[Ocaml-biz] Why should they believe us?

[Martin Jambon]

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004, Brandon J. Van Every wrote:

> Martin Jambon wrote:
> > Brandon J. Van Every
> > >
> > > OCaml offers superior high level language features,
> > > superior type safety, and performance.
> >
> > Right, but people will not believe us easily because we don't show any
> > proof that OCaml is so great.
> > I don't know what we can imagine for this, but showing
> > "success stories" is not the only way.
> > I am thinking of things like "free support for 60 days" or
>
> Speaking seriously, only a consulting business can provide support

Sorry, I was not very clear. Just forget about the examples.
I was just trying to say that something should be done in order to
convince people; and this could be cheaper and faster than waiting for
the perfect success story.

> contracts like that.  There's a a page at COCAN for people offering
> OCaml services.  Unfortunately I can't give you the link as I still
> can't see the website and the webadmin has not returned my e-mails.  I
> wonder if a different browser would help?
>
> > "satisfied or
> > money back" (of course for things that are already free :-)
> > or anything that shows that we are serious.
>
> The particular phrase "satisfied or your money back" reads as a joke.
> Although it might be funny, it highlights a perceived weakness of any
> open source product: no company to blame.  We do not want to highlight
> this.
>
> > Another adjective about OCaml: risk-free
>
> That, of course, would be lying.  I think marketing can be a powerful
> force, for better or for worse, but I do draw the line at lying.

No it is not lying, or if you prefer, people accept this kind of lies
because it is everywhere like this. People expect you to exagerate a
little. Saying publicly "OCaml is a good programming language" will be
interpreted as "worse than any well-sold programming language".


> I think you raise correct points, that people won't just believe
> such-and-such, but it is the job of marketing to overcome that
> resistance somehow.  That can be a mixture of counter-arguments,
> shifting attention away from glaring defects, highlighting strengths,
> getting endorsements from many sources, or even touchy feely
> semi-tangibles like a snazzy logo.  On the COCAN website under
> "background materials for marketing" (I think) there's a book about
> creating "Whole Technology Products."  Maybe that book is worth your
> perusal.
>
> Meanwhile, the short course is "don't stress."  All products have flaws;
> you market them anyways.  People buy things, even though most things
> aren't perfect.  Life is rarely perfect.

I suggest we use this as a slogan for OCaml :-)

   "Objective Caml - Because Life is Rarely Perfect"


Martin