Fwd: Re: AM-INFO Marketing at its best

["Glenn T. Livezey" <glivezey@netserv.unmc.edu>]

  I have forwarded parts of a private communication at the suggestion of the
  recipient.
  
   Unfortunately, much of today's communication goes for the gut. Or
  perhaps, in the case of most marketing strategies, the brainstem. Reason 
  plays little part in trying to convince you that you NEED a product you never 
  heard of before. So they use an approach designed to reach past your 
  neocortex (the part that evolution awarded to the few) and appeal to those
  areas of your brain that you share with your reptilian ancestors. You say
  "gut level" because these parts of the brain actually do regulate hormonal 
  changes that literally affect your gut, and, in fact, your whole body, in addition
  to your brain. You might think that technical products would be the exception.
  But not when they are being sold to the masses of non-technical people. The
  "market" would be too small if it were restricted to people who actually "need"
  and efficiently use computers. Small market - steep prices. Big market -
  lower prices. But to appeal to the big market you start to change the product
  until it is no longer what the small market desired in the first place. And you get
  a computer with vivid colors, flying toasters and 1,000 fonts that can't handle
  more than a few simple calculations without crashing. But it LOOKS COOL!
  And that includes many management types responsible for purchasing
  decisions that they don't actually have to deal with when the product fails
  to perform as advertised. The marketing approach is product-independent. 
  It might as well be drugs (legal or otherwise), soap, or an article of clothing 
  with the "right" stranger's name on it. And when you forget that you need a
  peice of software to actually DO something, and concentrate on the sale of
  an "image" or "idea", you can make a lot of money selling and waste a lot of
  money buying. I can't stop the Pied Piper of Madison Avenue from talking
  the average Joe out of his pay check. But I truly resent the repercussions
  that that money/power has in the areas of software and hardware that I do
  need as a professional to do my research and try to prevent real human suffering.
  
  We've covered this ground in ever diminishing circles (Lorenz would be excited)
  and we have not changed anyone's opinion. Each "side" has gleaned whatever
  new information/ammunition to support their perspective. My hopes for this activity
  are that those whose resolve may have been dissolving in the face of the thought
  that they were alone, are heartened to find kindred spirits, and additional glimmers
  of the truth.
  
  To borrow from a recent TV show concerning an ancient organization that appears
  to stand for fighting the good fight.................this is who we are.
  
  
   
  Glenn T. Livezey, Ph.D.
  Director of Perinatal Research
  Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
  University of Nebraska Medical Center
  600 South 42nd Street
  Omaha, NE 68198-3255
  Phone- 402-559-8064
  FAX- 402-559-7126
  e-mail glivezey@netserv.unmc.edu