I have quite a number of things I could address today. I’m a wee bit upset that the HTC Nexus One (aka the Google Phone) won’t run on AT&T 3G. T-Mobile’s network is fast, it’s true, but it’s not ubiquitous. Plus, I like AT&T — when my calls aren’t dropping. But, that’s not why I’m writing today. Today, I’m writing about open source software.
As a tech guy, I’m a big fan of open source software. Like most people who work on the Internet, I make use of web server software like Apache and the relational database, MySQL. But, on the desktop, I also find myself using the office suite, Open Office, and the graphical application, GIMP. These packages are often regarded as some of the best open source packages but they are from the only good ones. Mozilla’s Firefox browser and Thunderbird email program are widely used among people in the know, but ignored by people who use their computer as it comes out of the box. Truth be told, given the relatively light needs of most computer users, there is a perfectly capable open source package that can go head-to-head with most commercial packages. So, the question has to be asked, why isn’t open source software more popular — especially on Windows machines. The answer, in mind, is two fold:
Awareness — People just don’t know the software is out there. If all anyone talks about is Microsoft Office, why would you think about Open Office unless you know? You wouldn’t.
Ease of Access — Even if you know about open source software, it’s not all that easy to get. You end up at some open source site and instead of “Download” button taking you to the most recent version of the software, it takes you to Sourceforge where you can choose to download the “source” or the “binaries” in .tar.gz, .bz or .zip format. Huh? Nevermind. I have a feeling it will just be easier to go buy Word or Photoshop Elements. How does the average computer user know whether they want the source or the binary and in what format?
When I first got into computers, there was an organization, PC-SIG, that kept a directory of shareware applications one could get. We would get the directory, peruse through the descriptions and ratings and then decide which software we would buy. A similar idea is needed today. Someone should create an installer, similar to the Ubuntu or Redhat ones, for open source applications that run on Windows. From one utility, you can download and install Open Office, GIMP, Pidgin, Mplayer, Miro, Camstudio or any other software that might suite your needs. This type of application already exists for developers in the form of tools like XAMPP which install the entire LAMP stack on Windows, but applications focused on the needs of consumers have been ignored.
To my mind, creating such an installer will lead to greater use of open source applications by general consumers and, in turn, greater contributions to the included packages as awareness is increased. I’m thinking it shouldn’t be that big of a deal to do and some smart developer out there needs to get on it…
In the meantime, for those interested, Open Source Windows maintains a cool list of open source applications that run on Windows. Additionally, Downloadpedia maintains a pretty detailed list of Windows-friendly applications.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Let’s be honest. I mean… We can all pretty much agree that the cell phone retail model sucks, right? I’ve already outlined how cell phone manufacturers set arbitrarily high prices for their cell phones so that carriers can hawk those phones at discounted (aka subsidized) prices. Of course, the carriers’ discounted prices usually represent, for smart-phones at least, a markup of close to 100%. That unsubsidized price we have to pay if we buy an unlocked phone often represents a markup of 100-200%. What other consumer-focused electronic devices can garner such a markup. Not many…
Can I tell you a secret? One of the best marketing tools you’re not using is the marketing application. I’ve implemented a few over the course of my career and experience tells me that when used well, they give marketers an great ability to understand customer behavior while generating leads and/or sales. I worked on one for a large insurance company (with an ad agency partner) that ended up as a 
Yesterday I pointed out great service I got from a couple of companies on Twitter. Today, I share a story of lackluster online customer service.
A few weeks ago I bought some dip from Sabra, the people who make Sabra hummus. I got it home, ripped it open and was offended by the taste. The dip had spoiled in spite of an expiration date a few days into the future. I found Sabra’s Twitter account and tweeted my experience to them. They “followed” me and expressed regret for my experience. They followed up by asking for my email address. Haven’t heard from them since but just expressing regret was pretty class to me.
The Internet sucks. It just hasn’t really evolved all that much since Netscape’s IPO in 1995. Aren’t you tired of having to visit 20 different sites (or more) to get content on your varied interests? And hard as you try, you still can’t make RSS feeds fun, right? There are other options out there but they’re just stop-gaps in the evolutionary process rather than true evolution.
