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

[Dan Shafer]

On Sep 7, 2004, at 6:20 PM, Judy Perry wrote:

> On Tue, 7 Sep 2004, Dan Shafer wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
> --Do you argue that this is an unreasonable position?  If I were 
> working
> in a SW development house, would I be expected to buy my own dev tools?
> Ever since Rev announced the first HC cross-grade pricing, I've paid 
> for
> my annual license despite the fact that I don't sell a dime's worth of
> software, only use it in-class, and am not reimbursed by my department.
>
> I don't expect Rev to give it to me free, but given that I am doing 
> free
> evangelization for their product and am not making any profit from 
> using
> their product, a price reduction strikes me as not unreasonable.
>
I'm not sure I'd consider it unreasonable so much as unprofitable, at 
least in the near term. I used to own a development tools company, so I 
have a bit of background here. When anyone thinks he or she has a 
legitimate reason to request a reduced price -- and I've heard some 
whoppers over the years! -- they ask for it. I spent way too much time 
discussing and negotiating these things.

The problem, I submit, is with the fact that dedicated educators can't 
get their schools to buy the right stuff because those schools are 
spending way too much money on overpriced textbooks and top-heavy 
administrative groups.

Furthermore, I have a few friends who are professors and in their more 
lucid moments, they freely admit that the grants they get for specific 
kinds of research can pay for LOTS of expensive tools. They beg for 
table scraps not because they need them but because that saves them 
money to buy other tools whose publishers won't cave on the educational 
discount front.

You know, as I reflect on all this, I think the bottom line is simple. 
Education is a very specialized market with very specialized needs, 
demands, and expectations. Companies that focus their marketing 
energies there might do well. Big companies who can focus budget there 
might do well. Small companies who are not focused exclusively or 
nearly so on education get eaten alive more often than they succeed.

> <snip>
>>
>> The good news (for folks in the education space at least) is that I
>> don't get a vote.
>
> --I suspect your vote carries the same or more weight than does mine 
> ;-)
>
Sadly true.

> Judy
>
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