On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 2:42, Lars D. Noodén wrote: > On Fri, 10 Mar 2006, Benjamin Horst wrote: > > ... On the other hand, it is such a huge battle and really makes us > > fight against the current. ... > > That mostly a disadvantage, I agree. However, people have been > conditioned to glom onto "new" computer technology, so it could be to our > advantage.
This is probably even more so here in Australia in many areas, but particularly with technology... > > > A brand name that is used too generically by too many people risks > > losing its legal trademark status. (Xerox, Kleenex and Band-Aid have > > fought hard against this.) "Powerpoint" must be close to this danger. > > intent... > > From my observations, "powerpoint" shot way across that line long ago. > > > ... What if we start deliberately mis-using Microsoft's trademark and > > push hard to make powerpoint become a truly generic term? > > I'd say it's long since become a generic term and we have good chance of > making it stick. If MS fights, then Impress gets free publicity. :) and "any publicity is good publicity" as someone said. > > > What if we say that millions of people already do ... > > Actually that might be very helpful in getting across to people what it is > that Impress actually does. Like I wrote, for many people "presentation > graphics" and "PowerPoint" are the same thing and it can take 10 minutes > of debate to get it to soak in that it is just one brand name for a class > of tools. Kind of like the conversations one could get into in The South > a while back -- "yes, but what *kind* of Coke do you want?" > > It may be possible to use both strategies at the same time. > > "OOo Impress is a powerpoint program to make all kinds of presentations. > Like all other presentaiton graphics programs it can ..." Perhaps we could do it in stages. Something along the lines of initially saying "Impress is a PowerPoint-type program..." at first, and at a later stage dropping the '-type' and capitals so the statement becomes as you've suggested. Tat way, at least initially MS would not have the grounds for a suit, and late of course they would have a serious problem winning any suit, for the reasons you've suggested. > > Or something along that line. > > -Lars > Lars Nooden ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > Keep the market open by keeping software patents out: > > > http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/indprop/patent/consultation_en.h >tm > > > Using mental judo, perhaps we have another > > > alternative: > > > > > > What might the result be? Break their hold on the trademark (cost them a > > lot of money trying to defend it) and also communicate in a way that > > people will understand more easily. I think this path holds promise. > > > > Thanks, > > Ben > > > > On Friday, March 10, 2006, at 10:30AM, Lars D. Noodén <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Many people confuse the general category "presentation graphics" with a > >> specific brand and product line of software. > >> > >> It is a problem for us that too many people use one particular brand > >> name instead of the general term "presentation graphics". For many of > >> these people, the brand name *is* presentation graphics and for them > >> there is only one. Others know better, but contribute to the problem by > >> not using the correct term. > >> > >> Newpapers make that mistake and I see even major magazines like Time and > >> Newsweek make that mistake. > >> > >> It's a matter of marketing. If we can start insisting on editors saying > >> "presentation graphics" when they mean presentation graphics, and not > >> say "MS PowerPoint (r)" when they mean "presentation graphics", we open > >> the opportunity to bring in OOo and Impress. If we leave it be, we > >> leave the market with one single product whether we want to or not. > >> > >> Mindshare is important > >> > >> Comments, thoughts, suggestions? > >> > >> -Lars > >> Lars Nooden ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > >> Keep the market open by keeping software patents out: > >> http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/indprop/patent/consultation_e > >>n.htm > >> > >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Alex Fisher Co-Lead, CD-ROM Project OpenOffice.org Marketing Community Contact Australia/New Zealand http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/
