Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!unisoft!gethen!bdt!david From: david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: WHAT ATARI NEEDS TO DO... Message-ID: <302@bdt.UUCP> Date: 26 Apr 88 04:44:51 GMT References: <209@bdt.UUCP> <115@avsd.UUCP> Reply-To: david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer) Organization: Beckemeyer Development Tools, Oakland, CA Lines: 48 In article <115@avsd.UUCP> govett@avsd.UUCP (David Govett) writes: >> >>>A software company has to amortize its development costs over projected >>>sales. >> >> Right. And so there's no argument for developing any ST software. [ much of my own stuff from previous deleted ] >Two comments: > >If I may be allowed to generalize, people who buy STs are, on the >whole, quite different from those who buy PCs and clones. Many PCs >go into businesses where money exists to buy expensive software, but >ST users seem to have trouble buying even moderately priced software. > >Rumor has it that WordPerfect Corp. is so disgusted with ST users >pirating ST WordPerfect that it is considering withdrawing it from the >market. As I said, it's only a rumor. If true, however, it seems >to support my thesis that software should be priced for the intended >audience, and I know no ST users who would buy it for $300. You missed my point and seem to be just saying the same thing over again, and so that's what I'll do too. From a business standpoint, you said it yourself, you must amortize the development costs over the projected sales. Yet you also state that there are fixed price limits in the ST arena. I agree with both counts, and I therefore re-state that there is no sound reason to develop Atari ST products. The equation doesn't add up. You can't expect large volume with an ST product; and you yourself state that you can't increase the retail price either. So there's no way you can ever recover the development costs. So there's no reason for a commercial enterprise to spend any development money on Atari ST products. You're saying it, not me. I'm just agreeing with you. Following this logic, there's no reason to buy an Atari ST computer, becuase nobody is going to develop software for it. And there's no reason to develop my own software, unless it's my hobyy, becuase I'll never recover my own development costs either. This means that my ST will only have non-commercial software available and eventually it will die. Umm... seems like I agree with you here too. Now I only wish didn't already have a pile of 'em. -- David Beckemeyer | "Yuh gotta treat people jes' like yuh Beckemeyer Development Tools | do mules. Don't try to drive 'em. Jes' 478 Santa Clara Ave, Oakland, CA 94610 | leave the gate open a mite an' let 'em UUCP: ...!ihnp4!hoptoad!bdt!david | bust in!"