You will pay the price for your lack of vision

Freemium

A VC: The Freemium Business Model

I love this name and business model.

Freemium might even be cooler than Ajax. However, the two terms are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I bet they are quite similar...for example:

General Statement 1:
"Ajax is cool. Thanks, Microsoft, for making it happen; and thanks, Firefox, for including xmlhttprequest in your browser, thus accelerating WIDE adoption and creating fun for all! A multitude of breathless pundits hail the arrival of Web 2.0!"

General Statement 1 Response (from assholes):
"Well, yeah, but actually Ajax is not a thing, per say, but a combination of technologies that have been around since the late 1990's. You know, (*insert nervous excited laughter*) Ajax stands for asynchronous javascript and xml! There is nothing new there! The name is horrible Ha Ha, because one should not be limited to just XML, no sir! Why, we (*insert more nasally, irritating, laughter*) have had these technologies for years! Ha Ha Ha! It was just called remote scripting, typically using iframes! Why, DHTML is actually quite an old technology, originating (*here is where I usually begin to yawn, or to nod-off completely*) in the first versions of Netscape's javascript, which is not ACTUALLY java at all, but a language quite similar to C or C++ in most respects! We are talking the mid 90's! (*hands on hips*) Ha Ha Ha. NOWWWWWWwww, enter the ECMA...at last, a standards body intervenes...blah blah blah six hours later blah blah blah...and THAT is why microsoft decided to incorporate the xmlhttprequest object into internet explorer 5. IN FACT, (*please make it stop*) you may remember outlook web access for exchange 5.5, which was known as OWA to those in the business ha ha! well, owa utilized the xmlhttprequest object to create a quite SATISFACTORY web version of outlook. Why, actually-"

STFU

General Statement 2:
"Freemium is a great name, the model is quite worthy, and it should be used as the blueprint for the new new economy"
--(ok, I'm just kidding about the stuff after 'quite worthy' -ed)

General Statement 2 Response ( from assholes ):
Adjust glasses in a non-chalant way, sigh, tilt head to one side, then,"Yeah...I don't like the name Freemium. I think that's a terrible name (*because he didn't come up with it*), ... (*wait for it*) especially since (*wait for it, here it comes*) it's not a (*finger quotes!*) NEW model at all, but, actually, a rather blase (*quick, show how smart and well-read you are*) tactic that has its roots in Adam Smith's day, with the marketing and, of course, eventual sale of, burro's hooves to the unsuspecting public. A product, known in it's day, as Ass Shoes or Jackplates. This use-for-free, then-buy-premium-services model was used to sell Ass Shoes. A proprietor would offer 3 Ass Shoes, or what was then known as a Jerk Set, for free. To be useful, one had to have 4 Ass Shoes, known as a Full Ass. Naturally, one had to pay for the fourth ass shoe .... blah blah blah six hours later blah blah blah ... which is why this is just dressing old stuff up as something new. Furthermore, and actually, one could argue-"

STFU

So, you see? Things work better when they have a good name, and stupid assholes get envious when they didn't think of the good name. They become envious, puff-up like muffins, and drone on endlessly about how it's all old news to them. The droning (speaking in paragraphs) is often punctuated by shrill nasally laughter, chortling, and their head bobbing side-to-side in a self-satisfied manner.*

Good names for good concepts grease the wheels for rapid progress.



* much like Palpatine in Return Of The Jedi. But Palpatine is way cooler than these chumps.

Technorati tags: freemium avc fredwilson technology Tech

Vintage Mac Ad

"If you can point, you can use Macintosh, too."

Linkage

Marketing Stunts

a. Create and Distribute Osono Linux Distribution(s), DL for free, or buy on disc for reasonable price. Versions are code-named after ‘young wines’. Lean and Mean (MadDog2020), and MachineNet (Thunderbird), maybe also Machinespeak Private Label (NightTrain), Telex/Cydonia Activated (Cisco), Pre-Built App/DB Server (Wild Irish Rose).

b. Create several public-domain, high-quality, web applications to be consumed by all for free. Slap “an Osono production” on it, put a donation button on the site, or better yet, hold fundraisers for the site, or procure government funding.

Worldopinion.org
1. A site that promotes a world view and global prospective on current events.
2. Blog format, with a main page, and sub pages for every country on the planet (Italia.worldopinion.org, usa.worldopinion.org, etc.)
3. Post polls and questions on the main page, and the same polls and questions on every country page. Aggregate on the main page, itemize by country on the country pages. Enlist local writers to own and post to the country pages…break up by region and/or state if applicable.
4. Main language is English, but builds in multi-language support in the form of templates.

Americanopinion.org
1. Same format as above, but with emphasis on state break downs. Usa.worldopinion.org will probably just forward to this site.

Openlocal.org
1. blog/standard format site that gives information about local businesses, events, things to do and see, pictures, food, sports, and news…provided by local resident writers and reviewers. The site will provide real local reviews, recommendations, news, and awareness. Blogs for shops, individuals, city planners, real estate, etc can be built right in to the regions.
2. Site is supported by business listings, which use a standard template, and come with a directory listing and regional advertisement…paid monthly/annually. Higher rates for a larger region diameter (6 degree model).
3. Broken-down by zip code, or city name, and/or coordinates.

Once more, with style

I want to create collaborative, creative commons licensed, art in the form of comics, animated features, animated episodes, manga, and other similar genres.

I also want to incorporate this art into software applications, web sites, technical marketing, and other areas of technology.

This art is funded through the use of product placement, for example: the animated show, SYSADMIN, is funded via subtle placement of products such as cisco, dell, hp, coke, etc. Each episode will have a list of areas within the show where advertisers can place their products. Product placement is the marketing of the future, since no sophisticated assholes like us pay attention to ads. In fact, a nice way to demo an episode would be to make the whole thing, and leave placeholders for paid placement, like a soda can would read, ”your product here”, and these placeholders would be replaced with advertisers before the show is released, or left generic if they are not sold. This way, you could demo the exact place and context in which an advertiser would be buying position. It is like visual radio ads. You can call it corporate art, or sell-out art…but at least it gets funded and we get to tell the stories that we want to tell.

TV ads are going bye-bye (thanks to tivo et al), web ads are not very effective (I never click on them, I’m sure nobody I know ever clicks on them…even though they are targeted to my demographic), and forcing people to watch ads on web sites before they see content is just a desperate new version of the television ad. As far as web ads go, the only future for them lie in making them an integral part of a site, making the ads appealing not with flashing colors and images, but with “fork lifted” content piggybacked on top (such as a compelling story, which ends with a ‘brought to you by Hewlett Packard’), ads that are camouflaged…such as a hidden ad within a background image, or a clever corporate logo weaved into a compelling piece of art on a side column. It is similar to the “subconscious” advertising craze of the 70’s, but not insidious in nature. It's more like the positive surprise you get when you see an optical illusion and exclaim,” cool”, as opposed to when you get taken by a deceiving image.

The other options are (best with sound on) trailers (Cydonia is an IT management application written by Osono in 2001, named after the area of Mars containing the "face", "pyramids", and other illusions. This application trailer depicts a landing on the "Face of Mars") and movie-like ads (everything is converging…movies, games, applications, and music—into one new form). BMW tried this with their recent adventure shorts, and they were quite successful.

The way to appeal to the generation X-Y-Z demographic is to incorporate anime, manga, sci-fi themes, technology, philosophy, music, and cinematic elements into NOT ONLY the advertisements, but also the web sites, the copy, and the applications themselves.