First, an apology for answering the many great responses to my post
via a separate post from the original thread. I'm using a normal
reader to see the posts, but google to post with and it hasn't quite
picked up on the thread this morning.


Second, thanx everyone for responding. It's quite an eyeopener to see
the confusion generated!

Adam: Your preference for no forms comes off as rather odd to me, and
is not consistant with my experience with websites. I'm curious as to
why you're so against it? Once a contact form was added to our winery
site, response was well over tenfold from the old "mailto:" link,
which btw will not work with some browsers (ie. Linx). The main
reasons behind using this type of form stems from two other benefits:

First, spambots cannot reach my email, which is very important when
trying to conduct business online. Spam generated from displaying on
the web can become phenomenal (literally hunderds a day), and spam
screeners are imperfect. I actually received one "manual spam" that
was complaining that they could not find my email!

Second, the information supplied by a form is dumped into a database
where it can be both stored properly/automatically, and then retrieved
easily.

Of course, none of this is important if it turns customers away, but I
have to wonder how prevalent your viewpoint relative to the rest of
the public?!

The intent is to add the phone number and mailing address to the pages
once this is taken to the "live" stage.

Once into the online order system, there's a drop down menu for
"state". Selecting "Missouri" will add sales tax to the order. Your
reminder will help me to remember to put it on the mail-in forms!
Payment of all orders is processed by hand, so if someone skips this
step using either method it can be dealt with later.

A video addition is an interesting idea..... something I'll look into.
That'll require a model, which means interviews..... I like this
idea!! It strikes me as odd that I didn't think of this. (kT, looking
over my shoulder, is not to hot on the idea of a model pushing my
buttons) As mentioned in the original post, my thinking was to display
it live at trade shows, but it is really so simple to use that there's
not much to demonstrate. It will require an electrican to install,
but after that, it's basically "plug and play". In other words, you
plug the pump into the unit, turn the power switch on, and the remote
becomes 'live'.


Ed: That's a good point about the expense of a trade show, including
the travel. But I've been wanting to attend these trade shows as a
patron... so it's working out to provide a vehicle for ulterior
motives!

It was in my head that one could remember 6 functions, but it is
something to reconsider. I find no problem with it in my cellar, but
then again I designed and built the thing! I've got an optional
transmitter that has places for name tags. Possibly some simple,
waterproof stickers!?

Bill: In my very biased opinion, this device is as significant of an
advancement as the remote control on TV's. Though you can change
channels directly on a TV, how many people actually use those buttons
in lieu of a remote?

It's interesting that you'd ask about how universal this is. I
suppose it's not clear enough to state:

"Control any 240V, three phase motorized pump up to 2 HP."

or did you not page down to see the features? This configuration
covers the vast majority of wine pumps in use.

It actually is best to have no controls on the pump at all... just a
cord and plug is all that's required. But it will bypass any pump
mounted controls.

The cost is about the same as the best remote controls that come with
top of the line pumps. One savings would be that you would need only
as many controls as pumps used simultaneously. In other words, a
winery might have 4 or 5 types of pump, but only use 2 at any given
time, so only 2 control units would be needed instead of 5. With this
scenario, $4k will replace a $10k investment!

The control unit is easy to install, but I recommend a qualified
electrician as it does need to be hardwired in to be compliant with
most codes.

The unit is preprogrammed, but if a different speed is desired beyond
the preset, the user will need to change that via a simple program
(already detailed in the [incomplete] manual).

How about a demo CD that could have slide show or possibly a "movie"
displayed on a PC? They make those cut down CD's for this type of
purpose that would be easy to make and mail.

Thanx for all the questions everyone. This is very helpful in knowing
what more needs to be added to the site..... including clarity!


clyde
http://www.vinic.com