al@gtx.com (Alan Filipski) (02/13/91)
In article <1991Feb11.053229.7022@toolz.uucp> todd@toolz.uucp (Todd Merriman) writes:
-These are marketing lessons that I have had to learn in the past
-few months, being a software publisher with a very technical background
-and extremely weak in "BS." To my greatest chagrin, I have learned
-that all the technical excellence in the world gets you ZIP in the
-software publishing game. If the product is not marketed properly,
-it dies.
It is encouraging to note that there is at least one counterexample to
this: the UNIX operating system. AT&T's marketing of UNIX has progressed from
reluctant to inept. Maybe Don Knuth's TEX is another example: although
Addison-Wesley did some marketing, it was TEX's intrinsic excellence
that made it popular.
If one is not a software genius, though, it may be harder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
( Alan Filipski, GTX Corp, 8836 N. 23rd Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85021, USA )
( {decvax,hplabs,uunet!amdahl,nsc}!sun!sunburn!gtx!al (602)870-1696 )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~rdippold@maui.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) (02/15/91)
>In article <1991Feb11.053229.7022@toolz.uucp> todd@toolz.uucp (Todd Merriman) writes: >-These are marketing lessons that I have had to learn in the past >-few months, being a software publisher with a very technical background >-and extremely weak in "BS." To my greatest chagrin, I have learned >-that all the technical excellence in the world gets you ZIP in the >-software publishing game. If the product is not marketed properly, >-it dies. I think that shareware would have to be a glaring exception to this... PKZIP, Telix, etc. In the dog eat dog of shareware, it's not who does the best marketing, it's who has the best software, period. As a commercial example, there is SpinRite, which I haven't seen advertised at all. However, it is so good that you will see it mentioned in magazine columns and information of it gets around by word of mouth. Ditto for XTree Gold.
asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) (02/22/91)
In article <1991Feb14.201455.12253@qualcomm.com> rdippold@maui.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) writes: > >In article <1991Feb11.053229.7022@toolz.uucp> > > todd@toolz.uucp (Todd Merriman) writes: > > > >-These are marketing lessons that I have had to learn in the past > >-few months, being a software publisher with a very technical background > >-and extremely weak in "BS." To my greatest chagrin, I have learned > >-that all the technical excellence in the world gets you ZIP in the > >-software publishing game. If the product is not marketed properly, > >-it dies. > > I think that shareware would have to be a glaring exception to this... PKZIP, > Telix, etc. In the dog eat dog of shareware, it's not who does the best > marketing, it's who has the best software, period. As a commercial example, > there is SpinRite, which I haven't seen advertised at all. However, it is so > good that you will see it mentioned in magazine columns and information of it > gets around by word of mouth. Ditto for XTree Gold. Yes, but there are extremely few shareware authors who use that as their sole source of income. When you're moonlighting from a regular job, you can afford to concentrate on your package with zero efforts on marketing. (Zero, that is, other than up-loading it to every BBS you can find. All that costs is phone charges plus evil glares from your spouse when the bill arrives.) If you're planing on going into business as a shareware author, it is a durned good idea to, as they say, "keep your day job." -- asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) =========== Opinions are Mine, Typos belong to /usr/ucb/vi =========== "We're sorry, but the reality you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the value of pi, or see your SysOp for assistance." =============== Factual Errors belong to /usr/local/rn =============== UUCP: uunet!{hplabs,fiuggi,dhw68k,pyramid}!felix!asylvain ARPA: {same choices}!felix!asylvain@uunet.uu.net
bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) (03/01/91)
In article <157807@felix.UUCP> asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) writes: >In article <1991Feb14.201455.12253@qualcomm.com> > rdippold@maui.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) > writes: > >> >In article <1991Feb11.053229.7022@toolz.uucp> >> As a commercial example, >> there is SpinRite, which I haven't seen advertised at all. However, it is so >> good that you will see it mentioned in magazine columns and information of it >> gets around by word of mouth. Hm. Wouldn't have seen mention of that in Gibson's column in InfoWorld now, would you. I find it interesting that he has written ABOUT that program as a columnist, and the he also WROTE the program. I tend not to trust opinions of those who have financial involvement in products they push. However Spinrite does seem to do what it is advertised to do. It is also advertised in the very same magazine. -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: uunet!tarpit!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP