11/20 08:17 Yes, But Can Software Clean My House and Teach My Kids? Berkeley,
<BYND.O>
Yes, But Can Software Clean My House and Teach
My Kids? Berkeley, Calif. Mom's Software Fantasy Wins Her Beyond.com
Trip to London
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 1998--Internet
software superstore Beyond.com (Nasdaq:BYND) asked a simple
question: "What would software beyond your wildest dreams do?"
More than 2,000 people responded hoping to win an exotic holiday
for two in the "Wildest Dreams" contest launched on Aug. 24 by
Beyond.com (http://www.beyond.com).
One mother longs for software that helps her son always make good
choices. Another believes software should plan nutritional meals that
her family would eat. An aspiring composer would like software to
compose music for an orchestra of a thousand musicians and follow him
as he conducts. A teacher's aide believes software should let her
students' minds go anywhere: "Visit the polar bears in Antarctica or
be with a python as he slithers down a tree in the Rain Forest ... The
mind and software can be a truly adventurous experience!" A baseball
fan wants software that calls balls and strikes, while an inventor
longs for software that could turn his ideas into reality.
One contestant wrote that, in a perfect world, software
"straightened my hair, caused me to lose 25 pounds, buffed up my pecs,
wash-boarded my abs, took away 20 years, whitened my teeth, made my
brown eyes blue, firmed up my seat, pumped up my thighs and caused me
to leap tall buildings with a single bound ... But, since, this isn't
a perfect world, I'd settle for software that guaranteed a
conflict-free computer environment."
"Software already exists to fulfill so many peoples' wildest
dreams," said Brian Sroub, vice-president of marketing for Beyond.com.
"However, we love hearing about the other things people wish software
could do."
The Beyond.com Grand Prize went to Deborah Fortune Walton, of
Berkeley, Calif., who submitted the following entry of exactly 100
words (per the contest requirements):
-0-
Hail software!
No more woes,
Clean out the cat box,
Paint up my toes!
Wash the dishes
From dinner you cooked
I've got a nasty project...
(It's still there, I just looked.)
And oh! the kids need new Keds.
But before you do that,
Make up all the beds,
Run the vacuum upstairs,
Drive the morning carpool
The kitchen needs mopping,
Drop off the dry cleaning
And do Grandma's shopping.
But what would I do, If you really were here?
Fly to London, or Hawaii, (Let's Go!)
And, at work, tell the boss:
"See my software, she's running the show!"
-0-
"I hate shopping for software," Walton said. "I don't even want
to set foot in a store that would make me feel stupid and intimidated!
I heard the Beyond.com radio ads, thought they were hysterical and
decided to check out the web site. Beyond.com made it so easy to order
Filemaker Pro, which lets my 3-person public relations firm operate
like a big company.
"When I wrote the poem, I was feeling a little overwhelmed trying
to be a good mom, a good daughter," she said. "Now, I'm buying my
Christmas presents at Beyond.com."
With her Grand Prize, Walton plans to treat her mother (who turns
75-years old this month) to a week's holiday in London, England in
1999. Fifty Second Place winners will be awarded a $50-Gift
Certificate good toward their next purchase at Beyond.com.
The deadline for receiving entries was Sept. 30, 1998. Entries
were judged on originality, creativity and innovation. As part of the
contest, Beyond.com plans to forward some "Wildest Dream" software
ideas to its publishing partners for evaluation.
About Beyond.com
Beyond.com sells commercial, off-the-shelf software to the
government enterprise, corporate and consumer markets, offering its
customers a better way to buy software. Visitors to the company's
online store (http://www.beyond.com) enjoy a comprehensive selection
of software backed by customer service and competitive pricing.
Approximately 30,000 software stock-keeping units (SKUs) are available
for online purchase with more than 3,300 SKUs available for immediate,
electronic delivery, including software from such major publishers as
Adobe, Lotus, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Symantec.
The company has established strategic marketing alliances with
America Online, Inc., Excite, Inc., Netscape Communications
Corporation and Network Associates, Inc. Additionally, Beyond.com
offers publishers transaction processing, physical and electronic
order fulfillment, customer support, site design consultation,
marketing support and reporting.
Beyond.com is incorporated in Delaware as software.net
Corporation. Software.net Corporation has applied for federal
registration of the marks BEYOND.COM and BEYOND DOT COM. Beyond.com
trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol ("BYND").
To the extent that this news release discusses expectations about
software.net (Beyond.com's) Wildest Dreams contest, or plans to expand
its customer base by encouraging people to participate in the contest,
these statements are forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to
substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results for the fourth
quarter of 1998 and subsequent quarters could differ materially from
any future performance suggested above. Among the factors that could
affect subsequent periods include: Reductions in or cancellations of
customer orders, changes in relationships with software suppliers,
changes in relationships with strategic partners, changes in the
product mix sold by the company, competition from other online
software resellers or publishers and other factors described in the
company's prospectus dated June 17, 1998, as filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
--30--gdr/sf*
CONTACT: Beyond.com
Lise Olson, 408/616-4256 (Public Relations)
liseobeyond.com
Laura Dayton, 408/616-4328 (Investor Relations)
lauradbeyond.com
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