I was reading Money as a Social Barrier on Guy Kawasaki‘s blog and he wrote:
After all, evangelism is the process of selling dreams, and selling dreams doesn’t necessarily require monetization.
And this struck a chord with me… Being a Linux or a Mac evangelist is easy. Linux and Macintosh computers are so desirable and feature-packed that we can convince people without involving money in the equation.
But “Microsoft evangelism” can only be an oxymoron…
(Image courtesy of Apple)
I could be a Microsoft evangelist, if I wanted to. 99% is already done for me; just look at every single computer ad in the papers, and you’ll see this: “Includes Windows XP Home” :-)
I don’t think Linux can rival with mac yet.
Now that I have been using a Mac for some months, I can say that I’m still 100% a Linux enthusiast.
All my servers run Linux (I manage 1 at home and 3 at work) and my Macbook obviously runs Mac OS X.
In my opinion this is a perfect combination. Mac OS X is, without any doubt, the BEST OS for the desktop (and it is fully Unix too). Linux (and BSD) rocks on servers (mind you, I’ve never tested Mac OS X Server)
Agree…
When you’re passionate and truely believe into something, it’s quite easy to be an evangelist. But at the same time, some may think you’re a zealot!!
Linux definitely rocks as a server OS…However IMHO, it will never be a great desktop OS…Having a large community of passionate developers is certainly a great asset for Linux (the quality and amount of software shows the level of dedication). But at the same time, it can be a hindrance since nobody can agree on what a well-designed and consistent GUI should be. Linux’s main weakness as a desktop OS is a lack of a proper user-interface guideline.
There is a good interview with Jonathan Ive at
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/26/features/design27.php
I think it sums up pretty well why Apple is so successful in creating a brand that encourages evangelism.
Quote:
“A fundamental attribute of a designer is to notice how people connect with objects. It sounds unremarkable and even naïve, but it’s our obsession with making really great products. It’s at the heart of everything we do at Apple. I don’t understand how you can exist as a company and not have it.”
“It’s a shocking statement for a CEO to say publicly, as Steve Jobs has, that the goal of a company isn’t to make money, it’s to make great products,” Ive said. “We’ve been a long way through product development programs and canceled them because we had that sinking feeling that they weren’t good enough. That courage testifies that the product is at the heart of everything we do.”
In a sense that explains, why you rarely hear about Microsoft Evangelism…there is not much fervour into Microsoft products.
That why It’s Official: The Zune Zucks…
About Zune:
Even Pro-Microsoft, Paul Thurrott says: “I can’t imagine what they were thinking!”
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/zune.asp
Excerpts:
The way Zune is marketed is a travesty. The “Welcome to the social” tagline is clearly meant to evoke the grammatically questionable yet enduringly homey “Think Different” campaign that Apple waged half a decade ago for the Mac.
This is just one of dozens of Zune-related examples of Microsoft’s Apple envy leading to outright and wholesale idea copying.
The back side of the Zune reads “Hello from Seattle. Model 1089. Assembled in China.”
Now, that’s all cute and everything, unless of course you’re familiar with Apple’s similar messaging. “Don’t Steal Music,” Apple’s iPod packaging reads. “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.”
Yep, even the cute, seemingly friendly note on the back of the Zune is basically an iPod rip-off!
I’m sorry if I’m beating this to death, but seriously, there seems to be nothing about the iPod that Microsoft is unwilling to copy. It’s pathological.
According to the Zune’s “Start” guide, there are just three steps to getting started with the device. Sadly, the process is quite a bit more convoluted than that. It’s a lengthy process, full of feel-good messages and Zune’s nuevo-hippie marketing images.
The painful process of installing and configuring your Zune will serve as a helpful preview to the pain you’re about to experience trying to use the device and its sub-par PC software interface. Annoyingly also called Zune, the Zune software is quite clearly just a different front-end to Windows Media Player 11, but missing many of that software’s best features. It just feels empty and incomplete.
An interesting article on Windows v/s Linux v/s OS X:
http://www.cio.com/advice_opinion/infrastructure/operating_systems/halamka_os_review_1.html