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From: ech@spuxll.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: paperback software
Message-ID: <459@spuxll.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-May-84 00:50:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: spuxll.459
Posted: Tue May  8 00:50:45 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 2-May-84 04:21:24 EDT
References: <12629@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, South Plainfield NJ
Lines: 35

"Software is overpriced" is getting to be a tiresome theme.  Wise up, folks,
and use your heads; Alex Pournelle TRIED to explain it to you, but you
apparently missed the point.

Let me make an alternative suggestion.  Don't buy Microsoft software --
buy Microsoft STOCK.  Those alleged obscene profits will pay you
equally obscene dividends, which will defray the cost of your own
software addiction.

Better yet, let's ALL buy Microsoft, and elect a "people's" board of
directors who will forego those sinful profits and sell the software CHEAP.
A $10 Multiplan will either blow out those other profiteers, or will
at least get them to cut their prices.  Hell, we can cut development and
support costs to zero: us kind-hearted hacker stockholders will contribute
our efforts gratis cuz we love the society so much.

But there is an even easier way; all you need is a floppy and a stamp.
You can bet that word processor sales for the C64 took a steep drop after
the January COMPUTE!s Gazette.  Why don't you take your next generation
spreadsheet, or better your improved Lotus-lookalike, and sell it to
COMPUTE! for the price of an article?  The couple of hundred they give
you will just be icing on the satisfaction you'll get from putting the
fatcats out of business and giving state-of-the-art software to the people.
With COMPUTE!s new disk distribution (one/month, $70/year, and not
copy-protected), any group of 6 people can painlessly acquire your
pride and joy for less than $1 over floppy cost.  A dream come true!

Oh gosh, I just got an even BETTER idea! (really on a roll, here!).
Why don't you send ME your floppy?  I'll talk to you on the phone,
and write the documentation FOR you!  No ugly prose to keep you
away from writing that dynamite code!  I'll do the negotiation with
Microsoft -- err, COMPUTE! -- for you, and everything!  Trust me,
I'll take care of EVERYTHING...

=Ned=