Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!purdue!decwrl!eda!jim
From: jim@eda.com (Jim Budler)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Software Development And Piracy (Spurred By FTL replies)
Message-ID: <404@eda.com>
Date: 18 Dec 88 21:42:31 GMT
References: <555@icus.islp.ny.us> <2363@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <1334@leah.Albany.Edu> <6432@killer.DALLAS.TX.US> <2460@ficc.uu.net> <2210@stiatl.UUCP>
Reply-To: jim@eda.com (Jim Budler)
Organization: EDA Systems,Inc. Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 32

In article <2210@stiatl.UUCP> john@stiatl.UUCP (John DeArmond) writes:
| In article <2460@ficc.uu.net> peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
| >If you want lower prices, get as many people as you can to buy computers and
| >buy... not steal... software. As the size of the market goes up, prices will
| >fall. Trust me.
| >-- 
| >Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.

| Well, lets see now.  hmmmm.  I can think of Lotus 123,  Dbase III.... 
| Wordperfect...  Crosstalk...
| 
| well now, boys and girls, can anybody pick a product out of this list that
| has come down significantly in price?  NO?  I did not think so.  Now, boys
| and girls, does anybody know of lower priced clones for any of the above
| products?  YES?  I thought so.  Could it be that COMPETITION and not size
| of the market is what has some effect on prices?  YES?  I thought you'd
| say that.

Actually, I think you proved Peter's point. Could it be that the reason
the other clones entered the market was because it was large enough for
them to make a profit while undercutting the prices of the name brand.
Small markets generally don't have competition. So your statement is
true, competition does bring the prices down. But Peter's statement
is true also because if the market isn't large enough there is no
competition.

| John De Armond			Intrigued minds STILL want to know.

jim
-- 
Jim Budler   address = uucp: ...!{decwrl,uunet}!eda!jim OR domain: jim@eda.com
#define disclaimer	"I do not speak for my employer"