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-- AvantGo on the ropes? (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=11965)

Rumor has it wireless web company AvantGo is asking people to "resign" rather than laying them off, in an attempt to keep the news from investors.

hmm, you read f---edcompany.com too, huh?

Really sucks, I usually complain about the space apps take up on my Visor... but for some reason my AvantGo total size comes close to 2 MB, and I wish I had more space to get more channels. Although, they do have a limit on channel size.

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what?<br>

For what it's worth, AvantGo is testing some new wireless software so if they are "on the ropes", they're not going down without a fight. I know that they'd have a lot of disappointed users if they did follow the "dot gone" trend.

Ron

I'm curious...how DOES AvantGo make money? They have a great product and a great following, but are they just another one of those "we had a great idea, but, oops...we forgot to put together a feasible revenue model" companies?

From their web site, it looks as if they offer some sort of enterprise software solutions...is that how they make money?

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

They are trying to sell their server to corporate customers.
This is how they plan to make money, not from their
public server. They supposely trying to use their server
to interact with Exchange.

Let's all vote here for AvantGo. It is a great product. Who would be willing to pay for it either upfront or $5/month. This one is worth it. If they continue to falter, Handspring or Handango should take them over. They would have the revenue base to continue it.

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Jeff Schaffer
[email protected]

Vote where?

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what?<br>

I would pay $5 if they can figure out a fast and easy way on how to free up all the "DEAD" weight data I have to endure each time i synch. It would be nice to not have to sit thru 2 meg of downloading when 80% of that "stuffs" are old and crusty. How many people here get annoyed with all the old stuffs on Avantgo? yes it is not their faults if the web sites don't update regularly but I don't care to see 3 weeks old articles on my visor either.

Have you emailed them with suggestions?

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Jeff Schaffer
[email protected]

quote:

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Originally posted by iluvblue
I would pay $5 if they can figure out a fast and easy way on how to free up all the "DEAD" weight data I have to endure each time i synch. It would be nice to not have to sit thru 2 meg of downloading when 80% of that "stuffs" are old and crusty.

---

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James Hromadka
Old Friend

They're supposedly on track to making money.

I personally would NOT pay a monthly fee. Its not like they're providing the content or acting as an ISP for me to get it from them. They simply make it easier for people to manage these websites and thats why people prefer it over iSilo or PenDragon.

Now, if they asked something like $15 for an enhanced version of the software that would be reasonable. Perhaps they could have a deluxe version that supported: copy & paste, web browsing, unlimited channel sizes, 16-bit color, cookies, and forms. Then there would just be a free light version that limited you to 500k-1mb and only allowed you to view that content, no extras.

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

James,

I do tinker with the settings to minimize "dead" data but that only help a tiny little bit and that is my big gripe with this service. My suggestion is to allow users to bookmark each articles they read and wish to remove on the next sync so that is gone FOREVER so it will free up more space and remove any more hassle with tinkering with picking days and sizes that most don't care to do.

I have a friend who works for AvantGo... they have over $100M in the bank, they are pegged this coming year for over a 500% increase in sales (their enterprise product line), and they just signed agreements with a couple of hardware vendors (RIM, for one) to develop clients for.

One VP-level executive just departed a couple of weeks ago... a coincidence? Anyway, AvantGo is far from being f***ed.

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- BaseMan
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"There's a fine line between clever and stupid"
-Nigel Tuffnel, Spinal Tap

quote:

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Originally posted by wforde
They are trying to sell their server to corporate customers.
This is how they plan to make money, not from their
public server. They supposely trying to use their server
to interact with Exchange.

---

__________________
Bret Snyder<BR>If you don't know where you're going,<BR>You'll probably end up somewhere else.

I just recently deleted AvantGo from my PRISM. I used it for months. The combination of OmniSky and all of their optimized channels trumped AvantGo bad. For example, the new CNET 24/7 channel provides up-to-the-minute tech news every time I log on. I don't have to sync the whole list. AvantGo's web browser was nice but Blazer is doing it for me now.

dtplink,

agree completely, can't imagine anyone using Avantgo to stay in touch with the net if he/she subscripe to Yadayada or Omnisky. The boom of wireless internet in the next 3 years can really hurt Avantgo unless they merge/join/sold out to one of the big wireless player out there. The same can be said with the technologies that Pumatech touted, Mind-it. I unsubsribed to Puma intellisync.com services after 2 months because they are even more useless and annoying than Avantgo services.

The big question for the current wireless players and potential wireless players out there are: what do Avantgo or Puma or FusionOne has that consumer would be willing to pay for? Personally, I want wireless synch along with my wireless internet. I want to toss all the cables and craddles in the trash where they belong. The rests of the webclipping stuffs are a waste of my times and spaces on my PDA.

I have Omnisky and love it. For me the $40 per month was steep but I can't get cable internet or dsl where I live so I treat myself to a wireless internet service. I did keep Avantgo for a while after I have my Omnisky service but I quickly figure out that it is just a big waste of space to keep Avantgo once you are connected all the time.

I have yadayada, but still depend on Avantgo. It is
very usefully to be able to still read web pages on
the train, without waiting for the minstrel to get a
signal "on a moving train". I sync right before I
leave home and work, and get to read stuff with out
waiting for a connect.

PS: I do a modem sync over my minstrel at work, so that
i dont need a second cradle.

I deleted AvantGo when I got YadaYada service in November, and just recently reinstalled. Why? Because movie listings, news, and most websites I want available on my Prism aren't updated every 30 seconds, and I can keep the Beast (my Minstrel modem) put away unless I need some dire info or to check my email. Also ICQ once in a while :-) But for the average bit of content, a synched AvantGo page is MUCH faster than waiting for an article to load via Minstrel. This alone is worth the memory space. I have also recently started modem syncing AvantGo via Minstrel, and while this is SO slow, you do have that option. It is effective and much better than being somewhere and thinking you are "wireless" and try to read Yahoo news and can't connect.....AHHHHH! AvantGo gives me the best of both worlds, cached pages AND online capability. I don't think it is an either/or situation at all. I like the idea of an "Enhanced" Avant Go for $15 or so that allowed copy/paste and more deluxe features, and keeping the basic service free for all.

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Once in a while you get shown
the light....

I'm with wforde. Even though I have YY, I don't always have my Minstrel installed. I'm sure that the majority of Visor owners who own a Minstrel don't keep it in all of the time (I could be wrong though). I also often travel to areas that don't have coverage. Lastly, it doesn't take as long to access information that is residing in Avantgo vs. connecting to the Internet with a Minstrel and waiting for a website to load (at 19.2 kbs).

For these reasons, I still use Avantgo to load a few channels every morning. But with AutoSync, it's pretty convenient. I just have to remember to dock it before I go to bed and at 5:30 a.m. it syncs itself. For those interested, AutoSync is part of BackupBuddy.

Ron

I love Avant Go. It is by far my favorite Palm OS App. (Along with JOT and TealDoc).

I'd certainly pay something. It's a great service.

NB:

Even my site is now an official avantgo channel!

The E-Zine on Wine at
marksquires.com

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