Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!philip
From: philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough)
Subject: Re: FrameMaker
Message-ID: <1991Apr30.180525.28235@utstat.uucp>
Keywords: cost money expensive budget
Organization: U of Toronto Statistics
References: <1991Apr30.165544.24045@engin.umich.edu>
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1991 18:05:25 GMT

In article <1991Apr30.165544.24045@engin.umich.edu> dejnsen@caen.engin.umich.edu (Nik Anthony Gervae) writes:

[high cost of FrameMaker upgrade(claims it is $300)]

According to the people at Frame, and I do not have this in writing,
FrameMaker3.0 will be released for the NeXT in the fall. The upgrade
fee from 2.0d to 3.0 will be $150. The $300 you are referring to
is for the upgrade to 3.0, technical support for a year and a free
upgrade to any other upgrades which Frame may put out during the year.
That is, you are buying a support agreement.

This brings up an important point that is always overlooked when people
talk about higher end computers( and I'm including Mac's and 386's here,
but especially workstations). The actually cost of the computer may be
low. What will do you in is maintenance, software upgrades,etc...This is
often conveniently not mentioned by workstation vendors, and is one of the
reasons why many of us prefer a plain terminal or any inexpensive
micro. That being said, the NeXT's software costs are quite reasonable 
for a computer offering that sort of power. I still feel it is too
expensive a platform for students.

As for 386's, there is a program called Gauss 386 version 2.1. It is
an array based language with some pretty good presentation graphics.
I just received their price list. Keep in mind this is 386 specific and
is a powerful program. Retail cost=$695. Education( with a p.o.) $495.
If you want virtual memory support add $300 dollars to the price. 
Upgrades: Gauss386ver2.0 to ver2.1=$150 . Gauss3862.1 to Gauss3862.1 with
added support for virtual memory: $295. Also the 8086/80286 version
of Gauss( 2.1) costs $345(with a p.o.). The upgrade to Gauss386ver2.1
from this is $200. Finally to go from Gauss2.0 to Gauss2.1 is $150 which
is more than 1/2 the price of the program.

The point is that one way or another, the computing industry is going to
get your money!

Philip McDunnough
Professor of Statistics
University of Toronto