[haiku] Re: What are plans for "pysical copies" of Haiku R1?
- From: Ben Allen <ben.allen@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 16 May 2010 02:03:50 -0500
I like the idea of having the option to buy a boxed version with a real,
printed manual. To me at least, buying software that comes in a dingy
cardboard or plastic sleeve with no documentation makes me feel like the
software publisher isn't really putting forth much of an effort anymore. A
nice box (even if there's not a whole lot inside it) says that they care
about appearing nice and professional. It's like the software equivalent of
a jacket and tie. To be fair, the expectations are quite a bit lower for an
open-source project since there's not a "marketing materials" budget to pay
for it all, but that might only make a full-color printed box all the more
impressive.
Plus, it's an important visual marketing aid. I still have the boxes and
manuals for BeOS R5, GoBe Productive, and Corum III. On several occasions,
people have noticed one of them on my bookshelf and asked me about them,
giving me a chance to introduce them to something they might otherwise never
see. It's a combination delivery container, stand-up poster, and
word-of-mouth advertising inducer.
Hopefuly, something like this can be made at a decent enough price that they
can be sold at a reasonable price point that will cover the associated costs
plus a built-in donation. I suppose it will ultimately depend on the
production quantity.
-Ben
On May 13, 2010 8:52 PM, "Kevin Ar18" <kevinar18@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I recall some past mention of Haiku artwork for CDs (Alpha 2 I think?).
Anyways, I was curious as to what (if any) plans are there for physical
materials for Haiku R1's release?
Am I correct in that everyone was assuming most copies would be downloaded
and that the rest would just be distributed by a simple CD or Flash drive?
Or was there more planned?
-----
Why do I ask?
Well, I wonder if maybe I could have a small role in whatever was planned in
terms of physical materials for R1. Not any big role mind you... just to
help out if you needed any help in that area.
Since I have no idea what you all were planning (or maybe what some of you
were thinking in private)... I will just relay a few things that I had in
mind (though not everything I had in mind).
Basically, I was wondering if it might be possible to actually create a
Haiku R1 box that can be sold (revenue going to Haiku development). It
would include things like an R1 CD with nice logo/art on it. An actual
paper manual of Haiku and a paper manual for the development environment.
... and of course whatever else you think would be nice to have or useful (a
cd with apps? a collectible box with: a poster, some plastic collectible,
and actual signed material from the Haiku devs?)
... ok, by now everyone probably assumes I'm crazy what with the costs and
all, but I was thinking.... might it actually be possible to achieve
something major like this with a pre-order type system? Basically, you
would not have to put any money upfront. The money for production would
come from the pre-orders to allow you to make a production run of a certain
amount (more than the actual pre-orders).
If there are not enough pre-orders for a production run, well the whole
thing gets cancelled with no money spent. If there are enough pre-orders to
pay for a production run, people are then charged and the boxes made.
Of course I assume all that was really planned was a cd with a logo on it
for R1 -- and I am perfectly fine if that's all that is done. If that is
all you would like to do for R1, I guess there's not much help you need for
that is there? :) Still, if you needed some kind of research done (like
getting prices from several dozen companies months ahead of time), I guess I
could help out that way. :)
Kevin
------------------------------
Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your
inbox. See
how.<http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_2>
Other related posts:
