Why 10 hours for a newbie and 30 days for a "programmer"

[Dan Shafer]

On Sep 7, 2004, at 1:47 PM, j wrote:

>>>> A company buys one tool, not millions of chips.
>>>
>>> A company buys a million licenses for each tool.
>>>
>> Nope. That's just wrong. With rev, a company with millions of 
>> customers only buys one copy of the program.
>
> Don't tell me I'm wrong unless you understand my point.  That's not 
> what I am talking about, Dan.
>
Fair enough. I was a bit more abrupt and general in my response than I 
normally would be. This discussion is one I've had 100 times over the 
years and I guess I just grew weary of it.

Let me just summarize my position briefly.

1. Aside from products created specifically for the education market 
and intended for use in administration and management, that market is 
very difficult to crack and in the main not very profitable.

2. Development tools are a particularly difficult sell into the 
education market because of the wide availability of free, Open Source 
tools.

3. Educators often (not always) feel they are on a sort of "mission" 
that "entitles" them to reduced pricing and liberal licensing 
enforcement. And some educators who wouldn't say that *would* argue 
that their budgets are small and they can't afford to pay standard 
rates for software, particularly development tools.

4. Nonetheless, the education market *can* be a good, profitable market 
for companies with the staying power and the perspicacity to pursue the 
market and establish a toehold.

At the end of the day, I just don't think it's a good place for RunRev 
to place many bets given all that's on its plate.

The good news (for folks in the education space at least) is that I 
don't get a vote.

Dan

> A company that builds software has to buy a license for every 
> programmer.  Depending on the type of software, schools buy licenses 
> based on (a) the number of computers, (b) the number of students and 
> teachers who use the software, or (c) the number of students and 
> teachers who use the computers.
>
> If Microsoft were to start using Rev to do their programming 
> exclusively, they would be buying a ton of Rev licenses tomorrow.  
> Unlikely, true, but a few large software development firms using Rev 
> would boost sales dramatically.  New York City School District buying 
> licenses for student classes would do the same.
>
> Do you know why today's high school History texts have so much info on 
> Texas and California in them, while only a paragraph or two on 
> Lincoln?  Is it because so much History happens in those two states?  
> Nope.  It is because Texas and California have statewide textbook 
> adoption.  Publishers know how big the education market is, and they 
> are getting filthy rich as a result.
>
> J.
>
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