3DNow!? What's that?

This is the initial reaction when people hear first about this exciting technology that - while having been around in theory for a while - has first been put into mainstream CPUs by AMD, was followed up to by IDT and is planned to go into production at Cyrix.

Could you explain your friends the principle behind it? No?

Welcome to www.3DNow.Org, the website that will explain it to you so you can explain it to them.

Success

AMD and the budget computer wave have been a smash success in 1998 and 1999, grabbing a significant share of the computer market of first time and budget-minded computer users. These people often own 3DNow! enabled CPUs without even knowing the power that is dormant in their machines. Dormant because too few applications and drivers make use of it.

We are here to change that. We'll point you to the products that are 3DNow! enabled, getting you a much better bang for your hard earned buck!

Failure

AMD has started the 3DNow! wave, but their resources are limited in making it succeed in the face of stiff competition. Many people who bought 3DNow! CPUs are disappointed with the lack of support in products and ignorance displayed by many leading hardware and game companies.

They've got a choice: either to resignate to having bought into a promising technology that isn't put to use or to throw their weight as consumers and netizens behind our campaign to stand up and make ourselves heard. Do you have what little it takes to join in?

Success part two

It is our intention to make 3DNow! a requirement, nothing less, for any well selling computer game and add-in hardware. We don't want to be fed ignorance, we're a significant share of the computer market and we demand to be recognized as such.

We will succeed and - in excerting our consumer awareness - will reward those who recognize us the way they want to be recognized - by buying their products.

How is this accomplished?

First of all, we need you, as individual, as consumer, as computer user, as human or alien being. Whether you are a performance freak, 3D artist or a casual gamer, you count in this !

Sign up with our campaign, visit the site regularily to put hard undisputable numbers on the log files that show companies just how many of us there are. Be soft spoken but carry a big stick: your wallet. Refuse to buy hardware that doesn't have 3DNow! improved drivers. This isn't a boycott call, this is your right to choose what is best for you.

You don't want inferior hardware. You don't want inferior games.

You go to www.3dnow.Org and check out the list for supported stuff and only from that you buy.

Now that we established that, we have a powerful incentive for companies to invest the time and money into 3DNow! support to distinguish themselves from the competition that doesn't care a damn - it means that your hard earned cash will go into their hard working pockets and both of you will know they made a good deal - consumer satisfaction is built in.

How to know what to buy

Here we enter with our second step: reviews.

An educated consumer will first check out reviews of things he's interested in. I am sure you too have been burned by buying junk because you didn't know what you were getting. Maybe you trusted a brand because of advertising and it made you mad. That's why there are a lot of websites out there doing reviews on hardware, applications and games. That's likely how you got here in the first place, from one of those sites, right?

Our button-bearing supporters have one strict criteria about who they will award the top honors of their reviews: they must support 3DNow! if it is meaningful for the performance of the product. No 3DNow!, no award, it is a qualifying criteria. Period.

You remember how companies strut those awards on their websites, retail boxes and advertising campaigns, right? Well no such thing from our supporters unless the companies deliver on 3DNow!

Starting out from www.3DNow.Org to review sites that support us, you'll know that you can trust an awarded product to support your 3DNow! system, delivering extra performance. Sounds good, right? Everyone wants extra performance.

You can have it with little effort.

Just join us.

Websites

There are a number of renowned websites supporting us already. Yours could be too, or the one you frequently read. Spread the word about the 3DNow! Proliferation Campaign and get more readers. Contact the webmaster of your favourite sites and ask him to join up with the campaign.

If you adhere to our three simple requests of withholding your top honors from products that are not 3DNow! enabled, give bonus points to those that are and carry our campaign button on your site, we will run your banner ad for free here. Neither of these requests cost you a penny, you'll benefit from extra readers on your site and you serve the community in a meaningful way. Can you make an argument against that?

Companies

Your product supports 3DNow!? You like free advertising? You want reviews to take notice of your extra effort to get discriminating consumers the best performance for their money? Welcome aboard!

If your product has quality 3DNow! support we'll be happy to list it on our recommendation pages. If your product has been reviewed by a supporting website that adheres to our simple criterias we'll post a link to the review as well. We don't do reviews ourselves on this site, but we'd be happy to hook you up with sites that do. You'll reap the rewards of your innovative work by getting access to the best consumers a company would want to entice - our readers.

What we get from this

Bold words like that above require a honest answer to this question that looms on your minds. We won't make much advertising revenue from this site, instead we'll invest significant work time and financial resources into it - because we want to (doesn't mean we won't accept donations or being named in your last will).

1. a higher profile for the websites that we come from - we work hard, we want more people to read it, we think it is great to receive feedback on what we do

2. access to more and cooler hardware/games for reviews - most of us dump money into our work instead of earning any, we're dependent on being "important enough" to receive test samples - this project will enhance our visibility to companies

3. the satisfaction to move things without being a company bigwig - it is fun to take influence in such a pro-community way

Is this selfish? Well point 3 maybe, but I think 2.5 out of 3 that benefit you as well is a fair trade. Mail me if you disagree and I'll try to dispell your concerns.

Managing Editor
The 3DNow! Proliferation Initiative