----- Original Message ----- From:
Subject: Re: Re: Photoshop CS Bargain Basement
Mike, are you presuming that yer basic orchestra (or even a very good
one) has the same dollar value of input costs compared to a large
crew of software engineers playing with really expensive computers?
When you factor in the years of training to learn to play the instrument, instrument costs, the amounts of rehearsal, the studio costs, etc., I think it is a reasonable analogy.
Orchestras don't usually buy their expensive instruments. The individual musicians are on the hook for that. Software manufacturers buy their own computers for the engineers to work on.
Orchestras generally rent space when they need it, around here it is from publicly owned concert halls.
Orchestras don't pay for training their musicians. That is most often done by the musicians parents.
You are comparing the expenses a company is responsible for to do business, and presuming that an orchestra is responsible for all the expenses that go into making a musician.
That just doesn't fly.
Where it falls down most noticeably is in the salary costs of the individuals. Which possibly says rather a lot about modern society.
Traditionally, the arts were funded by kings and queens. Recently, the societal model has changed, and the arts kind of got left at the side of the road.
And yes, it is sad, but I don't think a valid comparison can be made between the costs of making a music CD and an expensive piece of software.
All they have in common is that they both come on plastic discs.
William Robb
