Reviving Quanta

Thinking of joining QUANTA? Post any questions here.
RWAP
RWAP Master
Posts: 2833
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:51 pm
Location: Stone, United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by RWAP »

The QL fails to be widely known and is not a favourite with retro computer users, mainly because it always failed to find a niche in the market really.

Sinclair tried to promote it as a business machine, but businesses found the microdrives too unreliable.

Plenty of games and innovative software / hardware were created for it - just browse the QL WIki for an idea of the wealth of programming for it.

Maybe if we can add some videos to youtube of the games in action that would help promote it to the gaming community - we could then add a feature to the QL Wiki to allow the video to be embedded into the software details.

If we can overcome the copyright issue surrounding magazine scans, then yes, old reviews should be captured and uploaded - they could be easily added to the QL Wiki with a link to a specific review of the game.

It is good to see that this Forum has started to inspire people to take action - now maybe we can inspire people to put themselves forward for the Quanta committee to bring fresh blood and ideas to it - they still need help with their website for example!


User avatar
vanpeebles
Commissario Pebbli
Posts: 2813
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:13 pm
Location: North East UK

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by vanpeebles »

By old reviews I meant ones written to fanzines etc. Like for example an old game review of yours Rich updated with some proper screenshots and send that to retrogamer or retro websites. The same with hardware features, just getting the message out to places that wouldn't normally cover the QL.

What website help do they need? The missus does web design.

The youtube capture, I'll trial tonight.


User avatar
vanpeebles
Commissario Pebbli
Posts: 2813
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:13 pm
Location: North East UK

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by vanpeebles »



User avatar
Sparrowhawk
Super Gold Card
Posts: 624
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:33 pm
Location: @131072
Contact:

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by Sparrowhawk »

I think that actually the main problem is that on the whole, QL users seem rather disinclined to advertise the QL - look at these forums for example. You guys have done a great job setting them up, but where are the active QL users? Rich and Dilwyn have made posts here, and Rich especially has done sterling work answering questions and of course he has the wiki and his own site, as does Dilwyn.

But if you look at the mailing list, there are oodles of active users on there. However hardly any have bothered to introduce themselves in the intros forum or comment on topics here. Reading the mailing list archives, people do know about the forums but seem to prefer email lists. That's all well and good and certainly the list has thrown up many good threads, but we simply will not ever attract new or ex-QLers to the QL scene with a mailing list. It's simply not something that people who use the Internet nowadays would either expect to have to use or even know much about (none of my non-techy friends knew what this was and my techy friends thought it antiquated! :D )

I am not bashing the list. It's just the list is too obscure and too "clunky" (as my neighbour said after I described it to her) to ever attract new users. There's no grab-factor. The same thing with the QUANTA website. When they moved to CMS I had high hopes that it would become a hub for QL information. Months later though, and the site is rarely updated, it has no eye-grabbing images or headlines, and its front page is devoted to committee details instead of some hot news about a new QL derivative or great new software package.

I think as QL users we have to stop expecting others to automatically be interested in a technology that, let's be honest, was fairly marginal even at its peak, and instead make it a welcoming and understandable .

I've written an article for QUANTA which I think is going to be in the next magazine where I say all this plus a few other points, from the view of a returning QLer such as myself. Other things I mention are the oddly high price for QL software where other platforms of this age have cheap to free software (Rich is in the right ballpark with his cheap re-releases of old games though). I have seen things like print drivers being sold for over 20 quid. Print drivers!

Anyway, ramblings over. Even if these forums do not take off, even if Quanta folds, even if the QL descends into the murky depths of forgotten technology, I'll still love the quirky little machine ;)


a.k.a. Jean-Yves
User avatar
vanpeebles
Commissario Pebbli
Posts: 2813
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:13 pm
Location: North East UK

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by vanpeebles »

It' still very early days yet for the forum and we still have avenues for advertising that we have not used yet.

I would say though that forums are a percentage game, on all of the ones I have used over the years you do end up with different types of users. People who post all the time, people who post some of the time, people who only post in response to a direct topic and then people who join to just enjoy reading rather than posting.

Personally I see no reason why the QL can't be a reasonably popular retro style scene that is self supporting. It's a fascinating machine with all kinds of interests to it and the QL people are superb.

The high prices on ebay are odd though, it's like owning a fancy classic car. :lol:


User avatar
Sparrowhawk
Super Gold Card
Posts: 624
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:33 pm
Location: @131072
Contact:

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by Sparrowhawk »

What, you mean it keeps breaking down? :lol:


a.k.a. Jean-Yves
RWAP
RWAP Master
Posts: 2833
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:51 pm
Location: Stone, United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by RWAP »

vanpeebles wrote:http://www.youtube.com/user/QLPeet

The game is afoot!
I have now amended the QL Wiki to support links to Youtube videos - see
http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/i ... nt&lang=en


User avatar
vanpeebles
Commissario Pebbli
Posts: 2813
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:13 pm
Location: North East UK

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by vanpeebles »

That is superb, really brings the whole thing to life.


User avatar
robheaton
Site Admin
Posts: 375
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:50 pm
Location: Ormskirk, UK

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by robheaton »

I'm also looking into a simple way to embed YouTube videos straight into forum posts, plus the ability to subscribe to the forum via Email. (This was suggested by Dilwyn on the mailing list.)

I have also toyed with the idea of setting up an IRC server channel for the QL, would anyone be interested in this??


--
If vanpeebles parps in the woods and there is nobody around, does it make a sound?
RWAP
RWAP Master
Posts: 2833
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 4:51 pm
Location: Stone, United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Reviving Quanta

Post by RWAP »

robheaton wrote:I have also toyed with the idea of setting up an IRC server channel for the QL, would anyone be interested in this??
What is an IRC server channel? Must be some internet tech that has passed me by, or maybe it's just not that popular?


Post Reply