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From: long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com (Rich Long)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: All Commercial Software Developers or Companies (pls read)
Message-ID: <5354@ryn.mro4.dec.com>
Date: 25 Jun 91 19:43:30 GMT
Sender: guest@ryn.mro4.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 25


In article <BAUMGART.91Jun24163618@info7.esquire.dpw.com>, baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) writes...
>By the way, I look forward to taking Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" for a
>"test view" tonight.  Most critics have praised it, but there's really
>no way of knowing whether it's worth paying for until you've actually
>seen it, right?

 That's right. If you didn't like it, though, you won't have wasted several
 hundred dollars. It's an inappropriate comparison. Movies are entertainment.
 Software can be essential, and very hard to characterize.

 For example, you could say that you like action-adventure movies. It's
 probably a good bet that you will like "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". Calling
 both Word and WordPerfect "word processors", and saying it is a tossup as to
 which to buy is wrong. They both do similar things, but in very different
 ways.

 Then there is the whole issue of environment. What if you buy a package that
 won't run with some system extension that is absolutely critical to you? 

 I think functional demos are absolutely essential for software. 

Richard C. Long | long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com            | Selfware: If you like
--------------- | ...!decwrl!mcntsh.enet.dec.com!long | this program, send
A First Edition | long%mcntsh.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com | yourself five bucks!