Product upgrades (was Re: Screen Savers and GNO)

[jamesb@ecst.csuchico.edu (James L Brookes)]

Because I think this is a fairly critical issue for the Apple II
world in general, I'm going to crosspost this article to the other
related comp.sys.apple2.* groups.  Since I'm crossposting you should
only see this once, if you have a decent newsreader.  Also, followups
are set to comp.sys.apple2.

In article <2pgbbkINNghb@kirk.ms.detemobil.de>, Kevin Henigan
<henigan@kirk.ms.DeTeMobil.de> wrote:

[Nathan Mates wrote]
>>   Yep. Twilight II 2.0 will be coming out this June
>
>Good, I hope this update isn't going to cost anything/much.

   That's not exactly fair.  Software developers make a lot of money
on updates; in fact, if they don't expect to make money on the updates
then they don't do them.  I don't think a $10-$15 upgrade fee for a
whole revision (assuming the serial problem is fixed, there are lots
of cool new modules included, new features etc) is unwarranted in the
slightest.  Twilight II v1.1 is a pretty capable package; with the
caveat of killing high speed modems it's a winner IMHO.

   Time to hop onto my soapbox...

   There seems to be a general attitude in the II world that I don't
see elsewhere.  When you hear about upgrades in the Mac/PC world, most
of the response is "Great, I've needed this feature for a long time,
glad it's finally been added," despite usually exhorbitant upgrade
prices.  (Note: I'm speaking about the general user community, not
necessairly USENET twerps who want everything for free.  Note2: I am
*not* calling Kevin a USENET twerp :-)  Whereas in the II world, you
hear gripes about the upgrade actually costing money (gasp!) and very
little about the upgrade itself.  Of course, most of my contact to
the II world is through the net, so this is quite potentially biased.
But then again, much of the active II community is *on* the net, since
it's rather difficult to get the latest programs without some form
of net access.

   To summarize: I think people need to be a little more willing to
pay for upgrades to products they use.  If enough people don't upgrade
then it is simply not worth a developers while to continue developing.
This may sound strange, but I actually look forward to the opportunity
to "vote" (by spending money) for my favorite products by upgrading
them.  I guess it makes me feel like I'm doing my part to keep
the developer working on the product I use.

   Ok, I'll hop off my soapbox now.  Anyone want to take it from here? :)

>   Kevin Henigan             Internet: henigan@quantum.de
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|          James Brookes            | Inet: bb252@cleveland.freenet.edu |
|``What, me worry?'' - A. E. Neuman |      jamesb@ecst.csuchico.edu     |
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