Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!mattd
From: mattd@Apple.COM (Matt Deatherage)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: AWGS 1.1
Keywords: AppleWorks GS, Press release
Message-ID: <36035@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 30 Oct 89 00:21:49 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 47

In article <18916> fadden@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Andy McFadden) writes:
>
>When I think of
> - how many copies of AWGS and AW "classic" have been shipped
> - the price on each of these dudes
>
>Either Claris has a lot of debts to pay off or their Macintosh sales just
>aren't happening.  How much money does it take to come to AppleFest?  If
>companies like Applied Ingenuity and the guys who make Xenocide can show
>up, I think that Claris (which shouldn't be more than an hour's drive
>away from SFO) can probably take up a collection and manage to send
>*somebody*.
>
Remember that AWGS programming team list posted a while back?  Claris has to
use the proceeds for AWGS to pay their salaries, and for all their equipment
(including samples of printers and modems to test with), as well as for getting
the new packages into the stores in time for the holidays, and a bunch of other
stuff.  I would bet that most of the AppleWorks 3.0 sales for the calendar year
1989 are upgrade sales, and I'll further bet a lot of that goes into the cost 
of the upgrade program and the cost of producing the software.

In other words, I find this about as viable as the "the manual only costs $3 to
print and the disk is another $2, so they should be able to sell it for $1
with 100% profit."  It's just more expensive than that, especially in the Apple
II market where everyone wants upgraded to the latest version cheap or free
and when you do that, no one even sees it.  Claris, in fact, upgraded people to
AppleWorks 2.0, 2.1 and 3.0 for much less than buying the package over again,
and is doing the same for AWGS 1.0v2 (which was *totally free*) and 1.1.  Try
finding many other software companies who do that.

A lack of Apple II software sales is hurting everyone.  Bill Basham makes most
of his living off the Apple II as well, but no one's attacking him for no
being at AppleFest.  It's the same issue on a different scale.

>-- 
>fadden@cory.berkeley.edu (Andy McFadden)
>...!ucbvax!cory!fadden

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