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Path: utzoo!watmath!looking!brad
From: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Cheap Software vs The software industry
Message-ID: <222@looking.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 26-Jan-85 00:00:00 EST
Article-I.D.: looking.222
Posted: Sat Jan 26 00:00:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Jan-85 07:23:42 EST
References: <205@gcc-opus.ARPA>
Organization: Looking Glass Software, Waterloo, Ont
Lines: 30

All you people calling for the world to move to cheap software don't realize
your pushing for the demise of the good in the software industry. 

It's expensive software that fuels the entrepreneurial fire in this business.
It's expensive software (and hardware) that allows the small startup to
come in with a good idea and make enough money to grow.   Can John Doe
without many $M start a car company?  Not a chance.  Can you start a software
company in a garage?  Not often, but it does happen, and that's what makes
the computer industry great.

If the world moves to cheap software like some people are pushing for, you'll
get an industry populated by about 10 to 15 giants who can afford the
volume to sell software at those prices.  The small companies will die or
be bought out.  No program will ever get real sales unless it is approved
and taken by a small group of people at the large companies.

Software is not like books either.  Good books are written as a labour of
love for the most part.   Good software isn't.  Sure interesting software is
developed as a labour of love, but the effort to turn that into a polished
product that is well-documented, bug-free, nicely packaged and SUPPORTED
is a lot of hard work.   People aren't going to do it unless they are paid
and paid well.

Besides, the book industry IS controlled (essentially) by a small group
of major publishers.

So stop yelling for $10 software - you'll destroy the major source of
good innovative software - the entrepreneur.
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473