Re: ProTERM 3.1 DEMO on cco.caltech.edu

[philip@utstat.toronto.edu (Philip McDunnough)]

In article <1t2b65INNm46@gap.caltech.edu> toddpw@cco.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) writes:

[ ]
>
>> I do feel a bit put out that a lot of software which was brought out for
>> the GS continues to be supported only for the IIe computer/card. This is
>> especially true for educational software, which is not inexpensive.
>
>Two words: Market size. The //e education market is still respectable. The
>IIgs-specific software market is much smaller, partly because most teachers
>don't have a clue as to how to use the IIgs features. Few educational
>software vendors are going to spend extra money on a IIgs version when they
>know they can easily outsell it with a cheaper-to-produce //e version.

But they did put out GS versions, and they have my money! Now a few hundred
is one thing, but I've spent considerably more on vendors that still exist,
but will never get another cent (from me). The GS was/is/ whatever an ideal
multimedia computer, and that alone should have convinced schools. The 
Apple IIe is not, and the future is in multimedia. That basically is a smart
trick to show off the IIe in comparison to Mac's running QT, CD-ROM's, etc...
or even Amiga's, MPC's, ...It's obvious that the IIe won't get any innovative
development for the most part.
>
>Face the truth and get it over with: IIgs support is not going to happen
>by itself. Unless the few of us IIgs owners who are left continue to prove
>that there is a viable nucleus market for IIgs software, the noise level
>software support we get now will drop down to nothing in short order. At
>this point, the piracy is ten times more damaging than it used to be.

I'm certainly not condoning piracy, and especially not in the small market
that we have. I simply have no sympathy for a certain list of companies
that exists in a file. They'll reap their own deads. Too many companies have
made a quick buck from the GS and jumped ship. Some companies, did provide
upgrade paths for their users (to other platforms). The majority did not. Try
pricing out products from The Learning Company. 
 
-- 
Philip McDunnough
University of Toronto
philip@utstat.toronto.edu
[Where sheep may safely graze...]