Bruce,
I really think you're hitting the marketing nail on the head: features.
Apple sells products with buttersmooth features. They're beautifully featured,
they have the latest hardware features and have more software than any other
mobile platform on Earth.
However, I don't think we should forget the power of Free. Free software
maximizes cost.
FOSS offers way more than just freedom. It offers a product that's *completely
free*, as in no-cash-out-of-pocket, free-as-in-beer free.
Amateur Radio operators are well known for being thrifty. An item marked *FREE*
will catch more attention than anything else at any Hamfest.
*FREE* might well just be one of the strongest selling points for Codec2, and
here's my case why:
It's a 100% FOSS download. In the world of HF digital voice, having a free
download will make all the difference in the world in terms of market share.
Allowing folks a *FREE* software solution to digital voice on the HF bands will
reshape the whole digital voice landscape.
When Codec2 is ready for HF digital voice operation, the press release and a
download link are all that's required. A ham reads the news, downloads Codec2,
hooks up the proper audio cables and VOILA - they're on air with Codec2.
For AMBE or for-pay modes, they have to *buy something*. As in, they not only
loose cash, they have to wait for something in the mail.
With Codec2, the instant-gratification urge can be fulfilled.
In the world of VHF/UHF though, I don't believe *FREE* is as big a selling
point. D-STAR and Yaesu's newest DV mode are currently duking it out, with very
little room to spare.
The world of VHF/UHF is almost single-handedly defined by one form factor: The
Handy Talkie.
Almost any new digital voice mode will need integration into an HT before it
becomes fully viable. For radio manufacturers, the AMBE chip provides a
turn-key, drop-in solution.
To crack the VHF/UHF market, Codec2 will need much more than just being *FREE*.
It's going to need to kick AMBE's digital butt feature wise.
However, we shouldn't forget the power of free. Android is a market hit because
it's free.
Here's to Codec2!
73, KE7HQY
________________________________
From: Bruce Perens <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, 27 April 2012, 21:20
Subject: [Freetel-codec2] Empathy for the target audience - regarding the
proposed slogans and how to market to outsiders
Hi Folks,
I would like to re-direct the group regarding the proposed slogans, and
I'll tell you why.
One of the big problems that the Open Source / Free Software community
has is that we have trouble getting the rest of the world to buy into
what we do.
If you have trouble believing that, I would like you to spend some time
in an Apple store. You'll probably notice that it's jam-packed with
happy, excited people who aren't buying into the freedom we offer them.
If you ask, they will tell you that Apple gives them more freedom than
we do. And it's true, because everything about the Apple systems is made
for people who think the way they do.
The fact is, we make our systems for ourselves and the other people who
think like us, and for the most part we're happy with that. A lot of us
don't even like users. We call them "lusers" or "mundanes". We get
annoyed when they criticize our products while they haven't contributed
anything, if they're even capable of doing so.
But we aren't very much like the majority of users in the world around
us, not even the majority of licensed Radio Amateurs. There are a lot
more Linux and BSD users among hams than the general public, but even in
the Amateur world, the Free Software users are a minority.
So, we need to accept that there is a dichotomy:
We care intensely about the freedom in our software, and some of us
have made real personal sacrifices for it.
Our target audience doesn't care nearly so much.
That they don't care might also be obvious because these folks continue
to buy D-STAR, and Windows, and Apple.
Now, we need to reach these people, because we want to turn Amateur
Radio away from proprietary black boxes. But no amount of telling the
rest of Amateur Radio about proprietary black boxes is going to win this
fight for us.
Instead, we need to tell them about what they will care about. It works
better, goes farther, lets you have twice as many channels,
inter-operates across multiple manufacturers, works on HF as well as
VHF/UHF, is legal to use between nations, you can include it in your
homebrew projects, etc.
You and I know that these benefits come of the fact that it's Free
Software and it's going to be an Open Standard. The target audience
cares about the benefits.
Please try to develop empathy for the target audience. We won't win this
fight otherwise. I'm sorry, but they don't care all that much about "free".
Thanks
Bruce
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