From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: *** X-Spam-Status: No, score=3.0 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC,SUBJ_DOLLARS autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,9c776e3cc19d3176 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Tom Moran Subject: $500 <= chump change, was Re: Port I/O Date: 1996/11/17 Message-ID: <328F5D46.7DBC@bix.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 197075442 references: <01BBD13B.2E702E00@idc213.rb.icl.co.uk> <56ffmj$pko@top.mitre.org> content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii organization: InterNex Information Services 1-800-595-3333 mime-version: 1.0 reply-to: tmoran@bix.com newsgroups: comp.lang.ada x-mailer: Mozilla 3.0Gold (Win95; I) Date: 1996-11-17T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: There do exist companies where $500 is beyond the petty cash aloowance of a low level manager. More to the point, here in Silicon Valley, a lot of games, and other things, were initiated by programmers in their 'off hours' and using their own money. To my high school son, for instance, $500 is not 'a pretty trivial amount'. If you expect the next original game, Ada killer app, or whatever, to come from MS, Lockheed, IBM, or such, then $500 or $1K/year is a low hurdle. History, however, suggests innovations often come from kids with a bright idea, and I suspect such prices will steer their creativity elsewhere. But perhaps $500/yr is a straw man, a monopoly price paid only by a very small segment of the market. Perhaps "starving students" get their copy for free from school, and bright young employees of "serious project" companies just take a copy home with them. I personally dislike such hypocrisy, but "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" is usually practical advice.