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From: upl@puff.WISC.EDU (Future Unix Gurus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Amiga's Worst Enemy
Message-ID: <768@puff.WISC.EDU>
Date: Fri, 8-May-87 16:42:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: puff.768
Posted: Fri May  8 16:42:52 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 9-May-87 20:52:23 EDT
References: <18006@sun.uucp> <857@sputnik.COM> <1640@sphinx.uchicago.edu>
Reply-To: upl@puff.WISC.EDU (Future Unix Gurus)
Distribution: na
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
Lines: 28
Keywords: Developers programmers comercial software
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.amiga:4629 comp.sys.ibm.pc:3861

In article <1640@sphinx.uchicago.edu> abg1@sphinx.UUCP (andrew brian gross) writes:
>3)  ***Amiga owners do not buy software!*** Virtually every distributor would
>mention that C-compilers sold like hotcakes, but that he couldn't unload a
>home accounting package to save his life.  Distributors almost universally
>held the opinion that Amiga owners ***do their own programming***.
>

I'm not so sure doing your own programming (or "rolling your own" as my freinds and I call it) is really exclusive of buying application software. Just becuase
I CAN write my own stuff doesn't mean I have the time or inclination to do so.
I'm not about to write my own wordprocessor, for example, it would take me at
least a year of my own recreation time to write what I want to use. Also, 
I am a BIG adventure and first person simulation fan. While writing 1st
person simulators falls into my area of specialization, I sure as hell don't
want to have to research and write, for example, a chopper simulator just
for the pleasure of flying it around recreationally. In general my time is worthMUCH more than what I would pay to get someone elses effort.
  
  Also, there is certainly a market for recreational a[pplication generators.
  Why hasn't the pinball construction set ben ported by EA?? This kind of 

toy that apeals to peiple who write their own programs. I'm stillwaiting for
a GOOD Amiga specific text/graphics adventure constructor (I may write THAT one myself, eventually, if seomone doesn't do it first.)

In general, I think the standards set by people who program are more demanding, but they will certainly buy something they enjoy. We're all people too, after all. (Also, why haven't there been more commercial programming utilities, if they
really se it as that kind of market? It would take a little imaination, but I can think of all sorts of things that still need to be written to make Amiga
programming truely enjoyable!)

Jeff Kesselman
upl@puff.cs.wisc.edu