I was part of that discussion with Noah and Dave this winter, too, and to me as a Marketing person, CouchDB's slogan has always been a hard one to get, and so I was happy to discuss it that day and now again. I'd love to see a slogan that goes away from what CouchDB *does* to what value it delivers to users (by what it is / does) and / or what value(s) it offers itself (where still the value it offers to people usually leads to stronger slogans which are easier to understand for people).
Personally, I think although general slogans can be good and sticky, I'd try to stay away from something that is too general - at least an obvious connection of the slogan to databases should be given to not confuse people. On 12.06.2014, at 21:03, Jan Lehnardt <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 12 Jun 2014, at 21:59 , Mike Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I like it. I think that Apache CouchDB should lead us into the >> post-Snowden, net neutrality era. > > while I personally agree, I’m not sure that that’s a point we should be too > upfront about. I’d like to avoid what happened to bittorrent, great > technology that is forever tainted with legal issues. But maybe we should > force it and get some publicity from it :) > >> I once heard it described as, "what the internet was supposed to be." > > That was me, I’m glad that stuck :D > > Best > Jan > -- > > >> >> -M >> >> >> On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 12:52 PM, Sebastian Rothbucher < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hi Jan, >>> >>> Great idea! >>> >>> Not sure if s/o else claims/owns it, but what about "the Web in YOUR hands" >>> >>> Good luck >>> Sebastian >>> >>> Von meinem iPhone gesendet >>> >>>> Am 12.06.2014 um 21:31 schrieb Jan Lehnardt <[email protected]>: >>>> >>>> Apache CouchDB™ is a database >>>> that uses JSON for documents, >>>> JavaScript for MapReduce indexes, >>>> and regular HTTP for its API >>>> >>>> >>>> What a bunch of baloney! I only say this because I helped to write and >>> publish this. Noah and I developed this in the running up of the 1.2.0 >>> release that coincided with the new website that was meant to be a >>> watershed-the-draught-years-are-over release. I think it fulfilled its >>> purpose, but it won’t suffice today. >>>> >>>> The CouchDB slogan, or byline, or motto is titling all our public >>> communication: It’s the first thing thousands of visitors on our website >>> see. It is the first line in all our board reports and it is the >>> introduction in all our release announcements. It’s the one sentence that >>> gets quoted the most and as it stands it is a wasted opportunity, as it is >>> not sticky, not memorable and not aligned with our goals. >>>> >>>> We need a slogan that rolls of anyones tongue. We need a slogan that >>> captures succinctly what makes CouchDB unique. We need a slogan that >>> captures our values. >>>> >>>> I realise that this is a MAJOR bike-shed and that’s why I am bringing >>> this up here rather than dev@ for now. I’ve tried dev@ before and it >>> didn’t go anywhere. My strawperson proposal there was “CouchDB,a database >>> that replicates” and while that is a lot sickier, doesn’t really help >>> either. >>>> >>>> Over drinks with Noah and Dave in Berlin last winter we improvised a few >>> slogans that would capture the (what we think) value of CouchDB, rather >>> than the technicalities of it. The last thing we arrived at is “CouchDB >>> puts the data in your hands.”. It isn’t perfect, but better what we have >>> now and it opens us up to fill in all the background story that we need to >>> make that claim: capture the ecosystem of Couch-Replication compatible >>> projects and the distinct values of their interoperability. >>>> >>>> What I’d like to see in this group to take this proposal and evolve it >>> into something we are all comfortable with. We can then prepare all our >>> public facing properties to reflect the changes and see how that goes. >>>> >>>> I deliberately steer this away from a website redesign, or major rework >>> on our messaging or even a lengthy philosophical debate on “the why of >>> CouchDB” in order to actually just figure out a better slogan that we can >>> use to move forward. >>>> >>>> What do you think? :) >>>> >>>> Best >>>> Jan >>>> -- >>>> >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Mike Miller >> Co-Founder, Chief Scientist >> Cloudant, An IBM Company >> 617-308-3110 mobile > > Jan Lehnardt > The Neighbourhoodie Software GmbH > Adalbertstr. 7-8, 10999 Berlin > neighbourhood.ie > > Handelsregister HRB 157851 B Amtsgericht Charlottenburg > Geschäftsführung: Jan Lehnardt, Lena Reinhard
