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PC Marketing Drops the Technobabble
'Fact tags' only confused customers: Intel exec
By Harry Kimball
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Posted Sep 12, 09 10:54 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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PC makers seem to have gotten the hint and are beginning to hawk their wares not with dazzling technobabble but with information useful to the average consumer, the New York Times reports. For years, tech concerns have touted their achievements in impenetrable language on “fact tags” (DDR2 RAM, anyone?), but that approach may not fly when most people just want a fast Internet connection. “We have been stuck in 1995,” an AMD exec says. “We are basically the laggards.”
PC and chip makers have taken a page from Apple, and are now emphasizing functionality over brute power. “We were our own worst enemy, making it confusing about which chip is best for a computer,” an Intel exec says. The lessons of the automotive industry—and Apple, again—aren’t lost on the humbler PC market. “Computers have become an emotional purchase like cars,” the exec continues. “We’re getting very emotional with our marketing and advertising.”