Stardock's relationship with Neowin and its criticizers

By Steven P.
in Site Announcements

 Share

Recommended Posts

Neowinian

Disavowed

Posted
Posted
The staff may never straightforwardly admit that, but it's very true. People have a problem with Frogboy not because Stardock owns Neowin, but because of his attitude.

Frogboy, pointing out the fact that you get more attention than others because you are a CEO of a company doesn't justify your attitudes towards members here.

Correct. That's just an egotistical excuse.

What many people don't realize is that Stardock has the singular MAJORITY share in Neowin. Steve has 30%, Redmak has 30%, and Stardock has 40%. Steve and Redmak may both together have 60%, but in essence, they are two shareholders...not one.

As much spin as has been put on this, that's the fact. Steve and Redmak sold off their control, and one of these days, it will bite them back.

Mentor

DreadBoat89

Posted
Posted
Correct. That's just an egotistical excuse.

What many people don't realize is that Stardock has the singular MAJORITY share in Neowin. Steve has 30%, Redmak has 30%, and Stardock has 40%. Steve and Redmak may both together have 60%, but in essence, they are two shareholders...not one.

As much spin as has been put on this, that's the fact. Steve and Redmak sold off their control, and one of these days, it will bite them back.

dude, as long as both neobond and redmak agree to the same things, they will still have majority control.

its not the end of the world if stardock has a 40% stake in neowin

Grand Master

Nashy

Posted
Posted

Exactly the same as the Vista forums. Hate for no reason.

People bagging them for no reason is nothing new in the world, just take a look at the Vista forums all over the place.

Although, if Stardock's worry is Internet warriors having a go, it should prove just how on track you are if that's all you have to worry about.

I read your history, you guys are what it means to work and wade through the **** to get something done. Keep doing that and I have no doubt you'll turn these people around.

Grand Master

Frogboy Administrators

Posted
  • Administrators
Posted
Yes, but the fact is that they actually own a minority of Neowin.

Shift, this is something that was done over three years ago. Moreover, Steve, Marcel and I are good friends on and off the site.

I think one of the problems is that people don't realize the massive differences between a publicly traded company and a privately traded company. For instance, as was pointed out, Stardock hosts Samurize.com and has for many years now - for free. Samurize competes directly with Stardock DesktopX. But it's a great program and they're great guys and that was enough for us. Privately held companies can do things simply because the owners want to and think it's cool.

Grand Master

+Mirumir Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted
Shift, this is something that was done over three years ago. Moreover, Steve, Marcel and I are good friends on and off the site.

I think one of the problems is that people don't realize the massive differences between a publicly traded company and a privately traded company. For instance, as was pointed out, Stardock hosts Samurize.com and has for many years now - for free. Samurize competes directly with Stardock DesktopX. But it's a great program and they're great guys and that was enough for us. Privately held companies can do things simply because the owners want to and think it's cool.

Exactly! With private companies the owners are the managers - CEO and a board member in one person. There's no conflict of interest like with public companies where managers want one thing ... and no body cares what shareholders want.

Grand Master

Draconian Guppy

Posted
Posted (edited)

Nice insight...

IMO frogboy has no way out... By this I mean:

Imagine instead of frogboy it where: "GatesBoy" "JobsBoy" "LinusBoy" ( whatever tickles your fancy), anyone with a public role in a public forum has no where to go. There's gonna be hatred, there's gonna be flaiming JUST because of "YOUR COMPANY SUXX0RS OMG OMG BLABLA IS better". And whether or not it is related to the post, it's still gonna happen.

In the mean time, This thread is well meant, BUT it's still going to cause comments like "Oh no wonder neowin teh suxx0rs now because it is owned by stardock$$ because they pay neobond and now they all suxx0rs" In the words of a famous philosopher... It's inevitable.

I for one, have never seen frogboys posts Biased with anything related/regarding stardock.

All in all, if it's kept neowin loading in less then 3 seconds, then keep it coming :p Cause DAMN I don't want to go back to those pre-2003 days... I lurked neowin for several years, but never registered because I always though "Hmm this site is always down, why bother".

Anyway, keep up the good work and long live StarWin, neoDOCK or Frogwin :p oh and I hate teh fr0glo0ser and stardock sux I prfer that chinize dude Y'z Dock becuase he pwnzers your socx0rs

J/k

Seriously, After having read the whole thread, one can clearly say at least from a user point of view, it's been all good :)

***goes back to his regular porn browsing***

Edit:

Hey frogboy, would you mind hosting a couple of files for me I mean, in all that company love and whatnot it's just 2 files:

1.ALL.IN.ONE.VERSIONS.OF.WINDOWS95.WINDOWS98.WINDOWS2000.WINDOWS.20003.WINDOWS.2005.WINDOWSVISTAOEMULTIMATEOMGVERSION.

2. UNDERAGE.UNBORN.PORN.

J/k

I didn't know you guys hosted samurize, that's what big companies should do with small ones, help out !

Edited by maudit
Grand Master

+shift. MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted
...

Yes I understand that, but the reality of it is that you own more of the site than Steve and Marcel individually.

I'm not against this whatsoever, but is this a POTENTIAL weakness despite all the good that Stardock has done for Neowin?

I understand how Neowin is a private company and is different from Stardock in that sense. But the notion that the two original Administrators are now minority shareholders is slightly troublesome, although it has worked out so far.

Grand Master

Frogboy Administrators

Posted
  • Administrators
Posted
Yes I understand that, but the reality of it is that you own more of the site than Steve and Marcel individually.

I'm not against this whatsoever, but is this a POTENTIAL weakness despite all the good that Stardock has done for Neowin?

I understand how Neowin is a private company and is different from Stardock in that sense. But the notion that the two original Administrators are now minority shareholders is slightly troublesome, although it has worked out so far.

Stardock is a private company too.

The founders own 60%. Stardock 40%. They have a majority. So even if Darth Vader conquered and enslaved Stardock and began issuing edicts that the unworthy on Neowin be "dealt with" Steve and Marcel could just say "talk to the hand."

Collaborator

-Nic-

Posted
Posted

My only complaint against FrogBoy is killing off the first podcast I actually enjoyed listening to.

His rants were always funny, especially if they were Vista related. I even posted on their final podcast in the comments.

http://poweruser.tv/ Bring it back! :D

Grand Master

Eric Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
The only time you will see Brad ever get upset at a member on neowin is when said member attacks stardock products with nothing to back up there bitching or they set out to bash stardock at every chance they get. This would **** you off as well if you took something you made at home back in the day and turned it into something that it is today. The guy is talented business man as well as developer. The bitchers only wish they were even 1% as good at business as this man is. He has helped neowin in more ways then any of you know and I am thankful for his support.

The problem is that this is intimidating coming from an admin. I've had him jump down my throat before when I mentioned that Stardock didn't offer me a discount for resubscribing.

Community Regular

lykwid

Posted
Posted

I've been on Neowin for a while (mostly as a reader than poster) and I really had no clue about the Neowin acquisition by Stardock -- but in my opinion, that is exactly how it should have been. If I started to read articles and sensed a bias towards Stardock, only then would I really be concerned. The fact that some members (including me) had no clue about a deal that occurred 3 years ago, is exactly how a acquisition should be done.

Things really have changed since I joined, mostly for the good. I still remember when there used to be a babes forum (which was entertaining while it lasted), and of course I remember the "Server is busy" phase Neowin had. All in all, Stardock has really upped it's corporate image (at least in my books) for supporting smaller ventures and helping them improve with their own resources. Neowin has always been a great source of information even if by "unprofessional journalist" ;)

Now, please bring back the podcasts, as my train rides to work have become much less entertaining.

Grand Master

Antaris Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
I still remember when there used to be a babes forum (which was entertaining while it lasted)

There is a Babes section, just its become Subscriber-only ;)

I like the recent changes, and the server problems (as random as they are), haven't really impeded my viewing and enjoymanship (is that a word? it shold be :p) of the site.

Amen to the Podcast returns!

Veteran

TheDogsBed

Posted
Posted (edited)
I only seem like I have an attitude because I'm very arrogant. When someone argues I'm "having a bad day" it's not that. It's just that when I'm very busy, I don't have time to pretend that I'm not arrogant and so my comments come out as being arrogant.

See, nothing wrong with that. People who know they are arrogant (I too am blessed with the same quality) are far more pleasant to know than those who are arrogant but are too stupid to see or admit to it.

As for whether Frogboy is the spawn of Satan himself - who cares. I'm too arrogant to give him the seconds of thought needed to figure it out. I'm sure he will understand that. :) His company makes good products, and that is all I care about.

Edited by SniperX
Neowinian

the-Jafo

Posted
Posted
Correct. That's just an egotistical excuse.

What many people don't realize is that Stardock has the singular MAJORITY share in Neowin. Steve has 30%, Redmak has 30%, and Stardock has 40%. Steve and Redmak may both together have 60%

Only those who cannot get their heads around simple mathematics.

However...if not one person has 50% or greater then none has a controlling share.

Since the split is 30/30/40 it takes two to tango ....;)

Grand Master

Steven P. Administrators

Posted
  • Author
  • Administrators
Posted
Only those who cannot get their heads around simple mathematics.

However...if not one person has 50% or greater then none has a controlling share.

Since the split is 30/30/40 it takes two to tango ....;)

3 posts in 5 years? Your opinion doesn't count!!!!

:p j/k Thanks for setting the record straight, sometimes I really wonder about some of the responses I see here lol

Grand Master

LOC Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
Can't say I like stardock product much but let's try to be neutral

<-- one of the earliest member on this board

<----Hahahahha, I'm earlier than thou.

I've been here a long time, and I was on staff when Stardock got involved (I think) and I had no problem with it then, and no problem with it now. Brad is a cool guy, he makes awesome games, and runs a great company. Plus Neowin is supported, which is a plus since I love Neowin like all of you do (cept I love it more).

Though maybe Brad should consider changing his nick to FrogMAN...just a thought :D

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • MPC-BE 1.9.0

      By Copernic · Posted

      MPC-BE 1.9.0 by Razvan Serea Media Player Classic - BE is a free and open source audio and video player for Windows. Media Player Classic - BE is based on the original "Media Player Classic" project (Gabest) and "Media Player Classic Home Cinema" project (Casimir666), contains additional features and bug fixes. The BE mod (Black Edition Mod) is a skinned version of Media Player Classic Home Cinema, much better looking than the plain old MPC. MPC-BE 1.9.0 changelog: Splitters Fixed crashes in some situations. AudioSplitter Added support for the RF64 format. Fixed reading of channel layout for some WavPack files. Added support for ID3 tags for Wave64 files. Unknown Wave64 chunks are now ignored. AviSplitter Added support for 'y408' video. Improved support for 'HEVC' video. FLVSplitter Added support for VVC video. MP4Splitter Improved handling of corrupted files. MatroskaSplitter Expanded support for V_UNCOMPRESSED video codecs. Fixed support for frame rotation (ProjectionPoseRoll). Improved support for "V_MS/VFW/FOURCC / HEVC". MpcDvdVideoDecoder Fixed conversion to YUY2. Fixed display of menus for some DVD-Videos. RoQVideoDecoder Output in NV12 and YV12 formats is allowed. Full range is used. MPC Video Decoder RGB32 format will be output as a top-down bitmap by default. Added support for the "IID_MediaSideDataDOVIMetadataV2" interface. Removed support for the deprecated "IID_MediaSideDataDOVIMetadata" interface. Fixed retrieving the name of the video adapter when using NVDEC. Fixed crashes in some situations. MPC Video Converter Added support for AYUV video format. MpcAudioRenderer Improved input format validation. Optimized retrieval of supported formats for exclusive mode. Added the "Keep audio device active when paused" setting. Fixed crashes and freezes in various situations. Subtitles Added the ability to open the properties of an external subtitle renderer in the "Subtitles" settings panel. Fixed external subtitle connections for VSFilter. Fixed a crash when rendering PGS/SUP subtitles when using AVX2. YouTube Improved support for yt-dlp. The built-in YouTube parser is no longer used. Player The HTTP read strategy has been changed. If the playlist contains one entry, more key combinations can be used to control the player (jump through chapters, adjust volume). Improved support for reading ASX playlists. The translation of the MediaInfo report for Chinese, Korean and Japanese has been removed. Added blocking of 32-bit filter "PICVideo Lossless JPEG Decompressor" (pvljpg20.dll), because it crashes. Added blocking of the system filter "AVI Decompressor", which will eliminate the crash of VFW codecs. Fixed a rare crash when using the "/slave" key. Fixed a crash when getting a list of fonts for OSD. Added the ability to load an external audio file using hotkeys. Fixed opening a network path starting with \?\UNC. The "Determine duration when adding" playlist setting now works for YouTube video URLs. The "Online media services" settings panel has been redesigned. Added a "Merge files using FFmpeg" option to the file saving dialog. This option is activated when playing multiple streams obtained using yt-dlp. Added loading of local .dpl playlists ("DAUMPLAYLIST"). Fixed a hang when the user closes the player during the URL opening process. Various interface fixes. Installer Updated MPC Video Renderer 0.10.5. Updated MPC Script Source 0.2.17. Added MPC Image Source 0.3.6. Translations Updated Japanese translation (by tsubasanouta). Updated Chinese (Traditional) and Dutch translation (by beter). Updated Romanian translation (by Andrei Miloiu). Updated Hungarian translation (by mickey). Updated Turkish translation (by cmhrky). Updated German translation (by Klaus1189). Updated Chinese (Simplified) translation (by wushantao). Updated Italian translation (by mapi68). Updated Korean translation (by Hackjjang). Updated Chinese (Traditional) (by udfbe). Updated libraries dav1d 1.5.3-6-g04b69f9; ffmpeg n8.2-dev-1857-g4653e68aab; libpng git-v1.6.55-9-g7d52a8087; Little-CMS git-lcms2.18-26-gf739cda; MediaInfo git-v26.05-38-g702c9b7fd; ZenLib git-v0.4.41-91-g073f297; zlib 1.3.2. Download: MPC-BE 64-bit | Portable MPC-BE 64-bit | ~20.0 MB (Open Source) Download: MPC-BE 32-bit | Portable MPC-BE 32-bit Link: Media Player Classic - BE Home Page Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Apple reportedly looks to blacklisted Chinese memory chips as RAM prices climb

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Apple reportedly looks to blacklisted Chinese memory chips as RAM prices climb by Karthik Mudaliar Image via Apple Apple is reportedly trying to get a clearance from the Trump administration to buy memory from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to get some relief from soaring DRAM prices. As per a report by the Financial Times, Apple approached the Commerce Department more than a month ago and also spoke to other officials and allies in Washington. For starters, CXMT is a company that's already been placed on the Pentagon's list of Chinese military companies. The Chinese company is the country's top DRAM maker. For Apple, the timing is certainly awkward but not surprising. Tim Cook had recently warned that Apple would have to raise prices because AI companies are buying up large amounts of memory for data centers, and just like that, Apple raised MacBook and iPad prices. Micron also recently revealed that customers have committed billions of dollars to secure memory supply years in advance, which shows us how aggressive securing infrastructure has become. This gives suppliers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron more leverage, while pushing hardware makers to look for alternatives. CXMT is one of those alternatives, but not the simplest one. Apple has spent many years trying to diversify parts of its supply chain away from China, especially for final assembly, while still depending heavily on Chinese manufacturing and suppliers. Even domestic brands from China are moving towards CXMT and YMTC instead of relying on Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix. For Apple, though, it would invite more scrutiny than local Chinese companies. For now, this is more like a lobbying effort rather than a confirmed supply deal. There's no official statement from either of the parties. What is clearer, though, is the pressure behind such a request. AI demand has certainly made hardware a bottleneck, and companies are trying everything they can to bring things back to normal, even if that means making politically sensitive choices. Source: Financial Times
    • You've tried DuckDuckGo and Brave Search, now get serious with SearXNG

      By datacenter · Posted

      I did test it a month or so back, but ... the results I expect to be on the first page are not there.
    • 4TB TEAMGROUP MP44Q, 2TB T-Force G50, and 2TB WD My Passport SSDs drop to great prices

      By ryansurfer98 · Posted

      Neowin is saying these are good prices? Thats crazy. As others have said they are just ######. Time for big tech to bring down the prices for real not this fake crap.
    • Hands on with iFlyTek AINote 2 E-Ink tablet: insanely thin and smart

      By The Werewolf · Posted

      The iFlyTek AINote 2 is among the thinnest E-Ink tablets. It has an EMR stylus, a built-in fingerprint reader, and plenty of built-in AI features. You had me until "and plenty of built-in AI features." That and any company that still does the iProduct naming trope is an immediate pass. It suggests the company isn't very imaginative or creative and is trying to piggyback off another company's success. Extremely lame. Also kind of expensive. Better choices at lower prices out there.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      486
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      220
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      147
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      74
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      70
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!