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The 'DOS Ain't Done 'til Lotus Won't Run' Myth
Otter writes "We've all heard the story of Microsoft's battle cry of "DOS ain't done till Lotus won't run". Adam Barr investigates the myth, interviewing various Microsoft and Lotus old-timers (including Mitch Kapor), and finds no basis for its legitimacy or any case of 1-2-3 actually not running. Whom to blame for Lotus Notes is not discussed."
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
As a forward, there are three levels of advertising:
- Advertising how good your product is
- Advertising how much better your product is compared to a specific competitors product
- Advertising how bad your competitors product is
The effectiveness of these three levels is the same as the order above.Focusing on your product leaves the impression that your product is strong; most companies that are at the top of their industry (like Coke) advertise like this. It's the old "he's so confident he must be good" that's also used by politicians.
Comparing your product to your competitors is not as effective, but for companies in tight competition it can work; it sacrifices some of the spotlight from your product in an attempt to reduce your main competitors market.
The bottom level, attacking a specific competitor, is rarely practiced and usually only out of desperation. First, as an obviously biased source, the audience is only going to put so much trust into your evaluation of the competitor. Second, and more importantly, is that your preoccupation with your competitors product makes it seem like you are not very confident about your own product. The end result is that while consumers may be slightly put off the competitors product by your claims, they will be even more put off your own product. In the same way as the top level, the percieved level of confidence in your own product is pushing the consumers opinion, rather then the claims you make (the consumer already knows you aren't going to say anything bad about your own product or anything good about a competitor).
And how all this ties into zealots...
OSS has no official recognized advertising campaign. Instead the advertising campaign the business world sees for OSS is the "word of mouth" of places like Slashdot and other pro OSS gatherings. And what they see there are the zealots screaming out daily about some absurd new conspiracy about Microsoft/(insert other OSS devil figure) doing something evil for the sake of being evil. I think you can guess which level of advertising the OSS campaign has been pushed into by the outspoken zealots, as well as the general 14 year old "look at me, I'm cool, I'm a rebel, I bash M$ and praise Linux (even though I use XP Home on my Dell)" who seem to tag along because they don't have any real friends.
It's really too bad the realists (who compose the majority of those doing actual work in the OSS community) aren't willing to kick off their loud, rowdy entourage.
It does give you an option, but iirc the option is only available from a command-line install with an obscure switch. Alternatively, a network based installation with appropriate settings should be alright to do the same.
How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?