My corollary to this is that it doesn't matter about product quality, availability or much else. If you give a media outlet something sensational to report they will. Especially if you actually write the copy for them so they just have to "report" it.
If you want to get some "free, unbiased" coverage for your product announcement you do it in Vegas with hookers^H^H^H^H^H^Hagents and blow^H^H^H^Hswag and invite the media. Wow, that was cynical even by my standards! I was howling with laughter the yesterday when a Global News announcer said, with a straight face, that counterfeit products (CDs, clothes, toys) were funding terrorism. What a whopper!!! What an absolute coup for the RIAA et all publicists! That was an impressive piece of work to get that read on the evening news. Shame on the news organizations for not fact checking that and asking to see the money trail. I'm betting there will be a a trip to Vegas for whoever orchestrated that. On Tue, 2009-06-16 at 10:47 -0600, Dafydd Crosby wrote: > By your logic, then, the year that Red Hat IPO'd was the year of the > Linux desktop, since the corporate media was happy to report the bundles > of cash they made :-P > > Most media outlets are for-profit, and they generate revenue by fielding > advertisers. Microsoft will happily spend billions to flood the market > for ads, garnering appeal by presenting cash. Payola isn't just a radio > thing, it's a media thing. "If you give me money, I think you're > awesome." Sad to say, most open-source projects do not make nearly > enough to pay for 30 second spots on the television. IBM had that ad > campaign a few years ago, but they weren't selling Linux, they were > selling IBM. Until there's a monetary interest for the media, the > mainstream nightly news won't care one iota. At most, you'll be lucky to > get a mention on a CBC-sponsored blog - and even then, it's only because > they feel they should in order to be 'balanced'. > > This isn't supposed to be a sour post, but a reflection on the realities > of the market. Until some Linux company starts coughing up cash > promoting Linux on the level of Microsoft and Apple, the mainstream will > only be concerned about Microsoft and Apple. > > -Dafydd > > bogi wrote: > > It will be the year of the Linux desktop, for the general public that is, > > when > > the corp. media actually reports stuff about linux, and you hear about it > > in > > the news etc... Not while 90% of the people think they only can have > > windows > > with their computer, and could not be bothered. A rebellious computer user > > , > > 98% of them, think there are 2 options PC=Windows and a MAC ... that's it. > > Linux is not presented as an option. It also ads to the shameful state of > > affairs that we basically hold our events in secret, only advertising to > > close friends and supporters. If we don't come out of the closet with this > > Linux thing, there will never be a Year of the Linux desktop, ever. Corp > > media will not do it, neither will computer stores like best buy, dell, > > hp ... They all keep their Linux related offers unannounced to the general > > public. If you smelt a strong stench of frustration , you got it. This rant > > if you like, is meant to spur you into action and whip your advocacy > > muscles > > hard to get them moving. > > > > Ps: You is not personal, nor does it single out CLUG members, it a generic > > Linux enthusiast enumeration in this case. > > > > Cheers > > Szemir > > > > > > On Friday 12 June 2009 20:54:23 TekBudda wrote: > > > >> With the penguins winning the cup...it makes we wonder if maybe...this > >> could be the year of the Linux Desktop? > >> > >> Detroit underestimated them & the got schooled...Microsoft tends to > >> underestimate Linux.....and well... who knows? ;-) > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> clug-talk mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > >> Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > >> **Please remove these lines when replying > >> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > clug-talk mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > > **Please remove these lines when replying > > > > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
