A great moment indeed...

Back in early 2003, Groove indicated that it was creating a price differential for purchasing Groove within the USA/Canada versus Internationally. The major reason cited as justification was that this was in-line with sales policy for other "similar" companies. And it is indeed true that almost any US company hikes its prices when trying to sell abroad. So you can see that this ideology would gain some serious credence: and credence led to fact.

As a driver of Groove business I registered my opinion that this was not good for Groove. There were several reasons for this, the most important one being that Groove sales would increase more dramatically with uniform pricing. Having registered my opinion over a period, myself and others let the subject lie, and hoping that eventually sense and realism would somehow prevail.

Right now sense is prevailing. Great news for Groove, its partners and customers. As of first of September uniform pricing is back. This is a great moment in several ways and I think it is worth reflecting on this. Actually great does not do justiice to the moment. And it is nothing to do with any form of self-congratulation such as "we were right, they were wrong".

What it is about is in several levels. Groove is not like Excel, Windows, Mac-OSX, Quark, Acrobat, GoToMyPC. It is a distributed network app that does not understand National boundaries (export license apart). A wonderful aspect of Groove life is communicating intelligently without borders. So if one colleague is penalised for being in a different zone then this stark reality hits the motivation of the entire team. As of the 1st Sept, that problem is no more.

At a business level Groove as a company has grown in stature. It has had its critics but it has addressed those criticisms internally and worked through them - perhaps subconsiously. Such changes in culture do not happen overnight. It takes time for Groove the product to weave its magic on people whether they are insde or outside the company. It takes time and persistence for Groove's partner and customer eco-system to operate as a feedback loop should and give the company the confidence to take this brave decision.

It is worth pressing on this subject a little more. Ray and his friends created something called Groove. And so initially they owned the idea. And ok they still largely own the direction. But there is a force growing here, an inimmitable force, that of the Groove community. A truism of computing is that when a software product goes to market many users use the product in totally different ways to those imaginged by the creators. What is happening in the Groove idiom is more than that.

In Bear & Sterns report on Internet 3.0 back when Groove was 1, they suggested that growth of Groove sales would initially be slow but solid. That prediction was easy to understand and accept by advocates such as myself. That prediction has been perfect to date.

But now the climate is changing. Now the community has confidence. Together we have achieved some extraordinary, world-first, unique projects. Not least of which is staying the journey. And I will give you just one personal example that gives me great satisfaction.

An early advocate of PopG is one Rick Lillie of CalState University. Rick has been in there from year dot. He, like us all has his own way of approaching Groove. His tenacity to his approach is enormous. And right now we are on the cusp or realising common dreams - that of enabling his students to have a world-beating learning experience using Groove on PopG. This project has been three years in the making. And Rick has done it.

And that is the final reason. Groove is now gaining confidence in its market, and vice-versa. Enjoy the new pricing.

posted by Andy Swarbrick (d)/PopG at 17:05