Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!ox.com!tbomb.ice.com!time
From: time@tbomb.ice.com (Tim Endres)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: UUCP and NEWS on the Mac
Message-ID: <1CE00001.y010pn@tbomb.ice.com>
Date: 20 Oct 90 18:04:24 GMT
Reply-To: time@tbomb.ice.com
Organization: ICE Engineering, Inc.
Lines: 57
X-Mailer: uAccess - Mac Release: 1.0.1


In article <1990Oct19.205526.19190@pmafire.UUCP>, geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) writes:
> >	Well, in spite of the glowing comments I've heard from some
> >of the Beta testers, I doubt that I'll be getting it.
> 
> Same here.  As I recall, when Tim asked for beta testers for this, he
> also asked if he should release it as shareware or very cheap commercial
> product (like, $20).  Response was such that people wanted support from
> him, even if it meant paying more.  I was expecting something along
> these lines, but $300 (discounted)?  No thanks!
> 
Well, I guess I can shed some light on the pricing.
When I originally posted to the net, as you have indicated, I asked
if the product should be PD, SHW, or Commercial. Shortly after that
posting, it became obvious that there was a commercial market for
this product, and that market wanted a commercial product. What I
mean to say is that a number of businesses and at home consultants
wanted software they could rely upon, as to them it was a business
tool and not entertainment software.

In order to create *and support* a commercial product of this magnitude,
and make all of the necessary distribution channels happy (there is
a large part of the price), the list price had to be in the range it is
now. Otherwise, you may as well forget being successful in that arena.
I must admit that the only response I have received on the price from
the commercial market was that it was low and continued support was
questioned.

What this means is that a large segment of the users that I originally
wished to market to would be left behind. There was no business decision
that could rectify this circumstance. Hopefully, I can help this situation
out down the road.

The plan, although it will take some time, is to produce a copy
of the application for the "limited-budget" croud. This would simply
leave out some of the more luxury features (like the ability to
forward news to other sites) and bring the discounted price down
into the $99-150 range. This would address the needs of the at home
and educational users much better.

You have to remember the costs involved in ramping up a new product
and realize that after the first few waves of distribution the costs
come down making it easier to produce and sell for the lower price
market.

I must make one other comment, and thank people for not getting into
huge flames about our making the commercial product decision. It was
a difficult decision to make, as my heart is in PD software, but one
must occasionally play by the capitalist rules which govern.

Thank you for your time,
tim.

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Tim Endres                |  time@ice.com
ICE Engineering           |  uunet!ice.com!time
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