MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

In the iPhone 4 thread, I pointed out that Apple is suddenly making resolution a big deal after having the worst for years and now only marginally improving on the competition. They've also apparently invented video calling.

Rather than being bitter, it's worth realizing that the MeeGo device is going to need similar talking points. We can take it as a given that the hardware and UI are going to be excellent, but normal advertising isn't going to cut it, and neither is ranting about free software.

Nokia needs to clearly show specific uses that the iPhone can't accomplish. The easiest way to do it is to go where Apple won't go, instead of just talking about everything you COULD be missing out on.

Off the top of my head, one such thing could be zeroconf-loaded, sandboxed applications.

Imagine taking photos on your MeeGo phone and coming home. Your desktop computer automatically notices the new photos, downloads them, does face recognition and tries to guess album boundaries using GPS and timestamps.

When it's done indexing, the magic part follows. Your photo software exports some of its features as a Qt binary on the network, and your MeeGo tablet beeps with the message "Your pictures are ready for review". Swiping through the images, you confirm or adjust the program's guesses, name the albums, and mark the best shots to be shared online.

Naturally, the photo software will export a viewer app to your MeeGo TV that tracks the active pic on your tablet, so your family can follow along. Furthermore, your desktop automatically detected similar successive pictures and showed them side by side on the tablet without prompting, using a playoff system if there are more than two. When you're done, an exported and customized slideshow app starts running on your tv.

All without installing anything or requiring the intervention of Nokia, although if they're smart, they're going to implement this particular functionality on their own (with subscription-based backups on Ovi). This was just an example - I'm pretty sure the digiKam people could code it in a heartbeat if given the chance.

The real "big thing" could be using such a system for highly functional location-based apps, in stores, airports, etc. (with HTML5-support for less powerful apps, naturally)

But I repeat, the most important aspect is the advertising message. The feature would need a cool name etc. What else could Nokia rub in Apple's face?

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

actually I´m bit amazed that i haven't seen photosync with features you described (with easy gui conf) here yet. Someone did some background work for it and announced it here but as most of apps here it was more or like proof of concept.

.edit
I think it was this:
http://doitdifferent.wordpress.com/2...0-with-iphoto/

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Funny you mention the video calling, I was just watching the FaceTime app ad on youtube. This is how Apple market their video calling feature on the new iphone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKoLp_lGo14

That's an ad directed by Sam Mendes, btw. Now this is how Nokia market their video calling feature on the n97
" "

Well might aswell be, and it's the same marketing team behind the n900 no doubt :p

MeeGo's selling point is open source. How you market and sell that to the masses I don't know, the mainstream want services and aren't that worried about the closedness of the software powering them :(

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

To hardware vendors and to win a small group of end-users. It's on the hardware vendors to push their hardware via services and user experiences. This just gives them a huge, compatible base to start from that isn't tied to Google.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

And that's why you need to get all that open source software to do something! Nokia, how about implementing all those features in my post for digiKam and making a huge deal about it? And every other KDE app you can think of. They'll run on Windows too, you know, and you're never going to be able to outcode anyone alone with your Ovi Suite stuff, no matter how good it is.

Once you show the way, the other developers will follow, especially if the initial sales are huge. Make it really, really easy to leverage zeroconf everywhere, in any app.

And make backups work automatically in every compatible app once you pay and sign in to Ovi from KDE, and push updates on Windows using a package manager. You could displace more companies than just Apple.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Meego's selling point to consumers will be the wide hardware (need a high end camera, or a keyboard, or both, etc..,) and software (from QT compatibility). But that will only happen if Android doesn't suck up all the hardware companies first.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Not to rain on anyone's party, but I would say, as a guy that has worked on some promotion campaigns:

- Let's wait to the final product(s) to know exactly what you want to promote.
- Don't give your competitor's extra promotion by spending time saying how better your product is comparing it to them. Just keep on hammering on what you CAN do.
- We are not the end users. Don't think that what attracts you is going to attract the average consumer.
- Don't be afraid to exagerate a bit (it is marketing after all).

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Problem with Nokia is that they don't know how to produce a hype.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Nokia needs its own Jobs. That man is a salesman

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

I'll give you an example, stealing this from Apple marketing quoted by Reggie:

"All the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever. It’s also recyclable."

"All the revolutionary open Meego systems are mounted on a custom designed frame, protected by a specially developed aluminium alloy. This alloy presents a marked improvement in mechanical properties compared to other materials available in the market; and similar alloys are used in the aerospace industry for for critical, high performance components in aircraft and rockets. Also, in the best interest of ecology, the base components of the alloy are made from 100% recycled metals."

It could be shorter I guess, but you get my point.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

I actually watched an interesting tedtalk on marketing and how Apple or rather Steve Jobs does it.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Exactly. Too much energy is going into pointing out where the iPhone fails. Nokia needs specific functionality to show for its efforts. The fanboys will do the work of comparing competing devices, as long as Nokia delivers hard to match features.

One way to hit Android would be to really go for the nerd crowd while remaining transparent to people who don't care. Why not start a Free repo on Ovi that would mirror Maemo Extras, so developers could charge for their apps without destroying the idea of a package manager and users could easily support their favorites? We might even start getting GPL games like that!

Then push that concept like hell on Slashdot, etc. Free software fanatics need to see progress too, which is why Android has so far received more attention than Maemo despite being less Linuxy.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Android has been receiving far more good press because it is "flashy" and "open".

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Android is receiving more good press because the press can point at specific features, not nebulous concepts.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

S60 has probably the most features of all the smartphone OS's, but its press is abysmal. Android takes features, wraps them in a flashy, open envelope; and presents it. Most Android reviews (specially with HTC Sense) are "Oh pretty, and open"; while the detailed ones go past them and hammer on the features.

This is something MeeGo will need.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

OK, I'll rephrase: "specific, usable, features" :D .

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

That man could sell a refrigerator to an eskimo...

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

What MeeGo need is persuasive talking heads... Like Jobs.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Except that you can't say anything like that, since you don't know who is going to adopt MeeGo and what the devices they'll put it on are like.

What has to happen is people that are leading the MeeGo project need to get hardware vendors on board with it, and pressure THEM to look at what Apple is doing right and to learn from it, while trying to maintain the openness for the end-user that we want.

In the end, the hardware vendors want to become service vendors and they're trying to learn from Apple. What has to be done is to convince them that you can give people a user experience equivalent to what Apple provides without being as hostile to end users and developers that Apple is.

Steve isn't just a persuasive talking head. He pushes design and aesthetics. Something that Apple really succeeds at. Simple things like not allowing the end user to see the UI redraw itself.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

But it also needs services. Out of the box. Not potential, not what might come later if the community delivers it.

If you get the services right, it sells itself. If you get a charismatic salesman to pitch it, you print money.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

@kojacker: yea. At the end of the day, it's what the users get out of their purchase. Make them happy, then you'll be happy too.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Oh, it is just an example. If you read it again, you will notice I am actually describing the aluminium case of the Nokia N8, mixed with general info of the material itself.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Yeah but that has -nothing- to do with MeeGo and everything to do with the Nokia N8. MeeGo's talking points need to be directed towards hardware manufacturers.

- Widely used Qt toolkit - wide developer base, cross platform ease
- Industry standard *nix technologies - specialists and support abound
- Easy update distribution - push fixes quickly and automatically
- Active user community -if- you don't lock the device down ("like a bunch of jerks" but you don't say that to them directly.)

Only after this does the pitch to the end-user come into play, and that's entirely on the hardware vendor.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

If you have not noticed, I am not talking about MeeGo per se; because frankly right now I don't think there is not enough about it to talk that would impress end users. Hardware manufacturers are already interested.

My whole point of the example is how the marketing should be done; how to convert something simple as "it has an aluminium case" into something that sounds exciting and advanced. That's it.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

That's not their problem, that's one of their strengths. I wouldn't buy anything hyped.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Video calling has been around for ages. - Marketing it on a device like the N97 would be like saying "Oh, wow, and it has SMS and you can even make phone calls with it!"

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

But a lot of people do. People rarely do the homework before a purchase. Nokia needs to take advantage of that.

IMHO, the MeeGo phone needs to be the best Nokia has to offer. The camera should be equal or better than the n8. The interface should be better than the n900. It should be the nokia flagship. No excuses.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

You do know that you're not the typical consumer, right?

And I don't mean your love of ABBA either.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Nokia needs to consider to have their flagship device come preloaded with ABBA. All problems will be gone.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Along with all of their customers, except benny1967.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Of course I'm not - generally speaking.

In this particular case though: You have to be aware that whatever market Apple enters (except music players, maybe), they always fail to reach a noteworthy market share.

Phones... < 3% AFAIK. Even smartphones: 16% or so.
Computers in general: 5%

That means 97% of the phone users and 95% of all computer users stay away from Apple. Maybe one of the reasons for this is this is that many consumers find the über-American, hysteric hype as repulsive and shady as I do.

(It's symptomatic, though, that people would think Apple's market share is much higher... because of the noise they generate among those who fall for hysterical hype: journalists.)

We'll need to talk about this one... ;)

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

How much money are they making per unit?

Its the most sought after mobile device. Its an aspirational one for many.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

In this case, it's not even about market share. It's about mindshare.

Apple got that by the ton. Nokia (outside of Europe and parts of South Asia) do not have that.

And think of it this way... any market share they gain, other vendors have lost.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

How does this matter? It's like comparing some exotic car that gathers everybody's attention to the standard Volkswagen or Volvo Aunt Hilda drives. It may be interesting to read about it, but no Aunt Hilda on the planet will drive to the mall with a Bugatti or thelike.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

That's what I'm saying. They're loud, they're flashy, they're - cheap (and I don't mean dollars here). That's what makes them get mindshare. Among some. Meanwhile, others sell phones without having to be loud, flashy and cheap. They just silently persuade you with what they have to sell.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

It's a Meme, one that has proven to be very profitable to them in terms of both money and opinion and relative market share.

As time goes on folks will buy cheaper and older iphones I wager.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Nokia is no longer the latter (to me) and I fear that style of silently being pervasive... those days are over.

It's a new market. Don't like advertising... I'm willing to bet you already have your television turned off anyway. I know I do.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

I wasn't specifically referring to Nokia, although I think evidence shows they're still #1.

I also don't think it's a new market. It's not about advertising or not advertising. It's how you advertise. Shout out "great" and "unbelievable" and "gorgeous" more often than other people would breathe in the same time... Or just be more laid back, show you're self-confident and are not so desperate as to beg for people's attention.


Or maybe it's just one of these cultural things; I admit I've long given up trying to understand Americans.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

Say you buy the MeeGo device at the end of the year: do you want it to be like a VW or a Bugatti? I bet YOU want the latter, and in the phone market you're not going to keep getting it if too few others are interested. (Unless you want Vertu)

Surely there must be a way to advertise heavily while being adequately truthful at the same time. Putting your greatest features out there and making consumers think they're dealbreaker-level important doesn't require acting like you invented everything, but wowing consumers needs to be done to some degree or it's game over.

Re: MeeGo Needs Some Talking Points
 

lol at this thread about marketing - when not ONE post has indicated which market segment Meego devices are supposed to go after