BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) (08/15/90)
Will AmigaVision be offered to developers anytime in the near future? I would like to start experimenting with this powerful multimedia package, but I cannot afford the $150 list price. BTW, IMHO it is a mistake for Commodore to put such a high list price on this package. Power or not, this outprices it for many people, including myself. In order for AmigaVision to be an influence in the multimedia market, Commodore needs to get as large an installed base of AmigaVision users as possible. Though Commodore will be packaging it with most Amiga systems, I don't think this will be enough. HyperCard, though inferior in some ways (especially ease-of-use) has an existing user base in the millions, and has thousands of existing programs (or, rather, "stacks"). Plus, Apple also packages HyperCard with all MAC systems and sells it seperately for only $30. This will allow Apple to have a far larger base of HyperCard users into the distant future, unless Commodore drastically lowers the list price for AmigaVision. ---------------------------------------------------- | BITNET: BARRETT%FOREST.ECIL.IASTATE.EDU@ISUVAX | | Internet: BARRETT@FOREST.ECIL.IASTATE.EDU | | SnailMail : 2923 Oakland St. | Ames, Iowa 50010 | | TelCo : (515) 292-7270 | | Fido : Marc Barrett (1:285/614.0) | |--------------------------------------------------|
campbell@cbmvax.commodore.com (John Campbell - Marketing) (08/15/90)
In article <27409@nigel.ee.udel.edu> BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: > > Will AmigaVision be offered to developers anytime in the near >future? I would like to start experimenting with this powerful >multimedia package, but I cannot afford the $150 list price. We currently have over 100 developers who are using the product to create courseware. We will be introducing a more formalized plan shortly, but in the interim interested companies should join CATS Developer Support program and drop me a letter as to your interest and product plan for AmigaVision. Although I am involved in development and not marketing, I would like to mention Commodore's reasoning regarding the price. AmigaVision is a full language which specializes in the manipulation of audio-visual elements. As such, it has a feature set of other products that are much more expensive on other platforms. Clearly there must be a large installed base to make its use widespread, hence the obvious decision to bundle. A price which is very low might give the public the incorrect opinion that it was bundled and priced low because it is limited in value. We did not want it to get a low perceived value based upon price. If $150 is too expensive, then the costs of developing high quality courseware is also likely to be too expensive. We are approaching the time (if not already passed) where great software requires a variety of very specialized (and expensive) talents (interface specialists, programmers, artists, documentation writers, etc...). For one person to have all of these talents (and the time) is at least unlikely. This does not even consider the costs of creating video, in instances when that powerful technology is valuable. This is not to state that one person can not create a truely valuable program, it is just that the competition is fierce. Finally, the success of the Amiga will not be based on how we price AmigaVision, or even on its widespread acceptance. The success of the Amiga depends on the quality of courseware and other software for the broader public to use as solutions to fill their needs. Sorry for the length, John Campbell Senior Manager Software Applications Commodore Applications and Technical Support (CATS)