www: 97e4dfaf: Keyword and snippet optimizations for se...

[Etan Reisner]

On Sun, Dec 07, 2008 at 04:39:55PM -0800, Casey Ho wrote:
<snip>
> I'm looking for a better term for non-developers to describe Pidgin to
> one another.  This is not a "business decision" to "improve the bottom
> line", and I never said it was.  I made my changes to help users
> understand what the point of Pidgin is.

I apologize if my email came across as an attack or as indicating your
intentions were incorrect. My point was just that the term is not one I
like at all, and I would much rather avoid "unpleasant" terminology since
our goal is not one of maximizing exposure.

<snip>
> "Universal IM" isn't some term that I pulled out of thin air.  I first
> made sure that people used the term (the first Google Trends chart),
> and secondly that it's associated with Pidgin (see links at bottom).
> While Pidgin doesn't support everything, it supports more than any
> other client, and that's why I suspect people have been calling Pidgin
> a universal client for years now.
>
> It has meaning.  It's not a precise technical definition, but it has a
> real semantic value.  And it certainly isn't a buzzword, because
> people already use the term to describe Pidgin.

The fact that people use it doesn't make it not a buzzword, the fact that
it doesn't have a real meaning does.

What does "universal" mean? Does it mean multi-protocol? Does it mean
multi-OS? Does it mean multi-architecture (think OS X universal binaries)?
Does it mean something else entirely?

(I especially don't like the interpretation of it that means it is 'for
everyone' because it isn't, we know it isn't, we don't want it to be, and
actively tell people it isn't going to be.)

I appreciate the 'appeal' of the term and the fact that it is more
'friendly' than "multi-protocol" but I don't think that is enough to
outweigh the negatives I see it having.

> Want to hear a real buzzword name?  Try "ultimate im".

Agreed, that is decidedly more buzzword-y and more stupid.

> -Casey

I do very much appreciate the effort you are putting in, don't let any
negative comments on my part convince you otherwise. My comments were
intended only to point out that the feeling of pidgin is as important as
any changes we are going to make to attract more people.

I am glad we are working on this as we really do need the effort.

    -Etan