Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!psuvax1!psuvm!jkt100 From: JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Real System Comparisons Message-ID: <90224.193706JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> Date: 12 Aug 90 23:37:06 GMT References: <13466@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1990Aug10.061056.15745@ariel.unm.edu> Distribution: usa Organization: Penn State University Lines: 109 >>It has been my impression that software for the Amiga *is* cheaper , >>(than IBM.) However I have not researched this very much. I would >>like to give you my belief as to why this is (or should be) true... >> >>However, I'd rather crack open a magazine, and quote prices. Ok, we can do that too... Read on for a side-by-side comparison. >>Fry's electronics, which has good - but not excellent - prices: Software Support International, the first mail-order ad I came to: >>Home budgeting and checking software (Quicken): $40 Desktop Budget (Gold Disk): $42 (one of the few that's higher) >>Procomm Plus: $60 Baud Bandit (Progressive Peripherals): $30 >>Norton utilties, advanced edition: $99 No comparison, because half the things N.U. does are built into the Amiga's OS. >>File manange utility, ala CLIMate (PFS: Preface): $50 DiskMaster 1.3 (Progressive Peripherals): $30 >>Hard disk optimizer/etc (SpinERit II): $65 B.A.D. (Centaur): $30 >>Personal DBM/WP/Spreadsheet/checkbook/etc (PFS: First Choice & Quicken): $90 Office (Gold Disk): Price unavailable >>PFS: First Publisher (desktop publishing package): $110 PageStream 1.8 (Soft Logik): $120 >>This list of prices is comparable to the Amiga "el cheapo" software. The comparisons I've given you are HARDLY "El cheapo" software. As you can see, Amiga QUALITY software prices compare nicely with IBM middle-of-the-road software. If you want to look at QUALITY IBM software, let's compare WordPerfect, the single-most popular word processor on both systems. IBM's costs over $400 now while Amiga's is $120. Yes, I know IBM's is version 5.1, and Amiga's compares best to version 4.2, but how much did version 4.2 cost on IBM? $250 is what I'm told... >>I've recently seen a new line of products at Fry's called "MySoft" >>or some such, with "MyWriter", "MyLabeller" and the like. The prices >>are around $20-$30/package, if I recall correctly. >>I've as yet to see anything similar to the MySoft line, or >>similar to it's prices. I have - it's called the Fred Fish library, and it's a LOT cheaper than MySoft. Do not rule out public domain software just because it's free. There is a LOT of quality software in there, some that would compare favorably to your first list. Now, on to another topic... >>If IBM hadn't designed their PC at >>all, we'd probably be right where we are now, except that most of the >>people using IBM-PC class machines would still be doing things by >>hand. That means they advanced the state of the art by much more than >>5 years by designing their PC at all. Oh come on. You make it sound as if IBM invented the home computer. By the time the IBM PC was introduced, Commodore also had computers rolling off the assembly line, and Motorola had already introduced the 68000 chip. Commodore grew DESPITE the PC, so its sales would even have been better, and Motorola's CPU would still have had systems designed around it. Had IBM not introduced the PC when it did, we would indeed be better off. Graphic interfaces would truly be the norm instead of the add-on novelty Windows 3.0 makes them appear. This is only an example - many more hypothetical examples are possible. But it surely is not likely that all current PC owners would not have opted for one of the other machines available. >>But that's true for _lots_ of IBM products. >>Unix might never have come into being, and >>everybody would have shared libraries and rings of security and >>>dynamic linking. But if they hadn't introduced it at all, we'd >>probably still be stuck in a world of business applications and >>technological applications needing different hardware to run on. Huh? I hope you aren't trying to say that IBM had something to do with the development of UNIX. >>Of course, I'm not going to buy an IBM PC now. With the 3000, CBM has >>managed to design a machine that's I think is worth spending money on >>(that's a first for them). Even with the overengineering, it's still ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>the most cost-effective path to a modern, multi-tasking OS that >>provides sufficient resources to meet my needs. >> >>