Re: Asimov Mirror Sites Access Information-- Awks5

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

The Apple II Mail Group writes ...
> 
> > At the time Awks 5 became available for free download it was well 
> > past its prime as a money-maker for the only distributor.
> 
> At the time Awks 5 became available for free download, efforts were being 
> made to obtain the rights to develop and release an even newer, bug-free 
> version. There would always have been buyers, even if it were only a few 
> hundred. Even if a full version update wasn't done, a free, bug-fix update
> could have.

     Yes; and those efforts had everyone's support. As you mentioned in your
last message, Apple, Inc. simply was not interested. It wanted to use the
"Appleworks" name for Mac stuff (and, sfter all, that is Apple's right.)

 
> > A check with Scantron's A2 rep revealed that sales were nearly 
> > non-existent
>
> Since when is Scantron's sales rep in charge of releasing their products for
> download?

     She wasn't. She supplied information on Appleworks 5.x sales.


> 
> I agree a price reduction would have been good; in fact there already were
> severe price reductions if you owned AppleWorks 4, and you knew the right
> words to say.

     When a company gets down to selling 4 copies of a product over a 6-month
period, any caller who tries to negotiate price is likely to get a reduction.
Unfortunately, given the high published price, sales were just about dead.
Essentially, Scantron was just sitting on Appleworks 5, not distributing it.
 

> 
> >If the copyright owner does not object to having an old product
> >distributed to thousands of appreciative users, why should you?
> 
> I already said why. At the time it was first uploaded, it still produced an
> income for the programmers
 ....

     If Awks 5 produced an income for the programmers, it wasn't from copies
sold by the only authorized distributor-- sales were dead.



> And, it's a lousy upload. Whoever put that cluster of files
> and instructions together didn't know what he was doing.
> 
> To be honest, I haven't seen much evidence that the downloads are being
> used. The obvious questions aren't being asked, etc.
 ....

     Don't recall ever trying out the upload you describe and, so, would not
know about deficiencies.

     Perhaps, since you know where the problems are, you could put together a
good upload.


     Getting back to the question: "If the copyright owner does not object to
having an old product distributed to thousands of appreciative users, why
should you?" ...

     While your reasons are plain enough, they come down to not liking Apple's
position rather than anything to do with illegal activities.

     Appleworks 5 is Apple, Inc. property. So, is the Apple II series. We may
not always agree with Apple's actions regarding these properties; but, they do
belong to Apple.



Rubywand