Your previous "Vision" page was much better!

Just compare the previous to the current one. It's incomparable, the previous was much more lovely and made me feel passionate about every thing the company stands for.

I disagree. The old page had too much text — most visitors won't read that much text.
The new design is much better, but it could be improved with some icons or graphics.

But the new page hasn't the same beautiful statements the previous page had. :/

The new page could have more text from the old one, summarized... Or they could put a new page where the old text is still available and alive.
Actually I was searching for another page which displayed the vision in two simple bullet lists but I can't find it (I think it was in a "what's new" page, the last of some pages you can browse with new features on the version just after you updated the browser).

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

the previous was much more lovely and made me feel passionate about every thing the company stands for.

I agree. The old version gave me the sense that it was written by someone passionate and believe in what he/she was writing. It sounded unique and special.

It's shame to see statements such as "We believe in respect for our users", "We believe in privacy" and "We believe in social responsibility" dropped in the new version. Also shame was "We believe in a Net that preserves cultural diversity" seemed replaced by "We believe in the power of a single idea". Why is that?

Thank you for starting this topic, Rafael.

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

I was searching for another page which displayed the vision in two simple bullet lists but I can't find it (I think it was in a "what's new" page)

Oh, it's still there:

At Opera we offer more than just great browsers
We believe in respect for our users.
We believe in privacy.
We believe in social responsibility.
We believe in a Web with unlimited accessibility.
We believe in international, open web standards.
We believe in a patent-free Web.
We believe in good employment.

Last page of http://www.opera.com/portal/startup/

Thank you for your passion regarding this matter.

To clarify: The current vision page replaced the previous version because it was to text heavy. We are now in the process of redoing opera.com as a whole, and as part of that process the vision page, history page, etc are all being looked at. We know that patents, respect for our users, privacy and other statements that were in the previous version are important parts of the Opera culture and what we believe in as a company, and we will make sure that we'll find a place for it in the new version of opera.com. We want to find a balance between the 'new' vision page and the 'old' one, but how it will end up looking is too early to say.

Again, thank you for being so passionate.

Best,
Erlend

Perfect!

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

We know that patents, respect for our users, privacy and other statements that were in the previous version are important parts of the Opera culture and what we believe in as a company, and we will make sure that we'll find a place for it in the new version of opera.com.

Good to hear. Please also consider including the "valuing cultural diversity" part.

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

We want to find a balance between the 'new' vision page and the 'old' one, ...

Why don't you run a "Rewrite Opera Vision & Mission Statement" competition or challenge for the community?

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

Perfect!

Job well done, Rafael

Opera: Vision page looks more better now. Thankyou.

Originally posted by gdveggie:

Your first post, so welcome to the Opera forums! (Just never got to say it to an Opera employee, so had to take advantage of the opportunity. )

I'd like to share some thoughts on this topic.

Originally posted by gdveggie:

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

Also shame was "We believe in a Net that preserves cultural diversity" seemed replaced by "We believe in the power of a single idea". Why is that?

Yeah, I hear ya! What do "We believe in the power of a single idea." and "Participation changes everything." mean, anyway?! There might be some depth and meaning behind those statements, but without some explication, they just seem like empty marketing slogans to me.

Very good point, I don't know what it does means also.

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

We know that patents, respect for our users, privacy and other statements that were in the previous version are important parts of the Opera culture and what we believe in as a company, and we will make sure that we'll find a place for it in the new version of opera.com.

Good to hear. Please also consider including the "valuing cultural diversity" part.

In case you're going to make a new page don't forget the environmental policy, and patent-free Web and social responsibility and everything!
Haha, I really wish the text was cleaned of most duplicated words and still have much like the same content!

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

We want to find a balance between the 'new' vision page and the 'old' one, ...

Why don't you run a "Rewrite Opera Vision & Mission Statement" competition or challenge for the community?

The company must write it!

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

Perfect!

Job well done, Rafael

Thanks! And thanks to Opera!

I'm with you on this one, rafaelluik!

I happen to agree with Pesala that most visitors won't read the text of the old vision statement, but I don't think most visitors will read the new one either... ...because I think it will only be the rare Opera user that is interested enough in that page to spend any more time on it than is necessary to find a button/link to click on what they really want.

But if somebody does care and reads the new one, what do they really know about Opera, and especially about the thought behind the bullet points? If it wasn't for this thread, I'd actually much less likely to read the new page because the bullet points strike me as superficial marketing statements. (I'm not saying they *are* superficial. They obviously relate somewhat to the previous vision statement, and they may have just as much or more thought behind them. But they don't strike me that way, and my eye just slips right over them with no thought and almost no recognition of what they even say unless I force myself to think about them.)

Whereas on the old page, I feel like I'm maybe getting a glimpse into a corporate ethos with some real thoughtfulness and substance. I can easily imagine hours of conversations between colleagues who are very thoughtful about their values and take very seriously the quality of corporate life and relationship to customers and the world that they want to create and maintain.

Even the list you quoted above somehow has more substance and punch when I read it than I experience when I look at the new vision page.

At Opera we offer more than just great browsers
We believe in respect for our users.
We believe in privacy.
We believe in social responsibility.
We believe in a Web with unlimited accessibility.
We believe in international, open web standards.
We believe in a patent-free Web.
We believe in good employment.

Maybe it's partly because they stand there alone so starkly, with no design or graphics... ...but I think it's partly the clear-cut simplicity, with the repeated "We believe in...", and no waffling about what they believe in. There's nothing wrong with "strives to," "encourages," or "enables," (in the new vision statement) but they just don't pack the same punch.

(Unfortunately, I can't find the list myself at the link, maybe because i don't understand what you mean by "Last page of", but maybe because I'm still using Opera 11.01, and the only thing I get at that URL is:

Upgrade now!

You are using an outdated version of Opera.
We recommend that you get the latest, fastest and most secure version.

...There's no other content on the page (so no "last page"), except the menu across the top, and I can't find the list on any of the pages from the menu.

Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

Also shame was "We believe in a Net that preserves cultural diversity" seemed replaced by "We believe in the power of a single idea". Why is that?

Yeah, I hear ya! What do "We believe in the power of a single idea." and "Participation changes everything." mean, anyway?! There might be some depth and meaning behind those statements, but without some explication, they just seem like empty marketing slogans to me.

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

Thank you for your passion regarding this matter.

I don't know if that post number (1) is accurate, but as I always say to first-time posters:
Your first post, so welcome to the Opera forums!

(Just never got to say it to an Opera employee, so had to take advantage of the opportunity. )

Thanks for your reply, Erlend. Both its content and the fact that you replied seem to reflect the Opera culture and values that come through much more on the the old vision page. I'm glad to hear there will be an attempt to find a balance, and I would be surprised if it could be done only with bullet points.

If there is a perceived need for a version of similar brevity to the current one, I think something like the bullet point list quoted above by rafaelluik would be much more powerful and satisfying. And if it needs to be simply bullet points, perhaps a link for those interested in more of the substance/thought/history behind the bullet points would be helpful in establishing a balance.

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

Thank you for your passion regarding this matter.

As I always say to first-time posters:
Your first post, so welcome to the Opera forums!

(Just never got to say it to an Opera employee, so had to take advantage of the opportunity. )

Thanks for your reply, Erlend. Both its content and the fact that you replied seem to reflect the Opera culture and values that come through much more on the the old vision page. I'm glad to hear there will be an attempt to find a balance, and I would be surprised if it could be done only with bullet points.

If there is a perceived need for a version of similar brevity to the current one, I think something like the bullet point list quoted above by rafaelluik would be much more powerful and satisfying. And if it needs to be simply bullet points, perhaps a link for those interested in more of the substance/thought/history behind the bullet points would be helpful in establishing a balance.

Originally posted by erlendhausken:

Thank you for your passion regarding this matter.

I don't know if that post count (1) is accurate (?), but as I always say to first-time posters:
Your first post, so welcome to the Opera forums!

(Just never got to say it to an Opera employee, so had to take advantage of the opportunity. )

Thanks for your reply, Erlend. Both its content and the fact that you replied seem to reflect the Opera culture and values that come through much more on the the old vision page. I'm glad to hear there will be an attempt to find a balance, and I would be surprised if it could be done only with bullet points.

If there is a perceived need for a version of similar brevity to the current one, I think something like the bullet point list quoted above by rafaelluik would be much more powerful and satisfying. And if it needs to be simply bullet points, perhaps a link for those interested in more of the substance/thought/history behind the bullet points would be helpful in establishing a balance.

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

Just compare the previous to the current one.

Yes, content at those two URLs now identical except the addition of "Opera extensions" under Add-ons at the bottom. ...Not exactly the "balance" mentioned above.

But maybe that's still in the works. If so, I'd favor leaving as-is until the "balanced" version is ready.