Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!orc!bu.edu!xylogics!samsung!know!slug!wex From: wex@dali.pws.bull.com (Buckaroo Banzai) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Info on Lotus Marketplace Message-ID: Date: 30 Nov 90 16:06:54 GMT Sender: news@pws.bull.com Distribution: comp Organization: Bull Worldwide Information Systems Inc. Lines: 85 Nntp-Posting-Host: dali.pws.bull.com I attended a presentation last night (11/29/90) made by the people who have developed the (extensive, multimedia) on-line help system that ships with Lotus Marketplace, Business (LMB). Although this group is not the place for repeating the user-interface and human factors items that were the main focus of the discussion, I did manage to glean some facts of interest. [Note that these are from my notes taken at high speed, plus a one-sheet marketing glossy. Any errors are my own.] LMB is distributed on a chock-full CD-ROM. There's 650 Meg of data, compressed down from a 2 Gig original. The data is "heavily encoded." They wouldn't say, but my guess is that they're using the DES encryption code from Lotus Notes. The CD is released quarterly; the purchase price of $695 (retail) gets you one issue (but see below). You can get 4 updates for $150. LMB is implemented as a Hypercard stack. Lotus had access to prerelease versions of Hypercard 2.0. All information can be exported as ASCII; some info can be exported in other program's formats (presumably database, DTP and spreadsheet programs). There is extensive on-line help (65+meg of on-line manual, tutorials, multi- media "movies") because the end user is assumed to be almost completely computer-naive. "Desktop marketing," the niche Lotus is trying to create, is where DTP was when it first came out - lots of people know about the domain, but they're largely unaware of desktop computers. The process of generating a list from LMB goes in three steps. First you define the list (or call up a saved list). List definition can be by any data field (e.g. $$ (income or sales revenue), type of business [standard industrial classification], location [Zip Code], area code, etc.) Users can also do sorts, merges, and joins on their list to expand or shrink it. The result of step 1 is a list of how many items the database contains that match your criteria. Once you have the list, you can go to step 2, which allows you to preview and analyze the list. The data can be previewed in standard formats, or you can do a custom, two-level breakdown of the data, sorted by any field. At any point during steps 1 & 2 you can save the list (as ASCII). Analyzed lists cannot be re-opened by LMB. Once you're happy with this, you then "buy" the names on the list. Once you've bought it, you can manipulate the "real" data, producing mailing labels, phone lists, reports, etc. You can also export the data as ASCII or other programs' formats. LMB has introduced a really innovative feature in the way you buy lists. Included in LMB is a postage-meter-like counter. It comes loaded with 5000 names. Each time you buy a list, the number of names on that list is subtracted from your meter. Once you've bought a set of names, you own it and can use it as many times as you like. At any time, you can call up Lotus with your credit card or purchase order and get meter increments (at $400/5K names - dirt cheap compared with the per-name costs of standard mailing lists). This buying of name-credits can be done at any time, independent of which version of the CDROM you have. Another interesting feature is that when you buy the LMB box from a software retailer, the disk that you get contains *bogus data*. You have to fill out and fax/mail in a form to get the real CD. This is done for two main reasons: 1) users will always get the latest version of the database, even if the box has sat on the shelves for years. 2) Lotus will use this mechanism to "control" who gets the list. For LMB, the name of the business calling in will be matched against a "list of known fraudulent businesses" provided by "credit bureaus and the Better Business Bureau." Lotus delayed releasing LMB until their lawyers verified that it was legal for them to refuse selectively to sell the software if they refunded the purchase price. They plan to use a similar scheme of "control" with Lotus Marketplace, Households (LMH). That version (available 1Q91) does not include phone numbers, and will contain information on "120 million people and 80 million U.S. households." The information supplied with LMB is licensed from Trinet, Inc. The info for LMH comes from Equifax Marketing Decision Systems, Inc. -- --Alan Wexelblat phone: (508)294-7485 Bull Worldwide Information Systems internet: wex@spdcc.com (for now) What I have on my desk is a 386 copralite.