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26 economist sunsuntribune diversions saturday nov 8 2003 a sal v f in 1- h if hi- h 1 i ifoormar from page 24 i guess the consumer wants more she said in the long run they nintendo will probably sell a dvd with it ms balboul said sales have revived recently since the company allowed their gameboy hand held video games to be played on the game cube many devices and applications end up forgotten because of poor marketing strategies according to keith thirgood creative director at markhams capstone communication group a smart marketer will sell the value and wont hype a product up when you oversell yourself you do yourself in certainly with a lot of software they overpromise and under-deliv- er he said they attract people with the promise of ease of sim plicity when consumers discover a product isnt as easy to use as prom ised he said they end up setting it aside while such a strategy might end up selling a lot of the product the second time around consumers staff photosteve somerville tony pamment and chris paterson use technology in their jobs in real estate mr pamment is known as the computer guy in his office- i wont buy even worse he said is word of mouth among users can kill a product if it doesnt deliver what it promised even with splashy ads and brochures if the early adopters ie techno geeks dont create a buzz about a product the general popu lation wont want to use it palm pilots are an example of a technology that has taken off it works and functions well he said its best to underpromise and overdeliver mr thirgood said when the consumer gets the product they say wow he said a smart marketer will sell the value and wont hype a product up when you oversell yourself you do yourself in mr thirgood said cell phones that take pictures may not take off i dont know what might hap pen with those he said they might catch on with the younger generation not the older even in lowtech industries such as gardening sometimes tech nology doesnt deliver on its prom ises all a hightech scarecrow has managed to do is scare away buyers so far said dave mcfadden man ager at maple garden centre although sales have picked up recently the tool which uses a water device and motion detector to scare away animals hasnt sold well those things arent flying out the door he said even natural and biological products designed for pest control never really took off eight to 10 years ago everyone was talking about safer products and not using chemicals he said that whole product line didnt go great part of the problem is people want chemicals that have an instant effect and can be seen working he said care needs to be taken in choos ing equipment mr pamment added dont buy too early or too late if you buy too early you could be pay ing too much and if you buy too late the equipment could be on the verge of being obsolete same thing applies to second hand equipment it could be out of date he said thats why theyre selling it use lawnmower to eut leaves then spread on soil from page 24 take this precious cargo to a com post yard where it is chopped and i piled to naturally decompose next spring when youre work ing in your garden and realize you need some compost to boost your soil you can go to the same com post yard where they will be happy to sell your leaves back to you for 5 or more per bag personally id rather spend all this money on new plants instead of bagging leaves this fall put mem right where they were intended to go in your garden to feed the soil which will in turn feed your plants all you need to do is speed along the decomposition process a bit by chopping leaves to make ah attrac tive and highly nutritious mulch when most of the leaves have fallen rake them into a huge pile in the middle of your yard and go at it with your lawnmower move along in circles working in from the outside edges aiming the exit hole of your lawnmower to the inside of the pile so the chopped leaves remain in a pile and are chopped ever finer with each pass most people think they have too many leaves for their garden to con sume but youll be amazed at the small mound that remains when youre done from personal experi ence i know a pile of 40 or more bags is reduced to just a small pile that would fill maybe two or three bags spread the resulting rich and attractive material in a twoinch blanket over your soil and around your plants if you have enough also spread a very fin e layer over your lawn this is all you need to do for the entire year to keep your plants well fed and other than the cost of a tank of gas for the lawn mower this gar deners gold didnt cost you a cent making sure your garden soil always has a fresh supply of organic material- is perhaps the most important thing you can do in a gar den to ensure longterm success the organic material portion of the triplemix your garden started with a fewyears ago is consumed by now and without an annual replen ishment there is no food for worms or the millions of other smaller microorganisms that are an essen tial part of the amazing under ground chain reaction that is a soils own ecosystem plant life feeds on the nutrients that result from all of this busy underground activity think of the microscopic forms of animal and insect life under ground as your much beloved pets and garden allies that help your gar den thrive evelyn wolf is a local gardening expert and owner of garden possabilities bookstore in newmarket she welcomes questions and comments at newsroomerabannercom challenge the student develop the mind strengthen the character m education with balance tradition with innovation the arts with science guidance with independence open house saturday november 22 2003 845 am 1200 p in- please join us the country day school ik- 12 kino l id 058n 1220 aclmisaioi sonca www cd girl lnl canada v j v guides du canada if leaders wanted 1 call for details 1-800- 1 1 5658111 1 this message brought to you as a community service of the economistflnbune j