This is a little comment about branding and image from a new customer.
Why are there so many names overlapping in this space? GHI, TinyCLR, Fez, is it necessary to have so many? It clutters the brand, loses the benefit of domain name alignment with the product, and just looks messy.
Freakin’ Easy? Really? This isn’t a great international brand name. Firstly, “EZ” is spelled E-ZED in any UK-English country. Secondly, “Freakin’” is just another way of saying “F*ckin’”. Not exactly a name I’d want to promote to my children.
Having done my research I thought that you have a better product range than Netduino, which is why I’m now a customer. I have to say, though, they’re kicking your backside with branding, brand awareness and publicity.
If you’re having a discussion about business strategies it might be worth keeping these thoughts in the back of your mind. OK, they’re worth what you’ve paid for them, and they’re from just one custmer, but technology sales and marketing is my business
I have my business here in the UK and I believe this branding is spot on… GHIElectronics is the manufacturer… FEZ is the product… Tinyclr is the platform…
They can’t really call the product GHIElectronics… can they.
FCUK is also a name that causes controversy… but sell’s extremely well…
I also think Netduino is a stronger product in the UK, but my products are going to use FEZ for the simple reason they are over 40% better, even though they are a smite dearer.
This product is aimed at primarily at enthusiasts & hobbyists but is an excellent product for commercial applications.
I would like to say that I have been thinking about learning electronics/programming for years literally.
It wasn’t until the early part of the year that I decided to jump into it as a hobbyist after I found FEZ.
First you have to understand what TinyCLR is marketing to, the hobbyist. I feel that FEZ and the monkey make it fun and exciting, not to mention all of the free literature and great support platform that GHI has set up.
Next you need to realize that FEZ hasn’t been on the map for very long. Arduino and like spin-offs have. So I would say give it a little bit of time and I think TinyCLR will get there.
Also with time, once Fezzer and the projects wiki page gets populated, there will be more like me that come out of the woodwork.
As far as Branding, GHI is commercial, FEZ is hobbyist. I think it makes perfect sense in my mind, it’s product differentiation.
On a side note, I looked into Arduino many times and just couldn’t wrap my mind around it enough to buy, now with TinyCLR, I did.
This is just my opinion and hope now one takes it personally.
rondunn, GHI has worked with very big companies and for over 10 years, see the GHI website. Now, this website is made with “fun” in mind. Yes it is not suitable companies but this is not what it made for, although the products are made by GHI’s professional experience so the quality is still suitable for commercial use.
I see the point you make about children but we are not aiming for children either.
We still thank you for the feedback and I will pass this on to GHI for review. There has been talks lately about making little changes since we are seeing a lot of commercial companies coming to this website, not only hobbyists.
By the way, there is an FAQ on how all names fit together. Please take a look.
