Pricing / entry cost for this tool

[Dan Shafer]

Good points, Richard.
On Nov 25, 2005, at 8:12 PM, Richard Gaskin wrote:

> Personally, I think Rev is priced too low.

I can't say I disagree.

Back in the 80's -- I know, that's SO last century! -- there were two  
Smalltalks on the market. Digitalk sold for something like $99.  
ParcPlace Systems Smalltalk-80 sold for something like $1,000. While  
there were lots of differences between them, it was entirely possible  
to build most kinds of apps with the lower-priced product. I asked  
PPS founder Adele Goldberg one day how come she didn't lower her  
prices to compete for the broader market with Digitalk. I'll never  
forget her answer. "People who pay $99 for a development tool expect  
to learn it in a few hours, master it in a few days and hound tech  
support unmercifully at no cost. People who pay $1,000 for a  
development tool take it and their work seriously, understand that it  
requires a significant effort to learn and master, and are not only  
willing to pay for support, they are eager to do so because they  
don't want the company that makes their favorite tool to go out of  
business." She allowed as how she'd rather have far fewer customers  
who were professional not only in their work but in their attitude  
than 1 million hobbyists.

In some ways, this discussion is just a rehash of the old battle over  
who the market for Revolution is or ought to be: professional coders  
or hobbyists. I know RunRev disagrees with me -- and so do many of  
you on this list -- but I maintain you cannot adequately serve both  
markets.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dan Shafer, Information Product Consultant and Author
http://www.shafermedia.com
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