William Stein wrote: > This is related to the AMS meeting... > > On Dec 14, 2007 5:56 PM, Dennis Stein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> When do you want to get started with the DVDs and posters? It's >> always better to give the vendors more time. >> > > We'll be able to start with the poster soon. I think the DVD's will > *have* to be > handmade, since there is no way we can have them ready before say > Jan 2 or 3. > > I want to do a shrink-wrapped package: > * a DVD > * a printout of the tutorial (about 100 pages) > * 5 color fliers > and sell them for $20/each say. > > Can you do the shrinkwrapping at your store? I have no idea how many > we'll sell, so the idea would be to make 50 say, and if they sell on day 1 > to make way more for the next day.
I think it's a perfect idea to have something to give people. Here are thoughts from trying to put myself in the shoes of a typical graduate student walking by the booth and seeing Sage for the first time. I think it's probably very important to appeal to graduate students/early faculty since (1) they are the next generation of professors that this software targets, and (2) my experience is that the younger generation are generally more computationally adept and so could more easily use the software, help others to use it, and contribute back. As a student, I probably wouldn't buy a DVD if it was $20 and probably would forget about it later and wouldn't download Sage. I probably also wouldn't need a printed version of the tutorial even if I did get the DVD. I *would* probably buy a DVD, say in a paper slipcase with the tutorial on the DVD, if it was under $5, though. It would be an absolute no-brainer to buy and try if it was something like $2. *jason jumps up on his soapbox* One of the things we are emphasizing with Sage is that the value of the software is not measured by the money that you pay, but in the open-ness and free-ness of the software and the free collaboration that makes the mathematics community and the open-source world tick. Putting DVDs out there for something that is way more than our costs (say like twice our costs in producing the DVDs) tells me that the authors are trying to make a buck, but the authors are not sure if the software is valuable to people, so they charge what a cheap shareware program would charge to see who'll bite. Instead, if we only charge about what our costs are, and it's *obvious* to people that we aren't really making money on the deal, then that emphasizes the fact that the software is free and that we've gone out of our way to save the person time and hassle. It shifts the focus from them paying money to _us_ and puts the focus on how much we are bending over backwards to help _them_ (we've already spent years of time and effort to give Sage to them; let's make sure they realize that in the first few minutes they hear about Sage and not automatically think that we're trying to just sell a cheap product). When they ask if it's *really* $2, tell them no!, that the $2 is the cost of the DVD! The software itself is *free*. However, the community is what makes it tick, so if they can, they should contribute in other ways, like sharing the software with others, writing code and documentation, reporting bugs, etc. They can also donate money (which is only used to further the software, not to buy William a new Ferrari or publish William's personal view of the universe :). But we aren't forcing them to donate money buy charging a lot for the DVD. Yes, I know they can download it for free, but when they see the product there and a sign that says $20, that's what could stick in their heads. Now, the above argument is moot if our costs are really around $20, of course. For comparison (though the comparison maybe isn't so valid, since these are projects that are very widely known and have already proven their worth through years of history and word-of-mouth): FreeBSD: Several semi-officially recognized CD places sell FreeBSD for around $10 (though the most "official" one sells the boxed set for around $60). Ubuntu: Free CDs or DVDs are mailed to you, or you can buy them for $4-$10. I guess at this relatively early stage of the game, I feel that we ought to emphasize the open-source nature of the project so that it is *very* obvious. To me, $20 feels like a cheap shareware program. However, $2 makes me re-examine how I am measuring the value of the program and leads me to realize that the value is not measured by the cost of a DVD and that it really is a community-driven thing and that I should contribute in other ways (or with more money) if I find it useful. *jason jumps back down from the soapbox and is all ears to hear other people's opinions :) * I'm not sure if what I said above expresses how I feel very well, but it'll have to do for now because I'm out of time right now. Thanks, -Jason --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://sage.scipy.org/sage/ and http://modular.math.washington.edu/sage/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
