Well, hmm. Featured on Fake Steve Jobs today — my dad will be so proud. No, seriously, Dad loves Fake Steve. Not sure how to respond to someone who’s wishing you a big dose of crabs — case of crabs? not sure what the word is there — so I’ll just go with “Hey, thanks!”
Anyway, lots and lots of interesting conversations going on about this the past few days — Mozilla is in an unusual position in that we are a mission-driven organization, but also have an actual product in the market that does compete with commercial organizations. Because of that competition, I think much of what we do & say gets viewed through a revenue/marketshare lens, regardless of intent. It’s easy to fall into that line of thinking — the world is geared towards it. And so it’ll continue to be a challenge for us, as Mozilla, to point out practices that are troubling in products that are competitive.
I think that no matter what we say, we’ll get articles and blog posts written about our motivations and whether they’re related to revenue.
But we’ll continue to make decisions and build products based on user experience first and let folks make their own minds up regarding our motives. That’s the way Mozilla has always been, seems to me.
update: beltzner points out that Zoidberg is really more of a lobster-oid. To quote the good sideways-walking doctor himself: “Now Zoidberg is the popular one!“
16 Comments
John, I have never been more proud to know you. This isn’t just a FSJ mention, it’s a full attack piece. You can’t buy that.
- Adam
Hmmm.
Being from Maryland, where the blue crab is the state bird if I’m not mistaken, wishing someone crabs is quite the congenial salutation.
Also, I remember when a columnist in a New York newspaper ripped into Bob Ross (of “Joy of Painting” fame) because, despite Bob’s artsy, mellow, nature-loving demeanor he made money. Ran a good business.
Apparently, in the eyes of some, the fact that Bob Ross was financially successful somehow made him less real or sincere or enjoyable.
If you do something well enough people will be willing to pay you for it and pay you well. And more power to you.
Extraordinarily well put. And the best use of a Zoidberg I’ve seen in some time. =]
John, I have never been more proud to know you. This isn’t just a FSJ mention, it’s a full attack piece. You can’t buy that.
- Adam
Hmmm.
Being from Maryland, where the blue crab is the state bird if I’m not mistaken, wishing someone crabs is quite the congenial salutation.
Also, I remember when a columnist in a New York newspaper ripped into Bob Ross (of “Joy of Painting” fame) because, despite Bob’s artsy, mellow, nature-loving demeanor he made money. Ran a good business.
Apparently, in the eyes of some, the fact that Bob Ross was financially successful somehow made him less real or sincere or enjoyable.
If you do something well enough people will be willing to pay you for it and pay you well. And more power to you.
Extraordinarily well put. And the best use of a Zoidberg I’ve seen in some time. =]
You do have to appreciate FSJ’s liberal use of the term “freetard.” I think it is largely a ploy to get “freetard” into the OED. I am so glad, John, that you can play some small role in that quest.
You do have to appreciate FSJ’s liberal use of the term “freetard.” I think it is largely a ploy to get “freetard” into the OED. I am so glad, John, that you can play some small role in that quest.
OT: I find it humorous that Wikipedia gets the ‘credit’ for what’s obviously a creation of Matt Groening.
OT: I find it humorous that Wikipedia gets the ‘credit’ for what’s obviously a creation of Matt Groening.
Safari rocks!
Give Internet Explorer 8 a try new features new functionality of the web. Web 2 will be stronger with IE8
Safari rocks!
Give Internet Explorer 8 a try new features new functionality of the web. Web 2 will be stronger with IE8
Mission v. Revenue? The problem is that both can be true at the same time. And, in a good organisation, are true, together, because they are aligned. Revenue makes the mission possible, mission makes the revenue flow, which makes for more mission. Nothing wrong with that.
The challenge for Mozilla may be to integrate the Revenue aspects into their thinking, without damaging the belief in Mission. The danger may be that you … or too many within Mozilla … believe that it is *only* the mission, *only* the user experience, *only* the community. In that case, likely, you get to be someone else’s revenue. Someone who’s less naive, likely more focused, more balanced in their ability to apply earnt revenues to their own mission.
Mission v. Revenue? The problem is that both can be true at the same time. And, in a good organisation, are true, together, because they are aligned. Revenue makes the mission possible, mission makes the revenue flow, which makes for more mission. Nothing wrong with that.
The challenge for Mozilla may be to integrate the Revenue aspects into their thinking, without damaging the belief in Mission. The danger may be that you … or too many within Mozilla … believe that it is *only* the mission, *only* the user experience, *only* the community. In that case, likely, you get to be someone else’s revenue. Someone who’s less naive, likely more focused, more balanced in their ability to apply earnt revenues to their own mission.
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[...] John has a post today about how some people impute revenue motives to everything we do. In his case John made a statement about how one of Apple’s business practices is bad for the overall security and health of the Internet. (In this case the practice is to encourage consumers to download and install new software by identifying it as an “update” to software the person already has on his or her machine.) [...]
[...] Lilly recently wrote an excellent post about our passion around the Firefox user experience. I wanted to spend a few minutes talking [...]