Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!scubed!warner
From: warner@scubed.com (Ken Warner)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Subject: Re: INFOWORLD, Smalltalk-80 4.0
Keywords: Smalltalk-80, InfoWorld
Message-ID: <426@scubed.SCUBED.COM>
Date: 19 Sep 90 01:11:32 GMT
References: <7696@milton.u.washington.edu> <13364@netcom.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@scubed.SCUBED.COM
Followup-To: comp.lang.smalltalk
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Organization: S-CUBED, A Division of Maxwell Labs; San Diego CA
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In article <13364@netcom.UUCP> ergo@netcom.uucp writes:
>In <7696@milton.u.washington.edu> benson@blake.u.washington.edu (Dan Benson) writes:
>>For those Smalltalkers who missed it, here is the article from
>>page 24 of INFOWORLD, September 10, 1990.
>>---- begin -----------------------------------------------------------
>>Platform-Independent Smalltalk Release 4.0 To Ship in November
>>Mac and PC versions require a minimum of 4 megabytes of RAM; UNIX
>>systems require at least 8 megabytes.  Objectworks Smalltalk costs $3,500
>>and runtime licenses cost $350 each, with volume prices available. 
>
>Just by way of contrast:  Smalltalk V/286 lists at $250, and schools
>can get very inexpensive site licenses.  At least 2.5 meg of ram is
[stuff deleted]
>Yes, it's a stripped down version of Smalltalk.  There's no free
>lunch here.  But not everybody devlopes software that only runs on
>$5,000 systems.

Right on.  As one of the few professional (read: gets paid to) Smalltalk 
programmers in the world, I'd like to see Objectworks (aka Smalltalk) priced 
more reasonably.  In the long run, a high price will only limit the Smalltalk
population to the point where the Smalltalk community will never reach the
point of self-sustaining viability, to speak nothing of my options down the
road.  I've got a lot of time invested in my skills.  Will they be useful 3
years from now?

I'd hate to see such a beautiful environment die from lack of interest...but
it can.  Witness Symbolics' stuff.  Come on down ParcPlace, from your Ivory
Tower.

Ken Warner