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I think you are right on target with this one, Faith. I've had my
"wonderments," too.
On Thu, 29 Sep 1994, Faith Weber wrote:
> WARNING: Long rant by soon-to-be-ex Ventura user ahead!
> >If Corel is listening, hope they're listening closely.
> Me too, but the problem is, I don't think Corel gives a
> (substitute your favorite vulgar thing) about existing Ventura
> users. I think what they want is new CorelDRAW! users, period.
> If some publishing capabilities attract some additional people
> to CorelDRAW!, fine -- but Corel is not selling a publishing
> package, they're selling a graphics package with some publishing
> capabilities. There's a big difference, IMO.
> If you look at the ads for CorelDRAW! 5, you may notice that there's
> a teeny weeny little reference to Ventura in there somewhere, among
> the whiz-bang neat graphics features, clip art, etc., etc. If
> Ventura and its users were so important to Corel, I think you'd
> see ads where Ventura is a major selling point -- if not sold
> separately, for big bucks. I'd bet that if they felt they *could*
> sell it separately for big bucks, they'd cheerfully do so, which
> to me seems like another grim clue.
> This plus Ventura's shortcomings and Frame's merits tilted the
> scales pretty hard. Then when I called Corel in March or April for
> literature on Ventura, it took them about 3 months to send it, and
> because I'd called to say I hadn't received it after a month, they
> ended up sending two copies. And when we recently looked for a contractor,
> we had one heck of a time finding anyone who knew Ventura. In fact,
> the agency we use asked me point blank: "I could get you 20 people
> who know FrameMaker. Why do you use Ventura?"
> When Seybold came along, I thought, great: let's go hassle Corel
> and find out what the real story is. But, whoops, they weren't there.
> (For those who don't work in software, failing to attend a major
> trade show for your primary market is a fairly negative sign.)
> All the other major publishing systems were there, including
> Frame, which had a large booth with comfy chairs for their
> demos every half-hour, displays showing off various custom applications
> developed by third parties, and chocolate fortune cookies for anyone
> willing to sit through a demo. More important, they were giving out
> their 600+ page book, _Frame Connections_, containing all the
> software and services specifically supporting Frame. Will we have
> resources like that for Ventura anytime soon? I think not.
> Maybe Corel is just laying low until they figure out what to do with
> Ventura, but I doubt it. Sucking it into their graphics package
> implies that they see Ventura as a set of features for CorelDRAW!,
> not a product. Also, if they saw it as a product, they'd be trying to
> compete with the likes of Frame, and they're not doing that judging
> by any of the advertising, etc. I've seen.
> Just some things to consider for anyone wondering whether Ventura
> has a future. Thanks for putting up with my rantings . . .
> Faith Weber
> EA Systems Inc.
> weber -at- easi -dot- enet -dot- dec -dot- com
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