dfickes@bucsb.bu.edu (David Fickes) (07/11/89)
After listening to the discussion regarding Mathematica pricing... I dug up the figures for PROGRESS software on the Sun... Okay I can understand WHY PROGRESS might be more expensive on a Sun than an IBM-PC (more performance) but if this is the case why is the price for a "server" version of the SPARCstation1 cost 30% less than a Sun 3/160!!! This is based on the PROGRESS Application Development System. I asked our "regional account rep" and he mumbled about connectivity and "information supplied by Sun" ... This is almost as arcane as the bids I worked with several other database vendors for clients (shall I mention RTI and Unify?) In any case, the responeses seem to revolve around: 1. The whole database industry does it... 2. User licensing is "too" hard to do... so we just estimate your useage based on the number we think most people use and don't any method of distiquishing the person who uses it once/week vs. the company using it with a data retrieval staff of nine.... Anyone care to leap to the defense? david ============================================================================== David K. Fickes Expert Publishing Group UUCP: ...harvard!bu-it!buphy!dfickes 33 Spruce Street OTHERWISE: dfickes@buphy.bu.edu Watertown, MA 02172 PHONE: 617/926-4158
chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com (Chuck Musciano) (07/18/89)
I have a general rule that software above the $10,000/seat price is simply too expensive. Period. I have looked at four packages that fall into this range: Interleaf ($12,500), SES/Workbench ($30-50,000!), DataViews ($20,000), and a software metrics package whose name escapes me ($25,000). In the case of Interleaf, we just bought Frame Maker ($2,500). For the others, we are actively writing equivalent in-house versions. I was able to write tools which mimicked the basic functionality of Dataviews in about one week. We are coupling a custom front-end to the CSIM simulation package from MCC to replace SES/Workbench. I figure I can hack a C parser and support code together to generate software metrics in about two weeks. The bottom line is that this stuff is so incredibly expensive, it is a viable alternative to roll your own. Of course, this isn't the answer for everyone, but it is certainly a consideration. Although Mathematica might be a bit tougher, some packages are really quite simple. It has also been my experience that more expensive packages have worse user interfaces (the software metrics package set a new low). Often, the arrogance of these companies is astounding! Someone at Qubix, makers of Leonardo (RIP) one told me I should be thankful that they had even taken the time to port their "wonderful" product from the big machines it used to run on down to a Sun. How dare I complain about their product?! In the case of Dataviews, we have had a list of bugs and questions left unanswered for about 15 months now. When we complained to a rep who visited Harris, he told us that they did things the way they wanted, and that we shouldn't question those decisions. Thanks a lot, guys! I have often sensed a general correlation between the "pitch point" of a product and its price. If a product is pitched to upper management, you'd better float junk bonds, because the price will be sky-high. Products targetted for "peon level" seem to be much more reasonable. In addition, products which promise all sorts of "management" things, like tracking programmer productivity, CASE support, and requirements analysis, seem to be expensive. I think that the market for software is becoming more educated, and PC users are moving up to workstations, bringing with them PC pricing ceilings. The era of super-expensive software is going the way of the mainframe, which is where it all started, anyway. Chuck Musciano ARPA : chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com Harris Corporation Usenet: ...!uunet!x102a!trantor!chuck PO Box 37, MS 3A/1912 AT&T : (407) 727-6131 Melbourne, FL 32902 FAX : (407) 727-{5118,5227,4004} Oh yeah, laugh now! But when the millions start pouring in, I'll be the one at Burger King, sucking down Whoppers at my own private table! --Al Bundy