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From: omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: prices
Message-ID: <73263@brunix.UUCP>
Date: 23 Apr 91 23:38:09 GMT
References: <1991Apr20.210745.4915@athena.mit.edu> <1991Apr22.055054.7976@hawk.cs.ukans.edu>
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Reply-To: omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett)
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Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
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In article <1991Apr22.055054.7976@hawk.cs.ukans.edu> chai@hawk.cs.ukans.edu (Ian Chai) writes:
>>Solution: Software companies should lower prices, to increase their
>>total sales. Just like government taxes. Increasing taxes does not
>>always increase revenue. 
>
>I second that! Yes, these prices sorely tempt me to piracy.

Well, first you have to get the magazines to lower their advertising rates,
because people don't buy software unless it has big ads in the very best
glossy computer magazines (check out the top ten list).  Then we'll have
to get the programmers to take a pay cut.  The landlord won't mind if we
shave the rent a little.  Maybe you won't mind getting your software in
a plastic bag instead of a fancy printed box?  We'll even throw in a
zip-loc bag instead of a sandwich bag.

Next we'll ask users to take a cut in pay, so everyone gets in the spirit.

Sure, there is overpriced software, so DON'T BUY IT!  It's only people who
are willing to pay the bucks that set the value of software.  If nobody 
bought, it wouldn't sell. If you feel that the feature set of the software
doesn't justify the price, it doesn't make it OK to steal.  I could make
a program and charge $12 and it would barely sell, but if I charge $795,
they'll write magazine articles about the program and compare it to
1-2-3.  Pricing computer software is a black art and it's the buying
public who'll determine if you made the right choice or not.

And, no, the old supply and demand lower the price and increase sales
doesn't always work in software.  People seem to equate the quality of
the software with its price.

-Owen

Owen Hartnett				omh@cs.brown.edu.CSNET
Brown University Computer Science	omh@cs.brown.edu
					uunet!brunix!omh
"Don't wait up for me tonight because I won't be home for a month."