[plug] Australia and New Zealand slow to take up Linux

[Kev]

Eloquently put!  Couldn't agree more.

Leon Brooks wrote:

> Er, no.
> 
> Sad to say, a list of facts is not very helpful no matter how relevant 
> and well presented. What people want to see is a gut-level association 
> between something desirable and the product -- which is why cigarette 
> ads sell pure, healthy-looking white clothes against tropical blue 
> water these days rather than lower tar levels or truth-in-advertising 
> slogans like "twice as many years to your last hacking, bubbling, 
> pain-wracked death-rattle".
> 
> Have a look at The Borg's ads: what are _they_ selling? Software?
> 
> Hah!
> 
> They're selling the twin ideas of creativity and a future. "Use our 
> product so you and your children will be brighter, happier and more 
> creative." Never mind inconvenient realities, like once you get past 
> specific 3rd-party apps (PhotoShop, DreamWeaver, etc), the actual core 
> product stifles creativity like no other, foreshadowing a locked-in 
> user-pays-and-pays-and-pays existence to make George Orwell cringe.
> 
> So you want to promote Linux and FOSS? Find simple, easily expressible 
> ways in which it has enriched your life ("never seen a virus"/"what's 
> spyware?"/"what do you mean, 'can't change' that?"/"updates? mine 
> happen safely and automatically. I never think about them"), then tie 
> those in to your "product". Even those examples are too technical, 
> although it would be relatively simple to do a good animation of Tux 
> warding off digital nasties, leaving a computer unscathed and happy. 
> "My computer never breaks" would be a good starting point. Make your 
> pronouncements airy, light and pleasant.
> 
> If you can drop a showstopper fact or two without interrupting the flow, 
> then by all means do so, but remember that said facts will only appeal 
> to a small minority in your audience. Flow, polish and positive 
> associations will do far more to win your day for most folks than any 
> number of "mundane" facts.
> 
> Cheers; Leon
> 

-- 
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Kev Downes
kdownes at tpg.com.au  ph 0404 7 0808 2
We use and recommend Xandros 3.0.2
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