Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!bc
From: bc@Apple.COM (bill coderre)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: Alleged high cost of Claris upgrade
Keywords: ResCopy Resource-Mover
Message-ID: <48219@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 17 Jan 91 19:00:53 GMT
References: <3017@ux.acs.umn.edu> <4f38aecb.14cd9@jordache.UUCP> <988@vtserf.cc.vt.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 51

Andrew Cohill:
|Kevin Patfield was complaining about the cost of the $49 Claris upgrade;
|I too thought it was a bit high until I actually purchased it. ...
|
|Anyway, $25 (for disks) and $25 (for the book) is $49, or thereabouts,
|and a darn good deal.  I still can't figure out why no one expects free
|software from IBM, but Apple is supposed to be a charity organization.

Excuse me for a moment, and please recall that my opinions are not the
same as Apple's.

Although I regret the fact that Apple is changing Hypercard into a
regular, paid-for, product, I think that $49 for the upgrade is
incredibly charitable, especially since it includes telephone tech
support.

As a former tech support rep, let me assure you that not only is it
extremely expensive to provide good support, Claris has provided -- in
my and many other more prominent people's opinions -- the best support
around.

People have been griping about Apple overcharging ever since Jerry
Pournelle complained about the fact that Inside Mac (in its three-ring
binder version, including free updates) cost $100. This was in 1984.

Complain all you want about the price of commercial software. $495 for
a word processor or spreadsheet is quite a chunk a change, but your
$49 doesn't even begin to cover the actual expenses of development,
packaging and documentation, and support for Hypercard.

And as far as what Hypercard is actually WORTH? Well, as an example, I
know plenty of contract Hypercard programmers who bill over $100/hr,
and their clients are thrilled to pay them.

I am proud to have paid my own money for the upgrade, even though I
have access to the same materials at work. I like getting support for
my software, and I'm glad to pay for it.

Mind you, I still think that converting Hypercard into a paid-for
product is a terrible move, and that it will eventually undermine its
user base. Hypercard was supposed to get everyone who had a Mac into
programming. I know many "Hypercard Hippies" who would NEVER have
written a program before HC. They are actually "changing the world" by
creating special-purpose programs for niche markets, small businesses,
and special user groups.

But things being the way they are, I think getting a radically
improved Hypercard, with manuals and support, for $49 is a true
bargain. 

bill coderre
proud to support hypercard on the net for FREE