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Austin is now home to what appears to be the first-ever radio ad for Linux. None other than Ken Starks of the HeliOS Project announced the good news a few weeks ago, explaining that the 60-second ad -- recorded pro bono by professional voice talent -- would be running several times a day for a full month on Austin's KLBJ AM. Even better: It runs during the Kim Komando technology show, which is "poetic justice," Starks explained -- "her show is full of ads for antivirus software, registry fixers and all the addons that slow a Windows computer to a crawl."
People who sell cars do mention what is under the hood in their ads. It cannot be all that negative to mention that a device runs GNU/Linux. Some customers will be impressed enough to look further. Others will not care.
You can buy some cars with optional eight, six or four cylinders and gasoline/diesel. One would be able to compare the price/performance of the product with various choices. I would be quite happy with retailers who advertised GNU/Linux against that other OS any day, but they do not usually because M$ cannot stand the comparison.
You can buy some cars with optional eight, six or four cylinders and gasoline/diesel. One would be able to compare the price/performance of the product with various choices. I would be quite happy with retailers who advertised GNU/Linux against that other OS any day, but they do not usually because M$ cannot stand the comparison.
Supported Linux sells. *Owning* Linux is great.
Posted by: Jose_X 2009-10-02 16:03:47 In reply to: Katherine Noyes
In reply to certain negative comments:
Ken is selling a product that he supports. There is nothing nebulous or confusing. The listeners call the number, and Ken takes care of them as he has been doing with many others time and time again. He says the phones ring off the hook right after the commercials run.
The commercial also plays to one of Linux' strongest suit. It's open, so many white hats fix problems they find, instead of with Windows where the black hats, who have many incentives to find the weaknesses (since it pays through illegal exploitations), are much more likely to be poking the produce for flaws.
Ken's success shows that brand is not everything. When you have a product that is different and superior in some way or other (eg, cost), it sells. Brand comes in when competition heats up over very similar products.
Microsoft giving people a cut of the monopoly money is a short deal. It's a threat. Since Windows will be the top seller for months to come, any company that doesn't go along with Microsoft will suffer competitively. They can't publicly support Linux until a significant part of their business is Linux. What Ken is doing is awesome, though if the big boys aren't careful, the smaller shops will develop their own brands and gain mindshare.
Linux is free. Value comes on top of the vast quantity of stuff you get for free. That is where the $$ goes.
There is much that can be done with Linux to add value to it that cannot be done for Windows. Cut out the monopolist middle person if you aren't locked in to them.
Folks, the commercial is free to be used, edited, etc (share-alike license). I challenge anyone to make a better commercial than this one.
And people do like to own things and have a stake in its future. There are many ways to leave your print on Linux. That's something you cannot do ever at all on Windows. [Well, you can in a minor way, but even here Microsoft's ownership/EULA gets in the way.]
Ken is selling a product that he supports. There is nothing nebulous or confusing. The listeners call the number, and Ken takes care of them as he has been doing with many others time and time again. He says the phones ring off the hook right after the commercials run.
The commercial also plays to one of Linux' strongest suit. It's open, so many white hats fix problems they find, instead of with Windows where the black hats, who have many incentives to find the weaknesses (since it pays through illegal exploitations), are much more likely to be poking the produce for flaws.
Ken's success shows that brand is not everything. When you have a product that is different and superior in some way or other (eg, cost), it sells. Brand comes in when competition heats up over very similar products.
Microsoft giving people a cut of the monopoly money is a short deal. It's a threat. Since Windows will be the top seller for months to come, any company that doesn't go along with Microsoft will suffer competitively. They can't publicly support Linux until a significant part of their business is Linux. What Ken is doing is awesome, though if the big boys aren't careful, the smaller shops will develop their own brands and gain mindshare.
Linux is free. Value comes on top of the vast quantity of stuff you get for free. That is where the $$ goes.
There is much that can be done with Linux to add value to it that cannot be done for Windows. Cut out the monopolist middle person if you aren't locked in to them.
Folks, the commercial is free to be used, edited, etc (share-alike license). I challenge anyone to make a better commercial than this one.
And people do like to own things and have a stake in its future. There are many ways to leave your print on Linux. That's something you cannot do ever at all on Windows. [Well, you can in a minor way, but even here Microsoft's ownership/EULA gets in the way.]
The ads were actually designed to point people to a specific website, thus allowing them a fairly complete information base pertaining to Linux.
We started HeliOS Solutions in order to fund our non profit The HeliOS Project. Since HeliOS Solutions and all manner of combinations were taken, we opted for the simple www.fixedbylinux.com URL.
We've had moderate success and a flood of calls. I am going to blog about the outcome of the ads this coming Monday.
Thank you for the fair and complete article pertaining to this effort.
Ken Starks
The HeliOS Project
We started HeliOS Solutions in order to fund our non profit The HeliOS Project. Since HeliOS Solutions and all manner of combinations were taken, we opted for the simple www.fixedbylinux.com URL.
We've had moderate success and a flood of calls. I am going to blog about the outcome of the ads this coming Monday.
Thank you for the fair and complete article pertaining to this effort.
Ken Starks
The HeliOS Project
I listened to the advert. It's good. It points out Window's major flaws, which Linux doesn't share. It doesn't promise that Joe Sixpack can download and install it effortlessly - instead it invites Joe to call or visit the website for guidance and support. It promises a computer that does what you want, instead of what Microsoft wants. Now - the point that I don't see addressed, is, IT'S IN AUSTIN! The I-35 corridor in Texas is a low-keyed Silicon Valley, after all. A lot of technology companies locate along the interstate, from the Alamo, northward to the state line. This is the perfect place to get people interested in Linux.
