Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Thanks to Frontier users!

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:11/26/1998; 8:56:30 AM
Topic:Happy Thanksgiving!
Msg #:518 (In response to 517)
Prev/Next:517 / 519

Dear Frontier users:

All of us here at UserLand thank you!

It's a priviledge to serve you.

That's not an idle statement. We turned a corner this year, going from freeware to commercial software. This was a great thing to do because it gave us the focus that only customers can give. It set up a reward system that works. If we are responsive to your needs, our sales go up. I've seen this in action. Believe me, without this kind of connection, it's easy to drift off the mark.

We talk about support coming from the vendor to the customer, customer support, tech support, but often fail to notice that there's support coming the other way too. Some of the support is financial for sure. But it comes in many other ways, in the form of intelligence and creativity and persistence. Frontier users are pretty self-selecting. You have to be an adventurer to get it. You have to be intelligent and persistent and forgiving. These are very rare qualities, and Frontier users have these qualities in great quantity.

Further, there are so many people who invest much more than their intelligence in Frontier, many many thanks to the people who create new suites, add-ons, DLLs, scriptable apps. Without the work of these people Frontier wouldn't be nearly as rich an environment.

And thanks to the people who answer questions and help newbies climb the curve. And thanks to the people who run the Script Meridian list and website for giving us all a place to explore new ideas and build relationships with other developers. And thanks for evangelism! It's great when people tell other people how empowered they are by our product.

Thanks to Steve Zellers and Leonard Rosenthol for coming back to Frontier and bringing their companies, Apple and Adobe, with them. Thanks to Seth Dillingham for mastering the connection between Quark and Frontier. Thanks to Jim Roepcke for mastering the Microsoft scripting environment, and to Henri Asseilly and Andre Radke and Alan German and Phil Suh and Brian Andresen and the Tallent Brothers, Chuck Shotton, Marc Canter, Matt Neuburg, my god the list just keeps going on and on, and I'm certainly leaving a lot of people out.

I'd also like to thank Doug Baron, Brent Simmons and Bob Bierman. After listing all these other names, it's clear how such a small group of people can get so much done! But these guys, my team, are working so clearly now, so directed, so excited, so smart, we're getting so much done. It just keeps getting better and better!

I'd also like to thank all of you, collectively known as The Frontier Community, for the changes of this last year. I see the biggest change, not in the software, but in the positive attitude. I think we started this year with a big chip on our collective shoulder, then we went thru that, and as we end the year, the chip is melting.

We can do anything we want to do, that's never been the problem, but will we let ourselves achieve success? And what will success look like? Perhaps we're already successful? As James Taylor says, "Singing works just fine for me." What's wrong with making great websites that get better and better? Nothing. Is anyone in our way? Absolutely no one.

It's only thru hard work that corners are turned. Let's see the open space in front of us. 1999 is going to be a year of great accomplishments, for all of us. Let's share that. The future is bright, if we let it be.

Here's a toast to a great 1999!

Dave Winer, President
UserLand Software

PS: Thanks to all the people I can't thank publicly. I wish I could!

There are responses to this message:

This page was archived on 6/13/2001; 4:45:59 PM.

© Copyright 1998-2001 UserLand Software, Inc.