![]() ![]() The world of BarbieGirls itself is a cross between The Sims and virtual paper doll site Stardoll, two properties that have been enormously successful at attracting female players. With BarbieGirls, Mattel hopes to cash in on something that the game community has known for some time: Little girls love online games. A much more limited free-to-play version remains available, but the majority of the game’s features and activities are now limited to V.I.P. After a yearlong open beta trial, BarbieGirls recently became one of the first toy-based virtual worlds to adopt a subscription-based revenue model (“BarbieGirls V.I.P.,” available at a cost of $5.99 per month as of June, 2008). Since its launch in April 2007, has attracted over 14 million members and proclaimed itself the “fastest growing virtual world in history.” According to Mattel’s press releases, the site attracts 45,000 new members every day, 85 percent of which are 8- to 15-year-old girls. In addition to a highly profitable series of direct-to-DVD animated movies, top-ranking websites and a stable of videogames, Barbie is now at the center of one of the most successful children’s virtual worlds to date. The doll’s reincarnation as a media brand is a big driving force behind her continued longevity. Despite the fact that sales of Barbie dolls have steadily declined for nearly a decade (with some analysts estimating a 27 percent drop between 20 alone), Barbie recently ranked first on the NPD Group’s list of top-selling toy licenses. ![]()
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![]() Currently, more than two dozen EZ Add-ins are available or under development for Peachtree Office Accounting. ![]() With Peachtree Office Accounting and Microsoft COM technology as the base, developers are able to quickly and efficiently create EZ Add-ins to transfer accounting data into business productivity applications, like Microsoft Excel, modify information and update it back in Office Accounting with the click of a mouse. These EZ Add-ins, which are being developed primarily by third-party developers, offer businesses the ability to “round-trip” their accounting information. In October 1998, Peachtree introduced a developer program to offer third-party developers a chance to create and market value-added “program extensions” that work with Peachtree Office Accounting. With Peachtree’s open architecture based on Microsoft’s Component Object Model, third-party developers have the opportunity to create solutions for a small business accounting industry that generated more than $1 billion in 1997. In addition, Peachtree Office Accounting allows small companies to customize and extend their accounting systems to meet specific and growing needs. This easy-to-use software includes all the accounting features a small business requires such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger, payroll, inventory and job tracking. Peachtree’s newest solution, Peachtree Office Accounting, features a groundbreaking open architecture platform that is changing the way small businesses perform accounting tasks. Behind word processing, accounting programs are the most widely used software applications in this industry. Peachtree’s presence in this market is significant, as small businesses make up more than 90 percent of American companies. Eighteen years later, Peachtree is now one of two major players in the small business accounting market and has more than 1 million small business customers. When small businesses began demanding accounting software almost 20 years ago, Peachtree answered the call by developing an accounting package that was bundled with the first IBM PCs in 1981. And when Microsoft Office 2000 debuts later this year, it will create even more opportunities for the small business industry. Peachtree Software is creating a multitude of opportunities in this billion-dollar market with the help of applications like Microsoft Office. ![]() 18, 1999 - Using leading Microsoft technologies such as Office and Component Object Model (COM), Peachtree Software is making a significant impact in an important industry – small business accounting. ![]() |
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