*=----------------------------------------------------------------------=* >> The Amiga Entertainment Survey << R E S U L T S Version: 1.00 Survey Conducted/Compiled By: Kevin Picone © Copyright 1995->1996 Kevin Picone, Underware Design. All Rights Reserved. *=----------------------------------------------------------------------=* Released: 26th/March/1996 *=----------------------------------------------------------------------=* Copyright: ========== The survey results, returned data sheets and the included survey processor program are released as FREEWARE. You may freely distribute this archive, but only in FULL, no files are to be added/removed/reverse engineered or edited in any way. Moreover, it may only be distributed via electronic means. Hence, Permission is *NOT* given for this archive, the articles contained within it, or the output from the survey processor, to be published in whole or in part, by ANY commercial publication without prior consent from me. Disclaimer: =========== I accept *NO* liability in whole or in part, for the accuracy of the compiled results or for the completed survey data sheets, which are provided 'as is'. Moreover, all responsibility for any decisions based upon this information are purely your own. Furthermore, I accept *NO* liability for any damage or loss of data caused, either directly or indirectly as a result of using the included Survey Processor program, and the use of which is strictly at your 'our risk'. How Did I Conduct The Survey?: ============================== The Amiga Entertainment Survey was purely based on electronic mail networks including but not limited to, Internet FTP / News groups, Fidonet Echo's & AmigaNet Echo's and was conducted between the 13th of August 1995 through to the 13th of September 1995. Why Did I Conduct The Survey?: ============================== Well to be honest, the survey was conducted as a vital part of my business plan, which at that time, I was in the process of writing. The Business plan was attempting to verify the viability of setting up an Amiga based publisher & development house, here in Australia. Obviously, since I was looking for a realistic result, I decided the risk of result manufacture was just too great for me to make public my somewhat personal interests in conducting the survey. I.e. This knowledge could have made people manufacture their answers thinking, they could no doubt stimulate interest back in commercial Amiga development. Although originally, the survey was written with a somewhat personal purpose, where I was trying to find out just how popular the "Doom" genre was amongst Amiga owners. It quickly became obvious that this could be the perfect time to obtain some fairly brief statistics on buying habits / hardware ownership and personal preferences, without drawing it out into 100 in depth questions. Hence, the results could be of some use to various developers, be them commercial, shareware or even public domain, which actually became the final focus of the survey. Personally, to truly obtain an in depth Amiga gaming, computer entertainment result, we'd (Amiga owners in general) probably have to run a series of developer / public forums and brain storms to derive a globally suited questionnaire, and then employ somebody (?) who has actual experience in running and compiling survey information, to carry out the task. To be honest, that person is _certainly_ *NOT* me :), but at least I tried to do my best.... Note: Unfortunately, at the time of writing the business is still more a working concept, than a functional business, but we are still progressing towards our ideal, it's just moving very slowly. Survey Processor: ================= Obviously, since this was an electronic survey, and I did expect returns between the 100->150 mark (which was a gross underestimate), I selected to layout the questionnaires in a simple tick the box fashion. Thus making it simpler to automate the tally process, on a daily basis. Unfortunately, due to the strict time restrictions I was under to get the original Survey Data Sheets out, and some initial results compiled (I needed a progressive result within 7 days of the original posting), well the data sheets were not proof read, (grin;) nor were they really tested with the survey processor. This turned out to be a huge mistake in terms of time, and attributed greatly to the sheer number of invalid surveys that were returned. I apologize here by fully for any misunderstandings that might have occurred during the survey period. The Survey Processor was written in a hybrid of AMOSpro (gasp! ;) and 680x0 assembly. I selected AMOS for this task for no other reason, than it was available to me, and personally, I didn't really care about multi tasking ability in such a program. The main scanner code is obviously written in assembly for maximum speed, with the simple custom GUI & data structure maintainance being controlled via good old Amos pro. I've included the processor program and all the valid surveys, so that you may experiment with them. The program has been setup in such a way, that it enables you to select various filters on the four main survey fields, I.e. #1 Gender, #2 Age, #3 Location & #4 Hardware Type... To overview the survey processor usage, A) First you must LOCATE the directory in which ALL the surveys are contained. To do this, select the 'locate surveys' button (grin), A file requester should now appear, locate the survey directory and then *DOUBLE CLICK* upon any survey file contained within this directory. (Doesn't matter which one). Note: Failure to Double Click on a survey, will most likely result in the Survey Processor failing to correctly locate the survey directory. B) Select your preferred Filters. Note: A raised box equal's an option that's being filtered OUT, while a lowered box represents an option that's being considered. You may mix filters as much as you like, but, you must select at least one option in each field. (Obviously :) C) Select TALLY to compile a results bulletin. Once the results have been compiled and providing there are actually surveys that fit your selected filters, you will then be presented with yet another menu, where you may 'View' or 'Save' out a results bulletin to disk. How Many Surveys Were Returned?: ================================ Well, unfortunately I didn't keep track of the actual number returned, but I can assure you it was well over 300, probably ranging somewhere between 350-400 surveys returned. The return rate would vary, from just unbelievable some days and then pretty well dead on others, with an unfortunately high invalid completion rate, of at least 50% to 60%, probably more like the latter. Obviously, any survey that doesn't correctly answer all the questions could not be considered, as invalid surveys only produce unbalanced results. Probably the most common type of mistake made in incorrectly completed surveys, was multiple answers to questions where I had actually wanted singular ones. This is more my fault than the publics, as I didn't make myself all that clear, I just assumed it was clear. (Because I wrote it ;). The hardware related questions presented the biggest problem in this regard, as the number of users out there that own various Amiga systems, is quite amazing !!.... PLEASE NOTE: I only just thought of getting stat's on that.. Sorry! :) Any survey that didn't make it through the automated processor was scanned by hand and then either fixed (if possible) or discarded. The only FIXES that I allowed myself to make, was just the replacement of the commonly incorrect Tag character / extra unwanted tag characters / extra spaces / added !'s / bogus numeric answers in place of the Tag character/ and finally the removal of some ill placed user comments. Results Delay: ============== Well, what can I say, it's been a massive task for any individual to undertake, having never been involved in conducting a survey before, and it's certainly something I'll think *LONG* and very *HARD* before ever attempting again. The delay between the surveys closing date and publishing of this information, could have been attributed to perhaps a million things ( Where does the time go ? ;), but mainly due to my ongoing commitment to the development of my business as well as various Amiga projects. (Some Commercial, some Shareware, some Public Domain and some are just plain silly.. ;) But, I do apologise fully for the delay and any inconvenience it may have caused...... How To Contact UNDERWARE DESIGN ?: ================================== Well, if you feel the urge to send me large donations of money, I'll not refuse it ;), funny postcards are always nice, or perhaps you'd just like to send me some appreciative (e)mail concerning this survey, well then feel free. Snail Mail: Mr. Kevin Picone 74 Springs Rd, M539 RSD, Ballarat Vic, Australia, 3352 Email: uwdesign@lin.cbl.com.au Also, if you're into IRC, you can catch me in channel #Amiga most days as 'UW_Design'... Special thanks must go to: ========================== "Gary Smith" proprietor of 'CyberLink Access Systems', for providing our special survey Email reply address. "Stephen Walsh" owner / operator of the Sub Zero BBS, for his valuable assistance with forwarding miss directed FIDONET/AMIGANET replies. "Daniel Martin" & "Steven Sheedy" for their combined support and assistance throughout the survey, not to mention beta testing. And finally, I'd like to send a *BIG* *FAT* thank you, to the entire Amiga Community for your response, which to be honest was just overwhelming. My Personal Greetings fly out To: ================================= Gavin Close & The entire Close Family, Simon Beggs, Marcus Macrowzski, Chris Leathley, Dan Martin, Steven Sheedy, Anne Brennan, Safron Craig (xxx) Chris (Mags) Mc'callum, Stephen Walsh, RoadRunna, Matt Dopper (The Dop-Star), Michelle Mean (I wish you were here), Andrew Muller, Lisa Gordon (xxx), Jamie Paynter (My friend the Artist ;), Craig Huggins ... To All the guys in the Local Fidonet mail system and the IRC freaks in channel #AMIGA To Amiga Technologies, for giving me back the only reason I still bother to call myself a Programmer, The AMIGA... ( Well Sometimes.. ;) The Music of Queensryche, Van Halen, Dream Theater, Bon Jovi, WhiteSnake, Death, Slayer, Metallica, etc. etc... Virgil Donati, David jones, Simon Phillips, Will Calhoun, Tama Drums / Pearl Hardware and of course Paiste Cymbals.. and most of all, my family for their ongoing support...... *=----------------------------------------------------------------------=* T H E E N D *=----------------------------------------------------------------------=*