N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

The biggest issue I've noticed when trying to "sell" the n900 to people is they immediately compare it to the iphone, and then, usually at this point, their critical thinking abilities totally shut down and they go into rabid fanboy mode.

I have found this is the case even with non-techie people, as most people don't like the idea that what they've learned from the media could be wrong, or out of date.

It sucks, but we will never be able to persuade anyone to think positively about the n900 as soon as they've entered this pattern of thought.

Therefore, I suggest we take a leaf out of apple's book and go in a slightly different direction, and market the n900 a little more.. surreptitiously.

Repeat after me:

• "It's not an iPhone"
• "It's a whole different ballgame to the iPhone"
• "It's not competing with the iPhone"

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

I've always dealt with iphonistas with an expression of mild disgust and a mutter of "Good God! I wouldn't stoop to an iphone!" If you have even half a reputation as geek, nerd or even geek-lite people will look at you in amazement and whisper "why not?" which gives you the chance to talk about how apple have created a seriously wizzy interface and patched it over an extremely ordinary piece of kit.

That's when, ideally, I'd like to be able to say "I use this because..." Except I'm still trying to find out why I should be using an n900 rather than, say, symbian. Apart from the Open Source ethos, which isn't actually a selling point to most people.

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

why are YOU trying to 'sell' the phone? Do you work for nokia? If you don't then, frankly, I don't think they want or need your help.

It should be good enough for you that you know YOU want it. Forget everybody else. Enough of us will reach this conclusion to make it worth it for nokia to keep on with their R&D and sales.

Not trying to be mean, but if YOU want this device, then get it and enjoy it and don't worry about what other people think.

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

It's not an iPhone - agree
It's a whole different ballgame to the iPhone - maybe
It's not competing with the iPhone - disagree


It's a whole different ballgame to the iPhone-
give me a few whys and hows... opensource, you have mystical root access, 1gb ram, 32g rom, hotswappable memory, sure, all good points. but why is it a different ballgame.

It's not competing with the iPhone
Im not sure how you can say this.... maybe for the uber-techy id doesnt compete, but for the other 96% of the world.... Unless you are saying its not competing bucasue the ecosystem is nascent so you might have 10's of apps and games rather than thousands.

sorry to be the one to say it, but all phones compete with the iphones, android phones, winmo phones, n900 and future maemo 5,6,7 devices will compete with the the existing players as well as future ones. The n900 is different, and will be different, it will offer a different value proposition than the iphone but it doesn't mean that they don't compete. The frustrating thing is people are having difficulty articulating what it is / can be etc. This gets more frustrating when everyone jumps to compare it to the device that currently holds the most attention, which happens to be the iphone in many markets.

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

Think about what the following things have in common and get back to me:

• Firefox
• iPhone
• Blackberry
• Craigslist

Here's a hint: "I really like _x_. You should try it too".

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

I'm not saying it isn't competing with the iPhone. What i'm saying is, the moment you allow average joe to think that perhaps the n900 is competition for the iphone, cognitive functions are going to shut down.

Avoid this altogether by outrightly saying that it's not competing with the iphone. If it helps your conscience, you can remind yourself that it's not competing because it's so vastly superior to the iphone ;)

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

• Firefox - I use it to get to craigslist
• iPhone - I use it to get to craigslist
• Blackberry - I use it to get to craigslist
• Craigslist - I use it to get laid

did i win? ;) :rolleyes:

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

Using craiglist to get laid automatically disqualifies you from winning :D

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

Firefox - Craigslist can be accessed via it
iPhone - I sell them on Craigslist
Blackberry - I also sell these on Craigslist
Craigslist - Based on my android app for it has ZERO regard for html standards and QA.

Re: N900 Marketing - going in a different direction
 

but this does not work in reality. If we cannot articulate what it can do in comparison to the competition iphone android or winmo we are in trouble. Our goal is to get to the point where THEY are compared to the maemo devices, but that won't happen till maemo has greater presence (and better tech) in the mobile world.