jallen@netxcom.UUCP (John Allen) (01/27/88)
In article <2186@isis.UUCP> aburt@isis.UUCP (Andrew Burt) writes: >I'm not saying today's prices are *unjustifyably* high, just that they >are *too* high for individuals to pay. This prevents computing from >spreading into the personal market at a faster rate. I followed the discussion up to here, and agree in concept.... >Consider: a clone PC can be had for around $400. If I want to run Dbase III >and Lotus 1-2-3 I'd have to shell out another $700 (by mail order). For the >price of two copies of MSC 5.0 I could buy another PC. This is ludicrous. >This is like saying a car will run you $10k, but the gas will cost $10k, the >oil $7k, $4k for the transmission fluid... But the analogy is 'too good' - sure, the car cost $10K, and I'll pump about $10K of gas through it (if it lasts long enough), spend $5K on insurance, another $3K (or more) on repairs and regular maintenance, $2K in property taxes... John Allen ========================================================================= NetExpress Communications, Inc. uunet!netxcom!jallen 1953 Gallows Road, Suite 300 (703) 749-2238 Vienna, Va., 22180 =========================================================================
cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (01/28/88)
> But if it's true, let's look at your average pirate. Again, if anyone > has data I'd like to know, but I'd think the typical pirate is someone > who takes the software someone else acquired and wants it for personal > use. [Rationale: if they were going to use it for business they'd > justify it as a business expense and would pay for it; they'd also > want updates and complete manuals.] > > So if these premises are true (and, again, I don't claim they are, though I > suspect so) then we have: > > - Companies buy major software packages > - Individuals pirate major software packages Nope. My experience has been that companies pirate software at least as much as individuals. Companies are more likely to get caught (disgruntled employee quits, calls the manufacturer and rats on the company), but I've seen lots of both. Clayton E. Cramer