Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hoptoad!tim
From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Apple responds (was Your chance to ask Apple)
Message-ID: <6628@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 26 Feb 89 12:59:21 GMT
References: <26279@apple.Apple.COM>
Reply-To: tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney)
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 22

Apple's manager of Developer Services, David Szetela, said:
>We set the fees based on how much we thought all developers could afford.
>The fees recover _some_ of the $70 million/yr. investment we put into our
>developer-related activities. We're not making a profit. We're not even
>breaking even.

Nonsense.  Encouraging software development sells more Macs.  If all
you're worried about is making one department break even, you're not
playing the game very well.  I thought Apple had pioneered a concept of
"total cost" that helped to slash production costs.  Is this concept
only active within manufacturing?  Do the higher-ups not understand the
concrete benefits of developer support?  Does it make sense to (using
"total cost") buy more expensive parts because they can be inserted
less expensively and save money overall, while refusing to spend a
reasonable amount on encouraging the development of the software
products that, in the final analysis, are responsible for your computer
sales?  Sorry, this rationale just doesn't make good business sense.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Consultant, Eclectic Software, sun!hoptoad!tim
"As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of
 Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity.  I collected some of
 their Proverbs..." - Blake, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell"