So what is Opera's target audience now?
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lem729 last edited by
On the Wikipedia article in almost a year and 1/3 on global desktop usage statistics -- from January 2012 to April 2014 -- Opera is at the highest it had been for any month. The article lists Opera as a browser they might be underestimating for a number of reasons, but including: "While most browsers generate additional page hits by refreshing web pages when the user navigates back through page history, some browsers (such as Opera) reuse cached content without resending requests to the server.". Alos, since website hits under a browser can be a basis for the statistics, if a website blocks a browser (and Opera is one that is a good number of times blocked) (there's the phenomenon of browser sniffing, which many opera users are familair with) the data can underestimate a browser's share of market. And Chrome usage has gone up incredibly. Could hits by the Opera browser be mistaken for Chrome, since they use the same engine. It's possible to me.
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alreadybanned last edited by
So Wikipedia stats are wrong and/or lies? They are just trolling Opera then? smh
I don't know. I'm not even going to access the article you posted. The point is the actual number of active users is already counted and made available by Opera Software, if Wikipedia or any other entity shows something different that skews from that count it may not be a "lie" but of course its source is INACCURATE.So you don't even have the courtesy to do as I did with your sources and look at the stats posted? And yet you still have the nerve to call them inaccurate. smh
Wikipedia is one of the most visited sites on the net, their visitor stats are a good indicator as well as a neutral one. Opera on the other hand has a vested interest, just like Microsoft who counts Windows 8 users amongst computers sitting on store shelves or Google counting Chrome users thanks to it being bundled in other software even when it's opted out of being installed.
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Deleted User last edited by
I love it too, and now there are the new products in Android, iOS, OS X, Windows.
Sorry sidney, but you come under 'Current Users' with Jeff.
Opera must be targeting someone else?
I use Maxthon, so maybe I'm their target audience?Their target is the people who uses another browser in any system, that is the reason they develop Opera to Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows and Linux (in the future).
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A Former User last edited by admin
So you don't even have the courtesy to do as I did with your sources and look at the stats posted? And yet you still have the nerve to call them inaccurate. smh
Wikipedia is one of the most visited sites on the net, their visitor stats are a good indicator as well as a neutral one
And StatCounter tracks millions of different sites! They have a bigger and more widespread sample than the "Wikipedia bubble" buddy.Opera on the other hand has a vested interest, just like Microsoft who counts Windows 8 users amongst computers sitting on store shelves or Google counting Chrome users thanks to it being bundled in other software even when it's opted out of being installed.
But the FACT is Opera counts actual ACTIVE USERS.
https://forums.opera.com/post/35796Stop spreading FUD when YOU KNOW it's not true or I'll make your username's wish come true. And stop hijacking threads.
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alreadybanned last edited by admin
So you don't even have the courtesy to do as I did with your sources and look at the stats posted? And yet you still have the nerve to call them inaccurate. smh
Wikipedia is one of the most visited sites on the net, their visitor stats are a good indicator as well as a neutral one
And StatCounter tracks millions of different sites! They have a bigger and more widespread sample than the "Wikipedia bubble" buddy.
Opera on the other hand has a vested interest, just like Microsoft who counts Windows 8 users amongst computers sitting on store shelves or Google counting Chrome users thanks to it being bundled in other software even when it's opted out of being installed.
But the FACT is Opera counts actual ACTIVE USERS.
https://forums.opera.com/post/35796
Stop spreading FUD when YOU KNOW it's not true or I'll make your username's wish come true. And stop hijacking threads.I am posting links to facts, facts you don't have the courtesy and/or courage to verify and rather just dismiss with pompous rhetoric.
You engaging in this back and forth makes you every bit as guilty of "hijacking" with one major difference of course, I actually address the subject matter and don't attack or make idle threats. Well, other than this, Your self important petty threats me nothing to me. I can just as easily sign up again and again just to be the bane of your existence so, go ahead, make my day.
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lem729 last edited by
What a lot of hooey, already banned. You're an admitted Cyberfox user, and all you're trying to do is poison and distort. And now it's . . . (you say: "don't attack me, or . . ." blackmail, is it. What drives you? Go enjoy the browser you like, and have the essential decency to leave us in peace.
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alreadybanned last edited by
What a lot of hooey, already banned. You're an admitted Cyberfox user, and all you're trying to do is poison and distort. And now it's . . . (you say: "don't attack me, or . . ." blackmail, is it. What drives you? Go enjoy the browser you like, and have the essential decency to leave us in peace.
I am a former and long time Opera user(since banner ads)too, don't forget that little tidbit. Posting factual stats is also far from hooey.
You can attack me if you like and I will gladly push back. What I wont do is pretend that's not what I'm doing. Threatening to ban someone who posts factual arguments because one lacks the ability to counter in an intuitive way would be a good example of blackmail but I haven't done that. We can't all say that though can we?
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drewfx last edited by
Nahhhh, you['re not abandoned, drewfx. Opera still has Opera 12.17 as a download. It offers Opera Blink AND Opera Presto. It's working on improving Opera 21, and there may be a time when you'll want to make a change. If you were abandoned, Opera would cut off the donwload of Presto. As for the marketing by Opera, that's just sales talk. All the browser entities use generalizations like that, you know, sort of like love talk -- haha, "sweet nothings."
I'm abandoned because they don't seem interested in restoring key features that are among the main reasons I've been using (and recommending) Opera since the days when I had to pay to get an ad-free copy.
And just to be clear, I'm not talking about the features are simply not feasible under Blink. I understand that there were very good reasons to move off of Presto going forward and there are certain necessary compromises that come with that. I'm talking about the UNNECESSARY compromises.
Currently I've decided to try out 21 in parallel with 12.17. But 21 is just lacking key features I need. And no, Extensions are not always an acceptable workaround because the Extension API is limited in certain ways.
If Opera's developers expressed an interest in gradually restoring missing functionality where feasible it would go a long way for some of us.
As to the sales talk, the issue I was pointing out was that Opera isn't making much of a case for itself, IMO. Some people here like to use the word "innovative" when describing some of the features and my point is that they then need to aggressively market those features and explain exactly what they are and why they're different and useful.
Instead they say things like "Opera gives you the freedom to truly open the web and explore". Exactly who is supposed to be inspired by a phrase like that and hit download?
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lem729 last edited by admin
You might take a look at Blackbird71's post. I think he pragmatically describes the situation for those unhappy with Opera 21.
https://forums.opera.com/topic/2102/opera-12-vs-opera-next-functionality/84
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drewfx last edited by admin
You might take a look at Blackbird71's post. I think he pragmatically describes the situation for those unhappy with Opera 21.
https://forums.opera.com/topic/2102/opera-12-vs-opera-next-functionality/84Perhaps you should read my post.
Whether you want to pretend otherwise or not, there's a vast difference between Presto features that are simply not feasible under Blink and ones that are completely feasible under the new Opera but just haven't been implemented.
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A Former User last edited by
I can just as easily sign up again and again just to be the bane of your existence so, go ahead, make my day.
Posting factual stats is also far from hooey.
You can attack me if you like and I will gladly push back. What I wont do is pretend that's not what I'm doing. Threatening to ban someone who posts factual arguments because one lacks the ability to counter in an intuitive way would be a good example of blackmail but I haven't done that. We can't all say that though can we?There's nothing factual about the "stats" you're posting. Drop this bullshit already. I won't have problems banning you over and over again if you wish.
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blackbird71 last edited byTo return to the thread title's question, I think Opera's target audience is frankly anyone they can get, just as their target audience has always been. Their goal is to attract users so as to increase company revenue... and there are multiple ways in which revenue gets involved in the situation. Opera gets primary revenue from paid pre-placement of their browsers onto certain brands of mobile devices, they get primary revenue from browser usage via click-count 'royalties' from favored accessory and link placements, and they get primary revenue from a variety of web marketing ventures. In such a business, the larger the market share one commands, the better the financial terms one can negotiate for their revenue sources. Anything that can enhance a browser's presence in both the mobile and desktop realms improves a browser-maker's revenue structure - especially if a similar browser can be employed 'seamlessly' across an array of different devices.
What I believe have changed are both the online world itself and Opera's approach to it... consequently what Opera is pursuing within its browser design and to whom it is attempting to appeal have both been impacted. Over time, the usage of the Internet has both been technically enhanced and dumbed down. Enhanced with the arrival of ever-more compact mobile devices and new/better technical protocols and various bells and whistles; dumbed-down as more users with fewer (if any) technical credentials are coming to constitute the 'user marketplace', compared to bygone days when users had to have a fair understanding of browser technology and how to control it in detail. To increase user count nowadays, browser makers must seek those who aren't current users... and as the non-technical user segment of the market has exploded, so the browser makers must seek such users to obtain growth.
Nothing of value comes free, it costs to create it. And the cost of putting in a particular technical feature consists of both the direct cost of its development and a "forgone" cost of not developing some other feature because the limited resources involved are tied up in developing the first feature. If the perception of the user market is that non-technical users are where the business's growth potential lies, then it's doubly difficult to rationalize putting in "technical" features at the expense of adding ones that might appeal to non-technical users.
So, bottom line, I believe that Opera's "target audience" is still anyone they can get, but I think Opera believes there are more such users to be gotten by reducing the "technical" usage footprint from Presto days than by continuing to focus on appealing to the "technical" users. There is some eventual hope for "technical" users in such a situation simply because, at some point, technical-cleverness/configurability becomes the only area really left to distinguish a browser from its look-alike competitors (copying "features" being what it is these days)... and once the flash of the Blink redesign is well in hand, there will be few other kinds of avenues for Opera to pursue in future days. So, for Opera "technical" users... patience, Iago, patience!
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lem729 last edited by
Isn't there then a possibility (as you say, blackbird71, "Nothing of value comes free, it costs to create it") that the "features" market, for the high end user is, at best, a "pay for service" market -- that a company could find it's financially worthwhile (maybe) to produce a product to meet the needs of these users -- even if they are a niche market. The problem is that everyone is simultaneously demanding a free product and want all of their needs met
And they get indignant to boot, if they're not. It's mind-boggling! -
Deleted User last edited by
Very thorough and well-thought-out presentation, blackbird71. Now if only your post would be read with an open mind I'm sure the whining and complaining would be reduced. It is what it is and it will be what it will be in good time and not before then.
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drewfx last edited by
I can only say that I gladly payed for Opera way back when you could do so to get rid of the ads.
And isn't there a possibility that non-technical users don't have enough sophistication to understand why they should switch to a browser different than "the one that came with it"?
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Deleted User last edited by
Sure, there's that possibility. And there's also the possibility that blackbird71 has hit a homerun with his analysis and you simply do not want to accept it. The fact is, Opera will do what it wants in spite of our complaints. It's their property and we're simply using it for free. Opera Presto was never popular and never would have been and it was time for a change whether you or I like it or not. That decision has been made and this late in the game it won't be altered. So you have a decision to make: accept it or find another browser. It's really as simple as that.
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Deleted User last edited by
@lem729: I also paid for it and you're quite correct: it was almost nothing so there's no big deal in saying we "paid for it" back in the day. Geeze, I paid for an early Netscape browser and it was considerably more than Opera's cost.
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drewfx last edited by
So you have a decision to make: accept it or find another browser. It's really as simple as that.
Why is it people keep missing another possibility - they could very add some desired functionality back in where it's feasible under the new engine. I don't see any reason why those of us who want such things shouldn't express that strongly. Successful companies have been know to listen to their user base on occasion.
But for some reason people want to confuse the "bring Presto back" argument with "bring back some features where possible".
This "just accept it or not" is a false choice. I'm arguing for making Blink Opera better by restoring some desirable features where possible, not going back to Presto. Why is that even something to argue over?
