Case Studies, White Papers, Application Notes and the marketing of the P16X32
Kerry S
Posts: 163
The most important aspects of marketing of any product are Name Recognition and Product Awareness.
For traditional products this is done with massive advertising programs with large budgets (Apple, Samsung, IBM). With a specialty product, such as the P16X32, this is not really effective and it is hard to directly target the potential users you need to reach.
A very effective method of exposure is the publication of White Papers. These are typically written in a generic form (does not push any specific product) but rather discuss features and/or methods. I have seen these used to great effect to bring awareness and recognition to a new and unknown player to a market. Most of these were published at no cost in trade magazines (no internet back then) as they were great articles in and of themselves. The ONLY tag line that ever mentioned a specific company was the credits for the writer. They brought recognition to the writer as an expert in his industry and his company as a leader in new technology.
Part of marketing for the Propeller is showing how it is different in application from a typical microcontroller you would use. To get exposure for Parallax we need good white papers that compare traditional methods to new alternatives.
Examples of possible topics:
Multi-core applications in control and automation.
Here we discuss how using multiple cores to break up control, communications, and I/O processing can simplify and speed up the development of various applications. (Give 3 or 4 typical examples).
Deterministic control using multi-core methods vs interrupt driven applications.
Take a P1 and an XXX single core micro controller. Set them to same clock rate, write a couple of real world simulations and show performance data on how the multi-core method can provide better performance. Also show how the coding can be simpler and easier to debug and maintain (compare lines of code, memory use, etc.). Benchmarking data!
Realtime control with multi-core controllers vs RTOS applications.
Another performance comparison. P1 vs ??? controller running an RTOS. Comparisons of speed, responsiveness, ease of programming, costs (RTOS license?) and resource usage (memory required for comparable applications). This would be a practical use article. Benchmarking data!
Integration of user HMI and Process I/O control using multi-core microcontrollers.
Practical example of doing a simple user interface (VGA?) and process control. Highlighting the multi-core ease of integration of shared resources, data, and memory between the HMI and process control. Compare to a more traditional design using a microcontroller + microprocessor.
RTOS: Are they really needed in the post multi-core world?
Discuss the historical reasons for needing an RTOS, the resource costs associated with them and how multi-core applications can provide the same level of deterministic control with simpler programming and reduced resource requirements. This would be a theoretical methodology article.
White papers, such as these examples, should be written by someone at Parallax but perhaps some of our community experts would be willing to ghost write the initial drafts for them to then polish and publish?
Another great way to highlight a product are Case Studies. This is where our P1 users could highlight their own talents and also bring attention to the P1 and Parallax. I know there are real world applications of the P1 in various markets. Would those users be willing to spend a little time writing a Case Study about one of their projects? They could talk about the project, the challenges involved, and how the P1 helped them deliver the right product for their customers. Great marketing for both Parallax and the customer. These also sometimes get free publication in trade mags.
For the new P2 it would be very useful to have a number of Application Notes done before release. Putting an object or code in the OBEX is great, but having a clear detailed explanation of that code, and how to apply it, would make a big difference in getting people to adopt the P2. This is another area where we, the community, can help Parallax.
/steps off of soapbox/
For traditional products this is done with massive advertising programs with large budgets (Apple, Samsung, IBM). With a specialty product, such as the P16X32, this is not really effective and it is hard to directly target the potential users you need to reach.
A very effective method of exposure is the publication of White Papers. These are typically written in a generic form (does not push any specific product) but rather discuss features and/or methods. I have seen these used to great effect to bring awareness and recognition to a new and unknown player to a market. Most of these were published at no cost in trade magazines (no internet back then) as they were great articles in and of themselves. The ONLY tag line that ever mentioned a specific company was the credits for the writer. They brought recognition to the writer as an expert in his industry and his company as a leader in new technology.
Part of marketing for the Propeller is showing how it is different in application from a typical microcontroller you would use. To get exposure for Parallax we need good white papers that compare traditional methods to new alternatives.
Examples of possible topics:
Multi-core applications in control and automation.
Here we discuss how using multiple cores to break up control, communications, and I/O processing can simplify and speed up the development of various applications. (Give 3 or 4 typical examples).
Deterministic control using multi-core methods vs interrupt driven applications.
Take a P1 and an XXX single core micro controller. Set them to same clock rate, write a couple of real world simulations and show performance data on how the multi-core method can provide better performance. Also show how the coding can be simpler and easier to debug and maintain (compare lines of code, memory use, etc.). Benchmarking data!
Realtime control with multi-core controllers vs RTOS applications.
Another performance comparison. P1 vs ??? controller running an RTOS. Comparisons of speed, responsiveness, ease of programming, costs (RTOS license?) and resource usage (memory required for comparable applications). This would be a practical use article. Benchmarking data!
Integration of user HMI and Process I/O control using multi-core microcontrollers.
Practical example of doing a simple user interface (VGA?) and process control. Highlighting the multi-core ease of integration of shared resources, data, and memory between the HMI and process control. Compare to a more traditional design using a microcontroller + microprocessor.
RTOS: Are they really needed in the post multi-core world?
Discuss the historical reasons for needing an RTOS, the resource costs associated with them and how multi-core applications can provide the same level of deterministic control with simpler programming and reduced resource requirements. This would be a theoretical methodology article.
White papers, such as these examples, should be written by someone at Parallax but perhaps some of our community experts would be willing to ghost write the initial drafts for them to then polish and publish?
Another great way to highlight a product are Case Studies. This is where our P1 users could highlight their own talents and also bring attention to the P1 and Parallax. I know there are real world applications of the P1 in various markets. Would those users be willing to spend a little time writing a Case Study about one of their projects? They could talk about the project, the challenges involved, and how the P1 helped them deliver the right product for their customers. Great marketing for both Parallax and the customer. These also sometimes get free publication in trade mags.
For the new P2 it would be very useful to have a number of Application Notes done before release. Putting an object or code in the OBEX is great, but having a clear detailed explanation of that code, and how to apply it, would make a big difference in getting people to adopt the P2. This is another area where we, the community, can help Parallax.
/steps off of soapbox/
Comments
What makes the P1+ so attractive is that the current Freescale offerings are monster BGA's that cost +$20 a piece. I can see the P1+ filling market niches in motor control and sensors among others that Freescale can't.
Not only promote this aspect, make sure there are nice demo apps showing the "smart pins" in action so evaluators can check it out right out of the box.
And make sure there is a C programmers and assembly coding guides available as well.
A lot of this type of support is going to have to come form the forum community.
Sooo, get your FPGA ready, get some ideas drawn up and get ready to start writing whitepapers and application notes!! We'll all need to help chipping in to make the rubber meet the road. :thumb:
One of the other challenges is many capabilities develop in the community,or after the initial design is complete, and therefore doesn't get incorporated back in the top level documentation. Application notes can help with that.