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Filark · 04-05-2011, 06:14 PM

Good idea, Paula!

And thank you, Bill, for visiting and reporting back!

One thing that might make sense is to look at the poll we have here on the forum, which shows 72% of respondents use their eDGe for "personal" uses, with an even 39% in each category using for "business" and "academic" uses. Someone in another post mentioned doctors and lawyers as potential users. For myself, it is a great ereader, just for pleasure, offering much more functionality than my Sony PRS-900 (which I also love). I thought I would use it for research for writing, but so far it's just a fun companion!
I know there was a marketing campaign (the refrigerator TV ad) aimed at busy non-academics, so perhaps they tried to market it to personal users (the whole HSN thing, too), but I think some refiguring as to who is most likely to use the devices and how to contact them is required. Pitching it as a tool for academics alienates (perhaps?) some potential buyers. Pitching it to busy homemakers is just wrong. I am a homemaker, so I can say that.

Yes, it can take everything off the refrigerator, but it is not intuitive or easy to grasp (physically or mentally). I wonder how many returns they got from HSN because people who bought this nifty tool just didn't have the time or patience to master it.

The people most likely to buy (and keep) an eDGe will fall into some or all of these categories (IMHO):

Technophiles

Avid Readers

Professionals who read/write/study/sketch/communicate for work

Academics (as opposed to students?)

People who have the time, money, and desire to make this technology do whatever they want it to.

The people least likely to buy (or most likely to return) an eDGe are (again, just my opinion!):

Technophobes

People who rarely read for pleasure and avoid reading to learn or for work

People with little time, money or patience

People who want the security of an established company/product that "everyone" is talking about

So advertise on websites and in journals and magazines that reach appropriate demographics (don't forget AARP!). Anyone technically savvy is skipping TV commercials, anyway!

lol! So many posts between when I started this and when I posted it!

04-05-2011, 06:14 PM	#26
Filark Edge User	Good idea, Paula! And thank you, Bill, for visiting and reporting back! One thing that might make sense is to look at the poll we have here on the forum, which shows 72% of respondents use their eDGe for "personal" uses, with an even 39% in each category using for "business" and "academic" uses. Someone in another post mentioned doctors and lawyers as potential users. For myself, it is a great ereader, just for pleasure, offering much more functionality than my Sony PRS-900 (which I also love). I thought I would use it for research for writing, but so far it's just a fun companion! I know there was a marketing campaign (the refrigerator TV ad) aimed at busy non-academics, so perhaps they tried to market it to personal users (the whole HSN thing, too), but I think some refiguring as to who is most likely to use the devices and how to contact them is required. Pitching it as a tool for academics alienates (perhaps?) some potential buyers. Pitching it to busy homemakers is just wrong. I am a homemaker, so I can say that. Yes, it can take everything off the refrigerator, but it is not intuitive or easy to grasp (physically or mentally). I wonder how many returns they got from HSN because people who bought this nifty tool just didn't have the time or patience to master it. The people most likely to buy (and keep) an eDGe will fall into some or all of these categories (IMHO): Technophiles Avid Readers Professionals who read/write/study/sketch/communicate for work Academics (as opposed to students?) People who have the time, money, and desire to make this technology do whatever they want it to. The people least likely to buy (or most likely to return) an eDGe are (again, just my opinion!): Technophobes People who rarely read for pleasure and avoid reading to learn or for work People with little time, money or patience People who want the security of an established company/product that "everyone" is talking about So advertise on websites and in journals and magazines that reach appropriate demographics (don't forget AARP!). Anyone technically savvy is skipping TV commercials, anyway! lol! So many posts between when I started this and when I posted it! Last edited by Filark; 04-05-2011 at 06:25 PM. Reason: added last line. :)