回到上一層
Posted By: weiwang (偉望) on board 'program'
Title: Almega's Newsletter
Date: Tue Mar 7 12:14:07 1995
在香港的一家基督徒軟體發展公司(Almega)，開始利用e-mail發送他們的newsletter
我看了以後，很感動。特將之附在下面給大家參考。
根據他們信上的說明，校園也是他們產品的代理商呢！不知道大家對他們的東西熟不熟？
==========================================================================
From almega@HK.Super.NET Wed Mar 1 22:05:16 1995
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 22:05:45 +0800
From: Mr Simon Lock
To: eeau@ee.ust.hk, samuel@Almega.COM.HK, simon@Almega.COM.HK
____________________________________________________________________________
AVision - Almega Newsletter on Internet
for Sharing our Vision with Chinese Christians
____________________________________________________________________________.
Vol. 1 No. 1 March 1995
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Welcome to the first issue of "AVision", our quarterly newsletter
distributed via Internet, which keeps you informed on the software
development of church and Christian products by Almega.
In this premier issue, we will introduce our company and vision to you.
For
users of Bible Tools for Windows, you will be excited to learn more about
the upcoming features and add-on products of the growing family of Bible
Tools. Praise the Lord! Our first Chinese Christian multimedia product,
"Bible Lands - From Beersheva to Dan", is about to launch. Jointly
developed with China Graduate School of Theology, this new product will
cover the geographical, historical, and biblical backgrounds and
information
of various cities and attractions in the Holy Land. Lastly, please join
us
to welcome Ambassadors Multicultural Mission (International) Association
Inc. as our new distributor in Australia.
If you know other Christians who might be interested in receiving
"AVision",
our electronic newsletters, please free feel to forward them a copy, or
ask
them to send us a subscription request. You are also welcome to post it
on
other Christian BBS, or print this newsletter for distribution in your
area.
For those who prefer NOT to receive our newsletters in the coming months,
please send us an e-mail and we will certainly respect your decision.
Thanks to the Lord for the opportunity to share our vision with you "and
we
know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are
the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
Thank you for your prayer support and may the Lord bless you.
In Christ,
Simon Lock
____________________________________________________________________________
Contents:
1. Share the Almega Vision
2. Update News of Bible Tools for Windows
3. Bible Lands - From Beersheva to Dan
4. New Distributor Announcement
____________________________________________________________________________
1. Share the Almega Vision
Almega is a software company formed by a group of Chinese Christians with
vision and dedication to serve Chinese churches and Christians through
excellence in the development and distribution of Christian and church
software. The word "Almega" (pronounced as "el-mee-ga") is a combined
word
of "Alpha" and "Omega", which come from the Book of Revelation, chapter 22
verse 13, where God said:
"I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End."
We, at Almega, are committed in the Lord to contribute our knowledge to
His
body and for His glory!
MOTIVATION
We realized how much computers and information technology can make
companies
and people more efficient in today's world, and we believe that the same
kind of benefit can also be applied to churches and Christians in the
Christian world. There have already been many established Christian
software companies in the States to serve foreign churches but only a few
are available to serve the growing needs of Chinese churches and
Christians.
We responded to the Lord and began to promote the use of computers in
Chinese churches since 1989.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
During the past few years, we have developed two church management and
accounting software, several Bible games, and Bible studying programs.
These
applications were developed to reduce the tedious administrative tasks and
accounting workload that many co-workers are facing everyday. We also
developed Bible games for the youngsters to stimulate their interest on
the
Bible, and Bible study software for Christians to equip themselves on the
Words of God. For those who have known us personally, finding us 14 hours
a
day in the office may not seem surprising to them. We are so committed to
our works because this is our dedication to the Lord for His amazing grace
upon us. We believe that our times are well spent on the development and
marketing of these software because the net benefit will be multiplied
hundredfold to the users of these software, and the entire Chinese
Christian
community will gain as a whole.
SHARE OUR VISION WITH OTHERS
This is only a little beginning of the Lord's will and vision, and as
computers are getting more affordable these days, we encourage brothers
and
sisters to think about how the Lord is going to use them in this age of
information technology. For technical professionals, how could we
participate and contribute our professional knowledge to the Lord? For
others, how could we make use of computers to improve the quality of our
ministry. There are 1.3 billion Chinese souls in mainland China and what
are the doors of opportunity for us to spread the Gospel. Numerous
applications for Chinese churches and Christians are yet to be done before
we reached the full potential of computers.
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Update News of Bible Tools for Windows
Great news for those who have purchased Version 1 Release 1 of Bible Tools
for Windows! If you are a registered user of Version 1 Release 1, you can
upgrade to Release 2 free of charge! Just return a complete set of three
original BBTWIN diskettes to our office and we will replace them with a
new
set of BBTWIN diskettes and manuals. Almega is committed to provide the
best software and services to churches and Christians and all our software
products are fully upgradable when newer versions release. We do not
guarantee free upgrade every time but it is our policy to offer low-price
upgrade for all our products and this is our commitment to protect your
investment on Almega software.
WHAT'S NEW?
With over 50+ function and feature enhancements, Version 1 Release 2 of
BBTWIN has been improved a lot since it's first debut on February 1994.
In
addition to the improved lexicon of 5000+ Strong's numbers in New
Testament,
it now comes with two Bible text: a Chinese Old Union version and an
English
King James version. The New Testament portion of the Chinese Old Union
version is completely coded with Strong's numbers underneath the Chinese
text and you can point and click any Strong's number in the corresponding
Strong's number list to retrieve its lexicon information. Concordance of
the Strong's number can be shown within seconds by double clicking the
number.
We have also included a complete set of Bible Outlines plus a number of
useful Bible study materials such as the Gospel parallels, Prophecies
concerning Messiah, ... etc. You can also add an optional
cross-referencing
system, which is based on Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, with 580,000+
cross references that can be used with any Bible version.
For over 150 years, the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge has given Bible
students the most complete collection anywhere of cross-references - far
more than any concordance or reference Bible. Now this classic is so much
easier to use when combined with Bible Tools for Windows.
WHAT'S COMING?
Are you running out of shelf space for all your reference works? No
worry,
we are trying to bring more of your favorite Bible reference works to the
family of Bible Tools add-on products. If you are a registered user of
the
product, you should have received a survey letter that has been sent out
by
the end of February, 1995. Please help us to complete the survey form as
we
would like to include your invaluable ideas in our selection of Bible
reference works.
With support of up to nine different Bible versions, Bible Tools for
Windows
is truly expandable and its value will increase in years to come. Bible
Tools for Windows will continue to get better as more users contribute
their
ideas to improve the overall usability of the product. The following
excellent Bibles and reference works are just a few of what we would like
to
add to the Bible Tools family.
-> "Commentaries of the Epistles of the New Testament"
The complete set of "Commentaries of the Epistles of the New Testament"
(10 volumes) by Rev. Stephen C. T. Chan has proven over the years to be
one of the most valuable commentaries on the Epistles of the New
Testament. We are thankful to Rev. Chan and Campus Evangelical
Fellowship
for entrusting this masterpiece to us. An excellent resource for
pastors
and believers involved in Bible study, this commentary features an
easy-to-use format, book outlines, analysis, and verse-by-verse
commentary. With over 3,000 pages of text or 2,000,000+ words, the
enormous amount of typing and proofreading work is now underway.
-> New American Standard Bible (NASB)
New American Standard Bible (NASB) is one of the most requested Bible
translations that are highly respected by many Bible teachers and
scholars. Unlike other new translations which utilize "dynamic
equivalence" (thought for thought) in translating from the original
languages, the editors of NASB from the Lockman Foundation utilized
"formal equivalence" (word for word) to carefully preserve, as closely
as
possible, word order, tenses, idioms, and style. This contemporary
translation is regarded as the most accurate English translation of the
Bible.
-> Hebrew BHS and Greek New Testament
Hebrew/Greek word study will be available to those who are interested
in
the original languages of the Bible. With publishing license from
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft Stuttgart and United Bible Society, Bible
Tools for Windows will be able to display Biblia Hebraica
Stuttgartensia
(BHS), Greek New Testament (GNT), and Septuaginta (LXX) in the coming
release.
-> Enhanced Chinese Old Union Version
The New Testament portion of the Chinese Bible is currently coded with
over 5,000 Strong's numbers, representing every Greek words that have
been used in the New Testament. These numbers are carefully placed
underneath the most appropriate Chinese words in the Chinese Old Union
Bible for easy lookup and you can display the definition of these
Strong's numbers through the improved NT lexicon table. A group of
Bible
scholars are now working intensively to code 8,000+ Strong's numbers
into
the Old Testament portion of the Chinese Bible. Also working in
parallel
is the coding of grammatical information and word emphasis in the New
Testament.
WE NEED YOUR PRAYER SUPPORT
As you may aware, the long-term development of Bible Tools family products
is by no mean a simple and easy task. We are committed in the Lord to
develop a complete series of electronic Bible study references that can
help
Christians to study the precious Words of God with full exploitation of
today's affordable information technology. Please pray for us and all
contributors as we are now working days and nights to speed up the
development of this huge collection of works.
____________________________________________________________________________
3. Bible Lands - From Beersheva to Dan
Praise the Lord! Through the power of multimedia, "Bible Lands - From
Beersheva to Dan", brings information of the Holy Land to life. Jointly
developed with China Graduate School of Theology, this is our first
Chinese
Christian multimedia product to be released by the end of March 1995.
Rev. Wallace Louie, a lecturer at China Graduate School of Theology, will
lead you to travel back in time to explore the historical, geographical,
and
biblical contexts of this remarkable promised lands - starting from Negev,
Judean Wilderness, and Judea; through Jerusalem, Shephelah, and Coastal
Plain; to Galilee, Sea of Galilee, and Golan Heights. In-depth
information
unfolds as you explore over 100 interesting topics of the Bible Land,
brought to life through 36 full-color slides, over 90 maps, charts, and
diagrams.
This is an ideal tool for Sunday School teachers, Bible study group
leaders,
and Christians who are interested in the Holy Lands. You will receive
further details of the Product Announcement in e-mail by the end of March,
1995. Let's experience and discover the new way of interactive learning
with multimedia technology today!
____________________________________________________________________________
4. New Distributor Announcement
We are pleased to announce our new distributor in Australia. We are
expanding our distribution network to local Chinese Christian bookstores
at
your area. Please ask for our products at your local bookstores and if
they
do not have our products, you can send their name and address information
to
us, and we will try our best to contact them. To get more product and
local
pricing information on Almega products, please feel free to contact our
distributors at your area:
Hong Kong Tien Dao Publishing House
9/F Oriental Daily News Building
6 Kwei Chow Street, Tokwawan, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: 2362-3903 Fax: 2774-3756
Contact: Andy Tsang
Taiwan Campus Evangelical Fellowship
No. 22, Sec. 4 Roosevelt Road
P.O. Box 13-144, Taipei 100
Taiwan, Republic of China
Tel: (886)02-365-3665 Fax: (886)02-368-0303
Contact: James Wang
Australia Ambassadors Multicultural Mission (International)
Association Inc.
P.O. Box 2209
Ashfield, NSW 2131
Australia
Tel: (612)875-2028 Fax: (612)980-6717
Contact: Daniel Lai
North America Evangelical Formosan Church Communication Center
(West Coast) 3638 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead CA91770
California, U.S.A.
Tel: (818)307-0030 Fax: (818)307-5557
Contact: Andrew Tsai
North America Northern Computer Inc.
(East Coast) #3-45B West Wilmot Street, Richmond Hill
Ontario, Canada L4B 2B3
Tel/Fax: (905)886-1023
Contact: Patrick Fung
Other Countries Almega System Analysts Limited
1105 West Coast International Building
290 Un Chau Street, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: 2361-3198 Fax: 2720-3865
Contact: Samuel Kwun (samuel@almega.com.hk)
Over the past years, we have dedicated ourselves to develop products which
we hope to benefit churches and Christians. We truly believe that your
support to our products can keep us going to develop better products for
the
Chinese Christian community.
____________________________________________________________________________
1105 West Coast International Building
Almega System Analysts Limited 290 Un Chau Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel:(852)2361-3198 Fax:(852)2720-3865
******************** ******************* ***********************
Posted By: tjm (蔡哲民) on board 'program'
Title: Re: Almega's Newsletter
Date: Tue Mar 7 12:32:49 1995
我知道這家軟體公司。
但是我們為何還要努力呢？為何還要寫freeware的軟體呢？
您可以算一算，他的一套軟體總共要七、八千元，當然那是含有許多
版權費在內。但對學生而言，是不是略嫌過高？
我不敢說軟體不該賣太多錢，但是我想問沒有錢是不是不能好好研經？
所以我們想引進on-line bible，所以我們要呼籲有能力的弟兄姊妹一同來寫
研經軟體。on-line bible能，我們沒有不能的。
所以我們回應他以及其他中文軟體的售價，我們努力查經，弄出不要錢的
查經資料，努力鼓勵弟兄姊妹寫研經軟體（說真的，這不算非常難啦），鼓勵
大家奉獻頭腦與程式能力給上帝。
徐志華弟兄已經寫出一套DOS版的軟體了，我們還可以再努力。
如果研經軟體又是只有有錢的人才可以用，那軟體中警告非法盜拷
的聲明只不過又讓無力的弟兄姊妹加增罪惡感罷了。
說真的，如果on-line bible能以台幣五百元賣出，憑什麼中文的軟體
要七、八千元？就憑台灣和大陸沒有人肯為上帝做傻事？
他們的努力我知道，也沒有怪罪的意思。但是真正有心研經的神學生
與學生，有誰注意他們的需要？
--
上帝國度的拓展，需要沈默的戰士！
****************** ****************** ******************
Posted By: lk (陳鳳翔) on board 'program'
Title: Re: Almega's Newsletter
Date: Tue Mar 7 15:48:36 1995
==> 在 tjm (蔡哲民) 的文章中提到:
很多神學生真的很可憐！他們實習費很少，有的人還繳不出學費！！
更別談電腦、網路、、還有啥子 cdrom
所以即使是 on-line bible 大多數的神學生也不能用！
我是在神學院中深深為他們難過不已，
讓我很想去賺大錢，發電腦給他們一人一部.........
想到他們現在真是在神學知識沙漠中，（跟我們比起來）
雖然他們有圖書館，但是中文的書我們自己也買的到。
英文的圖書他們也沒多少時間看，（因為還要翻譯）
許多科技工具軟體不能用、不會用，
日後他們就要成為我們的牧者，結果解經比我們還爛，該如何是好？？
我覺得牧長『聖經知識缺乏』是我們大家的責任，
我們有沒有在專業上、金錢上幫助他們，好使他們追的上時代的腳步？？
我這篇實在好想整理一下投稿論壇，發動大家關心神學生！！
可是又怕被 k
************************* *********************** ***********
Posted By: ZION_HSU (徐志華) on board 'program'
Title: Re: Almega's Newsletter
Date: Fri Mar 24 23:09:28 1995
==> 在 tjm (蔡哲民) 的文章中提到:
看了幾次這段信息,有點覺得不吐不快。
在這裡,想從商業層面和實用價值兩方面來分析聖經相
關軟體的合理價位供大家參考。
一、就商業層面來說,要寫一個聖經相關的商業軟體,其成
本約可估算如下:
(1)打字費:以目前一般行情,打一個中文字約0.1至0.2元,
整本和合本經文約2M bytes,合1M個字。故打字費用約
在20萬元以內。(當然不可能有這麼高,一位在打字行
待過的姊妹略估過,含校訂費用,大概在5萬至10萬之間
)。若拆開來估計,新約約需5萬,舊約約需15萬。
(2)程式設計費:這是比較難以估算的部份,因公司大小、
人事包袱、所用程式語言等而定。通常一個小型的資
料庫程式,電腦公司付給程式設計師的薪水在5萬元左
右;一個技巧較難的、中型的Windows Driver,軟體公
司約需付人事費50萬左右)
(3)若以最高額估計,一套聖經相關軟體初期發展成本約
為70萬元。
(4)發行量:據某一教外軟體公司人員透露,該公司推出之
只有新約的檢索系統,在第一年發行量約3000套,其主要
市場為神學院和教會機構。據我
所熟識的一個軟體公司老板說,目前在台灣市售價位在
1千到5千的軟體在定價前,其估價時的預估銷量大概都
是用這一個數字(當然像倚天或彙星一號這種歷久不衰
的系統,初期是以這樣方式估價,後來其估價方式又另
當別論了)。
(5)合理的價位:若將上述資料鬥起來,一套含新舊約的聖
經軟體成本應在NT$250以內,加上行銷成本,合理的價
位應是NT$500左右,這和tjm的估計相似。
(6)事實是:在台灣的軟體市場中,中間人員太多,開發人員
太少,所以一般軟體公司付給程式設計師的薪水約佔全
部售價的5-10%,亦即市售價會變成上述合理價位的5至
10倍(通常這些多出來的錢都被美其名為版稅,但是基
層的這些高級勞工其實並不見得分得到)。前述只有新
約的教外檢索系統,零售價NT$1500;大光版初出來時,
零售價NT$5000,大致都是這樣定出來的。(如果是在美
國,程式設計師所得約為軟體價格的25%左右,這也是同
一套軟體在台灣的價位約為美國的2至3倍的原因。這
更是在台灣一個好的PC軟體工程師通常待不久就想自
立門戶當軟體公司老板的原因。)所以當我們看到聖經
軟體的價位時,大可不必太吃驚,這樣的定價就目前我
們的商業慣例並不算太高。如果未來,在台灣版權和消
費者權益的觀念被正當地看待以後、軟體銷量較多時
,這種情形應該會有所改善。
二、就實用價值來說:
(1)就程式設計師來說:每一個程式設計師都會像生小孩一
樣,為他所寫的程式式劬勞多日,最終造就出的程式,也
就和他的心肝寶貝一樣,都是無價的。只是因著經濟上
的因素,有些人不得不把這個程式用前述的廉價賣給軟
體商。
(2)就設計理念來說:每一個程式在設計之初,都會要先設定
將來要使用的場合(當然後來被引用到其他場合,因此而
大幅修正的也不少)。如果在一個軟體PROJECT中參與的
人越多,其所設定的使用場合就越廣,也因此軟體公司老
板可以大方的說因為他們集合了很多人,各方面都考慮
了,當然他們可以得到更多錢。
(3)以上這些原因就造就了為什麼PD、FreeWare和Shareware
被一些人所極力推動的原因。少掉一個中間銷售體系,
可以少掉不少價格的提昇;但,換個角度來說,少掉中間銷
售體系,就少掉了programmer的財務Support,也少掉了
開發大型軟體的誘因和組織能力。這也是一般PD和
FreeWare少有大程式的原因。
目前台灣的基督徒軟體專業人士人在少數。各教會及機
構藉用這些人士發展的軟體也不少,但,整合和推廣的問
題相當嚴重,很多程式就那麼一兩個人寫,然後一套都只
有那麼一兩個教會在使用,每個教會都在發展自己的一
套,但你的規格和我的規格不大可能一樣,其間資料的轉
換也成了嚴重的問題,其所浪費的人才和時間、金錢有
多少,實在很難估計。
我很相信,當初各教會在推行這些軟體計畫之前,一定是
考慮到市售軟體功能不完全合於教會行政之用,同時也
考慮到其價格過高,為了不浪費神家中的金錢,才開始的
,但是因著各自為政,其所浪費的,好像沒有人估算過。
很高興在這裡有一個屬於教會的BBS站,在這一個站的設
立目標中,有一項就是要成為眾教會的彈藥庫,教會行政
管理工具是教會中一種重炮級的彈藥。如果在這邊,可以
好好規畫一下,成立幾個軟體PROJECT,藉用TANET的聯網
能力,集合各地的基督徒軟體專業,一定可以為台灣的教
會創造許多合用的工具。(這一方面己經有人提出呼籲
我就不多說了)。
回到上一層