MailOgging

This project is for the use of the average bloke (yes, you), who would like to further help and promote the use of your favorite free format. The MailOgging is a strategy to get the attention of hardware and software vendors who do not know the Ogg family, do not care about it, or do not know how many people care about it. The MailOgging provides free templates that you can use (and change according to your likeness) to create letters that you can then send to the corporations you want to nag. Nagging as many as you can is appreciated and gives you magical elite points.

FAQ

Q. Is this official, as in, part of Xiph.org?
A. Yes, it's part of the SpreadOgg iniative by Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves.

Q. Why should I do this?
A. You tell me, but if you think it's worth it, if you want to support the Ogg family, and if you'd like to try making your voice heard, then there's your reasons. Most vendors never gave a damn about Xiph.Org or free formats, so maybe it's time they hear some words from the community.

Q. Can I induce others to do the same?
A. Now we are talking.

Q. Can I expand, modify and make corrections to the templates?
A. But of course. The MailOgging is available in wiki format for this sole reason. Please help fix problems you see in the text, or further expand it. You can also suggest changes in the Talk page.

Q. What about translations?
A. Sure. Go ahead and make them available here. There's lots of companies outside the English speaking world like Haier (China) and Samsung (Korea), and surely they would rather hear from customers on their homeland.

Q. What are magical elite points?
A. Oh, you'll find out when you get them.

Q. So, how do I use the templates?
A. You need to change a few things in the template you want to use. After you are done, get either the physical address or e-mail address (or both) of the corporation you'd like to contact and send the letter.

Here's a list of things you'll need to replace in the text:

• XXX = Name of the corporation, company, or person (e.g. Creative, Peter Pawlowski)
  
• YYY = Your name. If you'll be using snail-mail, don't forget to sign the letter with a pen!
  
• ZZZ = Name of the product (e.g. iTunes, Creative Zen, etc.)

You also need to know what formats you'll be requesting support for, since you'll need to edit out the template to remove what shouldn't be there. Don't forget that asking for all of them at once is probably not wise. The list is as follows:

• Vorbis
• FLAC
• Speex
• Theora
• XSPF

There's also a few slashes "/" so you can choose what's more appropriate for you and the letter. Don't forget to make decisions on what goes and what stays.

The templates

Dear XXX,

Through this letter, I, YYY, would like to request you to support other digital formats in the ZZZ, namely Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Speex, Theora and XSPF. I'm one/I intend to become one of your customers/users and, as such, I believe I have a say on what I'd like you to provide me, after all, XXX exists to provide services for the people.

Now, as you may have guessed, I took the time to put this letter together because I really want this feature, I really want the XXX to be able to play the digital formats that I like. I have my music/videos/media under those formats, and so I believe I have the right to at least ask if my favorite product could one day support my media.

I'm pretty sure your fine technicians already know these formats I've mentioned above, but I'll make a brief introduction to each of them, so you'll understand why I have chosen them to store and encode my media.

Vorbis, commonly known as Ogg, because of its container format, is a lossy audio codec with higher quality over MP3 and WMA. It also streams pretty well over the Internet. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the ZZZ play it.

FLAC is a lossless audio codec with high compression. It stores songs with all quality possible. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the ZZZ play it.

Speex is an audio codec for speech. It can be used for both audio books and VoIP, among other things. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the ZZZ play it.

Theora is an advanced video codec like MPEG 4. It streams pretty well over the Internet. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the ZZZ play it.

XSPF is a playlist format based on XML with a lot of features that make life easier for both consumers and vendors. It's simple, cute and mean. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the ZZZ play it.

But don't take my word for it. Wikipedia offers detailed articles that may be found at:

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speex //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theora //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XSPF

So, please, dear XXX. Be kind enough to consider my request. Outdo your competition, hear the voices of your customers/users. Add support for Vorbis, FLAC, Speex, Theora and XSPF in the ZZZ.

Sincerely, YYY

A few examples

Letter to Apple regarding the iPod

Dear Apple,

Through this letter, I, Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves, would like to request you to support other digital formats in the iPod, namely Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. I intend to become one of your customers and, as such, I believe I have a say on what I'd like you to provide me, after all, Apple exists to provide services for the people.

Now, as you may have guessed, I took the time to put this letter together because I really want this feature, I really want the iPod to be able to play the digital formats that I like. I have my music under those formats, and so I believe I have the right to at least ask if my favorite product could one day support my media.

I'm pretty sure your fine technicians already know these formats I've mentioned above, but I'll make a brief introduction to each of them, so you'll understand why I have chosen them to store and encode my media.

Vorbis, commonly known as Ogg, because of its container format, is a lossy audio codec with higher quality over MP3 and WMA. It also streams pretty well over the Internet. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

FLAC is a lossless audio codec with high compression. It stores songs with all quality possible. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

But don't take my word for it. Wikipedia offers detailed articles that may be found at:

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC

So, please, dear Apple. Be kind enough to consider my request. Outdo your competition, hear the voices of your customers. Add support for Vorbis and FLAC in the iPod.

Sincerely, Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves

Letter to Microsoft regarding Windows

Dear Microsoft,

Through this letter, I, Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves, would like to request you to support other digital formats in Windows, namely Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Speex, Theora and XSPF. I'm one of your users and, as such, I believe I have a say on what I'd like you to provide me, after all, Microsoft exists to provide services for the people.

Now, as you may have guessed, I took the time to put this letter together because I really want this feature, I really want Windows to be able to play the digital formats that I like. I have my media under those formats, and so I believe I have the right to at least ask if my favorite product could one day support my media.

I'm pretty sure your fine technicians already know these formats I've mentioned above, but I'll make a brief introduction to each of them, so you'll understand why I have chosen them to store and encode my media.

Vorbis, commonly known as Ogg, because of its container format, is a lossy audio codec with higher quality over MP3 and WMA. It also streams pretty well over the Internet. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

FLAC is a lossless audio codec with high compression. It stores songs with all quality possible. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

Speex is an audio codec for speech. It can be used for both audio books and VoIP, among other things. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

Theora is an advanced video codec like MPEG 4. It streams pretty well over the Internet. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

XSPF is a playlist format based on XML with a lot of features that make life easier for both consumers and vendors. It's simple, cute and mean. The specification is available free of charge, it's not encumbered with patents, and there's no need for you to pay royalties to have the iPod play it.

But don't take my word for it. Wikipedia offers detailed articles that may be found at:

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speex
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theora
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XSPF

So, please, dear Microsoft. Be kind enough to consider my request. Outdo your competition, hear the voices of your users. Add support for Vorbis, FLAC, Speex, Theora and XSPF in Windows.

Sincerely, Ivo Emanuel Gonçalves