[theora] Marketing stuff

[Aaron Whitehouse]

> > Overall, this document seems geared toward developers, content
> > producers, and distributors - not much information for general users.
> > Is that what you intended?
>
> Well, I'm not sure how to address general users with other means than by
> content, which Theora itself can't generate. Once the general users
> generate content they become producers/distributors and may contribute
> to the pool of Theora-encoded content. Thus I'm targeting this audience.
> Of course that "benefits" section isn't really exhaustive as-is. So if
> anyone points out an obvious benefit for "couch-powered"
> passive-consumers I'm more than happy to add this to the list of benefits.

You are correct that content will likely drive adoption. That said,
everyday users are becoming content-producers with the advent of
YouTube, MySpace, personal web pages etc. etc. I often get emails with
travel videos attached (usually in wmv format). Then there are people
archiving DVDs with Thoggen. We want to make sure that these people
feel like the page is speaking to them, too.

More importantly, we want users to want Theora. I don't make a lot of
content, but I demand it from content-producers and I support software
and hardware that support free formats.

The Vorbis FAQ goes for a "better than mp3" approach:
http://www.vorbis.com/faq/#fan

I would say that, for an ordinary user, the benefits are that they get:
* high-quality video,
* small file sizes,
* which they and their friends can play on any type of computer
(Windows, Mac, Linux),
* without worrying that they are breaking the law.

* In ten years, we don't know what computers we will be using and what
software we will be running. A monopolist today could fade out of
existence tomorrow, taking the secrets of their formats with them. A
free and open format can always be played. There are no secrets in
Theora. Anybody is allowed to write a player or encoder. Any company
can add full support of Theora to their existing application or music
player - all without paying anything to anyone. They just need enough
people like you to ask them to!

Just some thoughts to throw into the mix,

Aaron