This is an interesting topic.
I pondered over it for while, and while I agree with most being said so far, however, it is not hitting the nail on the head.
Nevertheless, I do agree that OH needs better exposure.
While it was said that “OH does not compete with anything”, I completely disagree.
We live in a world full of choices (too many IMHO). People make daily decision about everything. The question should be: “How are these decisions being made?” “Why do people arrive at a particular choice?” “What is driving people to requiring a decision in the first place?” Which usually leads to a problem statement.
That problem statement will be the hook to tackle the OH Awesomeness Problem”.
To state the other two of the three top reason why people chose something is for logical and emotional reasons.
Our personal bias should not matter when addressing the problem. What individuals don’t like or found problematic, is just that, personal. It may or may not be applicable to a potential wider audience.
In today’s world, over 80% of consumers say that post from their friends directly influenced their decision. Are we, as individual OH users, show-casing our successes with OH enough, on Facebook or Instagram, etc.? The key here is KISS (keep it simple stupid).
I saw a YouTube once, outlining the technologies being used to find electronic components in wall-mounted drawer components. It was awesome when it comes to the outcome. He would say “Find 5mm red LEDs”, and a LED would light up green behind one or two drawers. I was inspired and keen to build it. When I looked at the how to, I fell off my chair. While I understood that I have to put colour LED strips behind the drawer set, and need some controller, the actual technology requirements made me leave the site in an instant. Alexa, to talk to it; MariaDB to store information; IFTTT integration, a bunch of docker images, and Linux configuration, plus configuration of each of the umpteen cloud services used, passwords to manage, and the list went on… I think, I counted some sixteen software components to make this work. It would require a wizard to put this together.
In essence, any promotion of OH needs simple and easy to follow tutorials. Some of Rich’s and other’s tutorial may be well suited to be converted into a video presentation.
And herein lies the next hurdle. A lot of good videos are made by well-honed presenters who do this for a living. Ever seen a technical presentation. People just yawn and run.
40% of people are more likely to engage when pictures, videos and status updates are present.
For these presentations to promote the OH brand, it needs to be consistent. It requires a play book, corporate identity, something people instantly recognise. A logo, a certain colour scheme, and layout. The video, light and sound quality has to be of good quality; E.g., no shaky camera or crappy sound, no uhms and ahs. I usually hit the close button, when encountering the latter, almost in an instant, or read the transcript instead.
What I believe would need to happen to get OH out there:
Understand the user’s motivations for wanting do to home automation
Make the benefits fo the product evident in the demonstration.
Prioritise on things that deliver the benefits or outcomes.
Tell a story.
To illustrate the latter, Steve Jobs once said: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.”
It has been raised in this forum that a road-map is missing; the reasons where explained, why a technical road map does not exist, due to the open source approach; and that’s fine. However, a product road map has two key functions, to explain the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. I am sure OH has a vision. A well-crafted road map helps dispel confusion, answer questions, sells ideas, improves engagement. The user is the hero in this story. Make the story relatable.
And most importantly, there is an impact on OH developers. Who wants to work on something less and less people use? (if this even holds up, as I do not know download figures.) Or wouldn’t a developer rather work on something that has longevity? … and a large audience?
Long story short: while I see great merit in some form of quality OH presentation, and also see a rather negative effect if not done properly… the question remains who puts their hat in the ring to actually do it.
I think YouTube videos would fall under that definition, hence, would be doable.
And if you look at openhab foundation goal - it seems to be a case. Its not about making openHAB winning solution, but about building awareness of possibilities in era of smart home and promotion of free software idea.
