Pricing / entry cost for this tool

[Michael Lew]

On 27/11/2005, at 9:13 AM, use-revolution-request at lists.runrev.com  
wrote:

>> I have a couple of educational titles being sold by my University
>> that cost the same number of Australian dollars to Harvard as they do
>> to universities in Africa. It doesn't seem fair. Perhaps software
>> prices could be adjusted for the average (modal) wage in a country.
>> It wouldn't harm me for people in low wage countries to pay me almost
>> nothing instead of absolutely nothing...
>>
>>
> I don't currently make money from writing software -  I make utilities
> for my own use. But if I did sell software I don't think I'd be
> interested in getting paid 3rd world wages (no offense intended - just
> don't know another way to say it) and paying U.S. rates for my  
> housing,
> food etc.

Making your software available at locally-affordable rates should not  
influence your ability to charge appropriate amounts in your country.  
Locally-affordable would be higher in the USA than in Brazil, and  
higher in Brazil than in Zaire.

> If you're rich and don't care, you can give your software
> away. I'm sure many of the pros on this list who make money  
> programming,
> program because they like doing so. I'm sure the RunRev people love  
> what
> they do. But we all have bills to pay too.
>
> When someone sets a price on a piece of software, I get to decide if
> that's worth my money.

You've missed the point. If you only use a US-centric view of  
economic values then you leave out most of the people alive. What is  
offensive about asking a locally-affordable price for a product that  
has no cost for reproduction once produced?

>  I don't figure it's their job to make sure I can
> afford it -  they don't owe me a thing (which is the attitude that
> socialism breeds IMHO, sorry to digress into politics!).

Given how we have gotten to the current world financial model, it  
would be more likely that we owe them than they owe us! Remember that  
the unequal distribution of wealth has come from the unequal  
distribution of power, not the unequal distribution of worth. It  
serves the ruling minority interests to equate means and success with  
moral worth, but we should be able to see beyond it.

> Certainly it's
> noble to want to see everyone have access to good software. But having
> directed a local soup kitchen for 6 years, I can tell you there are
> people in the U.S. who are desperately poor. Who would administrate a
> system that would charge based on income? I think I would always be  
> VERY
> poor when I went to make my purchases!
>
>
> Marty Knapp

I hope that you are kidding about that last comment, or at least  
exaggerating to illustrate a possible abuse of the proposed system.  
At the moment, in your country and mine, the very wealthy pay very  
little tax. The inevitability of abuse and loopholes should not be  
taken as a reason not to attempt to improve something.

Regards,