Components vs. books
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
From a programmers perspective I like the idea very much. Drinking In The Sun Forgot Password?
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
I think Component Source already does something similiar to this bibamus, edamus, cras moriemur
[eat, drink, for tomorrow we die]
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
Hmm. I can't recall any specific right now, but I do believe this already exists right now... Concussus surgo. When struck I rise.
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
That is a very thoughtful idea, and I can see merit to it. I'm unsure how it fit's into the .NET scheme but with COM it would have made a lot of sense. The royalty model seems to have disappeared these days with lone coders. I mentioned it here at CP a year or so ago, and there were responses like. "How do you get royalties?". Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
You are the intrepid one, always willing to leap into the fray! A serious character flaw, I might add, but entertaining. Said by Roger Wright about me.
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I think Component Source already does something similiar to this bibamus, edamus, cras moriemur
[eat, drink, for tomorrow we die]
Thanks for the feedback - ComponentSource will sell your component but you still have to provide the support, do the marketing, and generally be much more involved with the product than you would when writing a book. Many potential component authors are people or companies who have created something of great value, but who have regular activity that prevents them from turning this into their complete focus. I think companies like ComponentSource certainly have much value, but what I was thinking was something in between what ComponentSource does and having a do-everyting-yourself component company.
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
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That is a very thoughtful idea, and I can see merit to it. I'm unsure how it fit's into the .NET scheme but with COM it would have made a lot of sense. The royalty model seems to have disappeared these days with lone coders. I mentioned it here at CP a year or so ago, and there were responses like. "How do you get royalties?". Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
You are the intrepid one, always willing to leap into the fray! A serious character flaw, I might add, but entertaining. Said by Roger Wright about me.
Yeah, there are some very smart people out there (and, actually, right here on CP) who wouldn't mind spending some reasonable effort for a nice stream of additional income. One potential problem is the scope/size of the components - with books there is a general acceptance that it should be something between 200 and 1000 pages and the price will be somewhere between $20 and $100. With components everything seems much more random.
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
To me this looks like a company where programmers get to keep the copyright. No go. Kind Regards, Tomaz
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Yeah, there are some very smart people out there (and, actually, right here on CP) who wouldn't mind spending some reasonable effort for a nice stream of additional income. One potential problem is the scope/size of the components - with books there is a general acceptance that it should be something between 200 and 1000 pages and the price will be somewhere between $20 and $100. With components everything seems much more random.
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
Mike Sax wrote: With components everything seems much more random. Yes, I think that is the nature of it now. I don't think components of very high value would sell well in this system. But nmore components in mass. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
You are the intrepid one, always willing to leap into the fray! A serious character flaw, I might add, but entertaining. Said by Roger Wright about me.
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To me this looks like a company where programmers get to keep the copyright. No go. Kind Regards, Tomaz
Why is that bad? All you need to do is put up a contract which says "The programmer cannot do X or Y with the source code while this contract is valid". What if it turns out the publishing company sucks at promoting the component(s)? Then, I as a programmer, sure would like the ability to break the contract and sell the software myself. Hell, maybe I'd like to use the component myself in an application. Would I have to pay for it?! Programmers should IMHO retain copyright, while promise (contract) not to distribute the code/component anywhere else given some conditions. FreeBSD is sexy. Getting closer and closer to actually submit an article...
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I don't think there's a better group than the Code Project crowd to give feedback on an idea that has been "bugging" me for quite a while: What if there would be a component publisher who works in a way that is very similar to a book publisher: Publish components, and pay royalties to the author. The author would bring some unique knowledge, a finished work, and perhaps his reputation. The publisher would bring infrastructure to "productize" the component (similar to proving toc, index, formatting, channels, promotion, etc.), and guarantee the continued support for the component to customers. Any feedback on this idea, both from a potential author and as a potential buyer of these types of components, would be greatly appreciated. The potential size of projects like this is also very interesting: some projects are small enough that you'd post them on a site like Code Project. Other projects may turn out to be so significant that you'd want to get compensated for them in some way. People have written software for royalties for a long time, but the idea of treating it essentially like a book, with the author still keeping her "identity" and sharing a specific set of expert knowledge seems very intriguing. Thanks!
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
Sounds a good idea to me -- I've often considered putting a significant amount of time into improving code I'd written with the aim of possibly selling it to others. The main issue I'd always had was that I would be responsible for supporting it. I have no problem with maintaining code, fixing bugs, adding features etc., but it was the idea that I would have to offer support all the time when I may be completely involved with something else. As somebody has mentioned, how is copyright apportioned, and how is the responsibility for the code separated. Assuming the Company provided support for products, how do you provide support without having to learn about a product etc. Or would the Company's job be purely one of selling the component, dealing with the majority of the issues and then forwarding on bits to the developer. One thing could be considered is the site incorporating a bug fix log/knowledgebase bit etc. where issues could be logged by the Company in question, and then the developer could fix them, at the same time customers being able to view current bugs etc. Its a great idea, and one that I personally would quite like to see, but I'm not sure whether it would be possible to start an entirely new Company from it, possibly more of an extension to an existing Company like ComponentSource. I'm sure this idea could be thrashed around some more, as it definitely sounds interesting. -- Paul "It's always the last drink that kills you." [a wise man] MS Messenger: paul@oobaloo.co.uk Sonork: 100.22446
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Thanks for the feedback - ComponentSource will sell your component but you still have to provide the support, do the marketing, and generally be much more involved with the product than you would when writing a book. Many potential component authors are people or companies who have created something of great value, but who have regular activity that prevents them from turning this into their complete focus. I think companies like ComponentSource certainly have much value, but what I was thinking was something in between what ComponentSource does and having a do-everyting-yourself component company.
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
As a developer/publisher I found ComponentSource too expensive for my liking. The entry fee is too high and so is there take of each sale. I certainly think your idea has merit but I wonder how viable it is. There is no question that there is a huge wealth of untapped progamming tallent out there who have the potential to produce usefull quality components, if they can be motivated and their tallents harnessed. Unfortunately some programmers can be very difficult to work with re. business relationships. They have no idea what is involved in marketing and selling a product. Asynchrony.com http://www.asynchrony.com/welcome.jsp[^]have been doing something along these lines but I have no idea how successful they are. I think I'm right in saying that the XTreme Toolkit http://www.codejock.com[^]started life as a collection of code from CodeGuru.com Last time I looked at this it was a hodge podge of badly documented code. Posts here at CP appear to indicate nothing much has changed. I think there are good opportunities for people to provide marketing and sales expertise to software developers. I'm not aware of people doing this. I'm certainly interested to see where you go with this. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. www.getsoft.com