Re: All About ActivAda for Windows

[dweller@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (David Weller)]

In article <3h1nc2$huk@gnat.cs.nyu.edu>, Robert Dewar <dewar@cs.nyu.edu> wrote:
>Mike, I think your request is out of bounds. Posting pricing information
>is CLEARLY overstepping the mark if you ask me, 

Well, keep in mind the market Alsys is trying to reach with ActivAda:
The PC user.  They actually got a nice review in PC Week a few weeks
ago.  The key point is that is is quite fair to expect a posting of
something like:
	Retail cost for a single license is $xxx, volume and
	educational discounts are available.
The dollar amount helps establish the scope of the discount and
informs the consumer about the general price range of the product.
For instance, if the "Get it from your local computer store" price is
in the $xxxx range, the average consumer will generally be turned off
(and, naturally, you'll never see an Alsys Ada product on a computer
store shelf).  It is fair to expect this information, and it is also
reasonable to determine the general cost.  Not posting prices is a
pretty typical scheme from Ada vendors, not the rest of the PC
software community.  If they want to stick to that, fine, that's
their choice.  I, as a consumer, would like Alsys to step up to
saying what the general price is.  I think Alsys has a fine product,
but in order for it to survive (IMHO), it needs to be competetive
with other consumer programming environments (that does NOT mean it
should be priced the same, but that the consumer needs to feel the
extra cost is compensated by the perceived value).

In conclusion, I disagree with you.  :-)

and I thought it quite
>appropriate that in their announcement they did not do so. I agree that
>the big logo etc gave the post the air of a commercial which is perhaps
>unfortunate. I think we all agre that basic factual announcements of
>product availability are appropriate here.
>


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