is an ATARI 8 bit computer related announcement, I 've made it here.

But thank you for reminding me about the forum etiquettes. And yes I am doing this as a HOBBY, but I take my hobby seriously.

 

"Good luck!"

 

Thank you

Edited October 25, 2007 by atari8warez

[atari8warez]

I've been watching this thread, and I really don't see what the big fuss is about. If the page fulfills the purpose, then cool, it works. I don't know much about cooking, but it didn't look like pasta over there. I have win2k and Firefox, and it worked okay. I didn't try to debug the page, either.

 

I can totally understand a hobbyist sharing his hobby and hooking up hardware for fellow hobbyists. And if it can be done cheap then good. Even if it can be done not cheap, good too.

 

The sio2pc looks cool, and I can't wait to get one, myself. From atari8warez. I'll get other stuff from Atarimax, for sure, but I don't really see these two as competitors. Whatever.

 

Party on atari8warez! Party on atarimax!

 

Nathan

 

Exactly Nat, I don't see it either, nice to hear something positive for a change, I work really hard to make these boards as good as they can be, so a little appreciation goes a long way. much longer than the few bucks I am making from these things. When I am paying $8 + shipping for each SIO cable that I buy for these interfaces, plus the labor I put into for cutting, soldering etc. one really wonders whether this is a worthwhile occupation. I am fortunate enough to have income that supports me for living. No amount of SIO2PC sales would be enough to pay my $1500/month mortgage on the house :-).

 

Cheers man.

Ray

Edited October 25, 2007 by atari8warez