Ethics... and the lack of it.

Alejandro Tejada capellan2000 at gmail.com
Wed Dec 2 10:08:01 EST 2009


Hi all,

Many thanks for replying to this request.


Jim Bufalini-3 wrote:
> 
> [snip]
> I don't see the "ethics" issue. As the Italian half of my ancestry
> would say (in America), "It's not personal, it's just business." :-)
> 

and


Kay C Lan wrote:
> 
> I agree with Bill and Jim, this isn't ethics, it's business. 
> [snip]
> Of course having other metrics which have been historically recorded and 
> prepared prior to your software, and by which you know you'll be bench 
> marked against, would be the most logical form of determining software's 
> (robot's, employee's, facebook's....) value.
> [snip]
> If you've got the metrics, you should be able to verify the value.
> 

and


"All if fair in love and war."  .   .   . and business. 
My work is only worth what somebody else is prepared 
to pay for it:
[snip]
And, as a charming friend of mine once remarked 
(and he is a very successful businessman) "Keep your 
morals for the weekend and the family." 

Not very nice, but fairly near the truth.


Please, tell me if i am understanding correctly comments posted:

a) If a client is able to declare the value of the software that
you created as 10,000 times (for example) the price he paid,
this is fine, always that nobody complaints...

b) To charge a fair price for your effort, you should know,
(fairly well) not only your own programming business, but
your client's business too...

My comment about: a)

Is this another example of "Laissez-faire"??

If it is natural that any client could evaluate himself
(or his accountant) the actual value of their assets,
(without solid facts) then this is a real eye opener
and explains the real devastating dot.com bubble
a few years ago and future economic crashes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble

"The dot-com bubble crash wiped out $5 trillion in market value
of technology companies from March 2000 to October 2002."

and

"Nevertheless, laid-off technology experts, such as computer
programmers, found a glutted job market. In the U.S., International
outsourcing and the recently allowed increase of skilled visa
"guest workers" (e.g., those participating in the U.S. H-1B visa program)
exacerbated the situation.[16]
University degree programs for computer-related careers saw a
noticeable drop in new students. Anecdotes of unemployed programmers
going back to school to become accountants or lawyers were common."

My comment about: b)

I have been told that many clients are not so eager to disclose
in full their business to strangers, just to get a bid or appraisal
for a software program. Yes, just as you read.

Clients actually want an upfront price that covers their basics
requisites.

In their mind, software should not be too different (to continue with House
building examples) from Urban development's offerings of houses and
appartments: Full Kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, wood burning fireplace,
2 story porch, garage, etc... This cost $$$, if you want more bedrooms,
then add $$$, if you want a pool, then add $$$, etc, etc.

Ideally, software developers should be able to consult their peers about
estimated cost, sales prices and value for the kind of programs they build.

In this mail list there are developers fairly experienced in these areas,
and i have consulted them myself, when i had doubts about the
actual price for some kinds of software development.

Alejandro

-- 
View this message in context: http://n4.nabble.com/Ethics-and-the-lack-of-it-tp931785p933134.html
Sent from the Revolution - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.



More information about the use-livecode mailing list