                             STANCE.TXT


    Here is my stance on the future of LVL. Last issue I said at the
    beginning of LVLDOC17.DOC that LVL would continue...well I ain't so
    sure anymore. I've had nary a registration or disk order. (Put it this
    way, the amount is under 5 in each category) As for feedback (No $
    involved) from users AND authors combined, it comes out to less than
    10. So you can see I am less than thrilled. Those are the cumulative
    statistics since LVL was started. Having received only 1 piece of mail
    (Disk order) relating to LVL in the past month.

    I KNOW people download LVL. Taken from download counts on bulletin
    boards, on-line services, and occasional messaging with people through
    message networks. So what is going on? Beats me. What is really
    saddening is that from WA state, I have received 1 disk order, and
    NOTHING ELSE. WA state is supposedly where shareware started, and where
    I live also, so it is where LVL is distributed the most, and the
    fastest. But how come so little feedback...I have NO IDEA. Do people
    not like LVL? No use for it? Well doesn't seem to be that way, as the
    download counts on most of the boards are constant more or less for
    every issue. Probably meaning the same people are usually downloading
    it.

    Here are some inherent problems I have thought of that could be the
    cause:
    Is LVL not updated fast enough? Are there not enough programs in it?
    Is the data inaccurate?
      This issue has 560+ programs, and blanks for the categories are
      quickly being filled in. The data has been checked many times for
      mistakes. If people want something improved they should WRITE or CALL
      the author. This doesn't seem to be the case though.

    Well if none of the above aren't problems, then what is? I've thought
    of only one thing. Aside from lazyness of mailing a letter out or
    registering software (The major reason some authors cripple their
    programs in some fashion or another) it is the idea that people have
    in their heads, of why should they send comments or register? After all
    there are so many other people out there, that their sure someone
    else will do it. BUT THAT ISN'T THE CASE! If you use/like something,
    it is up to YOU to write the author. You can't rely on other people
    to do it, because they don't! It has to be YOU. Many a fine shareware
    program has ended with this type of demise. Sure there are success
    stories which may lead you to believe that a lot of people do indeed
    register, but keep in mind, many (Not all) of those programs were out
    when shareware first came about. There weren't nearly as many programs
    to choose from, so those authors captured a larger following.


    I do feel a sense of pride though in my work/ideas. It has spawned a
    whole new generation of media for shareware. At least I'm pretty sure
    it has. I was the one who started AUTHOR INTERVIEWS (Not the idea of
    an interview itself, but the idea that it would be neat to send a form
    to a shareware author, and have him/her fill it out, and distribute it)
    Also SHAREWARE RUMORS. A text file describing the latest happenings
    and interesting tid-bits in the shareware world.

    Both of the above ideas have since been copied by others (W/O giving
    me credit for the idea) and used as part of subscription based
    newsletters. Which has me really ticked off. I won't mention any names.
    At least for now, no one has copied the idea of the LIST. I think
    that would be too tough a job for someone to mimic anyhow.

    In the future, I've had big plans for LVL, but very few people really
    seem to care. What's wrong public!? Sadly, LVL WILL NOT be distributed
    on BBSs anymore. Only by subscription, or to good friends. The cost
    of distributing and the time it takes to maintain an accurate list is
    just too much. I can't devote the time and $ w/o user support. I want
    to learn C (Programming language), but have not had the time due to
    maintenance of LVL. I guess that will soon change. :-(  For those
    people who might subscribe, I'll continue to update the list as I
    normally always do. (I don't have to worry though at the moment, I have
    no users that will receive an issue after this one, because I haven't
    gotten any more $)  I was hoping possibly I would get enough money
    to help purchase a HST 1441 modem, or something in that genre, as there
    are many programs on boards I would like to evaluate, and give ratings,
    but at 2400, they don't come easily. That sure ain't going to be
    realized unless there is a dramatic turn around.

    Just as I was starting to increase distribution even more around the
    country, wham-o. No return for my time....this is going to be my one
    last ditch effort.

    Hope I haven't left out anything....hope to hear from YOU.
