Just a couple of things, here. Again, with regards to NLI and their business model, I agree that IMHO it could use some rethinking. HOWEVER..
1) your money buys you all labs and what so far has been unlimited ongoing support. I.e. any new lab that comes out. Any corrections issued. Who anywhere gives unlimited perpetual support for their products these days? 2) simple economics applies - if you don't like NLI's price, don't pay it. Buy from their competition. IP Expert costs less. Fatkid is free. There are some others around whose names I can't recall off hand, but if memory serves, offer some good study materials. A search of the archives, particularly on the CCIE Lab list, should turn up the names. If NLI finds themselves with no customers, they will lower their price. Simple supply and demand. 3) books cost too much, and too many of them, particularly in the certification arena, are of limited value. Still, I have no reasonable expectation that a publisher owes me the opportunity to buy only particular chapters, or give me my money back after I have discovered how useless their title is. I can't remember the title of that Upton Sinclair socialist book published in the early part of the century, but IIRC, there was an interested discussion in their about cost of books and compensation to authors. "From each according to his ability and to each according to his need" was twisted mightily in that justification, IIRC. Something else to consider. I've rented rack time from both NLI and IP Expert. With NLI, I was able to call, and have someone actually test some voice configurations I was working on. With IP Experts, no such help was available. NLI has been quite responsive to calls for support. IP Expert leaves something to be desired there. I say that even though I prefer IP Expert training materials at this point in time, for reasons I have stated elsewhere. Best wishes and merry Christmas. Chuck -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Wojtek Zlobicki Sent: Monday, December 24, 2001 1:51 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: ccbootcamp part 2 [7:29682] > Developing effective methods for knowledge transfer requires creativity, > skill, time, money, awareness of the audience and their learning styles, > and other resources. The results may be proprietary and there's nothing > wrong with charging for them. I can't comment on the pricing. (Setting a > good price has always seemed like a black art to me, having only taken one > business/marketing type class in my life.) It does seem like different > prices for different countries makes sense, as others have said. A copy of your book graces my bookshelf (I have to admit that I have not had a chance to read it yet). I do not mind paying for the book. There are a number of people here financing their own CCIE, it would be nice if the labs were available in parts (I would be interested in labs 1-10 for example). The labs are extensive (having seen Lab 1 as an example) but are they really worth $650. After having sold 100/1000/2000 lab sets, it becomes less and less clear to me why the $650 fee is warranted. For $650 I can buy about 10 books that help me prep for my CCIE. Are the works of Doyle, Halabi, Caslow, Lee et all now worth as much. I don't believe that each lab takes more work that a book such as yours or Halabi's, the $650 fee may have been appropriate during the boom but I do not believe that such a fee is still reasonable. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=30053&t=29682 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
