Re: All About ActivAda for Windows

[mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)]

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, 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.

Ordinarily I'd have said nothing. But the post did really have the look and 
feel of an ad, so I thought I'd request that if it's going to be an ad,
it should _really_ be an ad.

That post pushed a small hot button. I have run into Ada companies who,
when I called and asked for pricing information on compilers, responded
"that information is proprietary; we'll have our sales rep call on you 
and give you a proposal." Admittedly this has not happened recently.
But that was certainly the first time a company refused to tell me the
prices of its products. I did not call blind; I identified myself and
my affiliation quite clearly. Having investigated a fair number of
software packages for my university, I was shocked that a software house
would treat its pricing as proprietary information. 

I agree that pricing information is probably out of place in a group like 
this.

I should point out that in places like comp.edu, it is not uncommon to
see capsule reviews of new books, and occasionally software packages,
with pricing info attached. These things are, of course, generally not
ads but written by third parties.

Mike Feldman