Ben Finney
In a conversation with a close friend, I had to explain why her Apple product would not “work with” GNU+Linux.
Specifically, she wanted to use our free-software-only GNU+Linux workstation at home to put audio and video files on to the Apple device, and play them there.
I came up with a quick analogy that had problems. I now have a better one, and I would like YOUR feedback on improving it:
Consider if Apple had sold you a new refrigerator.
Nice work! That's a really interesting and well thought out explanation. It's great that you're addressing some of the feelings that crop up, like the how much people value convenience and how difficult it can be to accept opinions that conflict with your own. Perhaps the refrigerator analogy is weakened a little though by the fact that your readers don't own a fridge like this (although chain supermarkets and farmers markets are a strong analogy). Analogies are most powerful when they use a concrete known concept. Definitely a tricky concept to find a good analogy for. It's possible then that your explanation may be stronger by not using an analogy at all. If you're going with the fridge, it could help to make up a brand, or use a brand that already makes fridges. This might seem silly and obvious to the reader, but I think it's important to actually connect up the dots at the end to the new concept you're explaining. Eg: "The refrigerator is working with food in a way similar to your Apple music player works with music." Also, to help reduce the "conspiracy theory" reaction, it may help to explain the motives of the manufacturer - money and market control. People understand these well. Again great work. When you're happy with this piece, I'm sure the fsf-community-team list would be interested to read it. Cheers, Ben