As I run past the RIM buildings, I see these posters
fightandroid.org
fightandroid.org
"This campaign may be the dumbest thing ever posted to the Internet" -- Jonathan Rockway, jrock.us.
Credible!
(Also, while Google ads may have funded the beginning of Android, it has enough corporate sponsorship now that it could easily outlive Google. Samsung or HTC could easily take over Google's role if some shiny new Web 2.0 startup kills it. But I'm not holding my breath. All I can say is man... people on the Internet are dumb...)
Not that this will happen.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-why-google-and-android-mu...
I use an iPhone. Most of my friends have a Nexus S or other androids.
Devices like Android smartphones are creating a "better" model when it comes to user experience, apps, and price, yet how can we define "better"? Is it by a truly better experience? No. We like to define better as "stfu google, rim r0x0rs, tr0l0l0l0l0l! I'm not listening to what you're saying! Go away. RIM ruuuuulz". So next time people tell you that google is better, shove fingers in your ears and kick him in the nuts, because rim is just awesome.
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Edit: Seriously though? TomTom needs to fight google? Thats laughable. Why wouldent I want to buy a device that costs me extra ($150-400), is bulky, non-free map updates, and is known for selling user data to whoever offers money and a good enough usage case?
I don't think google is so bad.
PayBuyer appears to be an ad network. In other words, the guy could care less about Android and is just mad that AdSense/AdWords dominates.
It's funny that supporters of RIM have taken it seriously without doing 30 seconds of research.
But you have to admit, playing 'geek-detective' is more fun, right? I mean, who believes the stuff in an "About" page when you can run a whois and get the _Truth_ ^_^
""" 1. "Isn't this just a gimmick to promote a startup?" Yes, of course, FightAndroid.org is intended to help a startup (Paybuyer) – a startup that will indeed damage Google's AdWords and Android if it succeeds. To see why, view this PowerPoint presentation given to RIM executives in late March. """
I'm no fan of google's business model (advertising in the vast majority of cases == worthless noise), but at least they are using their position to further technology in good ways, which is more than I can see coming out of RIM.
Unfortunately their little PR ploy looks embarrassing to Waterloo, UWaterloo, and especially RIM. As a UW student, it's a little insulting that they expect to appeal to protectionist urges to help their own little company, which appears to not even be from Canada let alone Waterloo.
I hope this is ignored as it deserves to be.
Why are the uni students holding a rally? What connection do they have to"Paybuyer, LLC" which funds this Adwords competitor?
Pretty much.
> Why are the uni students holding a rally? What connection do they have to"Paybuyer, LLC" which funds this Adwords competitor?
It's not a rally; they're holding up giant signs to face traffic. I think it was four people to a sign. (It didn't occur to me to take a picture until I was already far away.)
This is just a PR stunt from a new Waterloo-based advertising startup. They're simply piggy-backing on the whole RIM vs Android thing with weirdly-phrased anti-Android propaganda.
There are no ads that are put onto publishers' websites to get paid. In order for this to work people have to manually go to the web-based "yellow pages" and then register their intent to buy say, a washing machine, and then that gives you a lottery ticket where if you win, you have to prove that you have purchased a washing machine within N days of registering your intent.
So suppose I have already decided to buy a washing machine, and GE, Maytag, and Kenmore have all bought into this scheme. This allows me to get 3 lottery picks, which might have an expected value of 10 cents each ($100, with a 1 in 1000 chance of winning, say). Presumably GE, Maytag, and Kenmore will all have to pay 15 cents, with the startup pocketing 5 cents.
The question is whether GE, Maytag, and Kenmore get 15 cents worth of value. Remember, I was a motivated buyer who had already decided to buy a washing machine. The only question was which one. This isn't going to reach someone who hadn't yet decided that they were going to buy, and so didn't have the motivation to go to the startup's web page.
To think this would disrupt a true advertising based system, whether it's Adwords, or even the pullouts in the Sunday morning newspaper is just silly.
I have to believe that most people at U of W don't have an unnatural affinity towards RIM, and that this is all just a really stupid stunt.
Sounds like the blog post they point to doesn't exactly give reasons to hate android like they think it does...
It's pretty easy to pick up a street promotions crew. The job generally tends to have Abercrombie-style hiring practices, pays a bit more than minimum wage, and is pretty flexible.
I'd honestly be shocked if there were people dumb enough to do that for real.
Edit: It's not clear to me though if RIM has anything to do with this.
Furthermore I don't pity RIM in the least. They made their bed. They chose to keep their products "business oriented" and got left behind when it came to innovation and, in the end, productivity. Why should I chastise Google for opening their platform and offering services for free? Google's model was clearly a better one at drawing customers in, which in turn fuels their advertising through use of mobile advertising in free apps.
The website claims Adwords funds Android and that's why it's evil, because it creates a "moat" around Google that makes it nigh impossible to compete with Google. I disagree. I believe Adwords and Android are symbiotic. They fuel each other, and if your company can't compete with Google then DON'T TRY TO COMPETE WITH GOOGLE. Choosing to do so is a huge risk, though it may net huge rewards. By taking them on you accept your fate, be it failure or success. Don't ask us to intervene on your behalf. I gain nothing by backing Paybuyer.
Also, Paybuyer is a horrible name for a company.
I could understand if their paycheck was on the line. If you write iPod apps and Android starts taking market share, that threatens you. (Assuming you can't also write Android apps, for whatever reason.) But most people just go crazy with no stake at all.
Image - http://twitpic.com/5on93a Image full size - http://twitpic.com/5on93a/full
The posters say to email the CEOs of Apple, Microsoft, and Tom Tom to stop Android because these companies have "lost tens of billions of dollars" (wtf do i care if they lost money?)
RIM building is in the background.
Students/PR firm (some look like students but they also have your typical hot, bare-waist chick helping) is having a hard time keeping the boards up, the wind keeps knocking them down. Guy in the orange seems to be calling the shots.
Drawings look like work of students.
I personally like RIM, really want to know whats going on here.
I certainly hope that this isn't the new way to do startup marketing.
> "Help defend RIM, your city, and universities by joining a rally outside RIM's Annual General Meeting"
I feel sorry for those who will actually go there, thinking that by this they will help RIM, and not that in fact they're helping Paybuyer.
EDIT: One more thing, instead of ignoring this kind of stuff, it gets submitted on HN. By doing this it get's spread. When someone is trolling and someone else replies to him, guess who wins. This shouldn't have been submitted at all.
Correction: at least two players need to be balanced. iPhone, to my mind, provides just such a balance. Trying to boost every single also-ran product into a position of strategic equity is a waste of time. Right now, RIM is the poster child for the Innovator's Dilemma, and there's little anyone including RIM can do about it.
I think there's a business correlary as well.
Markets aren't designed to support more than one or two players. There's not enough market share in a given space for it. Eventually you'll have first, second and everyone else. The people in first and second may change but there's always a disproportionate market share between number 2 and the rest of the pack.
You might want multiple COMPETITIVE players but you will rarely see it. Eventually the minor market folks will quit because it makes no sense financially to continue in the space.
What are you talking about? I've never heard that anywhere before?
How many car makers are there? Honda, Toyota, Ford. Right there is three, and they're all pretty darn big. And this ignores some pretty large folk like Chevy, GM, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes, and other household names.
How many PC computer makers? Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo. Four, and all pretty big.
How many casual shoe makers? Nike, Reebok, New Balance, Adidas, Sketchers.
Retail stores? Macys, Sears, JCPennys, Walmart, Costco, Target.
There are tons of industries where there are more than two large players. IMO, it seems pretty clear that there will be at least three major players for mobile:
1) iOS. Only Apple. 2) Android 3) Some other phone that is licensed to the same OEMs that make Android devices. They want diversity so that a single company, like Motorola, can't just become the de facto leader. It's likely Windows Phone. Longshot is WebOS.
For instance, look at state of the Canadian Parliament. For the longest time, the Conservative and Liberal parties were the two largest parties generally swapping power every couple of years. Now we see the Liberals have severely dropped in the power with the rise of the NDP to become the Official Opposition and being the second most voted party in Parliament. Even the Conservatives, who the hold, only garnered 40% of Canadian votes.
Again, what you're saying is a theory and it isn't even always the case.
Together they could easily make a much more successful OS than WP7, and a worthy competitor to Android. Alone, they don't stand a chance. Nobody does, except Apple, because Apple has a lot of other advantages besides just an OS. The problem is they think the only way to be as successful as Apple is to have your own OS. And that's not nearly enough at this point.
And what should I do if I want to help? PS: I have an Android phone