"Gerben Dirksen" <gerben@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:bit9pa$rk$06$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Peter Clinch" <doublesqueeze@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> schreef in bericht
news:50e18684.0308310509.48cf714b@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Replying to Warwick Todd's message (sorry, Google wouldn't let me
> respond in the string):
>
> There is no doubt that there has been a ****ft in market share from
> OKBridge to BBO. Largely that has been prompted by the well-known and
> excellent VuGraph presentations of major events, and the pride and
> dedication Fred Gitelman takes in his product. Also one other tiny
> factor (see below).
>
> From a perusal of names, it does seem that some existing and past OKB
> members either run sessions concurrently (as I do), or have let their
> OKB member****p lapse and are now exclusively on BBO. Some, like Roland
> Wald, were once extremely active on OKB, but now have ploughed their
> energies apparently entirely into BBO. It does seem that BBO has
> attracted some new and very well-known players to the online game, at
> least as spectators.
>
> Should we applaud the general trend? I don't think so. The founders of
> OKB and its staff seem to me to be equally dedicated to their task.
> They have made huge strides in confronting some of the less palatable
> aspects of online bridge in the past couple of years. The interface
> remains pretty good, and is at least competitive with BBO's. There is,
> however, one massive advantage BBO has over OKB - it costs nothing.
> This isn't, as far as I'm aware, because the operating overheads of
> BBO are significantly less than OKB - it's because there is huge
> subsidisation. While I can appreciate that the intent of this may be
> to attract new players to the game, one effect is to initiate the slow
> death of OKB. If the subsidy stops, players will have been set an
> expectation that no other service will be able to duplicate. By that
> time, there may be very little competition left.
>
> I actually think both OKB and BBO have a lot to offer. I do, however,
> believe that the health of the game will decline if OKB is unable to
> sustain itself as a competitor.
>
> Peter.
> Forest Hills, New York.
I am sure that OKBridge will survive if they take the right tactical
decisions. Perhaps they should lower their price, and make sure that what
they have to offer exceeds that of BBO. It is normal that when a
competitor
arrives, that the others in the niche will suffer a bit.
Fred Gitelman's formula works and he has proven it, and I think he's doing
great work. It is not his goal to get rid of OKBridge, and suggesting that
is not very nice of you. A couple of years ago almost everything on the
internet was for free, or companies would give you gifts if only you
joined
them, this formula still works.
* Extreme example *
An ICT company in the Netherlands offered a gift worth $100 if only you
came
over for a day to apply for a job.
Free? Yes. Smart? Yes. Unfair? No.
For ICT, this boom has past. For Internet Bridge, is apparently has not.
Gerben
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