Re: WHO???

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Supertimer writes ...
> 
> "Mike Westerfield" <MikeW50@aol.com> wrote:
> 
> >mystix@direct.ca (Herbert Fung) wrote:
> >
> >>...but for those who wrote because of their passion and love
> >>for the platform were driven away by piracy.
> >
> >Sorry, but that's just not true. People were not driven away by the number
> >of pirates, but by the lack of customers. I can even look at the sales
> >figures and identify clearly the month when the Apple II died as a
> >commercial platform for me--there was a huge drop in sales in November 1992.
> >This was preceded and followed by slow declines, but the drop that month was
> >dramatic. I seriously doubt this is because everyone on the Apple II became
> >a pirate in that month.
> 
> I don't think Herbert disagrees with that.  He said "dropping Apple II
> from the price list was the last nail in the coffin for commercial
> software, but for those who wrote because of their passion and
> love for the platform were driven away by piracy."  He's making the
> point that for the shareware/freeware and some "labor of love
> not to make a big profit" commercial folks, piracy was a big turn
> off.
 ....

     What are you and Herbert talking about? No one "pirates" shareware or
freeware.



> >Piracy was and is a problem, but it did not kill the Apple II. Piracy takes
> >a percentage of sales, not all of them. For a weak company or a weak
> >platform, piracy may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but it is
> >rarely the major factor, and definitely was not the major factor on the
> >Apple II.
> 
> Yes, but what about the freeware/shareware and small potatoes
> commercial software folks.
 ....

     What small potatoes commercial producer is suffering from piracy?



Rubywand