Open Source Resource

Microsoft(TM) is an outstanding marketing company.

Check out the eSchoolNews article…

eSchool News Article

I think you have to give Microsoft(TM) credit for being a fierce and skilled competitor, whatever you think of Microsoft’s products.

Case in point, Microsoft’s Student Innovation Suite, part of

1. Microsoft™’s Unlimited Potential program, and
2. Microsoft™’s Partners in Learning program

Open Source can learn from these guys on many levels?

Take product naming…

Which makes more sense…

Moodle!, Joomla!, Plone, Mambo..

or,

Student Innovation Suite, Unlimited Potential, Partners in Learning?

Set these themes to music and what do you have? “Send in the Clowns” vs. “I Believe the Children are our Future.”

Lesson Learned: Open Source advocates needs to name our product packages appropriately, and ensure that it contains educational programs, with “catchy” educational names.

Another Microsoft(TM) end run: The offer to provide quality software for $3.00 to countries that provide home access to computers. Minimum purchase, 10,000 units.

The US Government is eligible, but our Department of Education is not smart enough to take Microsoft™ up on the offer. The Feds will leave the option of the states. (Higher priorities for our cash?)

But, look at the genius…

• The government needs to support computers at home
• The computers need to be new, not refurbished
• Once the computers are at home, children and the rest of their family will become familiar with (hooked on) Microsoft™’s products
• New computers will guarantee that users receive a positive (speedy) computing experience
• New computers will ensure that system setup is “click, click” operation
• The politicians will be able claim that they obtained a huge value for their citizens
• Bundled learning software, looks like this package is for kids, looks like the package supports education

Contrast to Open Source…

• Free (limited perceived value)
• Runs on old computers (Install on a system that is too old, less than satisfying experience)
• Limited or no bundled learning programs
• Difficult to install and configure with other software, looks like a package that only the “tech savvy” could love
• Programs don’t have the same look and feel
• No claim by politicians of snagging a huge value for their citizens (Open Source stuff is free, already, so what did the politician get for them?)
• No branding (Open Source has too many distros, each claiming to be the best at what they do. Who can the local politicians trust?)

Here is a crude analogy. All the jocks are posturing and arguing about who will get the next dance with the cheer leader. But without the jocks noticing, the rich guy comes in and makes the cheerleader an irresistible offer. The rich guy escorts the cheerleader to his limo while the jocks are still bumping chests and squabbling.

Guess what company the “rich guy”in the story represents.

But also guess what, the irresistible offer isn’t being made by Open Source advocates.

In fact, Open Source advocates should feel a bit depressed when they find themselves outmaneuvered like this.

Where is our creative response? How are we helping third-world children access computers at home? How are we building benefits for third-world politicians that they can point to as an accomplishment during their already illustrious careers? How are we developing computer literacy and spreading instructional programs around the world in a visible way, hooking future generations of potential new customers on our software?

I think that we should applaud Microsoft™ and study the pages of the Microsoft™ Marketing Machine playbook.

Let’s see how we can raise our Open Source advocates Solutions package to this level of marketing savvy. Can we build and market a package with such overwhelming educational benefits that politicians, school boards, superintendents are willing to provide new, take-home computers to needy children, just to obtain our package? Will our solutions package meet the test of politicians claiming credit and pandering to their constituents, spinning making “political hay” on from the educational value that our solutions provide?

This challenge is ours to win. Open Source can prevail if we focus on delivering an irresistible offer to teachers and students.

Here is one suggestion. Bilingual education is shortchanged, Hispanic students drop out of school at enormous (but marginally-counted) rates, and employers continue to exploit undocumented workers.

Could we provide a package where our software allows children to teach their parents English using take home computers placed in Barrio homes? Imagine the future benefits such a project would bring to our society. A project like this could mean the difference of whether the US is “English Only,” “Officially English and Spanish” or “Spanish Only” by the year 2107.

Any other suggestions for adding educational value to our Open Source Solutions?