Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL From: SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: RE: Piracy and EVPs Message-ID: <8905201403.aa12443@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Date: 20 May 89 18:50:46 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 44 > The car analogy has another flaw - if the price of one car is too >expensive you can buy a cheaper one because once you know how to drive >one car you can drive others. This doesn't hold true for software. You >have to start using new commands and even new operating systems - so >software users don't exactly have as much choice in moving, say, to a >lower cost spreadsheet. The first time I saw 1-2-3 I hit the '/' key (what the heck, it worked in VisiCalc so it was worth a shot) and 'voila' (as it were). I COULD still "drive" :-) On the other hand Lotus 1-2-3 is an awful lot of money for the limited uses I personal have for spreadsheet software. Forgetting for the moment that the "cut-down" educational version of Lotus 1-2-3 ($40) is sufficient for my limited needs, there's Twin and VP Planner (among other one-for-one Lotus clones I've probably overlooked) to say nothing of the educational versions of Twin and VP Planner ($30 and not quite as cut-down as Lotus's educational version). Equating cars and software IS stretching things some (stealing cars is a felony which you're local district attorney will prosecute -- the taxpayers pay the tab -- while pirating software is a civil offense -- the victim has to both investigate and sue -- the victim has to win AND the pirate has to have sufficient assets to pay court costs, fines, AND compensation or the victim ends up with a serious case of the shorts), but some parts of the analogy fit better than others. If you have some patience AND focus on what you're using a computer FOR rather than whether you are using the latest "designer software," you'll generally be able to find something affordable to do what you need done (if you wait long enough, even a "wastetime" like Mario Brothers II will be readily available at a fraction of today's price). Anyone who wants to try and rationalize theft on the basis of not being wealthy can't expect much sympathy (poverty MEANS you CAN'T have it!!). Murph Sewall Vaporware? ---> [Gary Larson returns 1/1/90] Prof. of Marketing Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET Business School sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu [INTERNET] U of Connecticut {psuvax1 or mcvax }!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL [UUCP] (203) 486-5246 [FAX] (203) 486-2489 [PHONE] 41 49N 72 15W [ICBM] -+- I don't speak for my employer, though I frequently wish that I could (subject to change without notice; void where prohibited)