On Tue, 2007-01-16 at 12:40 -0500, Chad Smith wrote: > On 1/16/07, Ian Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > If it ain't broke don't fix it. The only compelling reason to buy a new > > office suite is if it does something you need that your existing > > software doesn't do. > > > Absolutely. However, from an "OpenOffice.org Marketing" perspective - we > need to focus on what our office suite does that theirs doesn't.
Compelling reasons are No hassle with license keys No upgrade costs and you can access an installation package anywhere that has broadband. Can produce pdf directly Supports the ISO standard file format so avoid lock-in. > Ok, some people will upgrade to say they have the latest and greatest > > like people buy cars as status symbols but office software is only > > really a status symbol to some sad geek that understands office software > > versions ;-) > > > What are you trying to say? Are you calling me sad because I beta tested > 2007 last year? Are you saying I'm a geek because I have the latest > versions of all the office suites I can find? ;) Only a joke. I'm one too, but we are in a small minority compared to the bulk of users. > I agree status symbolism isn't the most driving of reasons to upgrade your > office suite. However, Microsoft already tried that with their "evolve" > campaign. Yes MS will try anything, but its getting harder for them because most people simply don't care. > I really can't see the vast majority of people rushing to upgrade. Even > > those that can upgrade for free because they are on a subscription have > > to think about the time and effort to install etc. Same is true of Vista > > except that in buying a new computer you will eventually have to have it > > and then that puts pressure on other computers on the same network to > > get upgraded. Its still likely to be years before a majority of > > computers on the planet are running Vista. It might never achieve that > > as emphasis shifts away from the desktop. > > > This is exactly why "price" isn't that great of a selling point for > OpenOffice.org (or Linux for that matter). The TCO is not zero. It may not > be anywhere near to that of Microsoft - but it's higher than $0. But convenience as in my compelling list above and zero license fees are a good combination to lower total cost of ownership. If you are upgrading to a new version of office there is still a learning curve so its pretty obvious that TCO for OOo is lower if it has all the features you need. > There are > much better reasons to use OOo than just price (built-in PDF export, > cross-platformness, no licensing issues, unified interface, built-in Flash > export, Draw, share-ability, etc.) Its a combination of all these reasons that provide the most powerful argument. Government recommendation and OEM installation make a significant difference too. Ian -- www.theINGOTS.org www.schoolforge.org.uk www.opendocumentfellowship.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
