ubuntu-advertising team mailing list archive

[Archibald Platypus <idi0tf0wl@xxxxxxxxx>]

You raise some interesting points here. As someone who constantly
proselytizes the open source lifestyle, I have come into contact with
all kinds of excuses. While I've found that it's relatively easy to
convert XP users to, say, Ubuntu (no need to bring Linux <as a thing in
and of its own> up with most people), the conversion rates drop
significantly when the change in question is from say Windows 7 (don't
even try converting Mac users, even though I myself am a Mac convert) or
when someone is about to purchase a new computer. "No, I think I'm just
gonna try out 7" they say, but then add, "but maybe you could put it on
this one?" pointing at their "old" machine. You can pique their
curiosity with "rejuvenation," but "alternative" is a much harder idea
to push. If perhaps there was a way to push optimized-for-Linux hardware
(someone brought that up in a thread at ubuntuforums) onto the scene
with Ubuntu pre-loaded, they would feel more comfortable with the
alternative. Because then it's a "competitor." People trip about
words...

And one more thing: my conversion rate is nearly 100% on netbooks,
because there really just is no competition in this arena. I feel like
Canonical understands this, though, because one look at Unity screams
"NETBOOK" (though I'm not terribly fond of its translation to "real"
hardware). Who's looking to start up a *ahem* start-up?

On Thu, 2010-12-09 at 11:19 +0000, Barry Drake wrote:
> I thought I'd ask one or two colleagues how they would react to Ubuntu
> advertising - and what features might tempt them to give it a try.  One
> said that support was his biggest need - someone to reassure him and
> hold his hand.  This is something we're really strong on.  Another said
> that now he had his computers working well on Windows 7 he would be very
> reluctant even to try anything.  This confirms my suspicion that anyone
> using anything really up-to-date isn't part of our useful target.
> 
> Another colleague has a large collection of Libronix books that cost
> over £1000, so he is not part of the target, and as he rightly says,
> there needs to be clear information on the website about this kind of
> need.  There also needs to be lobbying in the direction of Libronix.
> I've e-mailed of course, but it took many, many Mac users to persuade
> them to produce a Mac version. 
> 
> Maybe the website ought to have clear information as to which of the
> user's files are portable and which are not (Autocad, M$ Publisher ...).
> The last thing anyone here wants if for someone to go to a lot of
> trouble and find they can't do the one thing that's most important to
> them.
> 
> Interestingly, when I asked the question, I only mentioned Ubuntu.  Each
> of the responses used the words 'operating system', and the responders
> were quite clear that Windows is just an 'operating system' among
> others.
> 
> Another colleague asks if approaches have been made to Which, and can we
> persuade mags such as PC magazine etc to carry an article.  Job here for
> you Canonical guys.
> 
> Regards,		Barry Drake
> 
>