Even better than the other day. This is a very high profile position to be. And at 11:30 AM EST. The beginning of the workday for the west coast, and right before lunch on the east coast… right when many people browse the web for news.
Just FYI Bit Torrent
May help ease the burden on those crying servers.
For once hurting a server is a good thing 😀
Firefox 1.0… literally right around the corner.
And you thought I would miss it? I think not. I’m going to get some sleep while some stay up and have fun. Here’s to a good night, an awesome day, and an awesome new age of web browsing.
I’ll be in and out most of tomorrow, but I’ll try to keep in touch on #firefox, #spreadfirefox, #mozillazine, and #developers as usual.
Lets rock the web!
I’m going to be rather involved with school, so I’m not sure I’ll be posting to much, or accomplishing to much in the next week or two. Apparently I have Thursday off, so that should make a 4 day weekend, and make my life much easier. So hopefully I can gain the upper hand by Thursday and put myself in a more relaxing situation…. we can hope right?
Or perhaps Monday and Wednesday I’ll have really productive afternoons and get lots of work done with minimal effort…. that would be great.
I will of course be online for the Firefox launch as much as I can 😀 I’ve got a few classes, but I’ll be checking in throughout the day to see what the estimated download count is… and to share in some of the IRC fun that will follow.
Well, if this doesn’t show the power of Firefox, nothing ever will. That’s right. Hours after the president announces he won the election, a nice “switch” style article right on the Yahoo homepage. It links to the syndicated feed of this PC World Article (link to PC World Article, because Yahoo links tend to break).
The article spends a bit of time on Firefox, which is great. What’s really great is this positioning. A day of elevated news coverage, and a browser article made the elite Yahoo Homepage News feed. That’s a big gain for Firefox.
On an odd note, the only direct link to something mentioned in the article is a link to IE Developers blog. Not a link to Mozilla.org or spreadfirefox.com, or getfirefox.com.
So the good press is coming along!
IMHO this is the biggest press event so far. It’s really the biggest article oriented at mainstream internet users. It’s not on Wired, Slashdot, CNet. It’s right on the Yahoo home page. So non-geeks can read.
This is big… and it’s only getting bigger.
I briefly flashed the idea on #spreadfirefox, but I thought I’d elaborate on it here:
First Impressions are everything
We’ve said that before, and most agree. Psychologists have spent considerable time on this. People make very quick decisions on if they like something or not. They either like it, or they don’t. Impressions happen quickly. Firefox needs to make a good one. I think we can improve it by creating a Flash, JavaScript, or SVG based tutorial on first run. Something flashy, yet professional, and artistically done. Clean simple UI. Perhaps a few options on the main page:
Each would bring you to some information, such as why you should use Firefox (including an animated demo of how ‘Tabbed browsing works’, ‘Livemarks’, etc. Minimal Text, maximum efficiency. In 5 minutes, the user should be able to see why Firefox is better by example, not by reading. How to use features etc. Simple, quick, easy to follow. Sexy animations show how it works. People are hesitant to read text.
What’s new, would be a great way to show users what changed since the last version. Remember: Firefox got this far by word of mouth. Letting current users see how much better each version got, makes them more inclined to tell some friends about it. Show off the new improvements in a way users are inclined to see them.
Help Firefox would perhaps discuss ways to help Firefox (obvious right). Spreadfirefox.com, report broken websites, report bugs, donate, buy Mozilla gear, etc.
Such a feature would popup on the first load of a new profile. At that point they could disable it from showing again. Next release it comes back with new features. Only once by default, unless the user decides otherwise.
What we accomplish
I think we can all agree we want that.
Casual users don’t like reading. They don’t have the patience. It needs to be displayed for them. Illustrated for them. That is what will get more people to use Firefox. Remember: downloads are great, but we ultimately need users. That’s the goal here.
It costs as little as $10 to do, and can really help promote Firefox. It’s a great way to help promote the Fox. Not to mention the extra cash helps out the Mozilla Foundation. They make some great software.
Think about it:
How many other products are useful, innovative, stable, and low cost? Not many. With a few bucks you can help ensure Firefox gets some great exposure and more users. If only a small percentage donate some cash, that results in more fuel to continue development. The results are cyclical. You can start the positive cycle.
It takes as little as $10, and only a minute or two of your time. Spread the fox:
(as usual, I’d appreciate anyone who uses my link, so I get some referral credit).
As I mentioned here, Google desktop isn’t bad, but doesn’t support Firefox and Thunderbird as well as their Microsoft counterparts. Apparently that might change. Great news indeed.
That’s right. Want your name in the Firefox ad? In the New York Times? Well, it can happen. Donate $30 ($10 for students), and you’ll have your name in the ad! It’s that simple. Signup through my link, and you can put me on my way towards being a “Community Champion”
You know you want to show your mother your name in the New York Times. So why not help a great cause while achieving that goal?
Put Firefox and YOU in the New York Times
(signup through that link and help your buddy Rob out!)
And yes! You can donate internationally, it supports multiple credit cards, and PayPals!
You know, a little while back I did a project that involved looking at New York Times on Microfiche from 1940’s… ads for wool underwear among other fun stuff. Imagine 100 years from now people seeing a Firefox ad with your name on it!