Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!xanth!src From: src@cs.odu.edu (Scott R. Chilcote) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Bitching about S/W distribution / MIDI HELP??!? Summary: Dealers are simply caught in the middle. Message-ID: <10064@xanth.cs.odu.edu> Date: 2 Oct 89 12:04:01 GMT References: <1989Sep28.172110.7096@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> Reply-To: src@cs.odu.edu (Scott R. Chilcote) Followup-To: dev.null Distribution: usa Organization: Old Dominion University, Norfolk Va. Lines: 104 In article <1989Sep28.172110.7096@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> mshapiro@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Blind Man With A Vision) writes: > >"No, we can't open the packages. We'd have to sell the software as >used." > >extends this line of reason.> >"We're not salesmen We have the stuff if someone wants it." > > "Oh. You probably don't sell a lot of software." > >Now, I'm really getting perterbed. "Look, I don't plan on buying every >package in existence, or even more than one. I just want a look at >the stuff before I buy it." > >This is a good one here...."Well, maybe you aren't ready to spend the >money to buy something then." > >"Well, maybe you aren't ready to own your own store." > >-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >| All I wanna know is.... | >| Will the sun go out when God shuts his refridgerator door? | >| | >| Mitch Shapiro ....{csustan,csun,sdsu}!polyslo!mshapiro | >-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mitch: You seem to be having your first dose of software buying experience. It doesn't take long to come to the realization that buying software is not the same as buying ties, records, or fast food. The legal tangles involved in dealing in software are enough to make the squeamish flee in terror. It isn't pretty, and there isn't much justice in it for _anyone_. Most computer owners have come to recognize this in the past five years or so. As you learn the ropes, I have just one request to make. PLEASE DON'T FLAME SOFTWARE DEALERS ON THE NET -- UNLESS THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING REALLY AWFUL! The people you spoke to weren't, by your descrip- tion. THERE ARE FEW ENOUGH ATARI DEALERS AS IT IS WITHOUT YOU MAKING THEIR LIVES EVEN MORE DIFFICULT! Please read the following basic facts about selling software. 1. Piracy is rampant. A game program has a useful retail life of about three months. An application program can be sold for approximately one year. 2. NOBODY will buy an open package. Most software has a shrink-wrap agreement built in -- if you open it, you accept the terms, which means you own it. 3. The distributor will not refund the dealer on an open program. This means that the DEALER owns it -- permanently -- once it's been opened. This is not true (usually) of still-sealed programs, which can be traded back. 4. NOBODY in the ST software business is getting rich. Hundreds of ST dealers have switched to selling other computers. Hundreds of ST programmers have stopped writing for our machine. Grousing at them is not likely to make them happier to be losing money for our sakes. So, you wonder, how are you expected to find out about programs if you can't rip into the package, have a personalized demo, bring in your keyboard and test it for a few hours? There are several options, although few of them are as convenient as what I've described. BUY MAGAZINES. ST-Log. Start! has an annual MIDI issue with lots of reviews. Current Notes and ST-World also publish good reviews of MIDI software. If you are lucky enough to have an Atari ST user's group in your area, JOIN IT! The local user's group has a very scant membership, in spite of hundreds of ST owners in this area. Don't let _yours_ suffer from apathy. You can find other ST owners with MIDI software and test it, get demos, and learn firsthand. DON'T pirate, though -- unless you want the revisions to stop, and the new software development to die out. The neat thing about paying for support is that you can call the developer or write a letter, and maybe have your own suggestions built into the next release. Programmers are driven people who want to please their customers when given a chance! I've had my say. Please take these words seriously. I have seen a couple of good ST stores close simply because the owners couldn't deal with the hassles anymore. Flame the software business all you want, but take it easy on the dealers. They're simply caught in the squeeze! -- ___________________________________________________________________________ |.--------------------------------..---------------------------------------.| || Usenet: src@xanth.UUCP || || || Arpa: src@xanth.cs.odu.edu || Q: Why did the chicken cross the || || Earth: Scott R. Chilcote || Moebus Strip? || || || || || ||| "Sure, Jack, we || A: To get to... er... umm... || || ||| trust you. But will || || || / | \ will you respect us || -----=====#####=====----- || || / | \ in the morning?" || || |:________________________________:'---------------------------------------'| '---------------------------------------------------------------------------'