Ubuntu is an incredible product with unlimited potential.
However, it appears there is not a soul with the organization that has a modicum of intelligence when it comes to advertising and marketing the product.
I am incensed at the PR stunt they are attempting to pull on their website. They go through great pains to boast about the trial by fire they put PC makers through in order to obtain "certification" for their machines.
Then there is a page of the manufacturers building machines with Ubuntu pre-installed. And a quick review of the page shows some big name companies with many models available.
This is when things start to unravel. Try going to the manufacturer's website and attempt to find any of these machines. Most are either vaporware or models no longer produced. In fact, try to find any mention of an Ubuntu machine on their sites.
Dell is especially funny. Several machines are listed on the Ubuntu site. However, finding one machine available for purchase was like a needle in a haystack. I finally found a weakling netbook and guess what? You couldn't even buy the thing online. You had to "call for pricing".
Ubuntu needs to man up and pull every damn vendor off their site who does not actually have a product available for sale. You are giving these folks free advertising and everyone of them has a banner on their site that says they recommend Windows on their machines.
It is a wonderful OS and their philosophy is an admirable one. However, try purchasing their CD or USB direct from their site. The damn process is worse than a trip to the dentist. Plus the CD ended up costing $15 as $10.00 of it was "shipping" from England.
Has anyone seen the price their "Official" user guide/manual. A whopping $30.00 plus shipping! Someone is making some money off this deal because it doesn't cost anywhere near that to print off a softcover book. I do not begrudge anyone making a buck but there are a lot of potential converts out there that will not or can not cough up this kind of money. Why not have the thing on a PDF that can be read on our machine or printed out? This may already be out there but damn if I can find it.
Probably the most idiotic thing I have seen is the requirement to register BEFORE you can gain access to the forums. Why? Pretty ironic for what is supposed to be a free and open OS for the masses. I would love to know why folks cannot just lurk or browse. Most of us don't have a problem registering if we need to post. But a Gatekeeper? Please!
Come on guys. Keep up the great work on improving a super OS. But leave the advertising and marketing to someone who knows how to do it.
However, it appears there is not a soul with the organization that has a modicum of intelligence when it comes to advertising and marketing the product.
I am incensed at the PR stunt they are attempting to pull on their website. They go through great pains to boast about the trial by fire they put PC makers through in order to obtain "certification" for their machines.
Then there is a page of the manufacturers building machines with Ubuntu pre-installed. And a quick review of the page shows some big name companies with many models available.
This is when things start to unravel. Try going to the manufacturer's website and attempt to find any of these machines. Most are either vaporware or models no longer produced. In fact, try to find any mention of an Ubuntu machine on their sites.
Dell is especially funny. Several machines are listed on the Ubuntu site. However, finding one machine available for purchase was like a needle in a haystack. I finally found a weakling netbook and guess what? You couldn't even buy the thing online. You had to "call for pricing".
Ubuntu needs to man up and pull every damn vendor off their site who does not actually have a product available for sale. You are giving these folks free advertising and everyone of them has a banner on their site that says they recommend Windows on their machines.
It is a wonderful OS and their philosophy is an admirable one. However, try purchasing their CD or USB direct from their site. The damn process is worse than a trip to the dentist. Plus the CD ended up costing $15 as $10.00 of it was "shipping" from England.
Has anyone seen the price their "Official" user guide/manual. A whopping $30.00 plus shipping! Someone is making some money off this deal because it doesn't cost anywhere near that to print off a softcover book. I do not begrudge anyone making a buck but there are a lot of potential converts out there that will not or can not cough up this kind of money. Why not have the thing on a PDF that can be read on our machine or printed out? This may already be out there but damn if I can find it.
Probably the most idiotic thing I have seen is the requirement to register BEFORE you can gain access to the forums. Why? Pretty ironic for what is supposed to be a free and open OS for the masses. I would love to know why folks cannot just lurk or browse. Most of us don't have a problem registering if we need to post. But a Gatekeeper? Please!
Come on guys. Keep up the great work on improving a super OS. But leave the advertising and marketing to someone who knows how to do it.
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