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From: papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: ATALK III w/ service
Message-ID: <24953@usc.edu>
Date: 28 May 90 07:00:29 GMT
References: <20360@snow-white.udel.EDU> <25301@netnews.upenn.edu>
Sender: news@usc.edu
Organization: Felsina Software, Los Angeles, CA
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In article <25301@netnews.upenn.edu> strasser@grasp.cis.upenn.edu.UUCP (Colin Strasser) writes:
>I've used ATalk III - wonderful product.  Did it lose a sale
>because I could get high quality shareware?  Yes it did.  Would it be my
>term program of choice had Marco released it as shareware?  Yes it would.
>Would Marco therefore have made some money from me instead of losing me
>to others?  Yes he would.

The point is not whether a shareware sale is lost vs. a commecial sale, but
whether in the end commarcial is more profitable than shareware.  I can 
assure you that I am making more money than all the shareware programs 
available on the Amiga combined.  You fit the kind of person that wouldn't
have bought a program that listed for $99 anyway, so there is really no lost
sale.

>Assuming Chuck's post is reasonably fitting to Marco's circumstances, then
>it has brought Marco heartache, headache, lost sleep, and little money.  

Quite the contrary. The Amiga developement experience has been wonderful from
all sides: I have a best selling program that will probably allow me to buy a 
house in LA (and I won't tell you how much houses go around here, because it
is close to absurdity :-); I've met a wonderful number of friends at 
CBM/C-A/CATS, and as a successful author I can now go to software publishers
(and not only Amiga publishers) and pitch an idea and get it approved and
funded even before one line of code has been written.  Not bad, just out of
a little program started off a university dorm.   And now, I don't lose
sleep any more :-)

>has apparently done the same for some of ATalk's users.

The Tech support problems hopefully are only temporary and due to the too quick
expansion of OXXI.  Up until now, Oxxi has done quite a nice work of technical
support for my product.

-- Marco
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"Xerox sues somebody for copying?" -- David Letterman
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