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From: bhyde@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: Software Piracy - Marketing Persipec - (nf)
Message-ID: <1287@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Apr-84 00:06:45 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.1287
Posted: Thu Apr 19 00:06:45 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Apr-84 08:29:25 EST
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#R:hou2a:-32600:inmet:5800049:000:1292
inmet!bhyde    Apr 17 11:41:00 1984

The price of computer software are much higher than the price of other
software, i.e. books.  It is insufficent to explain this by a smaller
market size, the size of the market for a technical book is very small
but they do not command prices like software does.  The market for
software is not very mature yet, this causes prices to be higher.  The
buyers are not mature enough to know what they want, and they are very
afraid of getting burnt.. "better to bye lotus everybody else does."
The sellers are not very mature.. "gee this is a neat idea i bet everybody
needs one."
  In a fast evolving market is is foolish to use the law to solve your
problems.  If it isn't possible to provide good copy protection then software
is in the same boat with the other software manufactures, i.e. books, and
they had better learn to live with it.
  I wonder if we can hope to see the market mature?  IBM's market hasn't yet.
Of course my definition of mature isn't what marketing texts use, they
mean a market that who's distribution channels have become well defined and
where the parties envolved have become well trained in their use.  What I
yearn for is a highly informed buying public, i.e. one that would demand
conversion paths from one generation's software culda sac and the next.
				ben.