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 Message-ID: <8905260941.aa00408@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Date: 26 May 89 14:13:57 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 44 >> NO, NO, NO, NO!!! If you think something is too expensive, DON'T BUY IT! > >The problem is not that Gauntlet is too expensive, the problem is that >Gauntlet is T-R-A-S-H. But there's no way for you to find out that Not so; I've never even heard of Gauntlet (I'm not really into games) but I've heard several opinions in the last couple of days that would make me extremely reluctant to buy it (there are lots of other games out there to consider). What do you do when you first consider buying a VCR (or even an Apple computer :-)? You ASK around. I'd guess that if you are thinking about buying a program you've only heard about from the vendor's advertising you'd ask on comp.sys.apple, AppleLink-PE, at your local computer club, etc. Most programs that sell at all well are reviewed in one magazine or another (if you just have to have the latest program within days of issue, expect to pay the price of impatience). Our local town libraries carry the major computer magazines (so you don't have to pay to subscribe to everything either). >it's trash until you've bought it, and there's no way for you to return >it once you're found out it's trash, so you're out thirty-five bucks. >I wish the worst on publishers who foist off this kind of garbage on >the public -- getting pirated out of business is too good for 'em! Two wrongs don't make a right. An ethical alternative is to write the editor(s) of your favorite computer magazine(s) and recommend they review the software. There's no better way to kill a bad product than to publicize it, and as Anton Rang said in another message, a poor reputation is likely to affect a company's entire line (you may be able to bankrupt them honestly). If you can write an objective review (one that establishes that a product is a poor value without resorting to emotional adjectives), you might even get paid for it (possibly enough to earn back the $35 bucks :-) 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)