My intro Guide to the QL

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Peter
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Peter »

Indeed the Q68 requires a five step approach :P

1. Surf the web until you notice the Q68 exists at all
2. Search for the Q68 until you see it mentioned in the QL forum
3. Search the QL forum until you find the "Q68 Order Process" topic
4. Become a forum member
5. Write a personal message to Derek

That sounds sarcastic. But I think it is legitimate for a hobbyist project not to aim at publicity.
For a computer that is not advertised, has no website, and comes as a successor to a "failed" 35 year old british machine, the demand for Q68 exceeds everything I expected. ;)


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Chr$
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Chr$ »

Yes indeed, Derek may not want or be able to deal with the thousands of sudden orders for one through better availability/awareness!


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Derek_Stewart
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Derek_Stewart »

Hi,

I doubt there would thousands of people wanting a Q68.

But with some advertising maybe a few more, but there is only Quanta Mag left, which is published very infrequently.

I am about to submit a Q68 overview to Quanta, no idea of the publiish date.

I am looking to create a Q68 info web page on a free WIX or msybe on a Liunux box on my network..


Regards,

Derek
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Chr$
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Chr$ »

If you want to promote and sell your stuff, a publishing date for any prospective ad is always nice to have.

Do a google adwords campaign, cleverly targeted at people over 40 that are interested in computing in general. Ask if you can sponsor a banner at the top (or somewhere) on this forum, linking to a special landing page with a direct link to pay via Paypal with dropdowns for the purchase options. Sorted.

I'm going to probably get into trouble now, but isn't Quanta pretty much dead these days? There surely aren't really all that many new things QL related going on to warrant the continued fuss?

(no offence to Quanta and the fabulous QL support and encouragement they have provided over the years - it looks absolutely remarkable and probably well up there in the top echelons of providing support and info etc for any type of computer, ever).

People nowadays tend to look for info and also usually get the answers they need online, in this forum for example. I certainly have. The Quanta archive is no doubt an invaluable resource for info, in fact I've found myself finding out things in old digital copies of various magazines, too - so that should perhaps all be easily searchable and easily available, in an ideal world.

The whole concept of clubs with treasurers, chairpersons, secretary, committee and umpteen other people is like some relic of bygone days when you could only get answers to questions or promote your new products by writing into a periodical and getting them to knock up something for print. I wish sometimes that it was still like that, but things have moved on. I don't think all that many new QL users (myself included) are likely to pay any money for an infrequent email containing a pdf file (yes, I'm sure there are additional benefits to membership). It really is a shame, but it's just the way things are.

I may be completely wrong, I often am. Perhaps there are certain QL Tinkerers for which Quanta still appeals to very much and the club and its 100 or so members may be perfectly happy with the way things are and that's fine. It is after all, and always will be, a very niche subject with practically no realistic prospect of growth!

Am I going to get totally flamed now and instantly banned!?
Last edited by Chr$ on Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.


https://QXL.WIN
Collector of QL related computers, accessories and QL games/software.
Ask me about felt pads - I can cut them to size and they have proved excellent for mdv data recovery.
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vanpeebles
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by vanpeebles »

Chr$ wrote:Am I going to get totally flamed now and instantly banned!?
Yes! Muhahahahah!! No! I mean no! :lol:


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SinclairSociety
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by SinclairSociety »

Chr$ wrote:
The whole concept of clubs with treasurers, chairpersons, secretary, committee and umpteen other people is like some relic of bygone days when you could only get answers to questions or promote your new products by writing into a periodical and getting them to knock up something for print. I wish sometimes that it was still like that, but things have moved on. I don't think all that many new QL users (myself included) are likely to pay any money for an infrequent email containing a pdf file (yes, I'm sure there are additional benefits to membership). It really is a shame, but it's just the way things are.
Not sure clubs should be considered relics of the past, as actual person to person contact is still a good thing, and there are still clubs alive. I mean attend any retro computer event and many times there is a group or club behind it. The club may be quite smaller than computer clubs of the 80s but there is still value in them staying alive.

Sure periodicals are being more and more downloadable versus printed media but print has not fully died yet, and I hope it does not.

Most folks want instant gratification these days so flock to Social Media sites and even our forums are taking a hit from that, but forums are still around and is the best resource for searchable data and questions and answers. I prefer Social Media sites to meet new folks and do quick little tidbits but prefer forums and even clubs to get to the nitty gritty.

TJ


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Colwob
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Colwob »

Hi Derek,

You've very kindly sent me a PM on this topic but, as a newcomer to the forum, I can read your message but am not allowed to respond to it. If you are willing, could you PM me an email address I can respond to please?

Thanks,

Colin (Colwob)


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vanpeebles
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by vanpeebles »

Colwob wrote:Hi Derek,

You've very kindly sent me a PM on this topic but, as a newcomer to the forum, I can read your message but am not allowed to respond to it. If you are willing, could you PM me an email address I can respond to please?

Thanks,

Colin (Colwob)
PM’s will be active, you just need to make a few posts :)


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Chr$
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Chr$ »

SinclairSociety wrote:
Not sure clubs should be considered relics of the past, as actual person to person contact is still a good thing, and there are still clubs alive. I mean attend any retro computer event and many times there is a group or club behind it. The club may be quite smaller than computer clubs of the 80s but there is still value in them staying alive.

Sure periodicals are being more and more downloadable versus printed media but print has not fully died yet, and I hope it does not.

Most folks want instant gratification these days so flock to Social Media sites and even our forums are taking a hit from that, but forums are still around and is the best resource for searchable data and questions and answers. I prefer Social Media sites to meet new folks and do quick little tidbits but prefer forums and even clubs to get to the nitty gritty.

TJ
You're absolutely right. Clubs where people meet, that's a good thing for actually seeing people and of course their QL equipment. I personally also believe there is value in them stayin' alive, but perhaps in a different form. Like I say though, if everyone is perfectly ok with how it is, then who am I to criticise.

I know that one or two QL aficionados are on Facebook, but I don't think I'd ever want to ask anything specific on there. I actually run a completely unrelated-to-computers fb group with 12k members and it's usually all quite basic stuff that goes on within it, mostly trouble free but very much for the masses and nothing much even slightly advanced within the subject matter seems to get any attention and 95% of the questions seem to be the same stuff that 100 people have asked/said before and that can be found out in 30 secs from a google search! Also, everything on social media is quickly forgotten about and sometimes not easy to find again, as you say. Forums like this are certainly the best place to ask questions of a technical nature (even though I suspect some of my questions have also been asked 100 times already :S)!


https://QXL.WIN
Collector of QL related computers, accessories and QL games/software.
Ask me about felt pads - I can cut them to size and they have proved excellent for mdv data recovery.
Derek_Stewart
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Re: My intro Guide to the QL

Post by Derek_Stewart »

Hi,

I did not mean to start a flame war... But I meant the only QL publication is the Quanta Magazine.

I do look at Facebook, but do not like the Facebook policy of tracking users... Have to switch off the paranoid switch.

I will put together a simple one page web page on a web server, probably s LAMP server on my LAN Raid server.


Regards,

Derek
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