Xref: utzoo comp.sys.hp:5713 comp.sys.apollo:5929 Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!uunet!ssbell!dsndata!wayne From: wayne@dsndata.uucp (Wayne Schlitt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp,comp.sys.apollo Subject: Re: Netpower: Apollo/HP contrast (was: HP Common Lisp question) Message-ID: Date: 24 Jul 90 13:57:10 GMT References: <1990Jul14.085541.18550@metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU> <5570451@hpfcdc.HP.COM> Sender: wayne@dsndata.UUCP Organization: Design Data Lines: 59 In-reply-to: rer@hpfcdc.HP.COM's message of 18 Jul 90 20:48:02 GMT In article <5570451@hpfcdc.HP.COM> rer@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Rob Robason) writes: > These comments are absolutely my own and in no way reflect HP's > position: always a safe thing to assume... > [ ... ] > 2) It doesn't take a genius or an insider to figure out that about 1/5 > to 1/4 of HP's computer revenues are from support contracts. For a > $12 billion company, that's not something you treat lightly. I'm > sure the folks in support are wrestling with how to provide these > services on a public network to a restricted set of potential users > (i.e. those who've purchased support contracts). It wouldn't make > sense to give away to some what you're charging others $2 Billion > for, you wouldn't sell many contracts on those terms. > > [ ... ] > As an aside, I wouldn't hold my breath for any free support though, I > don't think that's in the future. Any network patch system you see, > you'll only see if you pay for it. > a minor point first: if HP/APOLLO made patches available via the internet and anonymous uucp, then we _would_ be paying for it. we just wouldnt be paying HP for it. nothing is free. the same would be true for questions answered in news/notes... anyway, i think hp may be penny wise and pound foolish on this. you cant look at things simply in terms of how much money you will bring in for doing it, you must look at the over all picture. saying that giving limited support to people via news and making patches available through some sort of ftp will mean people wont buy support contracts is silly. we have a support contract so that we get major software updates and updates to our manuals. we call the support center when we need immediate help that we can not answer internally. you must look at how much providing these services will cost you vs. how much you will eventually gain. the cost would be fairly low. the gains would admittedly be hard to measure, but they would definitely be there. there are other things that hp gives away for "free". before the sale questions, help to various user groups, discounts to software developers and universities just to name a few. all of these are penny foolish and pound wise. the net does not give you all the services that a support contract does, but a support contract doesnt give all the services that the net does either. -wayne