Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!news.cs.indiana.edu!ariel.unm.edu!triton.unm.edu!nwickham From: nwickham@triton.unm.edu (Neal C. Wickham) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Amiga will bump Mac. Message-ID: <1991Mar27.180203.4517@ariel.unm.edu> Date: 27 Mar 91 18:02:03 GMT Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Lines: 67 Originator: nwickham@triton.unm.edu Amiga has a very good chance at bumping Mac in the professional markets. Mac has some serious image problem and Commodore should take full advantage of them. Mac has created and is now reinforcing an image of the clown-child computer. Let me explain. As any marketoid can tell you, products have some sort of identity which fits in somewhere in our current schemas of identities. In western culture (at least in North America) we have what is called the archetypical family which is used in advertising, entertainment, public relations, and in communication again and again. The archetypical family consits of: the father, the mother, the industrious child, and the clown child. Ozzy & Harriet, one of the original TV programs, was an archetypical family. It is something familar, something understood, something where we can identify with at least one of the family. We see the archetypical family on the local news: the father fig anchor, the mother fig anchor, the industrious child sportscaster and the clown-child weatherman. There may be a little variation, however this combination is very purposeful. It is familiar, understood and something we will accept into our home. The archetypical family is used in several ways. In marketing, we get familiar families of products. In New Mexico, we have a family of beers, for example, where we have Bud the father fig, Coors the mother fig, then ...maybe Miller the industrious child, and Micholobe(sp?)as the clown child. In pop we have Coke the father fig, Pepsi the mother fig, and maybe ...slice the industrious child and ...rootbeer the clown-child... it is not always so clear cut when there are several products. Never the less, products do become identified as one of the archetypical family and comapnies spend billions of $ making sure that they do. Someone told me once that IBM was worried to death when SkyLab was about to crash because they thought if it hurt anyone and the TV cameras show the wreckage the the IBM logo would be seen and it would tarnish the image of IBM the father and protector. In the coputer family what do we have? IBM the father fig and ....? Its developing. Mac pushed its image as the clown-child. It wanted the user to feel superior to it to help overcome computer phobia. It looked like a fat little rolly-polly little baby and even bleeped and blurped like one. Many of the advertisements were a depiction of a conflict with a father fig. The 1984 ad where the girl destroys Big Brother and in the school ad where the kid uses Mac to fend off his cranky chastising male teacher are a couple of examples. Mac has a big problem now however. How well suited is the clown- child image for a professional market when society is losing its computer phobia. This is where Amiga has a big opportunity. Amiga is a female name, it is associated with beauty (ie graphics), it is compatible with IBM (rather than competitive), and it can emulate a Mac (ie Mac is more "of" Amiga as a child is "of" its mother) ...so Amiga is an ideal candidate for the mother figure in the personal computer family. It may become like Coors is to beer and Pepsi is to pop. Mac has some problems, the image it has created and ...Mac is a male name going head to head (competing with) IBM. A certain sign of a childish identity is a competitive attitude toward father figures. And Mac is trying to sue IBM over windows which furthers its image as a child refusing to accept father. I think C= should run some adds trying to settle this dispute Mac has with IBM to project an image of Amiga the peace maker since peace making is a trait strongly associated with an adult female. Amiga the cooperator with IBM who is nurturing and soothing to the angry little baby Mac. (Not that I want it settled it would just be good PR). C= should also push its support for the same reason....Amiga the supporter-nurturer(sp?). A mother fig PC may even be better than a father fig one. It could nurture and support the young ones and cooperate with the adult users. Sorry about the spelling. NCW .