“Small bets” are ways to experiment with new technologies, approaches, or audiences. The key to these experiments are that they are low risk. If it doesn’t work out, then you haven’t lost that much money or time or goodwill. If it does work out, then you have a new way of engaging the public, enriching your metadata, and increasing use of your material. … [Read more...] about Make a "Small Bet" on Crowdsourcing
business plan
Jumping In With Both Feet
Although I didn't know it at the time, since I began work on FromThePage in 2005 I've had one toe in the digital humanities community. I've worked on FromThePage and I've blogged about crowdsourced manuscript transcription. I've met some smart, friendly people doing fascinating things and I've even taught some of them the magic of regular expressions. But I've … [Read more...] about Jumping In With Both Feet
Money: Possible Revenue Sources
Let's return to the subject of money. If I thought the market for collaborative manuscript transcription software were a lucrative one, I might launch a business based on selling FromThePage (If you wonder why I keep referring to different software products, it's because I'm trying out different names to see how they feel. See my naming post for more details.) I sincerely … [Read more...] about Money: Possible Revenue Sources
Money: The Current Situation
For now, FromThePage has followed the classic funding model of the basement inventor: The lone developer — me — holds a day job and works on the project in his spare time. This presents some challenges: At times my job occupies all my spare time and energy, so I accomplish nothing whatsoever on the project for months on end. This is no tragedy, as the job is really very … [Read more...] about Money: The Current Situation
Risks: Why trust me with your stuff?
Why should someone trust me with their data? Why should someone trust me with the fruits of their effort? By "trust", I'm not talking about the possibility that I'll misuse the transcriptions -- I presume that someone's using the software in order to distribute their transcriptions more widely, so keeping it all a secret isn't that big a deal. Rather, I'm talking about the … [Read more...] about Risks: Why trust me with your stuff?