From: bredell@tdb.uu.se (Mats Bredell)
Subject: Re: Why the Piracy? Here's why...
Reply-To: Mats.Bredell@udac.uu.se
Organization: Uppsala University Computing Center (UDAC)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 12:47:05 GMT

seth@physc1.byu.edu wrote:
: 
: I don't see how this would really dent the "pirating industry" that much. Seems
: like most of the pirating I've seen by people (notice I said "seen", not
: "done") has been to pitch in as a group and buy something and then copy the
: master disks so they each have a copy. I actually sympathize with this way of
: being an all-around illegal crook, as the people I have seen do it are almost
: always extremely unable to pay for full-price (should I say outrageously
: priced? Boy, I can feel the flames coming already ;) software. It is to me a 
: pity that so many people can barely afford, even with taking out loans, to buy 
: a half-decent machine, and then find that to be legal means they can't run any
: software on it but perhaps shareware. I know that "educational pricing" is
: sometimes a big help, but sometimes it isn't enough. Things like Pagemaker
: still go for $200 educationally, and few but the students with RICH parents
: could afford more than one or two such apps. I find it amusing at times to read
: Apple ads touting such things as "it can run IBM PC software, control your
: finances, let you do page layout, process words till you drop, etc.." They
: always show these fancy apps on the screens of the happy-faced Mac users, and
: I have to smile with amusement as I add up in my head the prices of all these
: apps Apple is selling you the machine for. It gets ridiculous. Of course, Apple
: would sell perhaps fewer macs if their ads told the whole truth, like this
: maybe: "it lets you run PC software for just $200 more, keep up with your
: finances for just $130 more (for the high-tech spreadsheet they always show),
: design nice newsletters and such for only $200 more, process words till you
: drop for only $90 more, etc etc" It adds up so quick that to really do much at
: all with your mac would cost you hundreds if not thousands more. I also have a
: beef with companies that rip you off in a big way if you buy the "eductaional"
: package. Case in point: Wolfram Research. They will sell you a "student
: version" of Mathematica for ONLY $175, BUT that version SUCKS THE BIG ONE. It
: won't even use a math-coprocessor! WHY? ISN"T THE NAME MATHEMATICA? The notion
: that a software's ability to utilize a math-coprocessor should be an option
: that costs you HUNDREDS of dollars more is BULL- S__T! I think the "student"
: version also doesn't do color graphics either. Now the REALLY outrageous thing:
: The version of Mathematica that DOES use a math-coprocessor costs a STUDENT
: over $700! ANy student I know of would have to take out a LOAN just to get a
: fully-functional version of the program! I have used Mathematica on a NeXT
: before, and even on a 25 MHz 040 w/on-chip fpu and all I still did things on
: occasion that took a LONG TIME. On a 20 or 25 MHz 030 WITHOUT using the FPU
: it would take FOREVER!!! I bet Wolfram Research doesn't sell many full-fledged
: versions of Mathematica to students...
: When you get right down to it, the reason I don't pirate software is that for
: the few apps I really NEED to have, I can afford them, albeit barely. (I only
: run THINK Pascal/C, THINK Reference, and MS Word, anything else is shareware
: or freeware) One more beef about software prices... Why in the heck do so many
: shareware writers ask for SO MUCH for their stuff? I am talking about the init
: that does some stupid thing to the finder or something like that and then you
: get this message saying "please support the shareware concept by sending me a
: check for $35, I also take MC/Visa" I mean, BE REAL! Most cdevs and such are
: worth at MOST $5 or maybe $10. You have these people who yell and scream about
: Apple charging $100 or whatever for a FULL-FLEDGED OPERATING SYSTEM and then
: they expect you to pay $25 for a HACK! That doesn't make sense to me... Well,
: I have my asbestos suit on, so bring on those inevitable flames...
: 
: Seth Leigh
: BYU Physics Dept.

Hm ... I can remember the good old days when I was still a student. We used to
pirate a lot of software. Of course, no one of us could afford buying MS Word
or Excel or something like that, so I don't think the software companies lost
any money on this.

However, when we (or at least I) started working at different companies, we
already knew what to recommend when the boss comes around asking what kind
of programs are the best. This way the pirating serves like some sort of
advertisment for the companies.

/Mats
-- 
Mats Bredell                                   Mats.Bredell@udac.uu.se
Uppsala University Computing Center (UDAC)     Ph:  +46 18 187817
Department of medical systems                  Fax: +46 18 187825
Sweden                                         Think straight - be gay!
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