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Codeweavers - no good deed goes unpunished

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40hz:
Did you grab your copy of CrossOver when you had the chance last week? If you own a Mac or Linux computer, you would have been foolish not to.

Especially if you  followed this earlier post ( https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=15505.0 ) about Codweavers offering their CrossOver product line free of charge on October 28th.

The giveaway was part of Codeweavers Great American Presidential Lame Duck Challenge, which posted several political and economic 'challenges' to the Bush Administration as it was heading for its final days. If any of the challenge goals were met, Codeweavers agreed to give away fully-licensed copies of their well respected CrossOver Pro and Game applications to anyone who wanted them.

The challenges were wide ranging, and although a few of them looked reachable (gas below $2.79/gal) most were so far out (get out of Iraq) that we thought it was little more than a bit of clever marketing that poked some fun at major U.S. election issues.

(For those of you who don't know CrossOver is a product based on the Open Source WINE application that allows Windows software to be used on Macintosh and Linux computers. Pro retails for about $70 and Games will set you back $40.)

But on October 28th, the unthinkable happened when gasoline prices in the Twin Cities area dipped below $2.79 - and Codeweavers opened the floodgates! It must have felt something like the City of Atlantis felt that fateful afternoon.

The following blog entry at Codeweavers says it all:

2008.10.28 - We Came! We Saw! We Burned to the Waterline!

Well, as many of you know, we gave away our software all day on Tuesday, Oct. 28th. The giveaway, despite some technical glitches, went splendidly. For the record, we project that we gave away at least 750,000 product registrations during Oct. 28th. That's a lot of software. We're thrilled that that many people became aware of CodeWeavers. And we're thrilled that that many more people will be able to run their Windows software without Windows.

That said, yes, some of you may have noticed that our server was down during periods of the past 24 hours. In fact, it melted into a tiny little pool of slag. However, through the monumental efforts of our sysadmin, Jeremy Newman, we were able to stay afloat, and at least field an interim solution that would let people put in their requests for serial codes. Our heads are above water. And we will honor our commitments to ensure that everyone who sent in their email during the offer period receives a serial code as rapidly as possible.

Finally, given the overwhelming response to our giveaway, we have decided that it is only responsible that we wind down the Challenge. After all, it's clear in retrospect that our Challenge was responsible for the implosion of the world economy that resulted in the collapse of oil prices, that in turn led to the lowering of gasoline prices here in the U.S. Frankly, realizing the sort of clout we wield, we fear to flaunt that power. One of our goals has to do with milk prices. Who knows what might happen: we might destroy the U.S. dairy industry or something. Or crush the housing market even worse. We can't have that. And so, it is with a heavy heart that the CodeWeavers Management Team(tm) has decided to declare victory in our Challenge, and move ahead. We thank you, the people, for making it fun.

Sincerely,

Jon Parshall
COO
CodeWeavers
--- End quote ---

Codeweavers originally planned to give away software each time one of the challenges was met. But with their ranks of registered customers now standing at a reported 400% of what they were before the giveaway, financial prudence and practicalities prevailed and the Lame Duck Challenge is now officially over.

And talk about a damage report! If all 750K requested serial codes are registered, it represents a potential hit of $52,462,500 to their coffers.

I'm guessing CodeWeavers has effectively torpedoed their current product. With luck, they will survive long enough to make it to the next major release.  I'm sure that many of the people who downloaded CrossOver probably never had any intention of buying it, or possibly even using it. But within that 750,000 population, I'm sure there were also thousands of actual customers (like me!) that happily took advantage of one of the best deals to ever hit the Linux and Mac camps.

Hopefully, all that happiness will translate into gratitude; and the gratitude will translate into future business for Codeweavers.

If not, Codeweavers runs the very real chance of going the way of so many other companies that held a gun to their own heads. Still, their credit, I'm pretty sure Codeweavers was the only one that ever wound up in that position because of a dumb joke backfiring.

Only time will tell how The Presidential Lame Duck Challenge will play out. It could turn out to be one of the most brilliant pieces of contra-marketing ever seen. It could also go down as one of the most bizarre ways anybody ever came up with to kill a business. Either way, it's one for the books.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to run off and enjoy these lower gas prices ($2.69 this morning when I filled up :up: :up:), content in the knowledge that Dreamweaver CS (thanks to my recently downloaded copy of CrossOver Pro) is running like a charm under Intrepid Ibex.

For some of us...Life is good!

Darwin:
Heh, heh - nice post, 40hz  :Thmbsup: I grabbed a copy of Crossover for Linux and had my wife grab one for Mac (though as it turns out, the product only works on Intel based Macs. C'est la vie). I really hope that Codeweavers survives this - I like their sense of humour and style. If I find the product indispensible under Linux, I may well buy a copy to support them. Hope others do the same...

40hz:
I may well buy a copy to support them. Hope others do the same...
-Darwin (November 01, 2008, 04:04 PM)
--- End quote ---

I've purchased several along with upgrades over the years. :-*

We have a small taxi company where I live. There are maybe something like five cars in their whole 'fleet'.
They have a slogan painted on the back of each cab. It says: Use us or lose us.

Truer words were never spoken.

Darwin:
"Use us or lose us"
-40hz (November 01, 2008, 04:16 PM)
--- End quote ---

Very apropros...

Right then. If I can ever get xubuntu 8.1 downloaded, I'll load up Crossover and see what happens... Of course, no good reason not try it under Ubuntu 8.04... except that the machine that it is installed on limps along on 192MB RAM; trying to run anything else will tax it to the point of it being useless, I fear.

housetier:
OK Where's the punishment?

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