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> Non-developers respond to ads that entertain, inspire and probably feature celebrities they aspire to be. You’re selling dreams and feelings...They don’t real

> Non-developers respond to ads that entertain, inspire and probably feature celebrities they aspire to be. You’re selling dreams and feelings...They don’t really pay attention to specs and features. Not only is this an amazingly denigrating statement which implies that non-developers are all irrational and driven solely by emotion, it's completely out of touch with reality. "Non-developers" are the decision-makers in the vast majority of B2B purchases, and because "B2B" is so broad, it's hard to credibly make general statements like this. That said, I don't know how anybody who has successfully sold a product or service to a non-developer can write that non-developers "don't really pay attention to specs and features." If anything, it's possible to argue that decision-makers often pay too much attention to specs and features and wind up buying more than they need. > You make statements developers can test and prove to their satisfaction. They are deeply, deeply skeptical. This is a significant overgeneralization. Are there skeptical developers who will thoroughly test a product or service before making a purchasing decision? Of course. But if you have been in the game long enough, you'll find that there are plenty of technical decision-makers who buy products and services without any real due diligence. There are a variety of reasons for this ranging from laziness to career security (i.e. "Nobody has been fired for using [x]"). I get the whole B2D concept, but a great developer isn't necessarily capable of making great purchasing decisions. A lot of companies, and startups in particular, are buying third-party "tools" that won't be around in five years, aren't well supported, can't scale beyond a certain point, aren't competitively priced, lock them into closed ecosystems and/or represent core functionality that should be built and maintained in-house. What looks "better" today can very well be a nightmare tomorrow.

vonnik 13y ago
You make some great points. By "nondevelopers," I was referring to consumers rather than CIOs.
- 7Figures2Commas 13y ago
  Huh? Your post begins with, "Programmers will tell you the reason they’re replacing chief information officers in choosing third-party software is because CIOs don’t understand what’s going on" and has nothing to do with consumers, who don't make the kind of technology purchasing decisions you're discussing in the first place.
  - vonnik 13y ago
    You're misreading it. The passage you call denigrating is about marketing in general, not CIOs in particular. It comes two paragraphs after I mention B2C, end users and a new marketing model. It's written for people in comms, and from a marketing perspective. And I don't think any of them would disagree with me.
    - 7Figures2Commas 13y ago
      Notwithstanding the fact that it makes no sense to discuss consumer marketing in a blog post about how technology is sold to companies, if we assume for argument's sake that I misread your post, your statement ("Non-developers respond to ads that entertain, inspire and probably feature celebrities they aspire to be. You’re selling dreams and feelings...They don’t really pay attention to specs and features") becomes even more arrogant. Now instead of insulting the intelligence of non-developers who make B2B purchasing decisions, you're insulting the intelligence of everybody who is not a developer who makes any purchasing decision. Do you honestly believe that folks who don't write code for a living never make logical, informed purchasing decisions, and that people who do write code for a living never make purchasing decisions based on feelings, aspirations or relationships? I know that the SF/Silicon Valley "developers rule the world" mentality is intoxicating, but assuming that non-programmers are basically irrational, lesser beings is a huge mistake for any business.
      - vonnik 13y ago
        Of course people make logical, informed purchasing decisions. But marketing and company communications are not what they rely upon to make them. They rely on trusted third parties. My blog post was not directed at those parties. I'm explaining how marketers need to communicate with developers differently. Those same marketers will probably have models for how a campaign should work. And those models, if they are effective, are brief and do not appeal to logic, because most people don't have the time to wade through lengthy arguments. Marketers have a few seconds to connect with consumers. They do so with images and emotion. The point is too self-evident to belabor. The post wasn't arguing that developers rule the world. It was arguing that developers, due to several factors, are becoming more powerful in the world, and that new power has consequences. Have you finished with your straw men?

vonnik 13y ago

You make some great points. By "nondevelopers," I was referring to consumers rather than CIOs.

7Figures2Commas 13y ago
Huh? Your post begins with, "Programmers will tell you the reason they’re replacing chief information officers in choosing third-party software is because CIOs don’t understand what’s going on" and has nothing to do with consumers, who don't make the kind of technology purchasing decisions you're discussing in the first place.
- vonnik 13y ago
  You're misreading it. The passage you call denigrating is about marketing in general, not CIOs in particular. It comes two paragraphs after I mention B2C, end users and a new marketing model. It's written for people in comms, and from a marketing perspective. And I don't think any of them would disagree with me.
  - 7Figures2Commas 13y ago
    Notwithstanding the fact that it makes no sense to discuss consumer marketing in a blog post about how technology is sold to companies, if we assume for argument's sake that I misread your post, your statement ("Non-developers respond to ads that entertain, inspire and probably feature celebrities they aspire to be. You’re selling dreams and feelings...They don’t really pay attention to specs and features") becomes even more arrogant. Now instead of insulting the intelligence of non-developers who make B2B purchasing decisions, you're insulting the intelligence of everybody who is not a developer who makes any purchasing decision. Do you honestly believe that folks who don't write code for a living never make logical, informed purchasing decisions, and that people who do write code for a living never make purchasing decisions based on feelings, aspirations or relationships? I know that the SF/Silicon Valley "developers rule the world" mentality is intoxicating, but assuming that non-programmers are basically irrational, lesser beings is a huge mistake for any business.
    - vonnik 13y ago
      Of course people make logical, informed purchasing decisions. But marketing and company communications are not what they rely upon to make them. They rely on trusted third parties. My blog post was not directed at those parties. I'm explaining how marketers need to communicate with developers differently. Those same marketers will probably have models for how a campaign should work. And those models, if they are effective, are brief and do not appeal to logic, because most people don't have the time to wade through lengthy arguments. Marketers have a few seconds to connect with consumers. They do so with images and emotion. The point is too self-evident to belabor. The post wasn't arguing that developers rule the world. It was arguing that developers, due to several factors, are becoming more powerful in the world, and that new power has consequences. Have you finished with your straw men?